Back to school offer - BIC Matic Pastel 5 pack - mechanical pencil review

Another Back to School offer, from Carrefour, this time mechanical pencils from Bic the Matic Pastel. A pack of 5 Bic Matic mechanical pencils cost $ 3.5 or 2.95 € but with Back to School offer the price of the pencils was almost half the standard retail price.

The great price for the pencils, and the nice color pallet made me want to test the Bic offering.

I know the BIC pencils, I used to use them in school and they appeared several times on this blog. But in the old days they didn't came in such a variety of colors, I remember them to be reliable pencils, at a good price point but came only in white.

The package is a simple plastic sleave, with a few information on it. The little transparent window on the package allows you to see what you get, a set of nicely colored pencils.

Taking the pencils out and the pastel colors just bring a pop of color on my boring gray / brown desk. The pencils come in blue, purple and pink. With the tip a more intense color, and the body a lighter shade. The clip even though is nothing special from a clip point of view (just some plastic that doesn't offer any confidence in using it) is a nice translucent color, more saturated and more vibrant than the rest of the pencil.

 All five pencils come with 3 leads (one on the feed and two in the barrel) which is a fantastic deal for just 1.8 €.

 The entire pencil is made out of plastic. The point has little grooves to help with the grip and the point where the tip connects to the hexagonal barrel there are some vertical grooves to assist with the grip, offering a stable and secure hold over the pencil.

The clip is made compleatly out of translucent plastic, and doesn't offer to much security, it is best to be used as a roll stopper than an actual clip. On it there is the logo, BIC lead size and HB#. Quite clear that the pencil is promoted towards students.

The pencils have a eraser on top without any eraser protection, which is ok for the price of the pencil.

 

The pen is 15 cm long

10 clicks releases 14.5 mm of lead 

 

 

 

The pencil writes quite well, even though I feel it could be a bit thicker for added comfort while writing. The HB leads it comes with are of good quality, don't seem to be fragile and write well. The leads offer a smooth writing experience with some feedback, resembling the feel of traditional pencils more than the smooth glide of refillable leads.

 

 

On the plus size the lead erases well from the paper, and there is no smudging. A good choice from Bic regarding the leads used, a very practical solution for students.

Other posts with the Bic Matic

Bic Matic Mechanical Pencil 

Pencils in hotel rooms 

Back to school - supermarket fountain pens - Bic Easy Click fountain pen review

The start of the school is very near and I wanted to test out what a young child would use as a first fountain pen.

So I picked up from a supermarket what is probably a go to fountain pen for children and parents. 

I am positive that most of them don't scour trough forums, blogs or YouTube reviews before picking a fountain pen for their child.

So let's see what they are getting for 5 € / $.

I went to buy some food for the weekend in Carrefour and saw a small stand with back to school offers. Most of them were pens and pencils but there was a section of Bic fountain pens at a discount. I usually see this kind of fountain pens at 5 €/$ but now they were discounted at just 3 €/$. So I got one, let's hope it is any good.

There were several colors available. I got the pale pink with blue.

It is marketed as a pen for right hand and left hand, medium nib and a triangular shaped grip section to force you in the correct hand position.

Out of the box and the pen feels very light. The cap seems something taken from a Bic stick and expanded a little. Even though the fountain pen is a budget one the cap is not giving any reassurance that the fountain pen will not dry or it will last more than a day in the hands of a youngster.

First of all the plastic seems thin and brittle, and the clip is just unusable. The tightness should be quite good as the pen has almost like two o rings to ensure a good fit of the cap. 

 

The fountain pen has quite a unique cartridge refill mechanism, it took me a few tries before I got it open. You pull out the body, and the different colored sections separate.

After that you insert the cartridge and assemble everything back without screwing the parts. I can see the advantage this creates, being all plastic a youngster might over tighten it and crack the body in a short time. 

 

A better approach would be to make a more durable fountain pen but this I think will work well enough. Plus it offers an interesting way to recharge your fountain pen. 

 

 

The grip of the Bic fountain pen is triangular, comfortable to the touch. It feels rubberized and offers a good balance between comfort and grip.

 

The fountain pen is stocky and short measuring around 12 cm uncapped, and 13 cm with the cap on. The cap doesn't post so this is what you are working with. Because the pen is stocky it feels good in my small hands even though it is quite short. Compared with a short and small fountain pen like Jinhao 82 this feels better in the hand due to the thickness of the grip, even though it is a tad shorter than the Jinhao.

 

The nib has a interesting and unique profile, and it has the Bic logo etched on it. 

 

The most important part of a fountain pen is, how does it write.

The Bic Easy Click writes well with no skipping, no hard starts, but with a lot of feedback. It isn't scratchy per say but it isn't smooth. The flow is good and reliable.

The ink cartridge that is included in the pack has a nice blue tone. 

The fountain pen writes well upside down, putting down a consistent fine line.

 

I didn't test the pen on high end paper, I used the pages from a run of the mill notebook, because most likely a young student will use regular paper, nothing fancy, on a daily basis. So I wanted to see how everything mixes up.

 

The dry time is a bit high, taking into account that the pen is advertised for right or left hand users. It takes the ink around 5 seconds to dry without smudging. 

 

 

Bleeding is not a severe problem but it is present. 

 

Size comparison between some affordable Chinese fountain pens.

(Jinhao 51A, Jinhao 80, Jinhao 82, Bic Easy Click)

Decent fountain pen, but not much more than that. I would pick up a Jinhao or a Wing sung over the Bic. Similar in price, but a better construction.