[Pen/Pencil Review] Korean Souvenir Ballpoint Pen and Metal Bookmark
I’ve been horrible about the pen blog. There’s been…Life stuff. I think I must’ve challenged the Universe or something. EVERYTHING has been busy or time consuming. I have to learn to do these earlier and more consistently.
This week’s pen blog is one set of Gongyenara Korean souvenir ballpoint pen and metal bookmarks brought to me from Korea by my dear friends, Dave and Sandy Francis. I’m hard on my bookmarks, so I haven’t used these, but they’re pretty much all adorable – this one is a beautifully enameled Korean couple that remind me of the “Love Is…” couple but with clothes.
The pen is about 6″ long with a patchwork of Korean icons, characters, etc. The grip is metallic, ribbed plastic. The whole pen is plastic. The clip is solidish with Korea on the clip. The whole clip cap is the plunger for the retraction person. The ink is black with probably a 0.7mm metal conical tip. The ink is … meh. It’s a very liquidy gel type ink. There is definitely smearing on slick paper (like what I used) and some glopping. But it’s still a very serviceable pen – and adorable and directly from Korea.
The numbers:
1. How does it work? – 0.5 – It works like it’s supposed to. The barrel is light but balanced with a good feel. The cap feels like it might come off, but it stays all right.
2. Grip and feel – 1 – It’s an inexpensive plastic retractable pen. There’s a bit of a nod for ergonomics but it’s not meant to be that long-term use of a pen.
3. Material – 0.5 – It is what it is, a plastic basic fountain pen. It’s light but comfortable. The ink is okay – on rougher paper.
4. Overall Design – 1 – This is a fun pen from Korea that meant to be a fun souvenir pen. That’s what it is.
5. Price Point – 1 – I have no idea what these run. This was a gift from people I love. That makes it priceless to me. But I have a feeling they’re pretty inexpensive…IF you’re in Korea.
That’s 4.0 of 5 bronze pencils.
