I waited quite a bit..., May 6, 2013

By edgar.hernandez.ar

I waited quite a bit before writing this review because I wanted to see how well this pen performed after several months of use. All of the other reviews I found often spoke about the immediate days. And for such an expensive pen, I felt it was sort of a shame no one talked about it on the long run. Well, I ordered this pen back in February and I must say I am impressed.

At first, I took care of this pen with my life. I had never spent nearly 50$ on a pen before. But, the pen's metallic body holds quite a bit. After the first month, the pen suffered its first drop, damaging the paint job, leaving it with a terrible scar on the cap. Yet, it lived on. As time went on, I dropped it more often and I became careless with it. It went from a novelty pen to a warrior and it has yet to let me down. The pen takes the beating. Sure, the paint job does get scratched easily, making it look a little ugly, but the functionality makes up for it. The only aspect I want to negatively criticize is the clip. The thing doesn't hold up too well. After just two weeks, it began to feel loose, which makes me not pin it on my shirt as I usually do.

Moreover, this pen accepts all the universal D1 refills and not just the Zebra ones (although those work great). I primarily use the Pilot Hi-Tec-C 0.4 D1 refill, which you can conveniently buy here. They do fit a little loose, depending on the brand, but they don't seem to fall out.

If you buy this pen, you will not regret it.

  The rotating mechanism..., May 5, 2013

By inf...

The rotating mechanism works wonderfully and I won't use a regular non rotating mechanism unless my Kuru Toga is not available. I have the 0.3mm and 0.5mm Kuru Toga (0.7mm on order) and they are all the best mechanical pencils I have used. I use the 0.3mm for fine work and the 0.5mm for regular work although I find the 0.5mm a touch fine (my son thinks the Kuru Toga 0.5mm is perfect).

The 0.5mm lead has about 3 times the volume of material than a 0.3mm lead and they last quite awhile before having to advance the lead. The Kuru Toga advances the lead a relatively short amount compared to some other mechanical pencils and that helps reduces breakage. The only time they break is when I don't let the lead wear right down before advancing.

Once the lead pushes past the advancing/rotating mechanism it is best to advance a new lead and throw away the rather long bit you just pushed through. I tried using up the non rotating lead by pushing it through from behind one click at a time but small pieces of the new lead kept breaking off inside and eventually jammed. I unscrewed the end to clean out the dozen or so bits that collected in the tip.

The 0.5mm Kuru Toga makes the slightly thinner line than a standard mechanical pencil, almost the same as a standard 0.3mm.

I don't bother using the eraser as you have to remove (and lose?) the cap. I guess it's okay for emergencies but I try to keep a standard eraser handy. Having spare leads included is a real bonus and they are strong and dark.

  The turning mechanism..., May 5, 2013

By inf...

The turning mechanism works wonderfully and keeps the line very fine. I only use the 0.3mm for small work as the lead wears fast (all 0.3mm leads wear fast, they have approx 1/3 the lead volume of a 0.5mm lead). For standard work I use the Kuru Toga 0.5mm or 0.7mm.

  I absolutely LOVE these..., May 5, 2013

By jan...

I absolutely LOVE these pens - both the colors and the way they write. The writing is SO smooth and the colors, although nearly black, have a nice tinge of color. It also feels good in your hand. I am buying a stash.

  'Lemon Star' would be..., May 5, 2013

By Nyx_Ro

'Lemon Star' would be a more accurate color name than 'Golden Star'. When you try to use it in artwork, it doesn't give the impression of gold ornaments or jewelry because the color doesn't the slight orange-brownness needed for that effect. It's a worthy color in its own right which I can find other uses for, but I wish the color name were less misleading. Just sayin'.

Like all of the Gelly Roll Stardust pens, the ink flows easily without scratchiness.