Paper Mate Flair Tropical Vacation Set Review

You know it's back to school time when new multi-color pen packs start hitting the shelf, and Paper Mate is just in time with its latest Flair colors. Appropriately named Tropical Vacation, this set will have you longing for the days of summer as your classes get underway for the 2015-2016 school year.

The Paper Mate Flair is a classic pen, and a long time favorite of mine and many, many others. It has a long lineage of excellent quality and performance at an excellent price. The basic black medium tip Paper Mate Flair would be considered on the first ballot of the Stationery Hall of Fame, if there were such a thing, and subsequent releases have been equally as good. The Ultra Fine is my personal favorite, but also one of the hardest to find.

Paper Mate has introduced various color variations over the years, but they leaned towards normal shades (lime green, orange, etc.). This is one of the first non-standard releases I can remember. Tropical Vacation offers up six colors: Guava, Orchid Lei, Papaya, Passion Fruit, Scuba Dive, and Surf's Up. The purple black color of Passion Fruit is the big winner in my book, followed by the bright blue of Scuba Dive. Orchid Lei is also a standout with its dark pink/magenta shade, but the three lighter colors aren't so great, with Papaya bringing up the rear.

One interesting thing I noticed is that the line width varied slightly between pens right out of the pack. For example, the Passion Fruit was wider and softer than Papaya, whose tip was firmer and finer than the rest of the bunch. It's not a big concern because these tips will break down with use regardless, but it was noticeable. The good thing is the Flair has moved to plastic tips as opposed to the really old felt tips that would end up stringy over time.

In the grand scheme of things, Paper Mate is not always on the tips of pen addicts tongues except for one pen: The Paper Mate Flair. It's a classic that works in many situations, and it is nice to see a refresh like Tropical Vacation hit the shelves from time to time.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

In 2013, I found an unprocessed Super 8 film cartridge of footage I shot in 1992. I had no idea what it was. This is it. http://jawbreakerband.com/ https://www.facebook.com/jawbreaker https://twitter.com/jawbreakerband http://instagram.com/jawbreakermusic https://midheaven.com/artist/jawbreaker c&p 1994 schwarzenbach / bauermeister / pfahler bmi

If you have made it this far, treat yourself to a listen to 'Boxcar" by the band Jawbreaker. The video footage in the video above was lost for over 20 years before being found in 2013. And if that floats your boat, check out John Darnielle totally kill it in this cover version.

Paper Mate Flair Review

The Paper Mate Flair is one of those pens that even your non-pen addict friends know about. It has been around for decades, and with good reason. It is a darn fine pen.

When I was growing up, the black Flair was a weapon of choice, with a bit of blue and red trickiling in over the years. It was a workhorse, although was prone to tip breakdown due to the design. This is normal with felt tip pens like the Flair, and is something you just have to deal with.

The newer model Flair has more of a plastic tip feel, giving it a sharper line and added durability over the original. I'll miss the fuzz I used to get off the original, but there is no doubt this is an upgrade.

I'm not sure when the rainbow of colors first came into the Flair line - I'm guessing the 90's - but the latest models are as good as ever. The colors are vibrant, and exactly what you would expect from the product descriptions. I went with a Sky Blue / Lime / Orange trio as you can see in the images, and I love them all. I use pens like this for notes and lists, not for long writing sessions. Black works for that, and I have enough black felt tip pens to last me a lifetime. Give me the brightness!

All in all, the Paper Mate Flair is a very solid pen. It will never be spectacular, but it will always be useful. That's why I always keep several around.

Paper Mate InkJoy 500 RT 1.0 mm Blue Review

The Paper Mate InkJoy is the most recent store-shelf pen to receive a big marketing push. Advertisements and store displays are abundant, as are PR pitches to mark the launch of Paper Mate’s Revolutionary New Ink System. But how revolutionary is it?

On a scale of 1 to 10 it checks in at about a 0.

Special ink blends are the new black. Uni-ball has used this technology for years in their Jetstream line. Pilot and Zebra followed up more recently with hybrids of their own - the Acroball and Surari, respectively. Formulating an ink to give you smooth, consistent lines is neither new, nor revolutionary. Unfortunately for Paper Mate, all of the other companies do it better.

There is not a lot of bad to say about the InkJoy 500 RT that I reviewed. There is not much good to say either. It is just a pen. I use that phrase to describe pens that are average and offer nothing new or exciting. It writes smoothly (as every 1.0 mm pen should) and starts quickly, but the lines are not as crisp and clean as marketed. There is plenty of white space as if it were your basic generic ballpoint. It has that wonderful ballpoint ink aroma as well.

Regardless of what I think about this pen, Paper Mate will do well with the InkJoy. I bought this pen at Walmart, where Paper Mate has taken over approximately 25% of the pen section. That is where the problem lies. There is nothing new or interesting on the store shelves where the vast majority of consumers shop. The last big change in that section was when the Sharpie Pen started making waves, which was over two years ago.

The pace of innovation in mass-market pens is extremely slow. Inroads are being made by a few manufacturers, and let’s face it, I am not their target customer. The Paper Mate InkJoy is a prime example of that.

Say hello to your moms new favorite pen.