[Pen/Pencil Review] Motiva Rectractable Ball Point Pens
Originally published at Rhonda Eudaly. You can comment here or there.
Today’s review is of the Motiva retractable ball point pens - a 5 pen multi-color pack. Motiva is a “house” brand from Staples. I picked them up with a rewards bonus.
These Motiva pens are packaged as an “advanced ink system”. They are ball point pens in a 0.7 mm point - called “Fine”, which I’ll take - in a basic retractable design. This pack came in blue, black, red, green, and purple. The barrels are color coded to the ink with some transparency to the upper barrel so you can see the ink levels. The barrels are about 5.75″ long regardless of retraction. They have chrome plated stainless steel accents. The grip has cross-hatch pattern rubber grip for that tactical grip feel.
This ink is proposed to be kind of a hybrid between ball point and gel ink. The packaging says these pens have the functionality of ball points with the smoothness of gel. And I can see that. I don’t see a lot of skips and glops to the ink and the smearing is minimal. The flow is smooth. The colors are decently dark and rich for the fine line - except the green. The green isn’t BAD, but ball point green ink just is never dark enough for me.
For relatively inexpensive ball point pens, they’re pretty cool and affordable.
The numbers:
1. How does it work? - 1 - It works. The ink flows well. The pen is an okay length. The mechanism works.
2. Grip and feel - 0.5 - It’s got traction, not a “grip”. I’ve never been a fan of “tactical” pattern for a grip. I want a touch of squish, not traction. And it’s a straight barrel. The nod to ergonomics is just a nod.
3. Material - 1 - For what it is, it’s fine. It’s a solidly made inexpensive retractable ball point pen.
4. Overall Design - 0.5 - Though I love it being a fine point -that means the green and red ink are a bit light. I like the ability to see some of the ink levels. Not sure how much is left after the grip, but hey…Not a fan of the grip.
5. Price Point - 1 - According to the website, this multi-color 5-pack is $4.79 - which makes them under $1 a piece. That’s well in line with that this pen should be. I would totally pay that for this pen. If they walk away for whatever reason or get lost - you’re not out a significant investment. Love that.
That’s 4 of 5 bronze pencils.
