Ink : Gel Ink, available in 9 colours (although I have a 4 colour set: pink, orange, green and blue)

Nib : SUPER fine

Size : Pen label in Japanese, but it’s SUPER fine, I reckon a 0.05

Cap : Removable with an interchangeable Hello Kitty character J

Manufacturer :  Pilot 

RRP : USA site JetPens had a 9 pack listed at $30 – Sold out though. 

Fellow Ink Enthusiasts, it’s my Birthday today so I’m dedicating this Pen Geek blog to one of my favourite little pens ever. It combines liquid happiness ink and another of my guilty obsessions, Hello Kitty, in one SUPER cool (and very rare) little pen. 

My boyfriend knows the way to win this girl’s heart isn’t with handbags or chocolates, it’s with ink. When he came home from a trip to Tokyo last year, he brought me back a 4 pack of these super rare Hello Kitty Pilot Hi-Tec-C’s. The pack contained orange (tested here), pink, blue and green (currently Missing in Action). These pens are BIG in Asia and it’s unbelievably hard to find them in the USA, never mind the UK.

The caps each come with a little moulded plastic Hello Kitty character which co-ordinates with the colour of the pen. These are removable and can be swapped between pens, but if you are slightly OCD like me, you won’t like the mis-matched ink and Hello Kitty accessories. 

The nib is SUPER fine. I don’t know the precise size as the label is all in Japanese and I can’t find any info online, but I’d say it’s at least as fine as a 0.05. It’s like drawing with a little inky needle! Amazing for detailed outlining (the type where you have to hold your breath to get an even line) but not so fab for block filling. The delicate nib means you have to treat it with TLC; no heavy handed drawing or angry penning of passive aggressive notes. 

The gel ink comes in 9 different shades of what I consider to be liquid happy. These inks have some sort of super pigment in them which prevents fading or bleeding. If I’m going to use colour I want it to be bright, vibrant,  sunshine colours like these.

Although a full size version is available, I’ve got the little short pen series. The barrel is just 8cm tall (Ikea pencil size) meaning these little beauties are perfect for handbags and pockets.

These Kitty-tastic pens are amazing for micro doodles, post it notes and greetings cards.

Life isn’t always black and white, sometimes it’s orange, with a dash of kitsch.

Have a great weekend everyone, I’m off to eat some birthday cake J

J