Staples Coupon - Free Eco-Easy Bag and 15% Off - Valid through 11/23/2011

Great pre-Thanksgiving deal.

I took advantage of this deal back in June.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wordless Wednesday - 11/16/2011 - Storage Box #3 (Purple Pens)

New Bic Disposable Fountain Pens



Armed with a new $1 off Bic coupon, I trekked through the slush and sleet this weekend and visited my local Staples to browse their selection of Bic pens.  I was delighted to discover a new Bic product.  Bic has come out with disposable fountain pens in a 2 pack of black pens and a 3 pack of blue, black and red pens.  I have a few Varsity disposable fountain pens so I looked forward to trying Bic’s version. 

The Bic fountain pens are larger than the Varsity fountain pens  The larger barrels make the Bic fountain pens slightly more comfortable to use.  The Bic fountain pens appear to hold more ink so I should be able to use them longer.  Overall, I prefer the look of the Bic fountain pens.

In terms of performance, I have to give the edge to the Bic fountain pens because the Bic nibs have a slightly finer point.  My one complaint about the Bic fountain pens has to do with the red pen.  In person, the ink comes out as a very watery red that almost looks pink.  However, I would certainly buy the black and blue versions again.

If you happen to visit Staples and like disposable fountain pens, you should check out Bic’s new offering.  Make sure to print off a coupon from Bic’s Facebook page before you purchase the pens.  Just sign into you Facebook account and click this link. 

My First Poppin Office Supplies Order

I first became aware of Poppin when I read a post on The Well Appointed Desk blog back in June.  A few weeks ago, I saw that Poppin, in honor of breast cancer awareness month, will donate 25% of the proceeds from all on-line sales of pink and magenta products to the Young Survival Coalition.  I decided it was a great time to try out their products and to contribute to a worthy cause. 

I ordered 3 different types of pens, a medium softcover notebook in pink, and a small softcover notebook in magenta.  I received my order within three days and I’m very happy with my selections.  This review will focus on the pens.  I will review the notebooks in a subsequent post.

 

The products came in an orange box featuring pictures of different types of office supplies.  When I opened the box, there was an insert with a picture of staple remover and the phrase “nice to meet you!” in a thought  bubble.  When I lifted the insert, I saw that the packing material consisted of inflated bags with the phrases “hello!” and “nice digs!” in thought bubbles.  Under the bags was an orange, reusable envelope with the Poppin logo and the words “important documents”.  The envelope contained the invoice for the order. 

I am amazed by their attention to detail in the packaging.  I definitely had one of those “uhh, ahh, ohh” experiences as I removed each layer from the box.

My order consisted of stick ballpoint pens in blue, black gel ink pens and grey signature ballpoint pens.  The words “Poppin”, “Poppin BallPoint” and “Poppin Gel” are subtly printed on the barrels of the corresponding pens. The blue stick pens have almost jewel toned, plastic bodies.  The pens’ design reminds me of a Pilot Better Ballpoint pen.  The gel and ball point pens have similar barrels and metal clips on the caps.  The gel and ball point pens are refillable although I am not sure which type of refill to use.  All of the pens are extremely light weight with the stick pens being the lightest.  The barrels of the gel and ball point pens are wider than I would like but they are comfortable to use.  The inks in all the pens flow freely.  I had only a minor skipping issue with the gel pens when I changed the angle of my grip. 

The signature pens come in several colors, however, all of the signature pens have black ink.  I think it would be great if Poppin could match the ink color to the barrel color.  I’d also love it if the ink in the gel pens came in colors other than black blue and red.  Finally, I wish there was a way to order the pens as singles or in a sampler.  The one pen sampler they do offer comes with 132 pens.  While I love pens, 132 of the same style is a bit much for me.  The sampler is perfect, however, for an office environment.

The products' prices are very reasonable.  I will certainly place another order so I can try some of the other products.  

Staples Coupons - 50% off uni-ball and Zebra products - (valid in store only through 10/29/2011)

I will definitely be using the uni-ball coupon.


50% off of uni-ball writing items

http://reg.e.staples.com/c/s/tagfrm/hBOpsIPB7SHGCB8eJUANszRorgO/coupon.html?n=1422&email=mdfalls@aol.com&COUPON_1=87510&cm_lm=mdfalls@aol.com&cid=EM:CM:_BOpsIPB8eJUAzi&om_rid=mdfalls@aol.com

50% off Zebra bulk packs
http://reg.e.staples.com/c/s/tagfrm/hBOpsIPB7SHGCB8eJUANszRorgO/coupon.html?n=1435&email=mdfalls@aol.com&COUPON_1=18090&cm_lm=mdfalls@aol.com&cid=EM:CM:_BOpsIPB8eJUAzi

Moleskine Writing Set Box with .7 mm Rollerball Pen

A few months ago, I pre-ordered the Moleskine Writing Set Box from Amazon.com.    Last year, I saw similar boxes on the moleskineasia.com website but the boxes sold out before I could order one.   When I saw the Writing Set Box available for purchase in the U.S., I pre-ordered it right away.  Today, I finally received the long awaited box.


The actual box looks like a Moleskine notebook with various “writing themed” words in different fonts embossed on the cover.  The label wrapped around the box has pencil drawings of a ruled pocket notebook and an uncapped rollerball pen. 

When you open the box, there is a large, pleated pocket on the front inside cover.  Inside the pocket is the standard pamphlet containing the  Moleskine history.  The main section of the box is covered by a piece of paper with the words  “Writing Set”.

When you lift the piece of paper, you discover a pocket ruled notebook and a .7 mm rollerball pen.   The notebook and pen are secured inside the box by a specially molded, removable foam insert.  The paper label surrounding the pocket notebook is similar to the label on the outside of the box. 

This is a great box that any pen and paper lover would love.  I may order a few more for holiday gifts.



I won’t bother describing the notebook since almost all pen and paper lovers are familiar with the notebook.  I will, however, take this opportunity to do a follow-up review of the Moleskine pen.

I originally reviewed the fine point (.5 mm) pen in May (Moleskine Rollerball Pen Review)  and have been using the pen pretty consistently since then.  I ended up buying the  medium point (.7mm) pen because I wanted to try some of the other ink colors which are not available for the fine point version of the pen.  

My original pen has held up pretty well with the exception of a few minor issues. 

The first issue is that the black coating on the clip part of the pen has chipped off in certain places.  While I use the pen regularly, I’m not particularly hard on pens.  I’m pretty disappointed with that aspect of the pen but it does not affect its function.  I will be interested to see if I have a similar problem with chipping with the other pens.

Another issue I have with the pen relates to the spring that attaches the end cap to the ink cartridge.  Since the end cap of the pen is shaped like a corkscrew, you have to be careful that the ink cartridge and spring are properly aligned before screwing in the cap or you will end up bending the spring like I did.  I can still use the pen but the bent spring makes it a little difficult to change cartridges.

Finally, my biggest complaint about the pen is that the green, red, brown and violet ink refills are only available in the medium point.  The ink colors themselves are very nice.  The brown and violet inks are my favorites.  I would love to have blue-black and deep green versions of the ink.  If the pen sells well, I hope Moleskine will consider expanding the ink selections.

Currently, the pens and ink refills are available for purchase through the Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Papyrus and A.I. Friedman websites.  Almost all of the websites offer some type of discount on the pens and refills.  If you haven't purchased one yet, I highly recommend doing so.   Better yet, purchase the Writing Box which includes the pen.

Star Wars Limited Edition Pocket Ruled Notebook

This is a bit of a drive by post.  I was so excited when I received this at work today that I just had to take pictures and post them. 

Inside Cover

Back Cover

Mini-poster in back pocket

The paper inside is the same cream colored, ruled paper found in the typical Moleskine ruled pocket version.

I ordered this from Amazon.com for $10.17, which is 32% off the list price. 

In person, it looks better than I thought it would.  I should receive the large ruled version in a few weeks.