Out of the Newsroom

One of the things that I have loved doing since i was a little kid is buying office supplies. My late Grandfather knew this, because he would take me to the Tri-State Department Store when I was young, and allow me to buy a dollar’s worth of items that would be the tools to created whatever new enterprise I would create to sell him “stock” in. It seems I had entrepreneurial tendencies before I ever knew what the word entrepreneurial meant.

Even though I had–and still have–pretty lousy penmanship (I don’t think I ever got over a C grade in that particular subject in elementary school) I have an affection for writing instruments of all kinds, from the classic “Crystal” Bic ballpoint stick pen (remember the commercial where they shot it out of a rifle and it would still write!) to a magnificent Mont Blanc fountain pen that set me back a few hundred dollars when I bought it as a gift to myself, after a major career promotion some years ago.

A new pack of pens or markers, some index cards or a new notebook still gives me a little charge, so as you might imagine Staples and Office Depot represent something of a mecca for me. Every now and then, I will go into one of these “office superstores” just to kill a little time and see what’s new. Today’s trip uncovered a major new find.

One of my favorite writing tools is the Sharpie marker. It seems like over the past decade or so, Sharpie has gone on a marketing blitz, adding many different sizes/colors/points of the original “marker”. Heck they even sponsor a Nascar race each year in Bristol, Virginia named (appropriately enough) the Sharpie 500!

Of course, one issue with the Sharpie is that while it can write on just about any surface–and is the only thing that can write on some surfaces (the surface of a blank CD or DVD comes to mind)–one thing that you don’t typically use a Sharpie on is…well…paper. The permanent ink of a Sharpie bleeds through regular paper very quickly and ends up on whatever is beneath. Making it not always the best choice for writing in many everyday situations.

Not anymore.

The Sharpie people (Sanford, originally of nearby Worcester, Mass**) have introduced the new “Sharpie Pen”. As you might imagine, its a fine point version of the original, with permanent ink that doesn’t bleed through regular paper. It’s not in the traditional shape or size of a Sharpie–the Pen version is a stick-thin version akin to the Ultra Fine model that has been out for a while now.

Our scientific testing of about five minutes or so, does seem to bear out the claim that it doesn’t bleed through paper and yes, it is a Sharpie. Another victory for scientific innovation and a new choice for pen lovers everywhere. The Sharpie Pen has earned a spot in our desk mug full of random writing implements.

We’d just like to see it in the classic Sharpie size/shape model at some point.

(**Of course, our lawyers would like to have us remind you that Sharpie is registered trademark of Sanford, A Newell Rubbermaid Company)