I don't like change. I usually find something that works and stick with it, but when I kept hearing the big names in scrapbooking complimenting the new adhesive by Kokuyo, I had to try it for myself. I'm SO glad I did. It's even better than I had heard.

When you purchase it:

For your first starter "gun" you'll pay around $6. The refills can run anywhere from $4.25 to $4.50. When you open the package, it's ready to go! There are no pieces to put together; however, you will have to pull off a sticky tab so that the adhesive will start moving through the gun.

How it looks:

To me, it seems small, probably because I'm used to the older adhesives that were as large as my hand. But, don't let size fool you. This adhesive has a lot of power in such a small package. The body of the gun is blue and has either a red or yellow cap. Red means permanent; yellow is repositionable. I have only used permanent.

How it works:

First of all, it works fabulously! It glides on like butter and you can stop the flow of adhesive instantly. If you mess up on positioning, you can quickly rub it off, although you can't rub it off much later. There are no messy tabs or long strings of paper to throw away. The unused adhesive and backing neatly rolls up to be thrown away in one piece. There really is no mess.

What I love about it:

It holds almost everything together, even chipboard. I love to use it on chipboard pieces because of its many little dots.  When I rub it on, it only attaches to the chipboard it's touching; the rest stays put on the backing itself. No trimming! NO MESS! I even use it to attach light metal and acrylic (clear) embellishments.

I also love it on textured papers. It's like a bunch of mini glue dots/Zots. It holds together the papers that tabs could not. I think it's because the dots are so small, and numerous, that they attach to the nooks and crannies of textured papers.

Refills- I honestly had no problem with refilling other guns, but a lot of my friends would bring me their empty guns and ask me to refill it for them. I WILL promise that the Kokuyo refill is much easier. You just click the button (picture a real handgun dropping an empty cartridge of bullets--like in movies) and the empty adhesive drops into the trashcan. SO FAST! Then, I just take a refill and pop it back in. Three seconds max.

Positioning of the adhesive is also like a dream. Wherever my gun points, that's where the adhesive goes. NO questioning.

Compared to the tabs, it just blows everything out of the water.

Compared to the other "dot" adhesives, I can say it just feels better in my hands and has a cap, which keeps the adhesive clean and keeps the dots from rubbing onto other things in a bag. 

Some things to consider:

I seriously love my Kokuyo, but it's not perfect. There are no flaws with the gun itself, or how to use it. My only reservation is that unlike "tab guns" you can't really discern how far or how long a refill will last. So, it's unknown what the value of the adhesive is. However, the ease of it alone has sold me on its value because my time is worth more than the pennies I might save. Also, because of its fail-proof positioning and super strength, I'm sure I will be using less adhesive.