Rollerball review Archives - BLAKE'S BROADCAST

Pilot VBall BeGreen 0.5mm Blue Roller Ball Review

December 15, 2013 by Blake

The Pilot VBall BeGreen is a roller ball pen with a body made from “81.6% recycled content”. First off, this isn’t the VBall I remember enjoying years ago; the design is much better but the pen as a whole is worse.

I really love the clean and elegant design of this pen; the inset metallic branding and the blue plastic cap combined with the translucent body and feed are excellent. For a disposable pen the VBall BeGreen gets an A+ in design.

As for writing, the VBall is quite scratchy. I compared it to the Uni Ball Micro Deluxe (another traditional liquid ink roller ball) and the difference was night and day. The Uni glided across the paper with more ease and left a cleaner line on the page. As I spent more time with the Vball I noticed that some parts of the tip were smoother than others; by twisting I could find both smooth and scratchy parts of the tip which makes me think I may have gotten a bad one.

I haven’t come across many duds that were made by Pilot in Japan but this might be one.

Here is a great review of the Pilot VBall BeGreen:

(I have no affiliation with the site linked below)

The Pen Addict – Pilot VBall BeGreeN 05 Review

Morning Glory Mach 3 0.38mm Roller Ball Pen – Review

October 19, 2013 by Blake

The Morning Glory Mach 3 is a disposable roller ball pen with a fine 0.38mm tip. The Mach 3 writes with a crisp and clean line but it is not very smooth. The ink is neither waterproof nor archival safe. There is an ink level window on the pen body and the grip is made of a translucent plastic that lets you see the feed. I like that the cap snaps onto the body when posted. The look of this pen is pretty mediocre and the clip has rough edges that gives an air of cheapness. At $2.00 the Mach 3 is well priced but for a little bit more you can have a much better pen such as the Pilot Hi-Tec-C and the Otho Graphic Liner.

Here are some other reviews of the Mach 3:

(I have no affiliation with the sites linked below)

Good Pens – Surprise…Morning Glory Mach 3

The Pen Addict – Morning Glory Mach 3 Roller Ball Pen 0.38 mm Review

Stabilo Bionic Worker Rollerball 0.5mm Review

October 13, 2013 by Blake

When I think of Stabilo I don’t think of great pens, I think of highlighters, as that is what they are most famous for. I have never been a fan of their pens but the Bionic Worker is the first that I would actually buy again.

The Bionic Worker is an unusual rollerball pen with a rubberized orange body. Stabilo labels this pen a 0.5mm but it’s definitely much wider than that; it seems like a 1.0mm to me. The rollerball is ultra smooth (as you would expect a 1.0mm tip to be) and the ink is nice and dark. Stabilo calls the nickle silver tip indestructible. I really like the details on this pen. There is a little knob on the side of the body that keeps the pen from rolling off the desk. The cap closes and posts flush with the body and there are three little portholes on each side of the pen that allow you to view the feed and ink level. The metal clip features the Stabilo swan and feels sturdy.

The Bionic Worker comes in black, blue, red and green ink with “0.5mm” and “0.3mm” tip sizes. This pen is not refillable which is too bad because it is expensive at $3.85. Next time I am going to buy the 0.3mm tip as I suspect that will be a bit closer to a true medium.