rOtring CORE

[MYU]

http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/MYU701/pens/Rotring/rotring-logo.gifhttp://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/MYU701/pens/Rotring/Rotring-CORE-logo-1.gif

rOtring core writing instrument set

Fountain pen, mechanical pencil, ballpoint in the Technor color scheme.

 

INTRODUCTION

It's been difficult to find much information on the rOtring core product line. Based on what I've seen, I suspect that it is one of the last models produced by the company before it was acquired by Sanford. The line is essentially of "athletic" inspiration, featuring a lot of rubber and wide girth with rugged appeal in about nine color schemes (some which sound like newly formed elements... e.g. "Balium", "Coridium", "Eternium"). The core consisted of fountain pens, rollerballs, ballpoints, and mechanical pencils. I never expected to buy a core, until their pricing became so incredibly cheap that I just had to get one out of curiosity. After acquiring the fountain pen, I kept an eye out for the matching ballpoint and mechanical pencil, eventually nabbing them on the super-cheap. So, with this peculiar bunch of writing instruments in hand, I felt rOtring deserved one more review from me.

http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/MYU701/pens/Rotring/Rotring-Core_set.jpg

________________________________________________________________________________

1. First Impressions (6/10) - What on Earth was rOtring thinking?

   The core writing instruments are weird. WEIRD. Plain and simple. Nothing else looks like them either. As one well known pen repair and nib specialist said of this design, "an oddly shaped, modishly colored pen that looks like a modern athletic shoe." I don't know if that was the real inspiration of the design... to me, the fountain pen cap looks like it was modeled directly after a ski pole grip. The excessive colored angular lines against black background screams TRON (the sci-fi movie from the early 80's). And with all the ridges and bumps, you'd wonder if these writing instruments were made to appeal to Klingons (um, a fictional race of beings from the Star Trek universe). From a purely aesthetic impression, a young kid would probably say "wow, that's cool!" while an adult of conservative mind would say "Oh, that's really ugly." Thus, the shooting gallery is wide open on this one. You'll probably either like it or hate it.

    

   http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/MYU701/pens/Rotring/Rotring-Klingon.jpg

   rOtring core, the Klingon's choice for a pen

    

   Well, I guess I'm a kid at heart, because I like the design... mostly.

   …

2. Appearance & Design (8/10) - Science fiction meets athletic runner

   FOUNTAIN PEN

   I'm a little put off by the ridiculous phrases on the pen, namely "force resource", "turn this way", and "write-on system", but the pen has a very curious design to it. Kind of a science fiction and athletic combined theme. It shouts "I'm rugged" and "not of this Earth" loud and clear. There were around nine main color schemes (that I know of): Technor (black/gray/blue), Lysium (silver/gray/turquoise), Balium (silver/red/orange), Titanium (silver/black/gray), Coridium (black/gray/black), Eternium (silver/gray/orange), Tanakor (silver/black/white), Rubidium (red/gray/black), and Rexor (silver/blue/white). There might even be more...

    

   Here are some color samples:

   http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/MYU701/pens/Rotring/Core-color-schemes1.jpg

    

   http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/MYU701/pens/Rotring/Core-color-schemes2.jpg

    

   http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/MYU701/pens/Rotring/Rotring-Core_Lysium.jpghttp://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/MYU701/pens/Rotring/Rotring-Core_Eternium.jpg

    

   http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/MYU701/pens/Rotring/Rotring-Core_Titanium.jpghttp://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/MYU701/pens/Rotring/Rotring-Core_Coridium.jpg

    

   http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/MYU701/pens/Rotring/Rotring-Core_Rubidium.jpghttp://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/MYU701/pens/Rotring/Rotring-Core_Balium.jpg

    

   The cap is probably the 2nd most solid fountain pen body part I've ever seen (the Rotring 600 comes first). You can be sure it's going to protect that nib. It clicks solidly into place both for capping and posting (thanks to the posting grooves on the bottom end of the pen). The clip is made of high tensile strength metal wire and is firmly planted into the cap (secured with an Allen wrench bolt of some kind). Whatever you clip this pen cap to, it's going to hold on tight. It's also the heaviest part of the pen, so much so that it makes the pen rather top-heavy when posted. Yet, I find it works somehow, causing the pen to nestle in your hand.

    

   http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/MYU701/pens/Rotring/Rotring-Core_FP-posted.jpg

    

   http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/MYU701/pens/Rotring/Rotring-Core_FP-post.jpg

    

   The section has a peculiar dip in the top of it. As a result, when you write with this pen, the nib position is higher up than with most other fountain pens. It's actually a nifty design... once you get used to it. The fact that this pen performs well made up for its peculiar appearance.

    

   http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/MYU701/pens/Rotring/Rotring-Core_Nib1.jpg

    

   MECHANICAL PENCIL

   Meh. It's OK. It feels solid. The grip is decent. The tip hides inside of the machined aluminum front-piece when not in use, making it pocket friendly. But the eraser is lousy and difficult to employ, held in place by a peculiar friction collar that easily slides off--I'll never use it. The lead holder socket is submerged so far, that it's easy to miss it and find your lead falling inside the body. Annoying. Also, there's no marking on the writing instrument such as "pencil" or "0.7mm", so you know what it is. The ONLY telltale sign is a small hole in the top of the silver metal end knob. A mechanical pen enthusiast named Dave wrote a review of this instrument, also not very pleased.

    

   http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/MYU701/pens/Rotring/Rotring-Core_MP1.jpg

    

   http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/MYU701/pens/Rotring/Rotring-Core_MP2.jpg

    

   BALLPOINT

   The ballpoint is better than the mechanical pencil... after all, how can you go wrong with so simple a mechanism? It's a huge and generous ink supply, although I'd like to find a gel refill that will fit inside this pen. It feels fat in the hand and rather sturdy--you could easily take this on a trip and not worry about your pen getting crushed. The only real annoyance is that the metal cap plunger easily rattles when the ballpoint is extended...

    

   http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/MYU701/pens/Rotring/Rotring-Core_BP-MP.jpg

    

   …

3. Weight & Dimensions (6/10) - A little bigger than most but not overtly heavy

   FOUNTAIN PEN

   Length capped: 14.2cm

   Length uncapped: 13.2cm

   Length posted: 16.0cm

   Cap thickness (widest point): 2.0cm

   Body thickness: 1.4cm

    

   BALLPOINT length: 13.4cm

   PENCIL length: 13.6cm

    

   I don't have weight measurements, but I'd say they all weigh a little heavier than average. The ballpoint weighs the most (a little more than the pencil) and I'd say it's a little too much for extended use, while the fountain pen has a reasonable weight.

   …

4. Nib & Performance (7/10) - Steel nib with no breather hole, weird sizing scheme...

   rOtring appeared determined to do everything differently with this line. Heck, if they could invent a new kind of ink that would only be used in this pen, they probably would have done it. So, what else to muck with but the nib sizing nomenclature. Rather than your usual EF, F, M, B nib designations, they went with XS and XL. Extreme small and extreme large? XS is like a fine nib and XL appears to be closer to a broad nib. I've not been able to find any XM size, which is what I'd expect for a medium.

    

   http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/MYU701/pens/Rotring/Rotring-Core_Nib2.jpg

    

   http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/MYU701/pens/Rotring/Rotring-Core_Nib3.jpg

    

   My Technor core is outfitted with an XS nib. It's a nicely stiff and smooth nib with good feedback. I like the way it writes. For a firm nib, it's really beautifully done. And the dimpled cathedral arch design is unusual, while appealing. It's well made, too--you can see it by how the nib is attached to the feed, which is also rather solid looking/feeling. It's too bad... because I had to knock off a few points for the stupid sizing convention and what appears to be only 2 nib sizes. Also, some people have reported having flow issues after using the Core for a while. A few of them seemed to resolve the problem by giving the section a good cleaning. I let the small included cartridge sit inside my Core for about a month, then picked up the pen to write. It needed some priming, but once it got going everything was fine. It was the included cartridge (rOtring ink?). I wonder if the ink choice makes a difference. I'll try another ink and see if the flow problem arises.

   …

5. Filling System (8/10) - Cartridge/Converter, but can take a load...

   The cartridge/converter accommodation is standard international cartridges, or the longer cartridges like the ones made by Waterman. I've used both and they fit reasonably well. There's an ink window section on the pen that shows off the ink level too. An unusual orange adapter piece is installed in the section, which has the function to pull up the cartridge when the barrel is unscrewed enough to hear a slight "click" sound. At this point, the cartridge is unseated enough to allow some air through, and thus permit the last remnants of ink to flow out, perhaps for a page or two before the ink is completely exhausted (hence the "write-on" system). A nice little design, saving the user from having to completely unscrew the barrel and try repositioning the cartridge manually. An adult would probably be prepared to switch out cartridges when the ink level is low, anyway.

    

   http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/MYU701/pens/Rotring/Rotring-Core_cartridge.jpg

    

   http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/MYU701/pens/Rotring/Rotring-Core_Ink-window.jpg

    

   …

6. Cost & Value (10/10) - For $9.99, how can you go wrong?

   What's the fountain pen worth? I don't think the original MSRP was worth it... something like $25, I believe. But I managed to camp out on "that auction site" and got one for $9.99. A few pen sellers around the Internet are also now offering these in the more common colors for around $10 too. Apparently some colors are less common and seem to fetch more $. Good for them... I've no interest in collecting all color schemes. I think there's 9... but who knows, there might be more. I can't find any solid information on the rOtring core line anywhere on the Internet and fear that this review might become a "go to" resource for people who want to know more about this particular line. I'm no expert, just a casual observer, so don't ask me any questions! Anyway, I also picked up the ballpoint and mechanical pencil from the same seller, which reduced shipping by combining them together. They tend to go a bit cheaper than the fountain pen (sometimes $5 or lower). Overall outlay for the whole set was a real bargain.

   …

7. Conclusion(Final score[45]: 7.5) - For the price, why not?

   If you want a super rugged fountain pen and don't mind the outlandish appearance of the core, I suggest getting one. The prices are so low these days, it's at least worth being able to say "yeah, I own a rOtring core."

    

   http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/MYU701/pens/Rotring/Rotring-Core_review1.jpg

    

   http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/MYU701/pens/Rotring/Rotring-Core_review2.jpg

   …

Edited August 30, 2009 by MYU

[MYU]

NOTE: What I learned of the CORE, I found randomly on the Internet. If you know more information (such as years of production, full range of color scheme names, etc), please contact me and I'll incorporate it into the review. Thanks!

[Ondina]

What a great review. And I must confess I like the pen. I do really like it....

[dogpoet]

Nice review. I agree with most of that. I have one of the buggers and really liked the nib, though I was less enchanted by the feed, which started to develop fits and starts after a while. Hopefully that was a one off bug rather than a general thing, as if the aesthetics don't bother you these are very good pens for the pittance they cost at the moment.

[jmw19]

I'm using a Parker .7mm gel refill in my Core BP, and it works great. All the Parker-compatible refills should fit, so there's a few good choices out there.

The Core Rollerball will fit a Pilot G2 refill perfectly, which is also what I'm using.

[Pjake]

I like it too. It seem like a good "weekender" or dedicated checkbook pen. I'll be keeping an eye out for one.

[dogpoet]

Should I mention that the rubbery coating on the cap starts to wear after a year or two?

[I am not a number]

It's a belting review but on a personal level I can't get past the demented ski-pole look and the very unusual section. I have one, I'm trying to like it but it's just not been working out for the last six years or so...

[Brian]

What a fun review of a strange pen. Its actually nice to see manufacturers come up with kind of crazy stuff that would appeal to the kid in all of us.

[MYU]

Thanks for the feedback. Yeah, this isn't a pen I'd be reaching for every day or put in my pen rotation... but it's fun to use once in a while. And the next time I go backpacking or camping, I'm loading one up with a refilled Waterman long cartridge and packing it with me.

[lovemy51]

great review, MYU! i have all four (pencil, BP, RB, FP) in the technor. i do find the section of the FP a little uncomfortable and the clip (on all) is too tight for my shirt or coat pockets. the nib is great!!!!

 

once again, awesome review!!!

[andy1m]

Very bold design. I've collected many fountain pens, this one really looked special. Must get one. Thanks for sharing.

[flea]

I've always wondered what the deal was with those. Seen them in various places around the web. Thanks for the enlightenment.

[MYU]

I agree--the clip is very tight on all of these. So, not a pen you'd be carrying with you for quick jots. Also, it's too big to fit in a shirt pocket comfortably... unless you're wearing corduroy.

 

The nib position does take some getting used to. But I kind of like it. I feel like my index finger is "pointing" the nib. As they say, you can never have too many pens, and this is a very affordable one to have around for kicks.

[alexanderino]

Comprehensive review of a much-unloved pen. I nabbed a couple last November while in Melbourne. They haven't been inked yet, but your post gives me the impetus to do so now.

[bdngrd]

I have a few of these and sometimes hand them out to convert people to FPs. I wish rOtring would have made a less extreme version of this pen with the same materials, only a bit more subdued. It could have been a great tool pen.

[PacificCoastPen]

Underated beastie type of pen. I have two XLs and one XF. Solid as a rock that took some getting used to, but so reliable. It demands attention when I use it in public.

 

$10 on Swisher...can't beat that.

Edited June 5, 2009 by PacificCoastPen

[dedalian]

Anyone else notice the inspiration from the Lamy safari-

note the clip, the force writing/ holding position, the many colors available, the indicator window and "clip-on" nib. Its like they took a safari and went wild with it. I liked it enough to buy one in steel and gray (probably the most understated in the range as if this monster can be understated at all)

[lovemy51]

Underated beastie type of pen. I have two XLs and one XF. Solid as a rock that took some getting used to, but so reliable. It demands attention when I use it in public.

 

$10 on Swisher...can't beat that.

 

i forgot to mention that i got it (the FP) at swisher's attic when they had it for $5 (no converter)

Edited June 5, 2009 by lovemy51

[RLTodd]

I think the pen was designed in the marketing department to target children. It has all the looks of it. A slightly nichey school pen with very good engineering in it.

 

The orange fixture in the section lifts the cartridge off the piercer with a quarter turn. This allows the writer to use the last bit of ink in the cartridge and so write on....

 

I find them fine writers unposted but the style is ugly.