Bic is one of the bigger names in office supplies; they may not have as many products as Sanford or PaperMate but they are contenders in the field. One of their biggest kudos to date is the Intensity line of gel pens. There are more than a few different styles of the Bic Intensity so you really do have to read the descriptions closely so you are getting the exact one that you want. First you have to pick if you want the retractable or capped version. Then there are the colors; you can get them in the basics like black, red, blue and green but then there are metallics and neons. Regardless of which you decide to go with, you are going to get a very smooth write from these gel pens, ink the resists smudging on most papers and something that is archival so scrapbookers can make good use of them too.

One thing that is questionable about the Intensity line is if they are refillable. Some of the packages say that they are, some say that they aren't and some make no mention of it at all. Since there are refills sold for the Intensity line I have to assume that some of them are refillable and others aren't. Considering the cost of them, if you lose one or trash the barrel, it's not a big loss.

Bic Gel Intensity Metallic Roller Ball Pen Medium Point
blue, pink, gold, silver, green

If you are new to writing with the Intensity Gel Pens then I highly suggest that you start out with the basic non-metallic colors like black, blue and red. The pens in this set are metallic and while it may look cool to sign your name in metallic silver or gold when sending out cards, they aren't exactly what I would consider appropriate for office use or business letters. That is not a slam on the metallics, they are pens that I really like working with but there is a time and a place for them to be used and generally an office isn't the best choice to make good use of these. The tip is classified as 'medium point' so that means it is somewhere around a .5 or .7mm size; not too thick, not too thin. You get nice sharp lines from this when you write with it and the ink dries quick so smidges is usually never a problem

The individual Intensity pens cost about $1.25 a piece so getting the five pack for a little over four dollars was a real bargain, especially when you consider that you are getting five metallic colors to play around with. If you can't find these locally and want to get them online make sure that you read the descriptions of them closely so you get the one that you want. As I mentioned, there are a lot of different varieties of the Intensity floating around so it is easy to grab or order the wrong one if you aren't paying attention. They also just introduced the grip version that features a rubber comfort grip area. I had the chance to try then out and they are nice but I don't generally go for pens or pencils that have the oversized grip areas to them.

You get five unique and interesting colors in this pack; gold, silver, pink, blue and green. Needless to say, the gold and silver ones see the most use but the blue and green are nice to have around if you like to doodle or want to sign you name to cards but want to give it a little bit of a sparkle. The pink one was used for about two weeks before Annabelle asked if she could use it to practice her writing and cursive. That was the last time that I saw it. It's a shame too because it was a really nice cotton candy shade of pink. The blue and green are equally nice; both are bold and vivid without overpowering everything else that is on the page. Slick and glossy papers are a little tough to work with when you are using the Intensity but that is the case for almost every gel pen out there. If you are into sending greeting cards or writing notes, this five pack of gel pens is a great pick.

The Bottom Line

Being a pen junkie, I have to give the Intensity Metallic Gel pens a very solid eight out of ten points. They write nice, have a great ink flow and the barrels do take a lot of abuse but only show a minimal amount of wear. Being able to get a five pack or metallic gel pens for four dollars isn't unheard of but you are usually getting some off brand name or something that is going to clump when you write with it. Barring the fact that the little diva made off with the pink one, I have no complaints about these gel metallics. They are great to have around for holidays or when you want to add some sparkle to things and at four bucks a pop, they are more than affordable. Bic states that the ink is fade and smudge proof; that all depends on the paper you are using and the amount of sun and light the ink is coming into contact with.


As always, thanks for the visit…

~^V^~ Freak ~^V^~

© 2007 Freak369


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