RETRO HUNT! My search for the classic 'Bic Clic' pen

I've been on the hunt lately for a decent writing pen to use at my job. I use a pen all day long and the current pens at my disposal just don't cut it. Here's what I require in a writing utensil..

DURABILITY. A pen that stands up to everyday use and abuse.

DEPENDABILITY. Long lasting, with a point that writes clearly and nicely.

FUNCTIONALITY. No removable cap. A pen that securely stays put in my front shirt pocket.

AFFORDABILITY. Can I have it all at a decent price?

I went to several stores and found absolutely nothing that fit the bill. I found a few pens that came close, but they had gel ink which I can't stand. Finally it struck me. My go-to pen for decades was the Bic Clic. However, I hadn't used or seen one for sale in at least 15 years. I knew these old pens would be perfect for my needs at home, work, etc., so my hunt began.

FIND #1 A reasonable substitute
The first thing I did was check Amazon. While I did find some Bic Clic pens there, they were brand new imports. These were pricy at around $15.00 per pen. While I considered buying one, they featured oil based ink, so I wasn't sure if that would work for me. That being said, I did find some pens that looked almost exactly like Bic Clics, made by the company Kikkerland. They were sold 5 to a pack and are affordable to boot, so I took a gamble. Here's what they look like..

Retro Ballpoint Pens

Now if you simply want a great functioning retro looking pen, then these are the pens for you! As you'll see however, I'm very particular about my pens, so even though I immediately started using them, my search was not over. More on this below.

I was super excited to get these pens and immediately started mixing and matching the tops for different color combinations. Surprisingly, my favorite color combo was a black top with an off-white bottom. These pens have the exact same hand feel and writing style as the old Bic Clics I remember using my whole life. However, I had just one problem with these pens, albeit a very small one.

The original Bic Clic featured shiny metal parts. A clicker, a washer that separated the top and bottom part of the pen body, and metal pocket clip. These Kikkerland pens have a clicker/plunger made of plastic that's painted a flat silver color. For a moment I was really taken back, as the pocket clip and washer also looked like they were plastic, but a quick test with a magnet proved otherwise. I'm not sure if the clip and washer were chemically treated or painted to make them look this way. To me it cheapens the look, and am not sure if it will eventually flake, chip, or become discolored.

So while these pens definitely made me happy, they still were not a true Bic Clic. Who would ever know you ask? No one most likely, except for me. No, I definitely needed to track down an honest to goodness Bic Clic. Yes I know it may sound ridiculous, but like I said before, I'm really particular about my pens. I started using the pens for work and was really happy with their performance in every way, but my hunt for the real deal continued.

Pricy Imports and vintage pens

Through my research and digging, I found that Bic Clics are indeed still being produced. I found lots of auctions on eBay for brand new snazzy Bic Clics, some with gold toned metal pieces for a pretty reasonable price. Unfortunately, these new Bic Clics were all auctions from Japan or Europe, where the pens are still immensely popular. While the price points weren't terrible, the end price combined with shipping, usually equated to around $15.00 to $25.00.

More research revealed that many of these new pens are made in France. In fact, the company headquarters is located there. There are Bic production facilities worldwide, but the ones I looked up in the U.S. only make promotional items. With an absence of the Bic Clic availability in the U.S. I began to deduce that they were now exclusively being made outside of the country.

POKEMON and MICKEY MOUSE Bic Clics from Japan
The pop culture tie-ins got me excited, but I wasn't ready to pay a premium for them.

Next I did an eBay search for 'New Old Stock' items. This meaning, old Bic Clics that have never been used. Surely these would be affordable right? Well, the joke was on me.

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FIND #2. The Brand New Bic Clic

At this point I was getting frustrated and started scouring the web for Bic Suppliers in the States. Lo and Behold, I found that Office Depot sold samples of the Bic Clic for around $3.00 each, with free shipping. I picked the colors of pens that I wanted and bought a couple. In less than a week, they arrived.

As you can see, the pens came with printing on them. These samples are meant to show you the quality of their printing services they offer, where you can get anything you want emblazoned upon the pen body. Honestly, I was okay with this. I now had a brand new Bic Clic, and it worked exactly like I remembered.

There it is. That beautiful Bic Logo engraved into the metal pocket clip! I also noticed a 'Mexico' stamp, qualifying my hypothesis that these are no longer made in the U.S. I was super excited to have finally been reunited with my all time favorite writing pen and began using it daily at work. Unfortunately, a whole day and a half passed when the problems began.

At first, I noticed the pen starting to feel like it was binding up and dragging along the paper when I'd write with it. Then, the pen got stuck and wouldn't retract. I didn't even get two days of use out of the dang thing! I opened the pen up and noticed a much different ink well body than I remember.

On the right: Tabs that hold the spring in place became frayed & worn in 2 days
The result.. a Bic Clic that neither 'Clicks' or retracts

If you know Bic pens, you will remember that the ink well used to be clear, so you could see how much ink you had left in the pen throughout its life. Not only are you unable to see through these new ink wells, but they are also made of a much softer plastic. The result, the spring tabs on the plastic easily get worn from usage (a day and a half in my case).

See the ink well on the left? This is the ink well from one of the Kikkerland retro pens I bought on Amazon. This is what the ink wells inside of a Bic Clic used to look like. Back in the day, I remember unscrewing my pen to make sure I had enough ink, before an important test or marathon note taking session.

What I ended up doing, was swapping the new and unimproved Bic ink well with the Kikkerland ink well. The new ink well was a little longer than the Bic, so I simply trimmed it down to the right height with a pair of very sharp scissors. 

I then used the modified pen for a week with no problems, and even noticed it wrote way better than the Bic ballpoint did the week prior. It was a great fix, and was happy with the pen, but still wondered if I could obtain a real Bic that I wouldn't have to Frankenstein together. Therefore, I continued patiently searching auctions, hoping to catch a break on some old Bic Clics.

FIND #3 Classic-ish Bic Clics

After a few more days of perusing eBay auctions, I hit the jackpot. I was the sole bidder on an auction for 9 original Bic pens at an end cost of around a dollar a pen. I didn't care that they were printed on, I was just anxious to see if they functioned properly and were 'like new' as the auction stated. Much to my dismay, they all had the 'MEXICO' stamp on the pocket clip. This immediately told me that they were not that old. They were retro, but not 70s or 80s retro. 70s and 80s Bic Clics have the name 'Clic' stamped where the Mexico stamp now lies on the new models.

Post 1990s Bic Clic with Mexico Stamp

I opened up every pen and seven of the nine pens had white inks wells like the brand new Office Depot Bics had. I will say however, that the white ink wells had much more pronounced tabs and seemed to be made of a much harder plastic. I'm thinking these pens are older, but maybe from the 90s or 2000's, and.. were made back when the factory was transitioning to the new white ink wells.  I say this, because the two remaining pens had the original see through ink wells. A few of the pens have signs of use, but the white ink wells have no signs of wearing down. 

I've currently used the pens for a few days and they all work like a charm. So I have great functioning retro pens coming out of my ears for awhile. In fact, one may think my journey has come to an end. If you think that's the case, then one would be incorrect. I'm still currently on the hunt for an honest to goodness, unused vintage Bic Clic at a decent price. This whole retro hunt has also triggered memories of other pens I've used that served me incredibly well. Those are classic Papermates, Bic Citations and Parker Jotters.

If you've hung in there for this long, reading my seemingly endless babbling about the Bic Clic, thank you! It may be way too much information for many, but I'm sure there are a few pen aficionados out there who may enjoy it. As someone who has loved to write for as long as I can remember, pens.. good pens, have always held a special place in my heart. Once I procure the last of the pens I seek, I will do another write up to share the new additions to my collection.