It’s easy to see why the Kaco Retro fountain pen caught my eye: it’s an extremely inexpensive pen with a striking design, and it comes in an array of fun colours. 

I chose the avocado green colour with the contrasting orange clip, and I think this combination in particular has quite a retro feel. The Parker 51 style hooded nib also makes it quite a distinctive looking pen, and I like the inclusion of the ink window beneath the grip section. 

I love the design of this pen overall, but it does feel a little cheap and flimsy. Admittedly it is a very cheap pen, retailing at Cult Pens for £9.99, and on AliExpress for as low as £3. But I have other cheap plastic pens that don’t feel quite as flimsy, like the Pilot Kakuno, and the Jinhao 82. 

For that price it does come with two black ink cartridges and a converter though, which is amazing value. Especially as, despite the flimsy feeling of the pen body, it is a great writer!

It only comes with an extra fine nib, but even in that nib size it’s a smooth writer, and I’ve had no trouble with skipping or hard starts. 

It’s quite a narrow pen, which might not be to everyone’s taste, but it is comfortable in the hand, and I have tested it out with quite a long writing session and didn’t feel much fatigue from it. I’ve included a picture of it here beside two well known pens, the TWSBI Eco and the Esterbrook Estie for size comparison. Interestingly, the avocado colour is very similar to the Matcha Green TWSBI Eco!

The Kaco Retro also posts deeply, which is good, as it feels very secure and adds some much needed back weight to what is otherwise, an extremely light pen. 

My only real complaint about the pen, other than the flimsy feel, is that the slip cap doesn’t make any kind of click or give you any indication that the pen is fully capped. It also doesn’t take much pressure to slide it on and off, which did make me concerned about how well sealed the pen would be.

I left the pen sitting for a couple of days after initially inking and trying it, just to see if it dried out at all. I was pleased to find that the pen didn’t hard start or anything, but the ink (Diamine Meadow) had darkened, suggesting some kind of evaporation had already happened. I will have to test it for a longer period of time, but I do feel like this probably isn’t a pen you’d want to have sitting around inked for a long period of time. 

Overall though, I think the Kaco Retro fountain pen is pretty good for the price. It has a fun and unique design, and is a great writer. 

So have you tried the Kaco Retro fountain pen? What did you think?