Levenger Fireball - Brief Review

[chromantic]

​Here's a quick handwritten review of Levenger Fireball. Sadly, this ink has been discontinued but I was fortunate enough to come across a bottle on ebay.

 

 

Color is nice and strong without appearing super-saturated (like Sailor), more red than orange to my eye; scan is maybe a teensy bit darker than on the page. Flow is good - medium, I'd say - and it dries pretty fast even on BnR. While I said drying in the nib didn't seem to be a problem, I did have a hard start at the very end there at "Only" from pausing too long.

 

It does exhibit some shading, though no sheen a la Claret or Cardinal Red. Best of all, virtually no bleed-through! Even on the cheap and nasty memo book (10lb, maybe 12lb), bleeding was very slight, just a few spots, more show than bleed really. A very pleasant surprise after my experience with Claret.

 

Though I initially tested it on my little BnR spiral that I use as my ink log, this was written on a Blue Sky SmartNotes spiral from Walmart. Pen used is a cheapo PaperMate stick-type C/C school pen with a folded nib that I'd call a solid medium.

 

As reds go, this one's nice (would be good for grading as the color stands out on the page); it's a shame Levenger scotched it. Not sure how much use this will get as I don't use red a lot but I'll definitely go through this fill since I don't have a bright red currently in rotation.

 

[lapis]

Nice review, nice red. Not all that firey but still sort of a brick red, which is something I've always liked.

[amberleadavis]

Thank you for sharing. I really enjoy Cardinal red.

[kestrel]

Along with Nikita this was my favorite grading ink for student work on cheap paper. I always kept a True Writer loaded with Fireball in my briefcase in case my grading pen ran dry at an inopportune time and it always started right up, even after sitting for a month. It has a nice color, similar to the old Atomic Fireball candies, and behaves very well. Like the OP I just found an almost full bottle on eBay just as my previous bottle was running dry.