It’s interesting to note that I found many of the sub-ten dollar pens that I’ve been looking at among the art supplies at the university bookstore. I mention this now because while researching where I could find this pen, all the local suppliers were art supply stores. At the very least, it might be worth checking out and seeing if there’s anything that you wouldn’t find at a stationary store there. Such as this Itoya Blade.
I don’t know much about Itoya as a company, but from what I can glean, they seem to specialize in office and art supplies, with product lines of their own, but also being the north American distributor of Sailor pens. The Blade is their disposable fountain pen, with aesthetics to match. The body is made of plastic, making it a fairly lightweight pen. The pen’s grey in colour, with a sliver, metal-covered tip and ring indicating the colour of ink in the pen. There’s an ink window down the length of both sides of the pen, making it easy to tell how much ink is left in the pen. This is a design feature that I’ve before that I love, and nothing’s changed. I find this window very functional, and helpful to have, and it doesn’t detract from the overall aesthetic of the pen. Actually, the pen looks quite nice. It’s not a flashy or fancy pen, and bears more resemblance to a standard office rollerball than a fountain pen, but but the design works.
As for how it feels, it’s interesting. Weight-wise, it’s fine and well-balanced. While I like a bit more heft in my pens, I’m fond of how this pen handles. The plastic is warm to the touch, but the metal-covered tip is colder. This makes for an interesting experience, and not one that I’m keen on. For that reason alone, I’d recommend using this pen with the cap posted.
Speaking of the cap, it’s also made of plastic, but is clear as opposed to gray, meaning users can see the nib and feed while the pen is capped. It is a snap-cap, which holds securely to the pen and doesn’t require too much force to cap and un-cap. It also bears a clip that is metal-covered plastic. It’s not the most secure clip in the world, and I find that it slides around too much.
The grip is also made from clear plastic to match the cap. It’s large, and very comfortable for people with large hands. However, the material is slippery, leading to a lot of re-positioning of the hand and there is nothing preventing fingers from sliding off the pen. Overall, functional, but not ideal.
All of these pens come with a fine steel nib and black or blue ink. There is no refilling mechanism as they are disposable, and I tested the blue ink in my Rhodia Webnotebook. Overall, it was quite good The blue is a rich and dark blue, the dry time is very short and the line width lines up with other Japanese fine and German extra-fine nibs. Most of the time, the writing experience was smooth. However, I have to note that I had a couple of hard starts when writing quickly. It’s nothing that I’m concerned about, but happened frequently enough that it should be noted.
Overall, I’d say that this a decent disposable fountain pen. It looks decent, and writes decently. I always comment about the lack of options when it comes to this price range, but at the end of the day, it is what it is. It’s another option for disposable fountain pens, and at around $7.50 for a two-pack, a worthy one at that.
This pen was purchased with my own funds.
The Pen Lover's Nook 