The Rotring range of mechanical pencils has grown exponentially over the last few years with both their 600 and 800 series becoming the dominant options in their price brackets. With Rotring looking to expand their market share into other price brackets, they have since released their entry-level Rotring Tikky mechanical pencil that is also available as a ballpoint pen and a multipen.
With the Tikky getting off to a solid start in sales due to the reputation of Rotring, we have seen a number of requests for a dedicated Rotring Tikky review. As more and more people have been reaching out and asking for a review of the Tikky, we have decided to publish this dedicated article to try and help as many of our readers as possible. Although we will be focusing in on the mechanical pen variant of the Tikky for the review, the majority of our points stay true for the ballpoint and multipen variants too.
Although the Rotring 600 is around double the price as the Rotring Tikky we have noticed a number of people asking if the Tikky is able to maintain or improve the reputation that Rotring has built up over the years. As we mentioned in our Rotring 600 review, we feel their 600 series is an excellent option, and although there are a bunch of products in the entry-level mechanical pen price point, we definitely feel that the Tiikky is here to stay as its reputation just keeps on getting better and better.
The Rotring Tikky Nib
Rotring has stuck to their standard nib design for their Tikky opting to go with the if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it mentality and we can definitely see why they have made this choice. The nib system on the Rotring 800 is probably the best mechanical pencil nib design on the market right now and it is one of the main selling points for the model.
Rotring have tried to keep as many of the key features and functions of the nib design of their 800 series to ensure that the Tikky is able to perform to its very best. Due to the price tag of the Tikky being almost a quarter of that of the Rotring 800, they have had to drop some of the features to reduce costs.
Thankfully, the only major feature that they have had to cut is the fully retractable nib on the Tikky but this is not a common feature on any mechanical pencils even those at double the price of the Rotring Tikky so we will not be marking the pen down for this. The only drawback that a non-retractable nib has is that if you do plan to be carrying the pencil in your pocket when not in use, it may poke you and be a little uncomfortable but the competing mechanical pencils at this price point all have this same drawback anyway.
The lead holder on the nib of the Rotring Tikki is made from stainless steel to help ensure that it will hold its shape if it is bumped or knocked without bending. This helps to ensure that you will be able to get plenty of use out of your mechanical pencil without it breaking after a few days.
The Barrel Of The Rotring Tikky
Being targeted towards the entry-level, sub-fifteen dollar price bracket for mechanical pens, the barrel of the Rotring Tikky is made from high-quality plastic. This helps to keep the barrel as light as possible while also helping to ensure that it is also as touch as possible without Rotring having to hike the price tag up.
Although the plastic is tough and surprisingly robust, if you are working in construction on building sites where you expect your gear to be taking more bumps than usual something like the Rotring 800 will probably be a better option. That said though, if you are working as an artist, designer or in any other role where your Rotring Tikky will not be taking excessive bumps and knocks, we are confident that the plastic used for its barrel will easily be able to last you for years to come.
Although we doubt most of or readers will care, the barrel of the Rotring Tikky is available in a wide range of colors. If you do like to match all of your stationary up then this may help to score it points over some of the competing mechanical pencils on the market that are only available in either black or white plastics.
Rotring has taken the constructive feedback onboard from the community on some of their other products and implemented it into the design of the Tikky. One of the main points is the triangular top of the barrel that serves as a hard stop to prevent the Tikky from rolling when laying flat on your desk. Although it is only a small feature, this can stop the Tikky from accidentally falling off your desk and going missing or getting broken with most of the competing mechanical pencils not offering the feature.
The clip on the Tikky is made from stainless steel to help ensure that it will last you and not break after a few months like most of the plastic based clips on some of the competing pens on the maket right now. The clip is very springy and also we do prefer clips to be rigid to help hold the pen or pencil in place, we will let it slide due to the low price of the Tikky and it performing so well in all other areas.
The eraser cover on the clicker of the pencil is quick and easy to remove with the erase being of decent quality. That said though, depending on what you are looking for a mechanical pencil for, it may be better to pick up a high-quality eraser instead of using the one that is under the eraser cover. For example, if you are working on detailed plans for a building or a student working on a project for your final grade, we would recommend you go with a better eraser.
The clicker system on the Rotring Tikky is decent and performs well pushing the lead through the lead holder on the nib with ease. All of the mechanics inside the Tikky are based on the designs used in their 600 and 800 series of mechanical pencils although they are dummed down a little to keep costs as low as possible, we are confident that the mechanics in the pencil will be able to last you for a long period of time without wearing down.
One of the main drawbacks of mechanical pencils at this price point in the market is that their grips are of low quality and offer little practical use. Rotring have seen this issue and used it as an advantage for the Rotring Tikky being sure to use a surpassingly high-quality grip on their model. Although some of our readers may not need a decent grip, if you are working in a trader where you are exposed to the elements or that involves water, the grip ensures that you have maximum control of the nib when using the Tikky.
The Lead Supply For The Rotring Tikky
Another advantage for the Rotring Tikky over the competing mechanical pens at this price point, as well as higher price points in the market, is that it supports the 1mm lead size that is usually left out and ignored on the cheaper options. If you do need broad strokes when using your pencil then the Tikky scores points over almost all competing mechanical pens in its price point.
On top of this, the standard 0.35mm, 0.5mm, and 0.7mm lead sizes are all supported too with the medium grade 0.5mm lead size being the most commonly used by a long shot. This means that no matter what you are needing out of your mechanical pen, the Rotring Tikky does have a variant available that should easily be able to meet your needs but the lead sizes are not interchangeable between variants.
This means that if you are expecting to use different lead sizes with your mechanical pen, you will have to purchase multiple variants that each support the required lead size. Thankfully though, there are Rotring Tikky bundles available that offer you a decent discount when purchasing the standard 0.35mm, 0.5mm, and 0.7mm lead sizes but they do not include the Rotring Tikky 1mm due to it being less popular.
Rotring Tikky Writing Samples
Conclusion
That brings our Rotring Tikky review to a close and we know that it was shorter than our regular reviews but when it comes to a mechanical pencil, there really is not much to say. In our opinion, the Rotring Tikky mechanical pencil is a solid buy at its price point and we fully expect it to become the dominant option in the sub-fifteen dollar price bracket and quickly take over just like its big brothers the 600 and 800 series have in their respective price points.
