The sign of a great product is when its users can overlook one significant flaw and still sing its praises. I love the Sakura Pigma Micron, and many consider it the best marker on the market. Deservedly so. The only negative I can find with the Micron is with the barrel design, where a very sharp edge for the cap connection lands right in the middle of your grip.
There are plenty of ways around this issue. Grip it lower. Grip it higher, cover it in tape. Any of those options work well for those who use this pen regularly. But what if there were an accessory that could eliminate that issue, while allowing the pen to retain its ultimate usability?
Enter the Sakura Pigma Holder.
Barrel sleeves and grip upgrades have grown in popularity over the years. Usually, they are produced by secondary companies-not the original manufacturer-to add a benefit, or correct an issue, that the original product has. You see these products show up as simple pencil extenders, gel pen grip replacements, or full barrel jackets. The Sakura Pigma Holder is the latter.
This three-piece sleeve fully covers a Sakura Pigma Micron marker. The aluminum barrel fits over the top of the Micron barrel, with a slightly tapered and ridged grip section screwing into the sleeve over the existing grip section. The existing cap and clip is fully replaced by the lipless snap-cap of the holder.
In use, it feels fantastic. The grip section is far superior than the original, and, despite adding width, I don’t feel it makes the pen too wide to use-especially for finer tip widths which require more control. It helps that the barrel sleeve itself is lightweight.
The full cap replacement is good, but not great. You lose the clip, which is replaced by a roll stop … for ants. It’s so small it provides almost no benefit-any momentum will send the pen rolling. Also, if you plan on swapping pens in and out of the holder, you need to keep the original cap handy to snap back on the pen for storage. Try to remember where you put it!
The biggest question the Sakura Pigma Holder asks is: how much are you willing to pay for a barrel upgrade for a $2.50 pen? If you answered $29, well, you are in luck! That’s what it sells for, and to me, it feels like about $15 too much. If you are the biggest Sakura Pigma Micron user in the world, how many are you going to buy? One, at great cost, to test out and see what you think. Enjoy it, and then what? Buy two more, which puts you $90 deep into marker sleeves? It’s a tough sell.
One seems fine. I enjoy the shiny Chrome model I have, but in retrospect, I think I would prefer one of the matte models, like Graphite. I keep my favorite Size 03 Black Micron loaded and ready, and enjoy the user experience. I’m just not as bullish on the cost.
(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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