Papermate's had it rough the past couple of decades. Among stationery enthusiasts and office supply aficionados, it's seen rival Bic achieve near mythic status while Papermate's offerings mostly remained the stuff of the bargain shelf. While the classic Flair felt-tip pens and the Write Bros. stick ballpoints have their fans, it wasn't until the release of the Inkjoy gel pen a couple of years ago that Papermate started to work its way back into the conversation.

Unfortunately the .5mm "fine" tip inkjoy comes in fewer colors than the .7mm version. (Not all available colors are pictured here.)

The Inkjoy's claimed selling points are bright colors and quick dry time. Both deliver, for the most part. These gel pens are among the most vibrant I've used, and you can purchase multi-packs with over a dozen different colors. Since I primarily use my gel pens on cheaper, more absorbent copy paper at work, dry time has never been a big issue for me, but I can verify that the Inkjoy dries quickly, within seconds. I've not found it "instantaneous," as some marketing seems to claim, but it's very good.

The pink, purple, and green Inkjoy gel pens really pop.

The gel Inkjoy is available in two tip sizes: .7mm and .5mm. The .5mm works just fine, but I'd love to see Papermate introduce a .38mm version. They recently introduced the Flair felt tip pen in an "ultra fine" tip size, so I'm hopeful.

I'd prefer a metal clip. The plastic clip reminds me of those disposable Bic mechanical pencils that I used to use in school where it was a given that the clip would break off within a week.

To me, the most surprising aspects of this pen were the comfort and generally strong build quality. The knock has some nice action to it, extending and retracting with a firm click, and the soft barrel is extremely comfortable. Though I've not really put this theory to the test, it seems like the inkjoy should be more durable than some of the clear plastic gel pens that seem to crack/break long before you actually finish the refill. The plastic clip, however, is a bit of a disappointment.

The Inkjoy has good length and is nicely balanced. It's a comfortable pen to use for longer writing/notetaking sessions, and there's a lot of grip area.

Takeaways and Where to Buy

The inkjoy represents another good gel pen option, especially if you like colors other than black, blue, and red. Papermate pens are widely stocked in office supply stores, big box stores, grocery stores, drug stores, you name it. I almost always purchase mass-market gel pens like these via Amazon. The .5mm "fine" tip pens come in an 8-pack, while you can get a 13-pack of the .7mm "medium" tip pens.

Note: Papermate also sells a ballpoint version of the Inkjoy. It's a completely different pen that has not garnered great reviews, but I recently went ahead and bought a pack "for science," so stay tuned. If you're out shopping the local office supply store looking for the gel version, be aware!

Also, check out this cool timeline over on the Papermate website, showing some of their flagship product lines dating back to the 1940s. I'd forgotten that many of these pens and pencils even existed!

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links.

I enjoy the fine, precise line that a needle-tip pen offers, especially when I'm annotating legal documents at work and (1) need to write very small or (2) need to write on crappy paper. Sometimes both. I've previously preferred the Pilot Hi-Tec-C, which is my go-to needle-tip gel pen, but that pen can be finicky and tends to skip and hard-start more than I like. Apart from my Coleto multi pens, I find myself using the Hi-Tec-C less and less. After one particularly frustrating experience in which I had to throw out an orange .4mm Hi-Tec-C that, for whatever reason, I simply couldn't get to write, I took a flier and ordered a few of the Morning Glory .38mm liquid ink rollerballs in blue and orange. Now I might have found a great all-around needle-tip pen that works for me.

The textured grip of the Morning Glory Mach 3 prevents the pen from becoming too slippery.

Before reading this review of the Mach 3 over at The Pen Addict several years ago, I'd never heard of the brand "Morning Glory." The pens have received positive reviews, but liquid ink rollerballs generally aren't my thing. They can feather and bleed just as badly as fountain pens (and sometimes worse) on "office quality" paper once you get above the .5mm tip size. Would a .38mm tip be the sweet spot for this type of pen?

So far, yes. The Mach 3 may become one of my standard "office pens," and it will certainly make its way into my "highly recommended" category. I've test driven the Morning Glory for the past two weeks, and I've reached for this pen nearly every time over the Uniball Vision Elite, which simply can't write the extremely fine line that I often need. And while the Morning Glory may not be quite as smooth or vibrant as the Hi-Tec-C, I've found it more reliable. (No skipping!)

Takeaways and Where to Buy

If you're a fan of needle-tip pens, or wish that your liquid-ink Vision Elite or Pilot Precise V5 wrote a finer line, then you should check out the Morning Glory Mach 3. I'm not aware of another liquid ink pen that comes in a .38mm tip size. Though it's relatively inexpensive, the Mach 3 can be hard to find. Jet Pens will sell you single pens in more uncommon colors (like the orange one shown here) for around $2.50 per pen. If you're a fan of the more conservative blue, black, or red (and Morning Glory's blue is great), you can purchase packs of a dozen at a much lower cost via Amazon.

Disclaimer: I purchased the pens featured in this review with my own funds, for my own use.