Posts filed under Sakura

Sakura Mixline Highlighter Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

When it comes to highlighters, I certainly wouldn't consider myself a power user. Most weeks, I don't even use a highlighter. But I still understand the value and purpose that highlighters provide for so many people every day. They're essential in stationery, but you'd be remiss to think that all highlighters are the same. I thought I had seen it all, but the Sakura Mixline has shown me a new trick that I'm still not sure I need.

The Sakura Mixline is a combination highlighter and fineliner that also packs in a hidden feature on the highlighter side. Along with a chisel tip highlighter, there's a small fineliner tip nestled on the bottom side of the chisel tip. So, when you highlight something, you also underline it with the fineliner tip. Amazing! To make it stand out even more, the two tips are different colors that provide a nice contrast on the page.

The back side of the pen has a dedicated fineliner tip, which is the same color as the underliner. Thankfully, the fineliner tip colors are darker, making them easy to write with and see on the page. You can even highlight them with the highlighter color on the other end of the pen to create more visual contrast. All of the colors work together quite well.

These lightweight pens are easy to stow in bags, and there's a clip on the larger highlighter cap so you can securely store them on a pocket. Even though the caps are different sizes, they can somehow post on each other! I didn't think this would work, but Sakura thought this one through. Last thing you need is to lose a small cap for a pen that will dry out quickly if left uncapped for an extended period.

So, how well does this highlighter system work? Do you have to hold it just right to get the optimal highlighter shade and underline on the page? In short, no. It's pretty forgiving and easy to use as long as you use a firm pressure and focus on keeping the angle correct. I was able to get perfect highlight + underline every time I tried after a few practice tries.

A downside of this firm pressure is that it can cause some smudging on certain inks that you're highlighting over. It isn't major in my testing, but it's noticeable.

The fineliners on the back of the pen work great. The lines are really crisp and the colors are bright while being dark enough to easily read.

The colors can be difficult to list out since there are two different colors in three places on each pen. Here's how the Juicy 3-pack colors work:

Yellow highlighter with blue-green underline and fineliner
Blue highlighter with orange underline and fineliner
Coral red highlighter with red underline and fineliner

The colors all contrast well and make a great set. If you need more colors, Sakura offer a Natural pack with three more combinations.

This is a really cool product. I know it's not something I'll reach for because it's a highlighter that also underlines stuff. I'll reach for it because it's a great fineliner tip and a great highlighter. I really don't have any use for underlining stuff that I'm already highlighting. But stationery doesn't exist to fulfill my limited uses — there's obviously a market for this product, and I love that there can be such nichè products in this hobby. It's awesome knowing that this highlighter fits someone's needs exactly for what they want to do.

At $9 for the 3-pack, these are on-par with other highlighter packs. Time will tell how long the ink lasts, but the tips seem very durable. I'm sure the ink will run out before the tips wear down. If you don't want the 3-pack, you can also purchase these pens individually, though the price is a little higher at $3.30 each.

I hope that this review finds someone that needs this product that wasn't aware of its existence before. If you need a highlighter that simultaneously underlines, Sakura have you covered!

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

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Posted on June 14, 2023 by Jeff Abbott and filed under Sakura, Highlighter, Pen Reviews.

Sakura Craft Lab 002 Gel Pen Review

My first go-round with Sakura’s premium gel ink pen products, the Craft Lab 005, was positive from a personal usage perspective, but there were a litany of reasons, all laid out in the linked piece, why I would hesitate to recommend it. That said, I felt good enough about it to go ahead and buy-in to the product lineup once again, this time with the Sakura Craft Lab 002 Gel Pen.

The premise of the 002 is essentially the same as with the 005: unique design elements, fun colors, premium price. I’d even call this ultra-premium from a manufacturer more known for it’s $2 gel ink pens and markers.

This is a basic, cylindrical-shape pen barrel. It features a brass underbarrel, with an opaque acrylic outer layer designed to allow the color to shine through. And the colors are bright! I went with what may be the brightest, in Yellow, but they do offer a few basics, like Black and White, if searing Orange isn’t your thing.

The knock mechanism is a 180 degree twist to extend and retract the refill. It looks nice, and feels solid to use. It, and the nose cone, are exposed color, outside of the acrylic overlay on the barrel, which makes the color stand out even more.

Unlike the 005, which shipped with an interesting Sepia Black 0.5 mm gel ink refill, the 002 uses a basic Black 0.5 mm. I would have liked to have seen one of the other Black+ inks that Sakura offers ship with it, but they are available separately.

The refill is a good jumping off point to say that buying a Sakura Craft Labs pen is expensive from the jump, and the ongoing expense of buying refills sends the true cost of the pen exponentially higher. Not only are these low-capacity gel ink refills (compared to the standard gel ink pen refills,) they cost $4.15 each. At $45, you are making a commitment to the pen, and that means the refills, too. That’s something to consider in advance.

If I were to compare my 005 to the 002, I would take the 005 every time, and it’s not particularly close. It is $3 more expensive, and “only” has a plastic barrel, but the shape and feel of it are superior-especially the grip taper. The 002 is good in its own right, but there is only room for one of these on my desk … for now.

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

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Posted on September 19, 2022 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Sakura, Pen Reviews.

Sakura Ballsign iD 0.4 mm Gel Pen Review

There are four main gel ink pen makers who I trust blindly to provide consistently great pens: Pentel, Pilot, Uni-ball, and Zebra. They all have decades of experience, and their manufacturing and quality control are always on point. While I don’t personally love every single product they make, I know that they are going to be good in the right hands.

Outside of those brands, it can be tough sledding. There is quality out there, but it is tougher to find. Sakura is looking to change that with the Ballsign iD gel ink pen.

If you have been in the stationery world for any length of time, then you are familiar with Sakura. Their Gelly Roll pens were the first gel ink pens on the market in the 1980’s, and their Pigma Micron lineup is the art marker that all others are measured by. But as classic or as great as those two models are, they really haven’t had a difference maker in the standard writing/office supply gel ink pen market. At least, nothing that can hang with the big four above.

The Ballsign iD is Sakura’s first real competitor. The Ballsign name has been around in various iterations for years, but nothing good enough to stick. The Ballsign Knock is a good pen, but even in my review of it five years ago I mentioned it was a tier down from the best. The iD, though? I think it has a chance.

This is a basic looking pen. It’s modern, with clean lines all around the four-sided (two flat, two rounded) barrel, and a bent-over-the-top steel clip that also serves as part of the knock. The plastic nose cone is the weak point of the design, and would have been served better with a metal that matches the clip.

It is comfortable, and writes well. I’m using the 0.4 mm Mysterious Purple refill in this review, which is the name for their Purple Black gel ink. The Ballsign iD also comes with Blue Black, Green Black, Brown Black, and standard Black refill options.

The refill feels like a combination between the Uni-ball Signo RT for the smoothness, and the Zebra Sarasa Clip for the dryness. This is not an overly inky gel pen, and even being 0.4 mm, may not be wet enough for some writers. Juicy the Ballsign is not.

So, does the Ballsign iD belong in the same category as some of the best in the category? No, but it is as close as any Sakura gel ink pen has been. I think the nose cone is an easy design upgrade, and better ink flow from the tip to eliminate the dryness would be a plus. If Sakura can keep on expanding and improving this lineup, then I think they have a competitor on their hands.

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

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