I didn't know I could be disappointed in a pen until I had the misfortune of using Onyx and Green's Recycled Plastic Gel Pen. These pens are trash, and not in a cute, marketing-fun way. When I think gel pen, I think of the G2 pen, or the pens that came in florescent colors that I irrationally obsessed over in elementary school. I wasn't looking for the color (though they were fabulous), just the feel of the ink flowing, thicker, lines, etc. Those kinds of pens. This is not that type of pen.
These feel like a ballpoint, and despite not receiving what I expected, I figured I'd give them a try. Maybe it would work as a ballpoint pen. They do, but not for long. The first pen I pulled from the pack started off working as you'd expect a pen would. Solid, dark lines, no skips, etc. Then it stopped writing even though the ink cartridge (or whatever the thing is called that holds the ink) appeared almost full. I hadn't subjected the pen to any abnormal conditions, just paper. I thought maybe it was just a snag in the production-a fluke of an experience-and that the second pen would fair better. My hopes were quickly tempered. The second pen stopped writing just as the first pen did, with an almost-full cartridge, used under normal conditions, etc. As someone who routinely uses a single pen until the ink runs, this is wasteful, and frankly, sad. A pen's primary purpose is to leave an ink trail at the behest of the user. I don't know enough about pens to understand what facilitates this purpose, but this pen fails at doing so despite all the usual signs suggesting longer use was viable.
I wish I could like this pen as previous reviewers seem to., but I don't. I'm disappointed that EarthHero chose to keep this product around even though each individual pen comes with this plastic, tiny (smaller than the red asterisk next to the "Add a Comment" button on each of EarthHero's product page) ball on the tip of each pen. Because it's very easy to lose, it's difficult to properly place in a ZeroWaste box.
Looking forward to going through my ten pack as much as their almost-full-but-not-performing selves will offer. Then never purchasing again.
