Uni Pin Pen Review

Finally managed to catch Captain America: Civil War. I really enjoyed it and while it didn’t go specifically the comic book route, it managed to capture the darker aspects of being a superhero. The tension between Cap and Iron Man really sold the feelings of seriousness that is rampant throughout the entire story arc. Anyway, since I caught it in the morning, you, my dear friends, went without me. Fret thee not, I am finally here with my promised review. Let’s kick off, shall we?

The Uni Pin Pen was just another drawing pen in the veritable collection that I’ve been testing, it stood out as one of the stronger contenders among the masses. The barrel design is one of my favorite aspects of this pen, as it is seemingly difficult nowadays for companies to make their pens out of plastic, but not make their pens feel cheap in the process. Kuretake did an astounding job with the Zig Cartoonist line, making the barrel smooth and comfortable to hold. Uni has similarly done an amazing and arguably, better job on the Pin. It’s smooth, sleek and the branding is subtle. All in all, one of the most comfortable barrels I’ve handled so far.

 

The tip is standard fare for a plastic tip drawing pen. I opted for my traditional 03 size, which i this case, is 0.38mm and I wasn’t disappointed by the performance at all. However, I found that the angle of the pen really affected the thickness of the line more than some of the other pens I’ve been testing. Occasionally, my lines would slowly thin out at the end of the stroke, but I didn’t find this to be too much of a problem because I prefer to write in block letters. For those who write exclusively in cursive, this may be something of an issue. The ink is a pigment-based ink that is water-proof and fade-resistant.

The grip is one of the biggest problems for me with this pen. The grip gets too narrow too quickly, resulting in a large width difference between the levels that makes it hard to compensate for. I’m a “low-gripper”, meaning my grip is as close as possible to the tip as I opt for maximum control when writing. This grip is not conducive to that specific style of grip and could potentially be a huge factor in whether the pen is right for you or not. You have to make that decision for yourselves.

The clip is solid and snaps back with tenacity after being stretched to the limit. I kept the Pin in my pockets many times and every time I may have over-stretched, the clip held up nicely to the abuse.

The cap has a window for which I know no the purpose. It looks really cool, but I question the functionality and necessity a bit.

Overall, a solid choice for a drawing pen. The ink is dark and doesn’t feather too much on normal paper. The barrel design is one of the better ones offered by companies in the product category. While the grip is a bit finicky for those who use the “low-grip” writing style, it can be adjusted too if given enough time.

 

 

 

Kuretake Zig Cartoonist Mangaka Outline Pen

Sorry for not posting earlier. Look out for an extra review tomorrow morning to make up for the week before last.

Normally, I tend to stay away from bigger tip sizes when it comes to drawing pens. As seen mainly in my obsession with the Staedtler Pigment Liner, I absolutely love micro-tip drawing pens. However, I wanted to stray a little out side my comfort zone and get something on the slightly bigger side. I got this opportunity during my spring quarter school supply shopping. I decided to get a slightly bigger 0.5mm tip size for the Kuretake Zig Cartoonist Mangaka Outline Pen (quite a mouthful, isn’t it?). After nearly a month in testing, I can safely say that I have yet to regret doing so.

Among drawing pens, this is one of the top picks on JetPens. It was highly rated and the reviews indicated that it was better received than it’s 0.3mm counterpart. The body is made of plastic, but it doesn’t feel very cheap. It pulls off what the Staedtler Pigment Liner does, except even better. The black body really makes the silver branding pop on the pen barrel.

The clip is standard and slightly flexible. It retains it shape very well and isn’t very easy to warp. In my pocket and pen case, it held up nicely and didn’t pop out at all. It performed its job admirably.

The grip is by far the best I’ve ever experienced on a drawing pen. It is smooth, unlike many of its competitors. The smooth transitions between the 3 layers of narrowing width allows for far more control than I’ve ever gotten from any drawing pen I’ve written with. It feels really assuring to know that I can be confident that it won’t slip despite the lack of any extra texture to help with grip. I used this pen for a 3 hour-long note-taking session and it held up to my expectations and then some. The ink is a water-based pigment ink that flows smoothly and is smudge-proof against watercolor and alcohol-based markers.

Reviewing this pen has been a blast! At every turn, it met my expectations and exceeded them in some aspects. Maybe I will try out the 0.3mm variant after finished with this one. If it feels anything like this one, I feel that I would have to edit my drawing pens rankings.

Pilot Precise V5

If someone asked me the question: What pen can I get at a department store that’s good?, I would immediately point them to the Pilot Precise V5. If I had to select one widely available pen that anyone can walk into a Staples and purchase, hands-down, this would be my ultimate choice.

Simple in its construction, the V5 is one of the first “expensive” pens that allowed me to discover the rabbit hole. It wasn’t until much later that I got to try it out again, only to be put off due to me embracing micro tip gel pens at the time. After I renewed my opinion towards rollerballs after trying out the Morning Glory Mach 3, I decided that it was time to try the V5 out again and give my opinion about this amazing and highly available pen from Pilot.

 

The first thing that many will notice is the clip as it is slightly thinner than most of the other clips I’ve seen on pens of a similar nature. The metal is highly bendable and can potentially warp out of shape should enough stress be put into it, my problem is with exactly how much was needed before it warped in my pocket. Just the simple action of bending down to lift a heavy box caused the clip to bend too far. Fortunately, being thin also means that it was easy to readjust and tighten up a bit. However, this is one of the drawbacks that prevent this from truly becoming my go to pocket pen.

The body is made of a durable plastic that can honestly take a lot of damage. I’ve dropped these on quite a number of surfaces and the pen’s held up with just a couple of nicks and scratches here and there. It was never damaged to the point that it affected the performance.

The grip is one of the things I initially loved about this pen. At the time it was a total trip for me to able to see the feed of a pen. As time went on, I spoiled myself with the sublime grips on Pentel pens and this caused a change in opinion. This pen no longer fits my standards for grip. While I do have harsh standards that I judge every pen by, I also look at the price and whether it was expected at the price range. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great for jotting down quick notes, but for someone like me who has sweaty hands, as I have no doubt mentioned time and time again, the grip does little to secure my fingers. It’s just a standard piece of clear plastic that is smooth on all sides, no etching or surfaces meant to help with grip. It was the perfect pen for taking notes in class as most of my classes were only 50 minutes long. I found that during Tuesdays and Wednesdays, where the class period was elongated to 1 hour and 50 minutes, writing with it became a bit of a hassle.

The nib is one of the few things that draws me back to this pen after all this time. I still remember the first day of high school where I used this pen in all my classes and watched as the black luster of the ink dried slowly on the pages of my notebook. It was a wondrous feeling that gave me no small sense of satisfaction to watch. to the me back then, it was almost a magical effect. The lines were consistent, crisp and dark. I have yet to find a more widely available and cheaper pen that performs as well as the V5.

In short, this is a starter pen of sorts. A durable, lightweight pen that can take a lot of damage while at the same time laying down clean and crisp line while gliding across the page. It’s available in both 0.5 and 0.7mm configurations and is definitely worth the price. So next time you’re in your local department store, don’t hesitate to head on over to the stationary aisle and grab a pack of these. I highly recommend you guys to try it out. Comment below on your experience with the V5. Until then, write on, my friends.