Review: Sailor Gel Ink Pen in Black, Blue, & Red - 0.38mm

Overall Look	6
Writing Smoothness	9
Overall Value	9
Overall Rating	8

I've always had an affinity for paper goods, office supplies, and stationary but these Sailor Gel Ink pens were probably my first Japanese pens that I collected. It's been a while since I have used or seen these because I have since moved on to other pens. They've been buried beneath several other pens in a box that I keep in my room, but I'm glad I've found them again. 

Like many of my pens, I first found these Sailor Gel Ink pens from a Japanese dollar store. These are from Daiso Japan.

I really do like these pens, but they don't look as great as other pens that I currently buy.
The barrels are clear, plastic like most other gel ink pens but are shaped funny because the ends are thicker than the middle portion, which makes it difficult to keep too many of them in a small pencil case.
Part of the barrel and also the grip has deep ridges, which is not something seen on any pen that I've encountered recently.

Aside from the fact that they're oddly shaped, the Sailor Gel pens are very long. Here's my retractable  Sailor Gel in black next to a Zebra Sarasa Clip and Pilot G2.
You can also see the Sailor Gel's dumbell-like shape and ribbed sections.

These pens may look a bit funny, but they for sure make up for it with how nicely they write.

Compared to other 0.38mm gel ink pens that I own,  the line is a slightly thicker. But I actually like that about these pens.  The lines look a little bolder, which makes my hand writing look less small. haha. 

The ink flow is smooth, but does smear. 
And I've had minimal problems with the ink skipping or blotting while I write.

Considering that I bought these pens for $1.50 each, I don't have much to complain about. The ink flow is smooth enough and it writes well more often than not. It also comes in a few non standard colors, which I will review in a later post. One thing I do dislike about it's design is that the cap is easily snapped on the inside from pushing the pen too far. A few of my pen caps don't stay on the pen too well because the inner part is broken. 

I was looking for these online, but I couldn't find them, unfortunately.
The pen brand, Sailor, only makes fountain pens and has one line of multi-ballpoint pens.
I do have a black and blue ink, capped version still in package that I'll save for something special. :)