[image description: two photos of a rainbow-coloured plastic pen with a blue, purple, yellow and pink acrylic/fake-fur pompom attached to its cap. The pen is made from clear plastic and has a yellow base, a rainbow-coloured sheet of paper covering the pen cartridge and a clear plastic cap housing the pompom. Both photos are taken on a red watermelon slice background. First photo shows the blue and purple side of the pompom, the white sticker sales tag attached to the pen shaft reading “kids & co 3+ years”. Second photo shows the pink and yellow side of the pompom and the white residue left by the label stuck to the pen shaft.]
Pompom Pen: K-Mart, $2 AUD
Colours: mauve, light pink, rainbow.
For folks who want a stealthier stim toy, K-Mart is now stocking pompom pens!
The pompom is a soft fake fur, similar to that used for plush keychains. It’s very nice to stroke and isn’t too heavy, so it doesn’t weigh down the pen.
The pen is ... cheap. It’s thin (thin and narrow pens and pencils aren’t good for anyone’s hands, but they’re unusable for me) and my pen came with a white gunk covering the tip, so I had to clean it with a tissue. Even after cleaning it still doesn’t always write an even line of ink.
The white sticker label did not come off cleanly. I’ll be able to remove the residue with tea tree oil or cream cleanser on a cloth, so it isn’t a major problem, but I dislike items that make me have to put in that extra work to remove packaging.
In all honesty, I don’t think this is particularly usable as a pen. But for folks who just want the pen as justification for its existence and want an inexpensive tactile toy, I don’t think it’s a terrible option.
