Reynolds Rides Again

The Reynolds International Pen Co., first to sell a ball pen in the U.S., startled the pen industry with another first this week. With a fanfare that sounded suspiciously like the opening barrage in a price war, Reynolds put on sale its new Packet Ball Pen. The price, $5.85, was more than $4 cheaper than any other ball pen on the market and less than half that of earlier Reynolds pens.

The new pen will do the same tricks its older brothers do. Said Reynolds President Franklin Lamb: "It will write under water, but will also write on paper, which is even more important." Said one of the thousands of disappointed Reynolds customers: "If it writes on paper, that's an innovation."

Reynolds hopes that the new cheap model will not push the old Reynolds off the market. But shipments of the older model had already fallen off (less than 125,000 will be shipped in August v. 450,000 shipped in June). This, Reynolds thought, was only part of the summer buying sag. Then why the cheaper model? Said Lamb: "The other firms will be making cheaper ones, so why should we wait?"

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