Bobino Slim Pen Package

I came across the Bobino Slim Pen (via Amazon) at the National Stationery Show this year and at first glance thought it looked like a really good idea, so I figured I’d grab one and give it a try.

Bobino Slim Pen Inside Notebook

The whole concept of this pen is that it is slim (4mm or 1/8″ thick) so it can live inside of the cover of your notebook attached via the adhesive docking tab.

Bobino Slim Pen and Docking Tab

The “docking tab” with its adhesive back attaches (with a 30 second waiting time) to the inside cover of your notebook and the Bobino Slim Pen just slides over it and clicks into place.  The concept here is that you will always have a pen to go along with your notebook.  I found it very easy to attach the docking tab and the pen inside of the notebook, the pen slips onto the docking tab easily and there is a small notch on each side that makes sure that the pen clicks into place and wont slide off accidentally.

Bobino Docking Tab Attached

Here is a quick photo of the docking tab without the Bobino Slim Pen attached to it so you can see how small of a footprint it leaves on the inside cover of your notebook.  For perspective, the notebook pictured here is a 3.5″ x 6″ Leuchtturm Pocket Notebook.

Bobino Slim Pen Closed in Notebook

Closing the Bobino Slim Pen inside of the notebook was only a slightly awkward feeling experience.  Because of the fact that the surface of the pen is a bit curved, it doesn’t allow the notebook cover to lay flush with it, which can cause a slight bit of bowing to the cover.  Writing with the Bobino is also only slightly awkward since the docking tab does force a bit of outward pressure on the left hand pages of your notebook when they are flipped to the side that the tab is attached to, but if you don’t write on the back side of a sheet of paper, then this wont be an issue for you.

Bobino Slim Pen Closed in Notebook

Overall, the Bobino Slim Pen is a pretty novel idea that functions fairly well for its niche purpose.  I will however say that it is somewhat disappointing to see that there is apparently no way to refill the pen, and the pen does not come with any extra docking tabs.  Personally I think that packaging this pen with an extra refill and 2-4 extra docking tabs would make it a much better offering, but it is hard to get behind a product that is essentially just a one time use, disposable product when the opportunity is there to make it a bit more earth friendly.

©2017, Brian Greene. All rights reserved.