a pen a day: pen 92: uni-ball vision needle

today's pen, the uni-ball vision micro, is a pen that i found at the pharmacy at a local cvs. i used it to waive a consult with the pharmacist on duty and immediately fell in love, i went back to the store later that night because i couldn't get this pen out of my mind, in short - i was hooked. when i went to look for this pen in the office supply aisle, i was disappointed to discover that they didn't carry that particular pen, and when i asked the night manager about it she told me to go ahead and keep it.

for the record, i did leave another (and expensive) pen in it's stead.

this one experience has led me on a yearlong search for this pen, i could have bought these off of amazon or ebay, but the prices they were asking were a little on the astronomical side so i scoured every store within a thirty mile radius in hopes of finding another. what it came down to was the sad fact that this pen is not sold at any store nearby, and that if i wanted to use the vision needle model i would have to settle on the fine point pen, sadly the micro i had was running out of ink and i was caught between a rock and a hard place, the more i used this pen the faster the ink was running out and really what good is a pen that is awesome but you never get to use because you are afraid you'll use up all the ink, meh.

as you can see below that these pens come in two sizes, the micro and the fine point and that they come in a fairly wide range of colors. this pen has basically no value range, does bleed, and has moderate glide. i am a fan of its bite, it is good for detail work if you're careful and does excellent contour and gesture sketching, another plus is that the ink will cover pencil sketches without any problem. the pen has no problem filling in black spaces and doesn't skip or stutter. this pen is fairly amazing and i really recommend that you try it out if you're able to find one.

i'm going to end with this. i was able to find the fine point sized pens in a pack of like twelve and that ran about a dollar a pen, and i figured out a way to swap out the tips and bring the micro back to life.

i recorded the whole process so enjoy.

website:
www.uniball-na.com

what they say:

Stronger tip than the leading needle point, guaranteed

Needle point is ideal for intricate, precise writing

uni-flow ink system™ creates a steady flow of water-resistant ink and smooth, consistent color

Exclusive pigment-based ink forms an indelible bond in paper, for intense coloration and document security