I picked up this Pilot Nextage in the same eBay order that I bought the pen now known as the Pilot G23 (thanks Michael!). I thought it was a really good looking pen, and the price was right (somewhere in the $2.00 range) to make this pen an easy add to the cart. And unlike the G23, there is a wealth of information online about the Nextage.
As it turns out, I have reviewed the pencil version of this pen, which I purchased from JetPens and is known in Japan as the Pilot Opt. It is a decent enough pencil for the price, but it is essentially an entry level mechanical pencil. The Nextage ballpoint is pretty much the same - an entry level ballpoint with a bit of a fancied up barrel design. It is nice to look at, and feels good in the hand, but in the end, it writes like a plain old ballpoint - ink smell and everything.
The blue ink is your standard ballpoint shade, and while there is no real mess on the tip when writing, the line does skip quite a bit. This isn't a pen I would use on a regular basis, but based on its looks and its pricepoint, I see why it might be popular.
Click here for the XL review.
