The Rotring Tikky Graphic is a fiber tip drawing pen that features water resistant pigment ink. The Tikky comes in seven different tip sizes with black ink only.
The Tikky features a brown body with the famous red Rotring ring. There is a translucent ink view window that continues into the feed section. I like that you can see the ink level while the pen is capped. The look of this pen is quite pleasant despite the branding. I also cannot think of another disposable pen that uses a brown body, so in that way it is unique.
Rotring is famous for making excellent quality German-made technical drawing pens and to be honest the Tikky is a letdown. While I generally like fiber tip drawing pens, the Tikky is hands down the worst I have used in recent memory.
The 0.5mm tip is not particularly smooth, resulting in a considerable amount of resistance on the Rhodia pad I used. The lines are messy and I found that my lines began and ended with what I will call “snake tongue” (see below). I found no issues with ink flow or skipping.
I looked at the tip under a loupe to see if the tip was misshapen and I could not see any flaws; it looked perfectly formed. Even though I couldn’t see any problems with the tip, I may still have gotten a dud.
The Chinese-made Tikky costs $3.60 which is $2.30 more than the excellent German-made Steadtler Triplus Fineliner and a $1.10 more than the popular Japanese-made Sakura Pigma Micron. I cannot recommend the Tikky; a high price and poor performance do not go well together. Avoid this one.
Here is a great review of the Rotring Tikky:
(I have no affiliation with the site linked below)
The Pen Addict – Rotring Tikky Graphic Drawing Pen 0.4 mm Review
I’m pretty astonished by your review. You may have a dud on your hands. I’ve been using these pens for years and absolutely love their performance. They’re a bit juicier than Sakura Microns (which I prefer. Microns have always feel a bit scratchy to me.) The ink is dark, dries instantly, and the lines are smooth and consistent. No snake tongues of any sort. I’m sad you had an unpleasant experience with them.
Thank you for your comment! It sounds like I just got a bad one…I will have to try another.
You likely got a dud as Rotring tikky pens are the best and juiciest there is. Since they let a lot of ink i find 0.1 and 0.3 good enough without need for thicker 0.5 or larger diameter. Rotring Tikky 0.1 is like staedylers 0.3 or more yhus mot for extremely hsirlike lines which dont reproduce anyway well in srt if uou are artist. My Rotring pens are made in Germany.
Hi Kaki,
Thank you for your comment. I am going to put another Tikky on my buy list and give it another go….stay tuned.