I bought this Pilot Pluminix on impulse whilst purchasing some ink at an arts and craft store not far from where I work. This is a pen aimed at the school and student market. There are 10 different neon colours in the range and the price on the street varies from 99p to £4.99.
Design
The design of the Pluminix is pretty unique. It has a sort of science fiction feel to it - reminiscent of something from the Matrix, Stargate Atlantis or the Abyss, a sort of marine animal influened design. For some reason it reminds me of a squid. Others might say it is simply cute.
The body, section and cap are all made of a fairly standard, transparent plastic. The type used for shatterproof plastic rulers. The body and cap are available in quite a number of colours (or tints), 10 I believe, all based on the same transparent plastic. This allows you to see the collector and the ink cartridge – so its always obvious how much ink you have left.
It is reasonably sturdy and the sample I have is well manufactured. A nice feature is the screw-on cap. For a cheap pen that you are likely to just throw in your bag or pocket I think this is a good plus.
Design – 6\10
Feel
Being made of plastic, it is a light pen. It is quite small, so not the most comfortable of pens - but it is aimed at the young student market.
One problem I did find at first is the cap. When used posted, you must have it oriented the right way, or the little plastic ears on the cap dig into your hand. It is something I have kind of got used to though. Obviously not a problem if you don't use it posted though!
The section is curved and angled for the fingers and this position is reasonably comfortable. But it does force you to hold the pen in a certain position. Not a pen for the ham-fisted male being quite small.
Combined with an italic nib, this is not a pen for writing fast with or scribling notes, but with a little concentration gives great results.
Dimensions: 121mm (4 3/4")capped, 124mm (4 8/9") posted
Feel – 5\10
Nib
The nib is what attracted me to this pen. Big, shiny, a 1mm italic and from Pilot. If you like italics it performs pretty well, not great, but gives good definition between horizontal and vertical strokes. Stiff.
Nib – 7\10
Filling
The Pluminix takes short international cartridges which allows a good range of inks compared to some pens that use proprietary cartridges only, such as Parker and Lamy. But it will take only one at a time with no room for a spare. There is no room to fit a convertor either so you are stuck with cartridge use.
Filling – 6\10
Cost
I paid 3.99 for this pen, which can't be bad.
Cost – 9\10
Overall verdict – 33\50
This is a low-cost pen, so was never going to score highly, but great value for money. Cheap to add to your collection particularly if you'd like to try an italic nib for the first time.
