pen 56: papermate inkjoy 100 1.0mm

at eight of these pens for around two dollars (wall mart) the paper mate inkjoy 100 has the distinction of being one of the least expensive pens that i have reviewed to date.

this pen is a fair example that expensive doesn't always mean better.

while this pen has it's drawbacks, things like ink buildup on the tip, inconsistent flow, and slow drying ink, it does have a few good qualities that earns a place in my coffee cup full o' pens (patent pending).

some of these are: the body style is a rough prism like shape that fits the hand better and keeps it from rolling off the table, the ink has a limited value range, things get black quick, but the depth of black is second to only a pen like a sharpie... the black is rich and velvety.

as i mentioned earlier, the ink does spot, skip and stutter, especially if you haven't warmed it up, it can be messy as well, you lay down the amount of ink this pen can do and its no real surprise that it can take a little longer to dry, this could be a benefit as well if you're an artist that like to smudge the ink for things like shading.

so yeah, all in all a okay pen for a great price, i probably wouldn't use it by itself, but as a support pen, for things like shadow and fill i would definitely consider the inkjoy 100, and at dirt cheap prices i don't have to worry about these pens running out of ink, like tissues, there are always more where they came from.