Intermittent...

Sorry to all the regular viewers, life has been a bit busy of late.
Not counting computer troubles too, it has been a bit difficult to post regularly and sufficiently, but new post will be here soon, normal regular service should start again tomorrow.
Thank you all for your perseverance and keep checking back for all the new updates and posts to come.

Shopping Find: Rhodia, Rhodia Colours notebooks

Another recent find are these Rhodia coloured notebooks, A6 and A5 hardback versions.
Price point seems competitive, would think so at supermarket prices.
Could be an interesting area to watch especially now large high street stores appear to be getting on the notebook trend.

Shopping find: Uni Chalk Markers

Just spotted these on recent shopping trip.
Interesting to find in a general shop, only ever spotted these in art and craft stores, as well as sign making shops and business supply retailers.
Not sure what I would do with them, but maybe there will be a post coming about them, keep checking back.

Shopping finds

Recent trip to the shops for a fetish feed turned up some interesting new finds. All the following finds were discovered in Staples, who are admittedly a little over priced, but generally have good stock levels and variation.

First up is two new Bic pen finds, the 2-in1 Stylus and the Cristal Stylus. Their use and intention are pretty obvious I would say to everyone, I do like the fact that they have crafted a more budget end stylus pens as well as an all steel premium model. Although i think selling a bic branded Stylus cap would have been a good idea too, maybe not as commercially lucrative but a nice touch and addition to the Bic line up.

We are all familiar with the Bic four colour pen, well here we have a standard model branded with Hello Kitty, the colours are no different to the stanard model, which seems strange, why not brad the Pastel version as a Hello Kitty model, or perhaps some limited edition colours, anyone remember the yellow ink Bic Cristals that used to be available?

And of course no shopping trip would be complete without the obligatory Sharpie  product line check up. Here we have 2 Sharpie pen models, the Stylo Premium Pen and the Stylo Grip Pen, now, why the premium is labelled as such I'm not sure, as far as i can tell the barrel is all plastic, the nib is no different and colours are the standard fair available in all Sharpie pens, equally bizarrely, the premium version is actually cheaper as a 4 pack than the 3 pack grip pens. Neither of them replace in my affections the Stainless Steel or Pen Sharpies as reviewed in an earlier post.

 Here we have a new find, Aveo are I believe a Montex brand/model, first impressions are these pens are very similar to the old model Sharpie pens as mentioned above and reviewed in earlier post. These pens feature SilkScribe ink, of which there was no further mention on the packaging so what the benefits are of it I have no idea.

Some nice Staedtler penciles were also spotted in the loose section of Staples, as you can see there are a multitude of colours, which all makes for a nice product line up, rare to see investment in so many colours from a good manufacturer. I'm note sure what the white artifact is around the coloured lead, there was no mention of it on the retail pricing stickers,  so if anyone knows please get in touch.

 And in closing some new pencils from Faber-Castell, 2 1/2 HB Grip pencils, with a free Grip eraser too, nice little bonus there, writing pencils seem to be becomming more and more popular lately, perhaps following the American market.

Plus Gelly 0.7 (Plus*Office brand)

Here we have a Plus Gelly 0.7 (from the Plus*Office brand), which is obviously a cheaper Pilot G2 Chinese copy.

As you can see the the design of the pen is almost identical to the Pilot G2, even down to the design of the refill and ink barrel. Length, with and weight are all comparable to the G2, no accident that it resembles the G2.

But how does it actually write?
Well I must admit, even with the huge popularity of the G2 with the notepad/notebook fans on the internet, I've never owned or used one, terrible of me I know. But as to this pen, well there are no complaints really, it has a decent and reassuring feel in the hand when writing, not especially heavy as you would expect from a plastic gel roller, the ink lays down well with no particular smudging issues.

The line is nicely dark and black, with a good consistency on the loops and whirls, no skipping here. The grip section is the usual hard rubber (almost plastic) set up evident on so many pens of this type and price bracket, certainly sufficient I would say to last the life of the pen.

The refill is not end capped, unlike the G2, the pocket clip feels sturdy enough, moulded as one piece withe the post nodule as it is, and has nice spring to it; it should hold firmly enough when in use. The click/spring action is certainly positive, no mistaking when you've extended or retracted the nib.

All in all a decent pen with some nice G2 like characteristics for a very decent price, this pen was one of the recent Spanish haul, if you see it around your usual haunt and are a fan of the G2 or gel pens in general I would say give it a shot.