Zebra put together a massive 33-piece journaling kit ($19.97, approx. 0.68 per pen with the washi and journal being free) from Costco stores:
- Standard Mildliners with chisel tip and bullet tips (set of 10)
- Mildliner Brush markers (set of 5) with flexible brush tip on one end and the bullet tip on the other
- Clickart Retractable Marker Pens (set of 6)
- Sarasa Clip Gel Pens (set of 5, 0.5mm tip)
- Kirarich Glitter Marker/Highlighter (set of 3, chisel tip)
- 3 rolls of washi tape
- A5-sized blank hardcover journal
The Washi Tape:
First I tested the 3 rolls of washi tape which are pastel pink, pastel purple and bright, sunny yellow. Lo and behold, this is authentic washi. The tapes are 0.5″ inch wide and tears easily. As such, the only pens that can be used on the tape is alcohol markers like Sharpies. It’s a nice bonus in a kit purchased mostly for the massive quantity of pens.
The Pens & Markers:
Clickart Retractable Marker Pens:
The Clickart markers were the most surprising set in the kit for me. These are actually retractable markers! Think of a Sign Pen but retractable! There were six pens in the set — Red, Light Blue, Lavender, Yellow, Light Green and Black. The tips are 0.6mm and water-based.
I really like using them. The tips are fine and the color is juicy and easy to use. On some papers, there may be a delay in dry times because how wet these pens are.
The packaging claims that the inks won’t smudge each other. I’m skeptical.
I tried duplicating the doodle on the back of the package to test the smudge-factor. I probably didn’t let it dry for long enough so I got a little smudging.
Overall though, the colors are sharp and bright and the tips are fine enough to use for titles, detail elements and doodles in the average journal. This set has made me want to invest in a larger assortment of colors of the Clickart markers and that is a good thing. I particularly like the DK Set.
I’m not sure how long they will last with the retractable tips but I’ve heard from others that they are holding up well so I will probably order some other sets.
Mildliner “Creative Marker” and Brush Markers:
The 10-count Mildliner Creative Marker (the standard highlighter chisel tip and bullet tip on each end) and 5-count Mildliner Brush set (flexible brush tip and the same bullet tip on the other end) are similar in overall quality.
The Brush Set includes pastel colors: blue, grey, pink, green and blue. I tested some of the Mildliner Brush pens recently and fell in love with them so I was delighted to pick up a few more and only duplicated the green and gray markers which are probably the most used anyway. If you have not tried the Mildliner Brush pens and want to play around with doing more decorative titles or handwriting, these are great for that.
The 10-count pack has slightly brighter colors and all different: dark grey, cyan, summer green, citrus green, lemon yellow, apricot, coral pink, marigold, fuchsia, and lavender. These are the original and classic highlighter and marker pens but the colors are more uncommon and probably the most unexpected choice in a big box store set. With the apricot, summer green and marigold are not common or “crayola”-like which is such a treat.
These markers are water resistant, not waterproof, dependent on paper and dry time. I know a lot of bullet journalers will use these colors to create alternating rows like a paper spreadsheet to make a chart a little easier to read.
These can be used as highlighters for books, textbooks, etc or adding decorative details in a bullet journal. This set is worth it just to get these 15 markers.
Kirarich Creative Glitter Markers:
I have owned only ONE Kirarich Glitter Marker for almost ten years. For the record, it still works. So I was excited to try a couple new colors: pastel purple and pink as well as the original highlighter yellow. I was delighted to discover that these markers are water resistant. In the writing sample above, I applied water brush over the large swatches and had no shift. Kind of cool for a highlighter. Of course, applying these markers over water soluble ink will make a mess but over printed words, like highlighting a book, that glitter ink isn’t going anywhere.
The Notebook:
The notebook journal has a pale grey PU leather cover with metallic foil “NOTES” printed on the cover. The notebook has a vertical elastic to keep the book closed. The notebook includes 2 grosgrain ribbon bookmarks, and a gusseted pocket in the back.
The paper is unprinted, bright white and a lighter weight than I expected. There are no specifications on the box or on the book telling the paper stock so I will I have to guess. Compared to some Field Notes, I’d say this paper is about 50# text weight, maybe 60# max.
I was very suspicious how well this lightweight paper would perform. I hoped if would be okay with the pens included in the kit but was not holding out hope that it would do well with fountain pens.
I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the Zebra pens and markers did not feather or spline on the paper and the assortment fountain pens performed well as well. Shocking with such light paper!
When flipped over, the Clickart markers did get some show through, a couple of the fountain pens also had a little bit of show through and the Kirarich glitter highlighters had a touch of show through. But it was not as bad as I would have predicted.
I consider the notebook and washi to be free add-ons to the pen set so I think they are nice add-ons. I will probably use the notebook for desk-side doodles and notes and probably just use one side of the pages. Since I don’t have a lot of money tied up into it, I will just use it and not worry about if I’ve “ruining it”.
Final Thoughts
Overall, this Zebra Journaling Set is a fabulous value and if you haven’t experimented with Zebra’s most popular pen offerings, waste no time getting to your local Costco and grabbing it. It’s a great way to try them out at a reasonable price and a nice variety of options.
