Bic Cristal Bold 1.6mm Review

I apologize for the delay since my last review. I had intended to review Noodler's Kung Te-Cheng but the pen I was trying to use with it wasn't cooperating. I decided not to post the review, because I don't think it ended up being a fair representation of the ink. I will try it in another pen and hopefully have a review up in a week's time or less.

Anyways, here is a review of the Bic Cristal Bold 1.6mm. These are fairly unusual Bic pens that are a pleasure to write with. Very smooth, and consistent.

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For some reason in the above picture, the cap on the blue pen came out looking almost like a neon blue. It is not that bright in real life, the cap is actually a dark blue. 

If you are interested in ordering the Cristal Bold, I have found that Amazon carries them as well:

BIC Cristal Bold Ball Pen, 1.6mm, Blue, 12 Pens

BIC Cristal Bold Ball Pen, 1.6mm, Black, 10 Pens

-Derek (ThirdeYe)

Bic Ultra Round Stic Grip Review

Here is the continuation of my ongoing Reasonable Office Supplies review series. Most everybody has seen the Bic Ultra Round Stic Grip at one time or another, and I figured such a utilitarian tool was worthy of a review. I purchased some on sale at Walgreens a few months ago and also from Staples in packs of 12.

Here is the written review:

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To purchase the Bic Ultra Round Stic Grip, click here: BIC Ultra Round Stic Grip

-Derek (ThirdeYe)

Bic Cristal Gel and Cristal Clic Gel Review

Sorry for the delay in posts. Here is a review of the Bic Cristal Gel (stick version) and the Bic Cristal Clic Gel pens.

This is the first post in my "Reasonable Office Supplies" series. In the upcoming weeks I will be reviewing typical pens/pencils that you would see in a typical business environment. Tentatively, I have planned reviews for the Uni-Ball Onyx Micro, Uni-Ball Vision Elite, Pilot G2/G-Knock, Uni-Ball Jetstream, and the typical Papermate/Bic ballpoints. That is subject to change, of course. I will also take recommendations from readers if they want to see a particular pen/pencil reviewed, that I already have or can get for a reasonable price.

After my series of reviews, I will be doing a giveaway of some of the products I am reviewing. Stay tuned!

Without further ado, here is my written review of the Bic Cristal Gel and Bic Cristal Clic Gel.

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If you are interested in purchasing the Bic Cristal Gel, it can be purchased on Amazon here: BIC Cristal Clic Gel Pen or here: 7 Pack Blue Cristal Gel Roller Pen

-Derek (ThirdeYe)

More additions to my collection

I apologize for the delay since my last post. Here are the items I have acquired since the last update:

A sampling of my new Zebra Z-Grips and Paper Mate Write Bros. I already had a bunch of Write Bros. pens, but I loved these colors. I have more of both the Zebra and Write Bros., but I only pictured a few.

Some more stuff we found cleaning out the basement. A Bic Round Stic with a neat clear spiral design, 2 of my old Garfield pencils from elementary school, and a Parker Jotter of my dad's from 1986. It has the old name of the company he works for on it along with the date. I just bought some refills for it and can't wait to use it. I don't have many things of my dad's, so it means a lot to me.

Pentel Client 0.5mm Pencil

Pentel Client 0.5mm Pencil, Opened

From left to right: New Pentel Vicuna Ballpoint Pen (very similar to the Uni-Ball Jetstream), New Pentel Sharplet-2 0.7mm,  Bic Auditor's Fine Point Pen, Alexander Twist Pen, Vintage Sheaffer's Twist Pencil, Bic Ultra Fine, Vintage Pentel Quicker Clicker (needs new eraser/cap), Bic Roller Fine, Vintage Monroe Twist Pencil, Detroit Tigers promotional Bic Metal Point, 2 Pentel MGN6S refills, a Uni-Mitsubishi Boxy Eraser and a Pentel Ain Black eraser.

A special thanks to George @ My Supply Room for the Monroe and Sheaffer's pencils. The Pentel Vicuna is a very nice pen with hybrid ink similar to the Uni-Ball Jetstream, and I will be writing a review of that in the future. Stay tuned! By the way, does anyone know anything more about the Alexander pen company? I can't find much information about them at all. It's a nice looking pen.

-Derek (ThirdeYe)

A lot of new additions to my collection, ArtPrize pencil drawing update

In this post are some new (and used) items I've acquired over the past few weeks. The Sakura Gelly Roll and the Dixon SenseMatic were mine from my elementary school days. We recently found them cleaning out the garage. The Gelly Roll has been through probably 10 or 11 winters in our garage and is from 1996-1997, and still works! That's a testament to the quality of Sakura products. They can still be purchased and now come in many different varieties. My personal favorites are the simple, original Gelly Roll colors. They can be purchased here: Sakura Gelly Roll Medium Point Pen Set (10ct)

The Dixon no longer works, and I'm not sure why. There appears to still be lead in it. It used to work by simply pressing down and the sleeve would slide back allowing the lead to "automatically" advance to allow you to write continuously without stopping. A great idea/feature. I don't believe they make them anymore. The Copic 110 Wide was a gift to me from my girlfriend from when she was taking art classes. It needs a new nib/refill, but they're quite expensive. I'll get one someday. It's less expensive to just buy a new one, but it holds sentimental value to me. They still make these pens, and can be found here: 110-W Copic Wide Marker Special Black

One thing you may notice from my previous posts and upcoming posts is that I enjoy simple, low-priced items just as much as I enjoy my higher priced items.

6 Pilot H-325 0.5mm Mechanical Pencils

Bic AI Ball Pens, Bic Atlantis 0.7mm Pencils w/refills, Bic Clic Master Pencils w/refills

Copic 110 Wide Marker, Sakura Gelly Roll, Dixon SenseMatic pencil

Pentel 0.9mm HB, Pentel 0.7mm B, Pentel 0.5mm 2B, Pilot Neo-X 0.7mm HB, Pentel 0.5mm B

A vintage gold Pentel R-7 Rolling Writer. Pentel was nice enough to send me a new MG8 refill for it. Thanks Pentel!
I was told it was from the 1980s.

6 Paper Mate Dynagrip+, 2 Pentel Icy 0.7mm

Pentel P245 Bravo, Pentel 0.7mm EnerGize, Pentel Sharp P207, Pentel Sharplet 0.5mm, Pentel Graphlet PG307

Also not pictured I have a Bic Triumph 537R 0.7mm in blue, a few blue Zebra Z-grips and some new Paper Mate Write Bros. in Orange, Green and Purple that I found at Walgreens. It also came with red & blue, but I already had some of those. When I get my digital camera back, I'll take a picture of them too. 

Oh, and does anyone remember the pencil drawing I posted a few weeks back from ArtPrize? It ended up winning 1st place: $250,000. I thought it was well deserved and a very cool piece.

Any questions/comments are welcome!

If you are interested in purchasing any of the items pictured, here are some of the ones that are still being produced or very similar to them. Some of the items I couldn't find on Amazon however, so if you want help finding them feel free to leave a comment:

BIC Atlantis Mechanical Pencil,

BIC AI Retractable Ballpoint Pen

BIC® Clic Master Mechanical Pencil,

Z-Grip Retractable Ballpoint Pen, Blue Ink,

Bic Triumph 537R Roller Fine (.7mm) Blue

Pilot H-325 Drafting Mechanical Pencils, 0.5mm

Pentel Super Hi-Polymer B Lead Refill 0.5mm

Pentel Super Hi-Polymer 2B Lead Refill 0.5mm

Pentel Super Hi-Polymer B Lead Refill 0.7mm

Pilot, Neo-X, 0.5mm Lead, HB Leads

-Derek (ThirdeYe)

Vintage Fountain Pens + 90s Bic Find

Found these pens while cleaning out our garage. This Bic pen was something we've had around in the family since the early to mid 90s. It's got a cool paint job on it that looks like splattered paint. I tried getting the pen to work and it will work for a few lines but then it stops working again, the ink is likely mostly dried up. It has a pink ink color to it. I apologize for the poor quality of the close-up photos. My camera was refusing to cooperate with the up close macros.

The fountain pens are a vintage Yankee and a vintage Moore. Specifically, the Yankee fountain pen states: "YankeE, Michael-George Co., Grand Haven, Mich. - Pat."

Yankee Fountain Pen

The Moore Pen states: "Lever Self-Filling. The Moore Pen Co. Boston Mass U.S.A."

I did some research on them, and found that the Yankee is likely from the 1920s as they started making them in Grand Haven in the early to mid 1920s and the company moved to Illinois shortly thereafter. I do not know how old the Moore pen is and I don't know much about the company. I saw a similar one in the same condition sell for around $40 on eBay. Both of the nibs on the pens are still in good shape, but I have no experience in restoring fountain pens, so unless I find someone that can restore them, I will likely keep them in my collection as they are, not working and old.

-Derek (ThirdeYe)

New Additions to my Collection

Here are some of the recent additions to my collection:



From top left to bottom right:
Pentel Sharplet-2 .9mm
1984 Pentel Rolling Writer + Sharplet-2 from the 1984 Olympics
5 Assorted Pentel EnerGel Refills (Thanks Pentel!)
4 Uni-Ball Jetstream .7mm pens w/black ink
3 Bic Velocity pens (2 black, one blue)
Ritter Eco-Pen from ArtPrize (local Grand Rapids art competition)
2 Bic AI Ball Pen w/Easy Glide (blue ink)
2 Bic Atlantis Pencils .7mm with erasers + lead

My next post is going to be a review of the new Pentel Sharplet-2 I received, stay tuned!

-Derek (ThirdeYe)

Dumpster Dive Finds

Found these in a dumpster in front of a house where someone apparently passed away. They threw all of their stuff out, and there were a lot of nice things in there, but I was mainly interested in these. I'm sure there were a lot more things in there but I could not get to them under the countless amounts of stuff.

From top to bottom:
-Carter's Marks-A-Lot (not working)
-Red Bic Cristal Made in U.S.A. (not working)
-Vintage Sheaffer's Twist/Screw-style Pencil (not working, does anyone know how to fix it?) c.1940-1964
-Bixby Easy-Rite Pencil
-Sanford Saga Retractable Pen (missing refill, will order some soon)