DC or Bust: Retro 51 Monroe (Vintage Metalsmith Series)

Retro 51 Monroe, one of the Vintage Metalsmith series

I spent a few hours in Washington, DC last Wednesday as part of a whirlwind bus trip. The weather was summer-like…very warm and sunny…which my snake belly white skin appreciated. In those few hours, a small group of us raced from monument to monument, snapping pictures and drinking in the history.

I was HOPING to find some sort of reference (monument, plaque, street name) to President James Monroe as I thoughtfully brought along my Retro 51 Vintage Metalsmith Monroe Tornado. I had a plan, you see. Monroe Retro 51 + Monroe landmark = Monroe blog post. But alas, there were no Monroe sightings.

We saw The White House…

and the World War II Memorial.

The cherry blossoms were in full bloom…

and visitors paid their respects at the Vietnam War Memorial.

We climbed steps to gaze up at Abe…

and made the acquaintance of Alexander Hamilton in the Capitol Rotunda.

But as for Monroe? Well, he remained particularly elusive. And while this lack of a “front and center” memorial could make a dead president feel slighted, the Monroe Tornado rollerball, by Retro 51, is better than some old hunk of marble.

The body of the pen sports a finely cut diamond pattern in red lacquered metal, and the look is stunning. The finish is smooth, but slightly textured, and looks and feels a bit like glass. Light plays against deep red facets so that the pen shimmers and shines. I think it’s gorgeous.

Gorgeous AND well made. As with the entire Retro 51 Tornado line, the Monroe is obviously solidly constructed and has a well-balanced, hefty feel in hand. The clip is springy and the knurling on the twist-action end mirrors the diamond cut of the body for a very cool look.

Perfect accent

The level of detail in such a reasonably priced pen is impressive. The packaging is stellar, as is the writing performance, unless you require a super fine line. The Retro 51 rollerball refills lay down a 0.7 mm line so it’s a little broader than I usually like, but this pen is so good-looking that it’s become a non-issue for me.

So, President Monroe, even though tourists in DC won’t find themselves tripping over monuments in your honor, the folks at Retro 51 have done you proud. And that is high honor, indeed.

Novelty: The Retro 51 Tornado ZAG Limited Edition

Back in the 90′s, my cousin and I took a road trip to Maine. As we were backing out of the driveway, my aunt waved and shouted, “No novelties!” (?????) I guess she was thinking of us as little kids, when we were prone to blowing our allowances on Super Balls, Silly Putty, and good luck trolls. So throughout our drive up the coast, whenever we stopped at a gift shop, we’d hold up touristy lobster-covered objects and ask each other, “Is THIS a novelty?” The joke just didn’t get old.

Though the days of trolls (I had quite the collection) and enormous pencils and crazily twisted drinking straws are behind me, I AM still drawn to the occasional novelty. Enter the Retro 51 Tornado ZAG Limited Edition rollerball.

Better than Silly Putty

I’ve written about the Retro 51 Tornado before, but the ZAG has a surprise twist that made it irresistible to this pen collector. Like all Retro 51 pens, the packaging is both unique and fun.

Doesn’t that bike remind you of your childhood?

Words to live by

The box is clever, but the packaging doesn’t end there. The pen is tucked inside a very cool metal tube (that sort of pops when you pull the top off). How novel!

The whole shebang

But that’s not the REAL novelty. Nope.

The build quality is superb, and I especially love the knurling at the end of the pen.

Twist this to extend and retract the rollerball

But that’s still not the novelty.

So what is it?!

(drumroll)

The ZAG GLOWS IN THE DARK.

A very novel pen novelty

With its cool packaging, smooth rollerball performance, obvious build quality, AND its glow-in-the-dark trick, I could not resist the Retro 51 Tornado ZAG Limited Edition pen.

Just don’t tell Aunt Dot.

——-
You can find the ZAG at:
Jetpens.com
Daly’s Pen Shop

Pen Stalking: Chicago

Last Monday night, we took the train from Utica to Chicago for a few days of vacation. I was excited. The train! Vacation! Chicago! We traveled overnight and though sleeping was a little tricky, I loved the ride and the fact that we were practically delivered door to door.

Stupidly did not figure out the REAL footrests until 8:30 am. Oh, well!

This was vacation with a very short agenda, which is just how I like it. We knew that we were going to a White Sox-Yankees game, and that we had reserved tickets for the Field Museum, but other than that, it was all free form. Perfect.

That’s a little bit of a lie…I knew I wanted to visit Century Pens, a pen store that I had tracked down online. So Day One, off we went and found the store after a short walk.

Century Pens. We found it!

The guys in the store were great and let us poke around to our hearts’ content. I fogged up a display case or two while we were there. I held a Pilot Prera (wow…very light fountain pen!) and oogled the Krones, a line of pens that was entirely new to me. We saw the Winston Churchill pen up close and personal, thanks to the genuinely enthusiastic salesmen. Despite their enthusiasm, THAT $5900 pen stayed put, while I browsed around for something more affordable, preferably without lions. There was not a single Retro 51 in the house, because, they said, no rep ever calls on them. Darn! I was anxious to see the Invader model in person. If they had had a Monteverde Color Fusion Invincia Stealth fountain pen in stock, I would’ve swooped down on that, but it was not to be. Instead, I picked up a slightly used Stypen…a small retractable fountain pen…that caught my eye.
One store, one pen. This vacation was off to a great start.

Capped Stypen

Deployed Stypen

By then, I was so hungry that I could’ve eaten a skyscraper, so we took a break.

Yes, I was THAT hungry.

Next up…Dick Blick! I’ve seen their website, but never an actual store. I explored the place from top to bottom but in the end made just a few small purchases, but I’m very happy with them.
1) Rhodia No. 16 Dot Pad. WOW. I didn’t really get to try it out until I was home, but this paper is THE BEST for fountain pens. And i love the dots. They provide just enough structure without getting in the way. Great stuff.
2) Pilot G2 0.38 mm (black). I tested a few Stabilos and LePens, but couldn’t quite get into them, and instead opted for the super crisp line of the 0.38 mm G2. Though G2s are easy to come by locally, that tip size isn’t. Super cheap, but very nice.
3) Pilot G2 0.38 mm (red). See #2, just in red.
Nothing exotic purchased there, but these were solid finds, nonetheless.

Rhodia No. 16 Dot Pad…yum!

Not fancy, but oh so crisp.

On Thursday, our last day, we trekked WAY up N. Michigan Ave. in search of the Montblanc Boutique. Once there, I hesitated at the threshold. It’s a fancy place and there I was in my shorts and Life Is Good t-shirt. Awkward! But the salesman, Brian Morrow, couldn’t have been nicer. I asked if they had a Limited Edition Alfred Hitchcock fountain pen, which they did. He sat us down, donned a glove, and got out the $3000 beauty. I was hesitant to touch it because I’d forgotten to pack my pen-handling glove (silly me), but no worries…he handed it to me to examine. VERY cool. Heavy in details…twisting design on barrel, dagger clip, etc. But a tad pricey. Just a tad. (I’d also forgotten to pack my bag o’ money.)

After we finished with the Hitchcock, and it was returned to its vault, Brian brought out the Limited Edition Jonathan Swift fountain pen that had JUST arrived at the store. I’d heard about the Swift pen on an FPGeeks podcast where the design was much debated, but to be honest, I liked this one better than the Hitchcock. The “trifoil” cap, the ladder-like clip, and the inlaid rope design make for a very good-looking pen (in my opinion). I may have drooled just a little bit. This one runs $900+ so while it was fun to hold, we resisted Brian’s charms, and walked out with just one bottle of Montblanc Mystery Black ink. Ah, the restraint.

And with that, our Chicago vacation came to a close. I loved the city’s architecture, museums, and parks. I loved the super friendly people. And, of course, I loved the pens. (If only I’d packed that bag of money!)

Oh, Chicago, you made me smile.

Retro 51 Tornado: Vintage Metalsmith Lincoln

I NEVER WIN ANYTHING! Welllllll…until now! I recently took a stab at a photo captioning contest on the Retro 51 blog and…amazingly…won! Me! The never-winner! The prize? One of the new, very cool Retro 51 Tornado Rollerballs- Lincoln (Antique Copper) model. Oh, I had been eyeing these, and now one was on its way to me. Just knowing this polished up a plain old Thursday into a much shinier day.

Killer packaging

The pen arrived on Saturday and it’s a beauty. The antique copper design looks truly vintage. Sort of modern vintage. (The best of both worlds, really.) Even the clip and knurled twist mechanism look like a well-worn penny. The finish is smooth, much smoother than it appears in some promotional photos, where it almost looks rough and rusty. I like the classic lacquers (have a couple), but this is a fresh departure…very sharp.

“Life Is Too Short To Carry An Ugly Pen”

Clip & knurling

Of course, the packaging is killer. As you can see above, the box I received has the “man on scooter” graphic, which I particularly enjoy because it reminds me of my sweet Vespa. The inner “tube” is bright orange and blue- classic Retro 51 stylin’. (The tube says “Please recycle” But I can’t imagine anyone throwing away this packaging.)

The complete package

The liquid ink/rollerball lays down a bold, solid line- very smooth. I DO wish that there was the option for a finer rollerball point, but this one is fine when I’m in the mood to write BOLDLY.

Rollerball writing sample

I did swap out the rollerball for a fine point Parker ballpoint refill, which is a nice option. I found that I had to turn around the spring (which is slightly tapered), so that the narrower end of the spring points towards the back of the pen. Otherwise, the spring catches and the tip doesn’t deploy/retract smoothly. Reversing the spring solves this little issue. The Parker refill isn’t Jetstream quality, but it’s a perfectly good option, especially for a finer line.

Retro 51 Tornado refill options

Ballpoint refill writing sample

Oh- and I almost forgot to mention that the fine folks at Retro 1951 sent along a t-shirt as an added, surprise bonus– very cool! Who knew Retro 51 t-shirts existed? Well, we do now! (I wore mine IMMEDIATELY.)

Retro 51 t-shirt

I love my prize, and not just because it’s the only prize I’ve ever won. To me, I hit the Retro 51 JACKPOT.

Check out the rest of the Vintage Metalsmith line here. They all look vintage…AND modern…and very cool.

A couple of additional notes:
Though the Vintage Metalsmith Rollerballs are not yet available at JetPens, they do offer a great collection of the Classic Lacquers, as well as a few other special editions here.

While rooting through my treasure chest of refills last night, I discovered that the Schmidt refill P8126 (Short Body) is a perfect finer point rollerball option for the Tornados. It probably runs around 0.5 mm and has made this pen absolutely perfect. SO perfect, in fact, that I quickly ordered a handful via Daly’s Pen Shop.

I think that covers it!