Fantastic. I think I may have a few of these sealed in my collection as well. I also have an unopened 10 or 12 pack of the white/black round stics from the early 90s, and some opened Bic Bananas. Bics can be fun to collect. I think they added cap holes in the late 80s or early 90s.
Hi ThirdeYe! Your Bic collection sounds fun. I haven't seen a Bic Banana in many years! I remember the white round sticks - I might have some blue ones somewhere. Thanks for watching!
Hi, here in France, the hole in the cap appeared in 1991. The medium in purple ink (cap more on the bordeau color side) survived few years more (found one recently from 1995)
Hi there I'm from England and I've been looking for a clear Bic Stic clear 1985 for a while now so if you have any even if if run out of ink i would be very interested in buying them from you as it the just the clear bit that i need or if you know where i can find one that would also help thanks.
Outstanding. I'm impressed and very happy that the Bic banana actually worked. I wonder if there's anything to do with the smaller surface area in contact with air compared to the Cristal. Were it me, I'd use this ancient relic in my office and studies every day. Normally, I don't write the body of my texts in red (I use blue, and the "framework" like titles and headings I write in black), but for it I'd make an exception 😄
Sometimes I do wonder if anyone ever did journaling with these pens being I do think after so many years I do wonder how long would the ink would last in a journal I just haven't heard anything about 73 years old sheet of paper that had a bic ballpoint pen written on it yet I almost feel like when people talk about vintage handwritten letters most people seems to think more about the fountain pens than the vintage letters written by a ballpoint pen
Ballpoint pen ink is not really lightfast, so it fades relatively quickly. In just five years black ink becomes faded grey almost like a pencil mark. Typically fountain pen ink, being more expensive and focused on a very invested niche market, is more lightfast and can last a few decades. None of them beats pencils, though. Pencil graphite is as long-lasting as the paper itself.
Nice find.....If I'm not mistaken, the fine point was sold for 29 cents each. How I remember that is because they were the only pens that I wrote out checks with and filled out the check journal book with and I lost quite a few of them to itchy fingers by family members. In matter of fact I'm almost certain about that price because I remember giving a dollar to my nephew quite a few times and telling him to get me 3 of them and he can keep the change. They were a great fine point pen back in the day and one of the only ones that I enjoyed using. Today I use a Fisher space pen fine point blue refill inside a Parker Jotter pen. Nice review and be safe.
Hi J Polar - a great memory about these pens. Thanks for sharing. I can see how these would have been perfect pens for writing checks and keeping a register. At 29 cents, these were a good value!
Hi Kevin. Used them all the time. About the pen that wouldn’t work. Sometimes if you heat up the tip with a lighter it will work. If you try it just make sure you don’t heat it for too long. Been there done that. 😊 As always enjoyed your video.
Hi Bonnie! I tried that trick off camera to see if I could encourage the ink to flow, but nothing happened. I took the ink tube out of the barrel of the pen and the ink was completely dried out. It was worth a try!! Thanks for watching!
In cases where the ink isn't totally dried out like AA said, I found that heating up water to simmering (not boiling) temperatures and sloshing the ink tube in it for a good few seconds makes them write really smoothly. Only exception so far was a green Cristal, the ink was just as viscous and syrupy as it was before.
The problem I find is that the ink literally turns to gum in most cases (happens usually by the 25th year it seems). For every 5 pens, you may get 1 that still works. I can't tell you how many 1970's papermate write bros. pens i've rebuilt with new ball point tips and ink because of similar problems.
Hi Mythologos! I never saw a Bic lighter vending machine, although it makes sense that they would have had them as many more people smoked. We had a vending machine in our high school that sold pens, I used it a few times. Thanks!
Wow that's amazing! Bic pens are awesome! Thanks.
Thanks for watching!
Wow! I have a few going back to the 1970s, The BIC logo on those was up near the top of the barrel.
Hi Dan! You've got some vintage Bics there!!
Fantastic. I think I may have a few of these sealed in my collection as well. I also have an unopened 10 or 12 pack of the white/black round stics from the early 90s, and some opened Bic Bananas. Bics can be fun to collect. I think they added cap holes in the late 80s or early 90s.
Hi ThirdeYe! Your Bic collection sounds fun. I haven't seen a Bic Banana in many years! I remember the white round sticks - I might have some blue ones somewhere. Thanks for watching!
Hi, here in France, the hole in the cap appeared in 1991. The medium in purple ink (cap more on the bordeau color side) survived few years more (found one recently from 1995)
Buhhhnaaanuhhhh.
Hi there I'm from England and I've been looking for a clear Bic Stic clear 1985 for a while now so if you have any even if if run out of ink i would be very interested in buying them from you as it the just the clear bit that i need or if you know where i can find one that would also help thanks.
Outstanding. I'm impressed and very happy that the Bic banana actually worked. I wonder if there's anything to do with the smaller surface area in contact with air compared to the Cristal.
Were it me, I'd use this ancient relic in my office and studies every day. Normally, I don't write the body of my texts in red (I use blue, and the "framework" like titles and headings I write in black), but for it I'd make an exception 😄
7:40 Is PM
What do you think of the Papermate Profile? I think that it's another good choice for lefties.
Hi Lucius - the Paper Mate Profile is a pen that I have not yet tried. I'll have to try it out. Thanks!
Sometimes I do wonder if anyone ever did journaling with these pens being I do think after so many years I do wonder how long would the ink would last in a journal I just haven't heard anything about 73 years old sheet of paper that had a bic ballpoint pen written on it yet I almost feel like when people talk about vintage handwritten letters most people seems to think more about the fountain pens than the vintage letters written by a ballpoint pen
Ballpoint pen ink is not really lightfast, so it fades relatively quickly. In just five years black ink becomes faded grey almost like a pencil mark. Typically fountain pen ink, being more expensive and focused on a very invested niche market, is more lightfast and can last a few decades.
None of them beats pencils, though. Pencil graphite is as long-lasting as the paper itself.
Nice find.....If I'm not mistaken, the fine point was sold for 29 cents each. How I remember that is because they were the only pens that I wrote out checks with and filled out the check journal book with and I lost quite a few of them to itchy fingers by family members. In matter of fact I'm almost certain about that price because I remember giving a dollar to my nephew quite a few times and telling him to get me 3 of them and he can keep the change. They were a great fine point pen back in the day and one of the only ones that I enjoyed using. Today I use a Fisher space pen fine point blue refill inside a Parker Jotter pen. Nice review and be safe.
Hi J Polar - a great memory about these pens. Thanks for sharing. I can see how these would have been perfect pens for writing checks and keeping a register. At 29 cents, these were a good value!
Itchy fingers are magnetically attracted to Bics. I know I don't lose my pens because I'm a paranoid ex-K9 German Shepherd about the ones I own!
Hi Kevin. Used them all the time. About the pen that wouldn’t work. Sometimes if you heat up the tip with a lighter it will work. If you try it just make sure you don’t heat it for too long. Been there done that. 😊 As always enjoyed your video.
Hi Bonnie! I tried that trick off camera to see if I could encourage the ink to flow, but nothing happened. I took the ink tube out of the barrel of the pen and the ink was completely dried out. It was worth a try!! Thanks for watching!
In cases where the ink isn't totally dried out like AA said, I found that heating up water to simmering (not boiling) temperatures and sloshing the ink tube in it for a good few seconds makes them write really smoothly. Only exception so far was a green Cristal, the ink was just as viscous and syrupy as it was before.
The problem I find is that the ink literally turns to gum in most cases (happens usually by the 25th year it seems). For every 5 pens, you may get 1 that still works. I can't tell you how many 1970's papermate write bros. pens i've rebuilt with new ball point tips and ink because of similar problems.
Use a lighter to heat the tip of the pen and this will loosen the ink. Be careful not to use too much flame or you'll melt the plastic parts
I tried the trick with the lighter and it didn't help. I'm afraid the ink is completely dried out. Thanks!
Your memory might be off - there were Bic lighter vendor machines, I haven't been able to find anything about vending machines for pens.
Hi Mythologos! I never saw a Bic lighter vending machine, although it makes sense that they would have had them as many more people smoked. We had a vending machine in our high school that sold pens, I used it a few times. Thanks!
I have seen them but it was decades ago.
• Spider, Mantis, Butterfly,
Wednesdays
Ha Ha, Of Course, After 35 years all Inks Mixed With Plastic and dried up.