
I really need to get my nice big scanner set back up again, so I can easily do writing samples bigger than a playing card
I received an email from the new representative of the Office [Max/Depot] mecha behemoth advising me that I needed Serious Ink, which I pictured to be a very large bottle of black ink with a stern-faced, possibly dead individual on the label. No, apparently that’s not what Serious Ink is. Serious Ink refers to Office Depot‘s line of TUL pens. Would I like a free sample to review? Sure, I said, as long as these are somehow different from Office Max‘s line of premium TUL pens I reviewed before.
No reply from my Office DaxMepot liason, but this thing showed up on my doorstep (in the arms of the UPS guy, whom my dog viciously barked at). The previous set included a marker pen, a rollerball, a gel pen, and a ballpoint. This set included a pencil, a rollerball, a gel pen, and a ballpoint.
As before, the ballpoint delivers dark, super smooth ink performance in a somewhat bland-looking package. Put the ballpoint refill in the previous TUL line’s gel pen body, and then we’d be talking. But in spite of being the same ballpoint, the refill on this new one tends to sometimes rattle, which is definitely a step in the wrong direction.
They’ve taken everything I liked about the look of the previous gel pen and completely done away with it, the beter to match the less-inspired design of the ballpoint. The gel ink remains smooth and skip-free, but still has spots where it takes too long to dry. Not very left-handed friendly. This is the medium point size—I’d like to try this gel pen in fine.
I will give them credit in that the designs of this new set seem to go together a lot better, particularly the gel pen and the rollerball. Again, I’d like to try this in a fine; my handwriting just looks too thick. The medium rollerball seems to write much more consistently this time around, and the dry times are decent—much better than the gel pen.

I’m not very picky about mechanical pencils. Either it works, it’s a Uni Kuru Toga, or it’s a useless piece of garbage
Now this looks like it matches the design of the TUL gel pen that I liked before. I love the long rubbery grip, and that the lead and tip can be pushed back into the nose cone when you need to travel. And almost an inch of twist eraser! No complaints; it does everything a mechanical pencil should and in no way fills me with any rage.
Design-wise, the pencil is the clear winner for this TUL group. Performance-wise, the day goes once again to the TUL ballpoint. The refills between the gel body and the ballpoint body are compatible with one another, so I’ve now gone back to my first set and put the ballpoint refill in my much more beloved gel body. Now my life is complete.
TUL Writing Line – Available online or at your nearest amalgamated Office Depot/Max.
Thank you to Office Depot OfficeMax for providing these samples free for review. Please consider adopting a slightly less unwieldy name though.
I stumbled on to the TUL Marker pens a few years back and went nuts; the ink was smooth and dark and made my handwriting look aces–perfect for the busy-beaver novel-writer that I am.
So you cannot imagine how upset I am that OfficeWhatever no longer make OR carry their Tul Marker pens! How I wish I’d gotten a 20-pack!! T_T
Hi!! I have been reading your blog and it’s really interesting. Since you are very familiar with so many different pens I’d like to ask you which one do you thing it would be the fastest and most comfortable. I need it to do an exam in which I have to write the most I can in 4 hours, so I need it to be fast and comfortable.
I live in Spain and I have found the Pilot G2. Which model do you think would be better for my pourpose: 1.0mm, 0.7mm,0.5mm or 0.38mm?
[…] really helpful pen (and you should buy all our different picks at Workplace Depot). Reviewers ding the gel pen for a protracted drying time and recommend the line for stocking up an office greater than shopping […]
EXCELLENT. That the gel/ballpoint fits one in the other. I’ve located an interesting Tul ‘ballpoint’ and or gel, and wondered before losing 20 large on an expensive ‘coated’ aluminum error. Didn’t want it coming to egregious terms. (Heh-heh. You’ve saved a stranger some dough. Thanks Samaritan.)
P.S. I do so love both. This usually Taiwanese made pen etc., by the owners of people in Korea, should really be more available.