Customer Reviews

BIC Shimmers Ball Pen, Medium Point (1.0 mm), Assorted, 120 Pens

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am a big fan of Bic Cristal pens, which I find far superior to Bic Round Stics, and the Shimmers are really no different. It is the same caliber of pen -- sturdy barrel and pretty smooth ink. Each pack comes as pictured, with one green pen and three each of pink, purple, and bright blue. While these are not the most professional of colors, they are great for people of all ages who could use some variety but not appropriate for school work or formal business. They are perfect for my everyday use at home and at work, as I do a lot of revising/editing and note-taking.

Amazon has each individual pack listed for $3.67, which is beyond unreasonable, considering you can buy the same pack in any office supplies store or web site for approximately $2.75 each. This bundle is originally listed as $33.48, or $2.79 per pack, which is still more than I'd pay for a basic, cheap pen. When they go on sale, you can usually find Cristal or Shimmers pens for $0.90 per pack or less. I purchased this bundle of a dozen packs of 10 pens for $11.70 (65% off); 120 pens for that price is a steal.

The only reason I give this product 4 stars of 5 is the construction of the particular pens I received, perhaps a defective batch mixed in with pens that are fine. For multiple pens within each pack (I opened up several to check), it is very difficult to pull off or put on the cap. This applies to both ends of the pen. It seems as though the cap was made too tight, which I've never experienced in the past with either a Cristal or Shimmers pen. That said, I can just leave the cap off so I don't have to deal with the hassle. The pens write fine, with vibrant ink, and they are dirt cheap at $0.10 each, so I can't complain too much.

Bottom line: Buy them if they're cheap but definitely not anywhere near the regular price.


**EDIT: As of 10:59pm on 7/24/09, the price on the individual 10-pack has now been changed to $2.19, which is much more reasonable and probably worth it to just buy the small pack of 10 rather than 120 if you don't use them much.
**Also, I called Bic and inquired about the possibly defective caps. If you mail all of the product with a letter regarding any problem with the merchandise, Bic will exchange it all and compensate you for the price of shipping in the form of additional merchandise and/or coupons, if you end up with defective pen caps. Personally, it's not worth my time to go through all that trouble, but for those of you who care to do this, they have a new address (originally was in Milton, CT):

1 Bic Way, Suite 1
Shelton, CT 06484

I remember when Bic came out with Cristal grips in assorted colors. I still have some of those, but they never wrote as nice as the Shimmers. The Shimmers are smoother. They are just like the regular Cristal stic pens, only they come in 4 cool colors. I've been using these pens for years. I have a couple of older packs that still write well. I was using them sparingly because I wasn't seeing them in stores anymore and couldn't get replacements. I'm not sure if those were made in the USA, or in Mexico as these are now, I'll have to check the packaging. They write almost the same, just a slight difference.

I saw these on Amazon on sale for $13.47 last spring, so I bought a box. I only just got around to opening a pack and trying them out. They are basically the same as always, with a slight drop in quality. The purple is my favorite, followed by turquoise, pink, and green. The purple seems to write the smoothest and is a nice deep shade in the older pens, but here in this new pack, it's a slightly different shade. I have a few different purple pen styles by Bic and they all write differently. One thing that hasn't changed is that the pink ink could be slightly darker. I've always wished they would make it just a little deeper shade of pink. But it's still nice and it is the best pink ballpoint pen I have.

I had the same issue with the caps that the previous reviewer mentioned. The blue in particular were so stuck,
that I thought they were fused together. They wouldn't budge. I get pain in my hands if I strain them so I had to ask someone in my family to unstick the caps. Even he said they were tight, and that's unusual. I felt better when he said that because I knew it wasn't just me. I hope Bic corrects the caps in the future. The older pens don't do this.

I rate it 4 1/2 stars because even though the caps are too tight and the ink could be darker, I still think
they are great. These pens are fun to have. They remind me of childhood in the 80s when it was the in thing to
write with colored pens. I guess that's never really gone out of style, but the 90s saw popularity with gel pens, and I've always preferred ballpoints. Today it seems to be harder to find colored ballpoint pens in stores. Thankfully Amazon was able to provide me with a large box for a good price. Recommended if you like color and variety in your writing.

These pens are amazing. I grew up using them and was so disappointed when the big box stores and such quit selling them. I finally found them online and at Amazon and purchase them.

The ink is very smooth, and it is like the Bic crystal pens- the only difference is the ink color is better!!

The drawback is the price. At almost $4 a package it is a little too high for 10 pens.

These pens are amazing. The colors are bright and intense and never fail. My favourite is blue, which gets even more intense as you continue using it. These pens made my writing and studying more fun.

These write just like any other regular BIC pen, just okay. The colors are vibrant and pretty, but are not at all glittery in my opinion.

These pens are fabulous! They write smoothly and the colors are so much fun. I highly recommend these pens to anyone looking for a bit of color.

As a teacher I've been looking for affordable yet quality pens in bright colors to use for grading. Affordability is key since pens always seem to disappear! Unlike gel pens these pens don't bleed through thin folder paper and can be used by teachers and students to write on both sides of the paper. I'm very happy with my purchase.

For anyone else who likes to be able to identify people by the color of pen they use this is helpful because the color options that are out there are prtty limited, These pens hold up well and alow me to know which of my warehouse guys wrote what.

I LOVE these pens! They are the same great pens I've enjoyed for years. I couldn't find them in stores so I got them from Amazon! Love to grade papers with them. They are bold and bright enough for students to see what their errors are. I hope Amazon keeps these pens around a LONG time!

I am a college student and I love these pens! They are amazing. They are just perfect for switching titles and emphasizing. I love using them for my notes :)