Sakura Craft Lab 005 Gel Ink Pen Review

Pop quiz time: does the pen in the picture above cost $5, or $50?

Ok, the answer is probably obvious, or else I wouldn’t have been able to write this introduction. And while it isn’t exactly $50, at $48, the Sakura Craft Lab 005 Gel Ink Pen is close enough for arguments sake. And it’s an argument - with myself - that I’m about to have.

I love this pen. Let’s get that out of the way right up top. It’s everything I am looking for in a cool Japanese stationery product.

The design is beautiful. It features a long, torpedo-shape, plastic barrel, with a twist mechanism that engages near the middle of the pen. The long, vertical lines in the grip section morph into a Sakura blossom at the end of the barrel, giving this pen its signature look.

And it feels great too. This is a thick-wall plastic, giving the pen some density, along with the internal metal hardware for the twist mechanism. It’s not heavy, but it’s not light, either.

This pen ships with an 0.5 mm gel ink refill in Sepia Black. Now that’s a choice, isn’t it? I love the unique color, and even though I would like the brown to break through on the page a little more, it shows up well enough in comparison to a standard black ink.

Side by side with the Zebra Sarasa Clip refill.

When writing, I would compare it to the Zebra Sarasa Clip 0.5 mm gel ink pen. For those familiar with that pen you know it writes well, but with a slight scratch it the tip. That is something I enjoy, but a glassy 0.7 mm Pentel EnerGel this is not.

And here, the fawning ends, because there are two issues with this pen that make it difficult for me to recommend.

First up, the price. As mentioned up top, it’s $48. That’s admittedly outrageous for this pen. The funny thing is, I don’t think it is overpriced. This is a case where a high-design, low-volume, boutique-like pen has become more widely available. I get it. I don’t know that I can wholeheartedly recommend it, but I get it.

What I don’t get with this pen is the refill choice. It is proprietary in design, half the length of a standard gel ink refill, and replacements are costly at $4.15 each. This is where they lose me.

The mid-barrel twist forces this design decision. And if you are familiar with gel ink pens - in relation to rollerball and ballpoint pens - then you know that they are the fastest refills to write dry. If you think the pen is expensive, then you really don’t want to consider the ongoing costs of using it.

That’s too bad, because I genuinely love using the Sakura Craft Lab gel pen. It’s fun, it’s cool, it feels and works great, and it’s a money pit.

What a dilemma.

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

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Sakura Koi Watercolor Field Sketch Set Review

(This is a guest post by Nick Folz. You can find more of Nick and his work on his blog, Smallberry Drive, Twitter, and Instagram.)

I am barely scraping by here on a technicality. Sure, this is a watercolor set, not a pen ... but it comes with a water brush that could be loosely defined as a brush pen?

Regardless of the rules here, this watercolor set does indeed rule. The Sakura Koi Watercolor sets come in a wide variety of sizes, from 12 to 48 color palettes. I picked up this 30 color variety because I wanted to try out a new range of colors. I had been using an Artist Loft 36 color set which was fine, but was running low on a few hues and wanted to try something different, so I picked up this kit at a local art store.

First impression is that the kit itself It’s neat and cute. It is a small rectangle clamshell that snaps open and shut. Inside is a small pallete to mix colors with, two small sponges, a water brush, and 30 pigment cubes. The pallete has short legs that slide into small holes placed around the base. The water brush must be dissembled to fit back into place but it has a small stopper so you can leave it loaded with water for travel. On the back side of the case there is a small ring that can be flipped out so you can hold it easier if you are painting outside, or on the couch.

The 30 colors are pretty decent. I like a few less yellows, but your mileage may vary. Some of the color cubes are very dark, so you might not know what pigment you are picking up until you mix it on the pallete. I noticed that if you don't go pretty light on some of the colors they don't break down completely and you end up with a chalky tone, but if you start light and work darker they are fine.

The water brush included is serviceable, but nothing great. It does have an odd feature in that the tip screws on in the opposite direction than you would expect: Righty loosey, lefty tighty. The water flow is slow and deliberate, but if you don't have that sucker lefty tightened all the way down then water will come out of the seam and not the brush tip. I want to replace it, but my other brush pens are filled with ink, and it isn't so bad that replacing it has taken priority, so it stays.

The sponges are something I didn't think I'd use, but I use them all the time. I didn't ever keep sponges around when watercoloring before, I always kept a paper towel with me instead. The sponges can be used to clean pigment off the brush, remove excess water, or to make textured patterns on the artwork. Their addition makes this a one stop shop for watercoloring and I find myself using them more often because of the convenience.

Convenience is the key for me here, because I'm not alone or unique in that I feel busy all of the time. Free time is rare and short, and there are no shortage of things vying for a slice of it: Books I should read, shows I want to watch, games I want to play, episodes of a certain pen podcast I want to listen too. Anything that removes some barriers gets bumped up in the queue, and since I've purchased this kit I've found myself watercoloring more often, and enjoying it more than before. Is the water brush great? No. Are there better quality watercolors out there? Sure. Does this kit make me a better artist? Well, it allows me to paint more often, and that is worth the price of admission.

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

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Sakura Gelly Roll Classic Gel Pen Review

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter.)

Almost every note I took in high school was made with a Sakura Gelly Roll pen. Often in metallic or glitter. Yeah, not much has changed in (mumble) years. As far as stationery nostalgia goes, it doesn't get any better for me. There are better gel pens, certainly, but they don't make me smile the same way, and I can't always be practical. Or even most of the time, if my glitter notes are any indication.

The Gelly Roll was the world's first gel ink pen. That's a legacy I really appreciate. I remember reveling in the smooth writing and saturated colors. It felt like a miracle after the dry, scratchy, and skippy inks I'd been using my whole life. And they've improved the ink recipe over the decades.

The ink is still rich and smooth, and also boasts a whole menu of desirable characteristics: waterproof, archival, fade-resistant, fraud resistant, and formulated not to feather or bleed through. It does still occasionally skip--I think when the gel clumps and prevents the ball tip from rolling properly. But it's rare and corrects quickly. I haven't had to do any infuriating circle scribbles to get the pen going, just a quick double-back over a letter or two.

The gel does still run out more quickly than other ink styles. After a day of writing, I can see (through the handy clear barrel) the level has gone down somewhat. But it's not as fast as I remember. I chose one Gelly Roll pen to be my only pen for an entire weekend--a busy weekend--and I only used about half a centimeter of the ink. In my school days, I'd have exhausted the pen in that time. Part of the longevity is, I'm sure, in the new recipe, but part is the finer tip.

These pens have a finer point than the Gellies that were available back in the day. The .06 mm is fantastic for writing. It's still a smooth writer, but the lines are cleaner and crisper. My notes don't look like they were written in bubble letters or marker. They're still wild colors, though.

This bundle contains the new colors for 2018. Baby pink, baby blue (these two are Ballsign pens, according to the barrel branding--the American version of the pen. I've heard they're not as good, but so far I can't tell the difference), brown, emerald, fresh green, lilac, yellow green, opera red, orange, pale blue, and yellow. The colors are all bright and vibrant. Fresh green is a bit difficult to see, but will be great in coloring books. And these are fine enough to use in adult coloring books with wee spaces.

The bodies are the same old classic builds, with all the good and the bad. The clear barrel is great for watching the ink drain. The caps look like bright candy. The caps are tiny and easy to lose, and sport one of my least favorite clips in the entire pen world. The clips are thin, bendy, sharp, and might only fit over one sheet of paper. They'll bend out of shape and never go back. I'd rather they weren't even there--but they made for excellent fidgets in class. The cap, end cap, and visible ink all make it very easy to tell which color you're grabbing.

This bundle sells for $21 and individual pens sell for $1.95. I think that's worth it for a nostalgia bundle, but I won't be loading up on every color of these. The classic design is fun, but there's a reason pen design continues to evolve. The Pilot Juice is a better pen and costs less. I still love using these, though, and I'll probably grab more when these ones get used up. Sometimes I just need that stationery smile.

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

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