Monami 153 Ballpoint Pen review

This is a bit of fun. I got one of these just to try it out. Bit of a classic design from over in Korea. You might have seen one of these pens before... probably branded with a company logo on it if you work in financial services or pharmaceuticals.

Basically instead of a press once to engage the nib and once again to retract you click once to engage and then knock the little plastic clip in to retract the pen.

I picked a 1mm version of the pen because it comes in a cool yellow colour. It writes...well... it writes like a 25p ballpoint okay! Get it over here.

It has that annoying slight flex that you get from all cheaper ballpoint pens. Being a bit of a fusspot I find that the end of the pen is a little too long for my tastes. I find I want to hold the hexagonal barrel for a little more grip but then it feels like you holding the pen miles from the end.

If a Bic is too basic for you and you want a little bit of a talking point around Korea's most popular pen then this is the one for you. Tell your friends that as of 2013 this pen had sold more than 3.6 billion units.

Personally, I couldn't possibly use this as a daily writer. It does make good chaff to keep my wife away from my more treasured stuff. :D

If you want an upgraded version you could be tempted by the 153 ID which has an all-metal body. I actually really like the matte black one. This one also uses Parker G2 refills so it should write a lot better.

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