On a dull grey day in the UK I can’t help but think of sunnier climes. Not being in a position to jump on the nearest Jet the closest I come is looking at a Stabilo Tropikana Be Wild pen on my desk. Oh well, may as well focus on the here & now write a review.
The Tropikana is a ballpoint writing a 0.4mm line, available in 6 lively colours it’s part of a limited edition with stylish animal prints. The pen I am checking out has pink ink & whilst the pink & cream coloured pattern on the barrel is attractive, it’s hard to see where the animal comes in to it. Maybe it’s just this ballpoint that has an identity crisis as the rollerball & highlighters are a little more credible, but that’s just my opinion.
The barrel is split into two sections, one has the “animal” print the other is plain pink & home to the push button that engages the nib & a special mechanism to retract it, which is placed on the side.
A durable plastic sleeve covers all but the button, this is stamped with a swan, the companies logo for almost 140 years. Writing with the Tropikana was as expected, it didn’t have the flow of a rollerball but the pink ink somehow made up for that & there were no issues with smudging or snail trails.
The grip was a little disappointing, whilst it has a series of small dots, these didn’t stop my fingers slipping as well as say a rubberised grip. The pocket clip on the other hand is strong & wider than average.
Stabilo cite their creativity as as a good reason to choose their products, I can’t argue with that but I didn’t find myself wild about this design.
