The BIC 4 Color multi-pen from your childhood just got an update

If you buy something from a link in this article, we may earn a commission. Learn more

bic 4color

NEWS – Check this out pen and pencil fanatics! The wonderfully retro 4 Color multi-pen from BIC is celebrating its 50yr birthday and has been updated to now include a mechanical pencil.* You get red, blue, and black ink pens, along with a 0.7 mm retractable lead pencil that replaces the green pen that is included with the original BIC 4 Color pen. Need an eraser too? No problem, there’s one under a cap on the top and there are 5 extra erasers along with 12 replacement leads included with the pen. It’s priced at $5.49 from Amazon.

*Update
A rep from BIC contacted me to let me know that while BIC does make the 4-Color pen with a mechanical pencil, the 50th anniversary pen actually includes purple ink – rather than a mechanical pencil! Please find the link to the 50th anniversary pen here.

They also wanted to let everyone know about BIC’s feel-good movement to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the pen! To honor this milestone and feel more connected with friends and loved ones during these unprecedented times, BIC is spreading cheer and gratitude with the BIC 4-Color Garden, bringing people together through drawings and doodles on Instagram, all while giving back to the community. For each flower drawing shared with #BIC4ColorGarden, BIC will donate $1 toward Kids In Need Foundation, up to $50,000 through July 1, 2020. You can check out how much the BIC 4-Color Garden has grown so far here!

11 thoughts on “The BIC 4 Color multi-pen from your childhood just got an update”




  1. Gadgeteer Comment Policy - Please read before commenting
  2. Boy, that one brings back memories from childhood!
    I was 10 when that thing came out and you were something,
    if you showed up at school with one of those!

  3. They should have left it a four color pen, or, make a version with each of the colors substituted by the pencil and have consumers decide which version they wanted to use. The green color was as important a reason for sales, as was the 4 color gadgetry.

    1. I use a lot of green ink at work, too, since our departments are all color-coded and Electrical is supposed to use green ink. I still haven’t found a better green pen than the Pilot Precise V5 RT Extra-Fine point (0.5 mm). Amazon usually has a box of a dozen for $16. I buy them myself rather than use the crappy 0.7mm pens my work provides for us that seem to bleed everywhere…

  4. You’d think they would have added a touch screen tip.

    It seems like yesterday I was in my college chem class (actually 1985). The professor kept changing chalk colors to show electron pushing diagrams. After the first lecture I went to the bookstore and bought 1 of these pens. By the following week you could hear half the huge lecture hall *clicking* a different color on their pen when the prof switched chalk.

    I still have one of those pens (refilled many times) and it still works after 36 years.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *