Last week, JetPens released a ton of new products, and a bunch of new Pentel Vicunas were in the mix. I picked up the blue a few weeks earlier, so I figured I would review all three at the same time. Interestingly enough, I experienced slightly different performance from the three pens, which I thought was somewhat peculiar.
The ink the sample (above) is pretty accurate to what you will actually see from these pens. All three colors are vibrant and appealing. None of the pens had any skipping or globbing during writing. I have, however, noticed that the blue one tends to gob a bit when not in use. It doesn't bother me much, but it may bother you if you have the pen in a pocket or your purse.
The pens and ink look great, don't they? The plungers on the pens are smooth in action and feel well constructed. Additionally, the grips are slightly raised wavy lines and perform well for preventing slip and providing comfort. As to be expected, the Vicuna is not a heavy pen, but the weight and size are comfortable.
Down to the details: I had issues with the light blue Vicuna - as I pressed down, there was a clicking noise that seemed as if the tip was moving. I found this to be annoying because it happened two or three times with each word that I wrote. Maybe it was just this pen or the batch that was made, but the performance was less than stellar, too. I wouldn't say this one was scratchy, but it was quite different than the others.
The purple performed much better than the light blue, but the color is not practical for my purposes or tastes. If you are a fan of the color, chances are good that you will enjoy having this ballpoint in your collection.
The blue was easily my favorite. Of the three, I thought the ink was the best behaved and was noticeably smoother than the other two. I will keep the blue one and give the other two to my girlfriend. I'm not just giving her the pens I don't like; she said she didn't really like the color of the blue, so that one is mine. At any rate, I recommend trying these out. Regardless of my issue with the light blue, these seemed well worth the money.