Rolling Ball

Retro Talk: The Tiger Shark

by Andrew

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The Flying Tigers – officially called the 1st American Volunteer Group – were a band of Air Force squadrons sent to defend China against Japanese attacks during Word War II. They were successful and popular in their time, but they are probably best remembered for the creative paint jobs they gave to their P-40 Warhawk fighter planes. So, in August 2015, 70 years after the end of WWII, Retro 51 announced a Tornado pen in tribute to the Flying Tigers.

The Flying Tiger Tornado turned out to be a very successful product: 500 pens were made, and they sold out fast. I missed out, unfortunately – I hadn’t gotten my first Retro 51 Tornado until a couple weeks after the Flying Tiger was released, so it was long gone by the time I caught wind of it. To my delight, the design was so popular that Retro 51 decided to release two more versions of the pen earlier this year, the Tiger Shark (the one I have, pictured above) and the Fortress (pictured below).

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All three pens feature a design printed on a lacquer wrap with acid-etching for detail. The acid-etching is especially cool, as it adds texture to the rivets and grooves in the paneling. To give the pen a grittier look, the metal of the nosecone, clip, and twist have been artificially weathered. All three pens look great, but I especially like the camouflage on the Tiger Shark. The “Dear Becky” insignia on the Fortress design is also pretty great, but it lacks the iconic set of shark teeth at the pen’s tip.

This has got to be one of my favorite Retro 51 Tornado pens. Like the Albert Tornado, the pen has a great design along with an interesting history. Both the Fortress and the Tiger Shark are also easy to get a hold of – unlike the Flying Tiger, the Fortress and Tiger Shark aren’t being sold in limited quantities. However, they both still have a production number stamped near the twist. I’m not sure I understand the reason for this, but if you have a higher number than mine (#180), then I think you should owe me a drink.

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On a side note, Vanness threw in a blue Retro 51 refill with my order. I don’t usually use blue ink, but I decided to throw it in the Tiger Shark anyway. To my surprise, I’m actually liking it. It’s smooth and has a nice, deep hue …though I suppose a green ink might make more sense with this pen.

Update 8/29/16: Retro 51 pointed out on their Twitter account that the Fortress Tornado is actually based on the designs painted on B-17 Bombers (also known as a Flying Fortress).

Review: Baron Fig Squire, Rollerball Ink, 0.6mm

by Andrew

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Many might know Baron Fig best for being one of those Kickstarter success stories. In late 2013, they raised over $168,000 to create “notebooks for thinkers,” a project which was subsequently spun-off into an online business with a growing product line. And not content to rest on those laurels, Baron Fig launched another Kickstarter project late last year for a companion product to their notebooks: a pen dubbed the Squire. This second project was also successful, raising $145,249 – of which I contributed $50 so that I could have a Squire of my very own.

As a fan of the Retro 51 Tornado, the Squire immediately felt very comfortable. In fact, it’s easy to see that the Squire took much of its inspiration from the Tornado; the comparisons are obvious. Both have a twist-style retracting mechanisms at the top of the barrel, both use a branded Schmidt rollerball refill (though the Tornado uses a 0.7mm point, as opposed to the Squire’s 0.6mm point), and even their packaging is very similar.

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Sadly, I had a couple issues with the Squire right out of the box. First, the refill that came with the pen was a dud – no big deal for me, though, because I have plenty of extra refills laying around. Second, the retracting mechanism was a bit defective. When twisted, it felt as if there were gravel stuck inside the threads, and it jammed every now and again. After a couple days, however, this kink worked itself out, and it was smooth sailing.

It took a couple weeks of use, but I grew to like the Squire quite a lot. The anodized finish looks and feels great, the aluminum body has a great weight, and I love the shape of the barrel, which thickens near the bottom before contracting at the tip – it looks like the blade of a xiphos sword (the type used for the pen’s logo). And after a while, I only had one big complaint left: there’s no clip.

It’s certainly a slick design, but without a clip, the Squire is really best used as a desk-only pen. In my everyday use, this pen rolled off tables and fell out of my pocket frequently, which is probably why I eventually lost it. And take my word for it, it’s a pretty awful feeling when you’ve realized a $50 pen has gone missing. My only hope is that it’s become the prized possession of a hapless pedestrian who stumbled onto it.

Honestly, I’ve been tempted to buy another (the Squire is now available from Baron Fig’s website for $55 for those who missed the Kickstarter campaign), but I don’t know if I could handle misplacing a second one.

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The Baron Fig’s empty (bah!) packaging.

Extra Links

  • Here’s a review at The Well Appointed Desk that shows off the silver version of the pen, which apparently picks up a lot of visible dirt. I chose the charcoal version, the only other option, which I think looks cooler anyway.
  • Another review at Woodclinched. Here you can see the silver and charcoal versions side by side. I guess the silver version might be better if you’re looking to match your Apple gear. Side note: it seems like I’m not the only one who prefers to have a pocket clip attached to a pen.
  • A review at Office Supply Geek where he highly recommends the Squire. In fact, he prefers the pen without a clip! Well, to each their own.

Review: Ohto Words, Rollerball, 0.5mm

by Andrew

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Expensive-looking pens with classic design features – cigar shaped, capped, gold trim – are often thought of as executive pens, but despite having this classic aesthetic, the Ohto Words rollerball is really more of a mid-management pen. Don’t mistake that as a negative, however. The Ohto Words is actually a good pen, just smaller, lighter, and a lot less expensive than something you might find sitting on top of a CEO’s desk.

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Ohto, a Japanese company established in 1929, has been a major player in the pen market for quite a long time. Often credited with the invention of (water-based) rollerball ink in 1963, their experience as a pen manufacturer certainly shows. The 0.5mm refill included with the Words rollerball, the C-305, is smooth, dark, and low smear – Jetpens even claims it as one of their best-stelling rollerball refills.

The pen itself features an aluminum body, a comfortable, plastic grip, and it can be found in four different colors – black, blue, gray, and silver. It’s a good writing experience overall, and its 15-dollar price tag seems fairly reasonable. If you want a fancy-looking pen without having to spend a hundred bucks, the Ohto Words makes for a decent stand-in.

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Retro Talk: The Terabyte Tornado

by Andrew

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From time to time, Retro 51 announces new editions to its popular line of Tornado pens. They are always fun to see, but I’m not usually excited enough to drop the $20 to $40 they typically cost.  That was not the case, however, when I saw the Terabyte Tornado announced last year, which I pre-ordered without hesitation. It arrived last December, and it’s been a regular in my pen rotation since.

Limited to 500 pieces and sold only through Anderson Pens, the Terabyte Tornado is wrapped with a circuit-board design, and its metallic bits – the tip, clip, and twist – are given a dark, matted finish that is reminiscent of solder alloy. There’s also a dark green disk inset into the top of the twist, which adds a nice accent. Careful, though – after accidentally dropping the pen, the disk popped right out (but a little Krazy glue quickly fixed it).

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I really like the design, but I think an actual circuit-board pattern (or perhaps texture) would have really knocked this one out of the park. For example, I really love what Retro 51 did with the Albert, which is wrapped in a design that’s an accurate proof for Einstein’s famous E=MC² equation. Instead, the Terabyte’s design is an artistic rendering of a circuit board. It looks cool to me, but a hardcore computer enthusiast might disagree.

Other than that, the Terabyte Tornado is your standard Retro 51 fare. If the design appeals to you, you might want to pick it up soon. These things tend to sell out. Otherwise, there will be plenty more designs to come in the future, and I’m sure I’ll be adding at least a few of them to my Retro 51 collection.

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Review: Tombow Ultra, Rollerball, 0.5mm

by Andrew

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The Tombow Ultra feels like a pen you’d whip out to write your personal number on the back of a business card. It’s a hefty, thick, and professional-looking pen. It exists to impress, but it isn’t just for show either. It’s durable and comfortable, and it comes stocked with an amazing rollerball ink.

The Ultra is in the 25-50 dollar price range, and for your money you get a good-quality metal and enamel pen. However, it does have a rubberized grip – it’s thick and comfortable, but it’s worth noting that it might wear down with heavier use.

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Still, the only major flaw in the Ultra is a plastic piece inside the cap that exists to create an airtight seal around the tip of the refill, preventing it from drying out. Unfortunately, this plastic piece is too thin and malleable. It frequently gets bent out of shape when attempting to cap the pen, making it necessary to bend it back in place before the cap can be properly secured. It’s a very annoying aspect of an otherwise nice pen.

Regardless, I do like the Ultra. It even comes inside a Tombow case, making it nicely giftable. And, as I mentioned, I am very impressed with its rollerball refill, which is clean, dark, and low smear. It’s possibly the smoothest rollerball I’ve ever used, and it even comes in tip sizes as small as 0.3mm. I can’t say I’ll be using the Tombow Ultra as much as I use my (similarly-priced) Retro 51 Tornado, but I’ll definitely be looking to put that Tombow rollerball refill into any pen that will accept it.

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