I recently picked up a PaperMate Replay Max from my friends at Tiger Pens. For some strange reason, this had me reminiscing over my school days. In those days I frequently used a yellow pencil with an eraser at the end because I’d write the first thing that came into my mind, realize my mistakes & then be able to correct them.
With pen in hand I wondered, had ballpoint erasers been around when I was in the classroom would they have been any more useful than my trusty pencil had been. The only way to find out was to put it to the test.
The PaperMate Replay Max is an erasable ballpoint pen. They have color-coded barrels, a sturdy black clip with an eraser on the top. Ergonomically designed, I found the Replay Max was comfy to hold, the grip was rubberized & as expected didn’t slip my grasp.
When it comes to erasability I suppose it depends on the task at hand, when doing Suduko or crosswords, it is likely that you will make your corrections quickly. On the other hand, if you are drafting a report or writing a letter it may be some time before you get to the editing stage.
I found that by making a correction mid-sentence the Replay Max performed fairly well, but leave it 30 minutes or so & the text can still be seen. When I tried to write something else over the top it was obvious what was had been written beneath it.
Available in black, blue, green & red the Paper Mate Replay Max has a 1.0mm tip & writes a 0.7mm line. For straight forward writing I found the performance OK. Despite reading that some people find skips & blobs a problem, it wasn’t an issue for me. Although I have always been conscientious about my content, I don’t consider this to be the case with the appearance of text on the page, maybe that’s the reason my opinion differs.
This is a fairly chunky pen & I can imagine it being a bit of fun for students, I would certainly have found them more attractive than my yellow pencils. Are they any more effective? That’s something I’m not so sure about.
Editors Update the Paper Mate Replay Max is sadly now no longer available and has been replaced with the Paper Mate Eraser Mate. Check out our Ultimate Guide to Paper Mate Pens to see not only the Erasermate but every pen that Paper Mate makes.
