Stabilo Point 88 FIneliner unrolled

Stabilo Point 88 Fineliner Review

15 February 2016 By ian

Stabilo Point 88 FIneliner nicely printed side

If you walk into any UK high street stationery shop you’re likely to find Stabilo Point 88 Fineliners for sale, often near to some Staedtler Triplus Fineliners. They are, apparently, Europe’s best-selling fineliner.

I picked up these pens at a discount thanks to the support Cult Pens give this site. These are my own opinions.

Price: £0.80
Tip size options: writes a 0.4mm line
Barrel options: hexagonal
Ink type: 30 different colours

Stabilo Point 88 FIneliner colouring in

The Point 88 looks great. The orange hexagonal barrel, with white stripes, is distinctive and quite retro. The printing is tasteful (except for the barcode). (Sigh.)

Stabilo Point 88 Fineliner barcode side

The come in a very handy roll, a great way of keeping them all together. There’s even a zipped inner pocket that can hold small accessories.

Stabilo Point 88 FIneliner wrapped up

The tip writes well, putting down a consistent line with good flow. The plastic tip is sleeved with steel helping it to keep its shape over time.

Stabilo Point 88 Fineliner tip

The cap pushes on to close or post and stays put when you do so. There’s no clip.

The colours are good, though not quite as vibrant as the Triplus. They do not match the caps very accurately. In some cases they’re way out (particularly the purples). A slight difference is quite common but with these pens the difference is great enough to make it hard to pick the pen you want to use.

Stabilo Point 88 better colours

In use the Point 88 is perfectly pleasant. It doesn’t fill in areas quite as evenly as the Triplus Fineliner.

Stabilo Point 88 FIneliner unrolled

The Stabilo Point 88 is a fairly good pen but the mismatched caps drive me mad. The Staedtler Triplus Fineliner is a better pen (but in an uglier barrel).

Pros

Looks great
Good consistent line
Wide availability in the UK

Cons

Colour-mismatched caps
A little uneven when filling in larger areas

Stabilo Point 88 Fineliner wrapped up again