Thursday, November 3, 2011

ACME Multi-Functional Pen 4FP Daytona

When I first saw ACME's four function 4FP Daytona Multi Pen, what intrigued me was its artistic appointments and sleek design.  Like its name, Daytona, it reminded me of an aerodynamically built yellow race car.  After using it for a while, my conclusion is that it is both a beautiful work of art and a well crafted writing implement.

Touted as the "world's thinnest 4 function pen," Daytona is a member of ACME's larger family of four function Multi Pens.  All are works of art unto themselves, but the Daytona grabbed my attention the most. 

Background
ACME Studio was founded by Adrian Olabuenaga and his wife Lesley Bailey in 1985.  During this time, they introduced a collection of jewelry in the Los Angeles area.  In 1997, ACME released its first collection of fine writing tools.  Always on the cutting edge of design, ACME's writing tools revolutionized a new concept in the pen industry.  Having collaborated with hundreds of top designers over the years, ACME has secured a place in both the pen industry as well as the design industry. 

Description
The ACME 4FP Daytona is constructed from a light weight aluminum alloy.  It is then hand painted with fine lacquer paint.  The pen is 14 cm long and 5/16'' in diameter. Quite slender I must say.  It comes packaged in a distinctive slender metal case with a black ACME sleeve.  I really like the contrast between the bright yellow and the matte gray paint that covers the top and bottom ends of the barrel.  From bumper to bumper, one might say.

In the middle of the pen body there lies a four function labeled chrome ring.  Its job is to synchroniously work in conjunction with the pen's inner gravity mechanism for shifting from one function to the next.  It works flawlessly.  Simply engage a function by holding the pen horizontally and look at the function needed, press the knock down cap and your there!  These four functions include: an orange highlighter, 0.7 mm lead holder, white PDA Stylus, and D-1 mini black ink cartridge.  Additionally, the pen cap holds a white rubber eraser.




It is at its center that Daytona 4FP is disassembled by unscrewing its bottom half.  This reveals its four function cartridges.  At first glance, I found it amazing how such a slim pen body could house all four implements.  But examining each cartridge reveals how slim and toothpick like each really is.  For the ink cartridge, that means purchasing five at a time.

Performance
This pen is simply a joy to use.  What a solid performer it is!  It glides quite smoothly, inking a nice thin line on paper.  The Daytona really feels comfortable when writing.  I was concerned about the pen's creeping potential, but that has not proved to be a problem.  The highlighter has a strong orange color on paper.  When you want to place emphasis in a narrative, use it, its quite effective.
The stylus works like a charm with my PDA, but does not work on any other touch screens.  The lead holder is of the 0.7 mm variety.  I really prefer multi pens with this size lead.  It never breaks during the writing experience.

The ACME 4FP Daytona Multi Pen is a solid performer as well as an amazing work of art.  I highly recommend it. 

3 comments:

  1. Hot rod yellow is awesome. Not a big ballpoint user, but I might just check this one out! Great review!

    ReplyDelete
  2. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete