[Pen/Pencil Review] Another Novelty Pen – A Koosh Hair Green Skull Ballpoint Pen with Blue Ink
This weekend was our ORAC meeting. This is a fangroup Jimmy and I belong to that FenCon gets its core group of staff. And they’re all around good people, so that’s the added bonus. Anyway, this month’s meeting was (sigh) 5 minutes from where I now work. On the way back, I needed to stop at a vitamin shop that’s in our local big outlet mall. We went in the wrong door and walked straight into BAM! (Books A Million), and I impulsively bought skull related pens…and other stuff.
So we’re doing more with the novelty pens before Halloween is over. This one is a blue ball point with a nice fine point (at least finer than what most typical pens have). This one feels like a 0.7mm to me, but it might be a 1.0, but I really don’t think so. There was no real ink gooping in the sample. The action was smooth.
Then the pen gets odd. It’s green based (because that’s how I roll). The pen body widens at the bottom for a somewhat ergonomic grip. But it top decoration overbalances it. It’s got a screw base like a light bulb (but it doesn’t come off or light up) with a gray skull on that base with a head of Koosh Ball hair. It’s about 8.5″ long with the hair, which makes it long enough to over balance. I would’ve loved it more if the skull were more a stress ball than the hard plastic it really is. But I still had to have it. And yes, I’m taking it to work. The girl I replaced had Hello Kitty stuff. I have…this.
Now to the numbers:
1. How does it work? – 0.5 It’s decent. For the length and price point, it works pretty well. It’s a ballpoint. It’s a cheap ballpoint. And it is what it is.
2. Grip and feel – 0.5 – It’s an inexpensive, plastic. It tries to have an ergonomic grip where it widens out. Because it’s longer than normal, it can overbalance and probably fatigue some for long use..
3. Material – 1 For an inexpensive plastic pen, it’s solidly built. The skull end is just way the heck too cool for words.
4. Overall Design – 1 -I’m giving it a high mark because it made me buy it no matter what. It’s fun novelty pen. That makes me think it’s got a pretty good overall design.
5. Price Point – .0.5 – It was more expensive than my other novelty pens (probably for the design). It was $4. For a pen that doesn’t light up? That’s kinda expensive. But it’s got squishy hair to play with, so it’s not a complete wash.
3.5 out of 5 Bronze Pencils
