There’s always a spot in my carry for a quality mechanical pencil, and I recently had the opportunity to sample the Modern Fuel Pencil, Version 2.0. I missed out on the first iteration, but Andrew Sanderson, the project founder, kindly sent me a 2.0 prototype in stainless steel.

It’s a good time to be both a Star Wars fan and a stationery enthusiast! With the impending release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi coming up on December 15, you’ve probably seen «Star Wars» swag of all sorts on sale anywhere from Target to Office Depot. Here, I’ll take a quick look at two products that have received a lot of press: the Cross Townsend «Star Wars» Limited Edition in Stormtrooper white, and the Sheaffer Star Wars fountain and rollerball pens that you may have even seen at your local Office Depot.

The Cross Townsend Star Wars special edition pens received a lot of press at their initial release, in connection with Star Wars: The Force Awakens back in 2015. While most commentary directed at these pens focused on the (too high, IMHO) price point, we found the designs well-executed, especially the «Stormtrooper» and «R2D2» pens. Goldspot was kind enough to loan me a Stormtrooper to review, and while I didn’t feel comfortable carrying a loaner pen of this value «out in the wild,» we did write with it for a bit and have some initial impressions.

Overall, the pens that we would consider comparable to the Cross Townsend would be the Aurora Ipsilon, the Parker Sonnet, and – with respect to the nib – the Pelikan M400. All of those pens are excellent, and the Parker and Pelikan are personal favorites, but they sit at a price point well below what Cross is asking for here.

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