Of all the gel pens currently available, the Sakura Ballsign Knock gel pens are not frequently mentioned. However, there is no good reason that these pens are not mentioned more frequently. Pentel, Uni, and Pilot are all regularly discussed but Sakura is only mentioned in regards to their Gelly Roll collection. So, let me remind you about the Sakura Ballsign pens. They are Knock-style gel pens with a slightly bulbous grip area and tapers to the short military clip and knock.
They are simple, transparent gel pens and they are reasonably priced. Sure, they are a little silly looking but aren’t we all?
This 5-color set of metallic gel pens ($12.50) was of particular interest to me. Most metallic gel pens are wider than their non-metallic brethren, starting at 0.75mm or larger. The Sakura Ballsign Metallic gel pens start at 0.6mm. Metallic gel pens can often take a bit longer to dry so the finer the tip, for this lefty, the better. The colors in the set are standard but a good variety for metallics: gold, silver, pink, blue and green.
On white paper, the metallic quality of the inks is not particularly noticeable in photos but is more visible in person. The silver gel pen is a bit light on white paper. However, the great thing about metallic gel pens is that they are often somewhat opaque and work really well on dark papers.
On black paper, the silver really pops and all the other colors are equally vivid.
The writing quality of the Ballsign pens write well and are smooth and the knock is easy to use. The price is very reasonable. If you like a little bling in your daily doodles or writing, it would be hard to pass these up. And if you haven’t diverged from the more popular gel pen brands, its time to consider the Sakura Ballsign Knock pens.
Tools:
- Paper: Rhodia Uni-Blank No. 16 with 6mm guide sheet and French Kraft-Tone 8.5×11 (pack of 50) ($10.50)
- Pens: Sakura Ballsign Metallic Knock Gel Pens 0.6mm (set of 5) ($12.50)
DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by JetPens for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.
