A while ago a pencil-friend was holidaying in Shanghai and took the opportunity to do a little browsing and shopping on the street that specialises in stationery. One of the pencils he picked up and later sent to me was this one
Yet another 1.85mm rectangular lead 2B examination grade mechanical pencil from China. Clearly they love them over there. Well this one is a different design to the others that I have previously featured, and I quite like it.
As you can see it is printed with a mixture of Chinese characters and English words. On the far right is the company or brand name TianZhou which means something like Best Sky. The pencil model would obviously be TM013-A.
I like that plain matt mid-grey colour scheme and rectangular blocky body look. The white and metallic gold printing fits in well too. Granted the rectangular body is not the most comfortable to hold in the hand…but hey…it looks great. Certainly sets it apart from the Clones.
Eraser under the top cap.
I might be a self-styled King of the Clones, but Be Successful is what I would arm myself with before I did battle with the Scantrons.
LOL Dave, you really are a Clone Lord=D
ReplyDeleteHi Clone-Lord,
ReplyDeleteis it comfortable to write with those rectangular leads or is their only purpose to pass these (to me unknown) Scantron tests?
Hi 2nd. Well the leads are "interesting" to write with, producing a sort of inherent calligraphic effect as the line width of your lettering varies automatically. The leads themselves are not the highest quality though. Here's a little something from an earlier article re writing with them, and Jawi writing.
ReplyDeletehttp://davesmechanicalpencils.blogspot.com/2008/05/mgm-plus-200-mechanical-pencil.html
Thanks, Dave, especially for the Jawi. I have the impression we should better left the calligraphic thing to the ink faction...
ReplyDeleteI lived in Beijing for a while and happened to pick up the same "rectangular lead" pencils. They're not for writing but for drawing and sketching (at least the ones that I saw were marketed as such). You can create bold line or turn it slightly to get a sharp edge and draw a fine line. You could use it to write but might find it a bit unwieldy.
ReplyDelete