I’m sure you have noticed that I have recently done a few Post-it Flag Pen reviews here, and you are probably thinking, great, here is another one. But before you decide to move on to doing actual work instead of reading blogs for the day, hang on a second. Although these pens are similar to the permanent marker version, and the ballpoint versions I recently reviewed, it is exciting to see these pens will soon be offered in a gel version, and even more exciting is that the gel versions will come in both a .5mm and a .7mm size. My contact at 3M / Post-it Brand who supplied me with these not yet releases pens tells me that they will be available in retail outlets starting in April for prices ranging from $4.99 to $5.99.
The first thing that strikes me about these pens is the visual appeal, I love the almost complete black look to them, the bodies are a glossy jet black color, with matching and almost stealth-like black rubber grips. I say stealth-like because the wavy yet somewhat angled design on the grip reminds me of some kind of super secret stealth jet. Obviously the blue ink versions are not completely black, but the blue accents of the inside on the cap, and the flags themself make for a great contrast with all of the black. You will also notice that in the same fashion as the ballpoint version of these pens, the flags are color coordinated with the ink in the pen, as is the inside of the clear plastic cap. Another difference between these and the ballpoint version is the checked design (as opposed to polkadots) on the flags.
I know that some people are picky about the size/shape of the point itself because they dont want to feel like they are writing with a giant stumpy sawed off log (you know who you are 
) or anything. I dont think either of these pens falls into that category, but the picture is there for you to draw your own conclusions, this picture is a little blurry, but its the best I could do on such a close up and small subject. The .7mm version is going to be sold as a “Fine” point, while the .5mm version will be sold as an “Ultrafine” point.
Now for what is always the most fun and revealing part of any pen review, the writing sample. With these pens you do get a nice solid line when you write with them. The blue seems to present a slightly more solid and consistent line, I am not sure if that is specific just to the pre-release samples that I have or if it is an accurate representation of how they will all write, however it certainly is not by any means a bad looking result that you get with either color. If I had to pick between the .7mm and the .5mm versions, Id definately go with the smaller, .5mm version, which is just my usual preference, but its nice to know that you do have the option. I also really like the specific shade of blue you get with this pen, if you look at the close up of the picture above, you can see that its a really energetic and vibrant shade of blue. The black is also pretty impressive, its got a strong and solid tone to it, there is nothing worse than a pen that is “black” but comes off as more grey…when I want a black pen, I want it to be B L A C K when it writes, and this one does the trick.
When doing the writing sample with these pens I realized what it is (besides the grip) that I like so much about the way this pen feels in my hand. I like the thinner grip towards the bottom, but I also like the thicker body as it goes upwards. It puts a lot of surface area comfortably between my thumb and pointer finger, while also allowing me to feel like I have good control of the pen with the more narrow grip part, I think that thicker top part resting against my hand makes it feel very balanced and makes for more steady writing.
When it comes to having a pen that will not only write, but also help you to organize yourself or study, these Post-it Flag+ Gel pens really do the trick for me. I’ve been doing a lot of reading lately and I love being able to just peel off a flag, stick it in my book and jot down a quick note all so quickly without fumbling around with multiple items. I was never a big user of anything like this before, but now with the combo flag dispenser-pen that also comes in a Gel pen version, its kind of hard to resist. For the price, its worth trying out even for someone like myself who never really used them that much. You might surprise yourself.
