I’m not sure where I was when it happened, but I have turned into a full fledged Pilot FriXion fan. I think it must be Pilot’s constant updating and improvements to the entire FriXion line that made me sit up and take notice. Have you seen how many products they have released just in the past year?1
When the first round of the FriXion Biz came out, I wasn’t on the bandwagon yet. The barrel looked great, but it contained the standard 0.5mm conical tip that was present in the regular FriXion. A year or so ago, Pilot came out with the FriXion Point 04 - a needle tip 0.4mm erasable gel ink pen. Now we are in business! The FriXion Biz Point 04 was released shortly thereafter, and I finally picked one up last week.
I went with the Metallic Blue Body, and it is both fantastic to look at and to write with. The barrel reminds me a lot of the Pilot Hi-Tec-C Cavalier barrel, but full sized as opposed to the slimmed down Cavalier. I also bought the blue ink refills, because I am weird about using different color inks than the body color (it comes with a black ink cartridge).
Looking at the written review2, you can see how nicely the pen writes. Very clean lines, and no skipping to speak of. The shade of blue is lighter than most, but that allows it to be more easily erased, and doesn’t bother me a bit.
One thing that did bother me originally was the eraser placement under the cap. I am learning to deal with it, because in the case of the Biz, it would make for a less attractive pen if the rubber eraser was on top. If I was using a mechanical pencil I would have to remove the cap to get to the eraser too, right?
The Pilot FriXion Biz 04 has earned a place on my desk, and I reach for it often. I wouldn’t sign any official documents with it, but it is a fun pen to use in nearly every other situation.
