New Big Chief Tablet Paper Review

[Gnome DePloom]

This would be my first review of anything for FPN; please be gentle with me.

 

After a long search for Big Chief Writing Tablets, I found some —sort of— through Comet School Supplies, of Palestine, Texas.

 

Their rather unfortunate FlipDoc web site may be found here (you will have to maneuver to page 32):

 

http://www.cometschoolsupplies.com/home/cmt/cpage_1/our_catalog.html

 

These are not quite the same as the old Big Chief Writing Tablets that most of us probably remember from grade school.

 

For one thing, the bright red cover is gone.

 

I will try to upload the cover, but I am not sure what will happen. I have already been told the file is "too big to upload," so please bear with me if this breaks into multiple posts.

 

 

 

&&& &&& &&&

 

Okay. I can`t upload the files, for some reason. If someone wants to clue me in, please feel free. I have a scan of the cover and of my ink test.

 

&&& &&& &&&

 

The cover is now an "Andy Warhol" grouping of nine Chiefs. 4 are black and white, and there are green, yellow, blue, and red in the corners. The purpe chief occupies the center square.

 

The paper is better than the old Big Chief tablets, which I think were more or less a newsprint. These are closer to the typical legal pads you might buy in any Wal-Mart, Dolloar Tree, or any office goods store. Nothing special, but not terrible, either.

 

I tried 4 pens and inks on them.

 

Varsity Disposable Blue -

 

Parker Vector M - Blue Parker Cartridge -

 

Platinum Preppy "03" Nib with green Platinum Cartridge -

 

Waterman Kulture F with Foray (Office Depot) Black Cartridge -

 

The Parker blue seemed to feather a bit, and that, along with the Foray black seemed to bleed through a bit into the back of the page.

 

NONE of the inks tested bled through to the page underneath.

 

I`d call this okay for novel writing and/or journaling. I bought a case of it, and I`ll be using it without cursing it, I think.

 

Anyone has questions, or wants to help me figure how to upload the scans, let me know.

 

Rob

Edited January 4, 2012 by Gnome DePloom

[John Cullen]

Thanks for the update. I am pretty sure these are the tablets Stephen king has referred to a few times when he imagines young characters taking out a pencil and writing a story, so it was amusing when you mentioned that they are good for writing fiction.

 

I buy by the case too when I find something I like.

 

Thanks again, J

[Uncle Red]

That is an unfortunate website. Thanks for the review.

[NateB]

Okay. I can`t upload the files, for some reason. If someone wants to clue me in, please feel free.

 

The images probably need to be resized. If you are running windows, I'd suggest installing Image Resizer Powertoy (XP) or Image Resizer (Vista/win7). After installing, simply right click on an image and choose 'Resize Pictures.'

 

If you'd like, you can email the images to me and I'll post them. natebeers at gmail.com

[hangarhermit]

This would be my first review of anything for FPN; please be gentle with me.

 

After a long search for Big Chief Writing Tablets, I found some —sort of— through Comet School Supplies, of Palestine, Texas.

 

Their rather unfortunate FlipDoc web site may be found here (you will have to maneuver to page 32):

 

http://www.cometschoolsupplies.com/home/cmt/cpage_1/our_catalog.html

 

These are not quite the same as the old Big Chief Writing Tablets that most of us probably remember from grade school.

 

For one thing, the bright red cover is gone.

 

I will try to upload the cover, but I am not sure what will happen. I have already been told the file is "too big to upload," so please bear with me if this breaks into multiple posts.

 

 

 

&&& &&& &&&

 

Okay. I can`t upload the files, for some reason. If someone wants to clue me in, please feel free. I have a scan of the cover and of my ink test.

 

&&& &&& &&&

 

The cover is now an "Andy Warhol" grouping of nine Chiefs. 4 are black and white, and there are green, yellow, blue, and red in the corners. The purpe chief occupies the center square.

 

The paper is better than the old Big Chief tablets, which I think were more or less a newsprint. These are closer to the typical legal pads you might buy in any Wal-Mart, Dolloar Tree, or any office goods store. Nothing special, but not terrible, either.

 

I tried 4 pens and inks on them.

 

Varsity Disposable Blue -

 

Parker Vector M - Blue Parker Cartridge -

 

Platinum Preppy "03" Nib with green Platinum Cartridge -

 

Waterman Kulture F with Foray (Office Depot) Black Cartridge -

 

The Parker blue seemed to feather a bit, and that, along with the Foray black seemed to bleed through a bit into the back of the page.

 

NONE of the inks tested bled through to the page underneath.

 

I`d call this okay for novel writing and/or journaling. I bought a case of it, and I`ll be using it without cursing it, I think.

 

Anyone has questions, or wants to help me figure how to upload the scans, let me know.

 

Rob

[hangarhermit]

The Original Big Chief tablets are back. They can be found on Amazon.

 

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=%22big+chief%22+tablet

Edited September 22, 2012 by hangarhermit

[trent]

This is fantastic! I was getting a version of the Big Chief from Epi products in Texas, but these on Amazon look more like the originals. If the paper is like the original, you'd better just stick to big round learner pencils. FPs will bleed right through. These are wonderful pads for drafts.

[trent]

So, I ordered a few from Amazon, and they were shipped quickly. The covers are terrific, if no longer PC by today's standards. The paper seems thin and cheap, as it was back in first grade---no surprise, this is what I expected and what everyone expects from a Big Chief pad. Unfortunately, the chip-board back of the pad is very, very soft and flimsy, offering zero support. You'll need a table or clipboard. The pads are expensive for what you get; they shouldn't cost more than $2 apiece at most, instead of almost $5 for 48 pages. Still, for nostalgic reasons, it is nice to see these available again. Pencils only! Don't even think of using a fountain pen on this paper.

[pienaar]

So, I ordered a few from Amazon, and they were shipped quickly. The covers are terrific, if no longer PC by today's standards. The paper seems thin and cheap, as it was back in first grade---no surprise, this is what I expected and what everyone expects from a Big Chief pad. Unfortunately, the chip-board back of the pad is very, very soft and flimsy, offering zero support. You'll need a table or clipboard. The pads are expensive for what you get; they shouldn't cost more than $2 apiece at most, instead of almost $5 for 48 pages. Still, for nostalgic reasons, it is nice to see these available again. Pencils only! Don't even think of using a fountain pen on this paper.

 

I think the covers are really great. I think it pays honor to the Chiefs of the past. Matter of fact the drawing is good enough to more then likely found out who the Chief was.

[hangarhermit]

So, I ordered a few from Amazon, and they were shipped quickly. The covers are terrific, if no longer PC by today's standards. The paper seems thin and cheap, as it was back in first grade---no surprise, this is what I expected and what everyone expects from a Big Chief pad. Unfortunately, the chip-board back of the pad is very, very soft and flimsy, offering zero support. You'll need a table or clipboard. The pads are expensive for what you get; they shouldn't cost more than $2 apiece at most, instead of almost $5 for 48 pages. Still, for nostalgic reasons, it is nice to see these available again. Pencils only! Don't even think of using a fountain pen on this paper.

 

It appears your concern of flimsy chip-board back has been addressed.