Retro 1951 Tornado- The Pen Addict edition- Review

Welcome to the inaugural post of Duck's Doodles!

I wanted my first post to be a review, but I wasn't quite sure what I should start with. I collect pens and notebooks, particularly Retro 1951 Tornado pens and Field Notes notebooks (because both brands put incredible time into the attention to detail, just the type of thing my pack rat/collector brain loves). 

Then, a short while ago, I acquired a Retro 51 Tornado themed around the Pen Addict from a fellow collector. I realized that this pen would be the perfect item for my first post, not only because of how great this pen looks, but also because of it's personal significance.

 I began listening to The Pen Addict podcast (and then began reading The Pen Addict blog) not too long ago; from the jump I knew I had found my new hobby. I've been binge listening my way through the back catalog ever since to help me pass the time at my desk job.

Hearing the hosts, Brad and Mike go through the phases of starting their businesses (Nock Co. and Relay FM respectively) is truly what prompted me to start this blog. Thanks to Brad and Myke, for their countless episodes filled with the advice of "if you want to do something cool, just go and get started."

So, without further ado, let us get to the review

The thing that first struck me about this pen was it's orange coloring; the Pen Addict podcast and blog both have orange branding. However, instead of the brighter, matte orange one might expect from Pen Addict branded items, this pen has a more metallic, "burnt" orange coloring. This color looks great when paired with the color of the hardware. Instead of Retro 1951's "classic" shiny chrome color, this pen has a darker gunmetal grey color.

The Pen Addict pen with the latest edition of Field Notes

A closeup of the Retro 1951 Tornado's twist mechanism

This gunmetal color works very will with the Tornado line's signature machined grip on the twist mechanism. This adds some weight to the top half of the pen; this weight distribution can be a little odd to get used to at first if you've never written with a pen like it before, but overall contributes to a positive writing experience. 

A closeup of the "button" area of the pen featuring the Pen Addict logo

One of my favorite things about all Tornado pens is the little "button" that is at the top of all of them; the button will always have a design tying back into the theme of the pen in some way. This pen has the Pen Addict logo on top and even includes the blue lines that you see on a typical piece of lined paper, more evidence that Retro 1951 really cares about the products that they are putting out.

The writing experience with this pen is incredibly smooth; I kept the default cartridge in, though you can easily swap it out for another compatible cartridge. I have noticed, through my time writing with Retro 51s, is that they tend to "hiccup"; the ink will stop flowing for a moment in the middle of a word and will restart letters later. I've seen this in all the Retros I have ever owned across several different types of paper, so while it could be user error I suspect it's linked to the cartridges themselves.

While this particular pen was a limited edition of 300 released in 2016, there is a different Pen Addict/Retro 51 collab available, The Ice-O-Matic (it glows in the dark and I can confirm it's REALLY cool). If you're a fan of the design I'd get one quickly, I can't imagine they'll be in stock much longer.

Many pen distributors carry the Tornado rollerball line, and other Retro 1951 products. Most Tornado pens are in the range of $20 (for the widely distributed ones) to about $45 (for the more limited releases).

Thanks for reading, and happy writing!