From The Archives: Marvy LePen

Marvy Le Pen Array

from-the-archives

Over the last four years of writing The Well-Appointed Desk, I’ve mentioned my propensity for Mary Le Pens but I realized I’ve never actually published a review. I initially discovered Le Pen in my pre-teens and it may be THE PEN that lead me to where I am today. Before finding LePens, I had only known black, blue or red ballpoints and the occasional rollerballs. Le Pens opened my eyes to good quality “felt tip” pens in a wide array of colors at a price I could afford on a teenager’s allowance. By the time I graduated from college, I found it harder to find Le Pens and I assumed they had faded from the world like so many other things. Then a couple years ago, I stumbled across them in my local art supply store and I bought just about every color that was available.

Marvy Le Pen writing sample

Ergonomically, they isn’t much to recommend them. Encased in a slim, straight, plastic cylinder with a snap cap and a simple silver clip that can easily be bent out of shape, and a nylon/fiber tip point that wears down over time, they are not in the same league as many pens I’ve reviewed over the years. But with a retail price of $1.15, these 0.3mm, acid-free, smudge-proof markers are some of my favorite pens. There are more than a dozen colors available and my favorites are the deeper, more complex colors like the gray, orchid, olive and teal. A full set of all 18 colors is available on Jet Pens.

Full set of Le Pens

Giveaway: To share my love and devotion for LePens, I’d like to give one lucky reader a full set of 18 Le Pens, compliments of Jet Pens. Just leave a note in the comments and tell me which color is (or could be) your favorite Le Pen to be officially entered.


FINE PRINT: All entries must be submitted by 10pm CST on Sunday, September 28, 2014. All entries must be submitted at wellappointeddesk.com, not Twitter, Tumblr or Facebook, okay? Winner will be announced on Monday. Winner will be selected by random number generator from entries that played by the rules (see above). Please include your email address in the comment form so that I can contact you if you win. I will not save email addresses or sell them to anyone — pinky swear. If winner does not respond within 30 days, I will draw a new giveaway winner. US readers only this time, thanks!

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100 comments / Add your comment below

  1. I worked at a CPA firm that used ONLY Le Pens. I thought my then-boss was a bit nuts about them, and I never used one myself because I was afraid to use his “good pens.” He only bought them in red, black & blue, though, I had no idea they came in such a variety of colors! I love the Oriental Blue–it’s such a pretty shade of blue without being too light to read.

  2. This are my very favorite pen. All the colors are good to write with but the black and the cobalt blue are especially crisp on white paper.

  3. Awesome! I haven’t yet tried these pens, but I’ll definitely have to. I’ve been really into green lately, so I think one of the green ones would become my favorite!

  4. I love LePens, having also discovered them in my early teens. My all-time favorite is probably amethyst, but lately I’m liking the teal a lot.

  5. I love color! All colors, and these pens would brighten up my office so much. I love the amethyst and oriental blue the best.

  6. Ohhhh I love LePens~! I have an Olive one that lives in my purse to sign receipts with and so forth, and I had an Oriental Blue that I adored…and then I sent it to my girlfriend, in a blue-themed package, as it is her favorite color. She loved it, too! I would adore a full set that could stay at my desk, to brighten up my planner with a veritable rainbow.

  7. It would be a tough choice between oriental blue, olive green and dark gray, plus I love the many shades of purple! Thanks for a fun giveaway.

  8. I had a set of these in high school…I should really get some more of them as I enjoyed them greatly. Love all the colors but I think the orange really speaks to me.

  9. My absolute favorite is the leaf green (second from the left). But I’m also a sucker for the darker red, the grey, the brown . . . .

  10. My favorites are the greens – they remind me of spring with all different vibrant leaf colors on every tree and the promise of warm days and cool nights and spring breezes. My favorite time of year.

  11. Orchid is my fave, more for the name than the color – I love and grow the plants, as well as draw them. Thanks for your always-great blog, and for the giveaway!

  12. I love anything in the blue leaning to purple family (it goes with my silver hair!). But I have to say the red and orange look appealing in the photo.

  13. I love the green and orchid pens, and I originally read about these in a Martha Stewart Living. I thought they would be wonderful to use, but at the time, I wasn’t sure where I could ever find them.

  14. I would try the teal? fourth from the left. My mother used to buy these from a stationery shop (long out of business) in our small town. In fact, a few months ago I ordered a few from JetPens and gave them to her.

  15. I love these pens. My favorites have always been the teal and gray. I never go anywhere without at least one of these pens. I will admit that I fell in love with the teal and gray pens so quickly that I have never bought any other colors. I would love the chance to explore the other colors of these awesome pens.

  16. Wow, I remember picking up lots of these at a campus bookstore years ago, then wishing I’d bought more! Would love to have the whole set – I especially loved the aqua!

  17. My favorite is the brown. All through my 20s I used a brown Le Pen for journaling – I would buy two at a time at the art supply store in my hometown. I have missed them!

  18. It is close between the Olive Green and the Light Green- but I think the Olive wins. I was in high school when I started loving LePens too.

  19. My go to is always black but I do love my pink. I always use pink ink to leave little “I ♡ you” notes for my bf or nieces. ♥

  20. I discovered Le Pen when I was in high school, too. My first one was lavender and I’ll always have a soft spot for that color, but my favorite today is burgundy!

  21. I have a question. I got a bit confused as I was searching for Le Pens. I thought Le Pen is a brandname so Marvy Uchida Le Pens are the only Le Pens in the world. But then I found Jam Paper Le pens at staples.com. Is Jam Paper a dupe of Marvy Le Pen? Help please~

    1. I think Jam Paper must be importing Le Pens and reselling them to Staples. On the Jam Paper web site, they don’t give any details about the Le Pens they stock but they look exactly like the Marvy Le Pens. Maybe Jam Paper made arrangements to import the Le Pens from Marvy Uchida without any branding? Not to mention that the pricing suggests reselling — $4 per pen from Jam Paper and $7 per pen from Staples? On Jet Pens, a standard Marvy Le Pen is $1.15.

  22. I live the oriental blue. I think having all the colors would be great! I used to get them at a craft store that shut down in Pittsburgh. I finally found them at a craft store in Ligonier,Pa. I told the store manager how excited I was to find them. My 2 friends bought them too after listening me race about them. Hope to win. I would love to get all the other colors.
    Thank you

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