PILOT VBall Liquid Ink Rolling Ball Stick Pens, Extra Fine Point, Black Ink, 12-Pack (35200)

These are the only pen I EVER use. Design has changed throughout the years, but same great quality.

nice

Good

I love these pens and have converted everyone at my workplace to them. Ive never had the leaking issues others have complained about and its been over a year.

Ive been a professional writer for 26 years, and for my money, this is the best pen Ive ever used. Skip free and so extremely fluid, its more like writing with a brush than a pen. And from a design perspective, the V Ball is simple, attractive, functional and very comfortable - a solid performer. Show me any Waterman or Mont Blanc that even comes close, and Ill buy it. But in the interim, at less than two bucks a pop, the Pilot V Ball sets the gold standard for everything a great pen should be. UPDATE: A tragic single flaw. Apparently these pens must be pressurized (probably explains why they flow so smoothly). As a result, DO NOT TAKE THESE ON AN AIRPLANE. Again, just speculating, but it seems that they most blow a seal . . . resulting in a leaky mess thats tough to impossible to clean. White shirts and frilly blouses - be afraid. Be very afraid. ;-) Despite that - I stand by every letter in my first two paragraphs. Absolutely fabulous pens.

I bought a box of these pens on Amazon about a month ago along with a couple other types of Pilot blue-ink pens. My initial impression after using a couple of each is that the new V-ball is excellent to start. The writing quality is smooth and skip-free. This is important to me. Ink flow is crisp and appropriate. Im a physician and my use is primarily in charting on patients. The ink allows you to write quickly and there has been no smudging thus far. However, on both of the V-balls Ive used, after about a week, the ink overflows into the cap. Not enough to get on clothing, but enough to get ink all over your hands during use. The pen still writes fine once you wipe off the excess ink from the pen tip, but its enough to make me want to pick up another pen instead. This may be because I tend to take my pens home with me (in my coat pocket) and its hot outside and in the car. Im not sure. But it is an annoyance. **update March 8, 2012** After using several more of these pens, each one has had the same outcome: they write GREAT to start, then start bleeding. I suspect that this is because I carry the pens in my pocket and write throughout the day. Im not sure if the body heat does it or if Im sometimes putting the pens in my pocket tip-down, or what, but half-way through the box theyve all done the same thing. It has gotten a little less problematic at the end of the pens life. But you will have to clean out the end of the cap to see this. Alcohol swabs work well for this purpose. I will go through a pen in roughly 2-3 weeks usually and I have yet to make it all the way through one of these without having to throw it away due to concern over my clothing. And blue fingers become normal during use.

Very leaky pens. If you enjoy purple fingers, then by all means purchase these.

Overall, I really do like this pen. I have all of the colors, and they are my new favorites!! For some reason, the seller shipped the red pens in a box with a black pen on the outside. I know its something minor, but it was a bit confusing. I was about to return them until I realized that the bottom and top labels do say red. I guess its a bad packaging situation.

LOVE LOVE LOVE these pens. I was getting them at work, but they changed their product so I had to buy them myself. Once you find a good pen...you hate to change.

Just exactly as I remember them being from years ago! I love them. They write smoothly and well, and the tip doesnt bend like one of hte other styles from the same company.