Monday, May 04, 2015

Farewell... RIP?

Enough procrastination. I really enjoyed this blog for the six or so years that I regularly updated it, but those days are gone. It is time to admit this blog has run its course and close it down. So, this is my final post. Comments will be closed down in a month or so. I will of course leave the blog up on the net, and who knows, maybe at some future date I will resurrect it, but for the moment, it is game over.

I would like to thank all of you who have had some interraction with this blog - commented on, corresponded about, read - I've enjoyed all the contact with you.

I leave you with some images of my two most recent acquisitions... one for a dollar and the other for... well a couple of extra zeroes were involved.

An old Sailor from the 1980's or so. Virtually "as new" condition. Fantastic value for the next to nothing you can pick them up for. The Sailor pocket clips always seem oversized to me, frequently out of propprtion or clunky, but on this one it seems to work. Perhaps though I have just got used to the Sailor look over time.

An old Parker Duofold ballpoint pen/pencil set. NIB or near enough. Made in England, I guess from the 1990's or early 2000's.


RIP DMP


50 comments:

Daniel Beaver said...

Thank you for the many years of posts.

pkobayashi said...

Hi Dave, I don't think I've posted much (if ever?), but I've always followed along, and enjoyed your style and wit. I'll be sad that you're gone, but the pencil lives on, no? Thanks for the memories!

DJS said...

Thank you very much. I enjoyed very much your blog and writing style. Good luck.

virens said...

Thanks for all those years of blogging, Dave! That's how I learned to appreciate good mechanical pencils.

Alexander said...

Hi Dave,

Thank you so much for all of these years dedicated to the world of mechanical pencils.
I hope one day you will come back.

Good luck!

Unknown said...

Hi Dave,

Thank you so much for all of these years dedicated to the world of mechanical pencils.

I really will miss you

Thanks for all

et said...

Hi Dave,

You will be missed but thanks so much for the ride. It's been a pleasure.

Vikram said...

Sorry to hear this, Dave.
Thanks for the years of great posts, and the vast amount of information that you've shared with people! Also thanks for featuring a couple of my posts five years ago :)

Best wishes for the future!
--Vikram

blupencil said...

Hi Dave, thanks for running this blog. It was fun reading your reviews.

Also, I have a rather interesting pencil that I hoped to maybe write a review about for your blog, but since you are closing it, here's just a pic: http://imgur.com/GidbVml

Anonymous said...

Thanks for all the informative posts - I think DMP was one of the first stationery blogs I added to my regular reads.

Becky said...

I've been a follower and really enjoyed the posts. Thank you so much for your insightful reviews and entertaining remarks on one of my favorite subjects, not to mention the great photos!

I'll have to dig through the archives in future to get my mechanical pencil fix. Thank you again!

My Supply Room said...

This is a sad day indeed. Many years of some of the best posts you could find anywhere. You and your pencils will be missed.

Anonymous said...

Farewell. I haven't ever posted on here, but I the time since I've found this blog, I've enjoyed many long hours of reading your excellent reviews. Good luck in any future endeavours!

And to anyone else here, are there any other blogs of this quality?

J said...

Have never posted before, but thanks for the blog, which I've enjoyed a lot.

Ovidiu said...

Thank you David for all your work behind this blog, for your well thought, informative reviews. I enjoyed it for years, I bought mechanical pencils based on your reviews and have no regrets. I hope you'll come back at some point. Take care!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for all your efforts, Dave!
Sad enough since you stopped blogging I stopped collecting pencils :-)

I have a lot of them and am unsure what to do.

Enjoy your life!

-Arne
:)

William said...

Dear Dave, thank you for all the fantastic information thru the years. It seems every time I searched for info about mechanical pencils I ended up in your blog! So helpful. I'm a fine artist, Leonardo Pereznieto and I have over a million subscribers in my YouTube drawing channels ("Fine Art-Tips" and "Arte Divierte". I would like to write to you personally. How can I reach you? If you want you can write to me through my website artistleonardo. Thanks for everything. L

Anonymous said...

I've really enjoyed your blog! I'm not an extreme pencil fan, but I do enjoy finding awesome pencils and your blog has helped me so much. Thanks! Hope that you will have a wonderful, blessed life!
~ Annie :)

Anonymous said...

So sad to hear this :(

Thank you Dave for all the fun and useful info! It was - and still iss - to read DMP!

AAT, Bulgaria

Arnold.DeRoy said...

Thank you for the blog, sharing knowledge of all thigs related to mechanical pencils.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for this excellent blog!

Kiwi-d said...

Thanks for your comments folks. Good to see a few names from the old days still keeping an eye on the blog.

Leonardo - in the sidebar is About Me, go to my profile and there's a contact email there.

Unknown said...

good luck in the future

Matthias said...

Also from me a big thank you for all the great information you have shared over the years in your blog. I always enjoyed reading your blog and will be secretly hoping that it will be revived one day.

Gunther said...

I am very sorry to hear that, Dave. Thank you for so many years with exciting posts – I haven't commented much but I have always enjoyed reading. Like Matthias I also hope that you will be back some day!

Julia said...

You will certainly be missed, Dave, but I wish you well in your non-Internet adventures, both pencilly and otherwise.

I'm going to leave DMP in my Feedly subscription list, just in case you ever come back. In the meantime, I'll leave you with this quote I came across a while ago that made me think of you:

"The average pencil is seven inches long, with just a half-inch eraser - in case you thought optimism was dead."
- Robert Brault

Kiwi-d said...

Excellent quote Julia, and good to hear from you are all these years :-)
You too Gunther.

Anonymous said...

May a good pencil be with you, wherever you go.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for sharing your experiences. It always was a pleasure to read your posts.
Good luck!

Vasco said...

TY & Best of luck.

Bored_ said...

you started me down the rabbit hole that is writing implements, and I've read everything you've posted since 2007. Thank you for the great reads, you have great wit!

Michael F said...

Dave, you have a solid archive here moving forward that aficionados will continue to learn from! You got me interested in collecting a couple months ago and I've been releasing regular mechanical pencil reviews, both video and written on my blog. My blog is http://klecser.wordpress.com and here is a link to my most recent video review, the Tombow Mono Graph. Its not a competition and I know I'll never do as good of a job as Dave, but if you're looking for your "fix", let me know what you think!

Tombow Mono Graph Video Review:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icNqdCeSDg8

Uni Alpha gel Shaka Shaker review:

https://klecser.wordpress.com/2015/05/18/uni-%CE%B1-gel-shaka-shaker-hd-mechanical-pencil-review/

che pablo said...

Not unexpected but sad all the same. I thank you for all your posts which led me to spend way too much money on pencils...and to have fun doing so.

Jon Veley said...

Hey Dave, since I've been on a bit of a sabbatical myself it's been awhile since I've popped in - sorry to hear your closing it down but I understand how challenging it is to maintain these things . . . particularly weeding out the spam comments. Good luck in everything you do, and if you ever have something vintage you're craving to write about, feel free to drop me a line - I'd always welcome a guest post over at Leadhead's.

ken said...

Thanks for the blog

Anonymous said...

I only very recently found your blog and I am saddened to see you go. I've enjoyed every post I've read so far and I can't wait to get to the rest of them. I wish you good luck in your future endeavors and hope everything works out. Take care Dave!

Best,

Sean

Vicki said...

Thank you for all your fantastic posts, this has been a great blog to read! I'm sad to see it end, I've been following this for about 3 years, though I've never commented. Hope you continue on and have a wonderful life!

2nd_astronaut said...

This (not so unexpected) announcement is sad and new DMP posts will be missed...

Thanks for the efforts & passion you spent on this blog, which gave me lots of fun thru the years! Enjoy your life and take care.


Chancellor Gorkon: I offer a toast. The undiscovered country...the future.
Spock: Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 1.
Gorkon: You have not experienced Shakespeare until you have read him in the original Klingon.

Aluisio Fernandes Jr. said...

Thank you for the great blog. We will miss a lot!

Anonymous said...

Hello Dave,

On a visit to Japan last week I bought a Zebra Delguard, and am mightily impressed. Its a genuine innovation which eliminates accidental lead breakage, one of the annoying things which clumsy general users like me hate. So far it seems to work extremely well. Any chance of a brief review, I know you have decided to stop your blog, but maybe you an be persuaded that this new concept is too good to ignore?

Thanks for your blog. I guess all good things have to come to an end sometime. Any chance you can keep the site live for other people to post news items, reviews etc (on pencils, of course)?

ps. I do not work for Zebra!

Sandy Polak (engineer)

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the blog! Enjoyed reading your reviews!

mark_line said...

Sorry to hear your retiring from this blog. It's a great spot, and you have been very helpful to me, Thank you for all your great work.
Best wishes in all your future pursuits.

tani P. said...

Thanks for your excellent blog! It's a veritable storehouse of pencil knowledge. Vital internet, I'd say.

Anonymous said...

Pour some out

Darius said...

I have been your silent follower for the last few years, never losing excitement when reading your reviews. And now it is sad to know that i no longer have anywhere to go to when doubtful about mechanical pencils. Hope you will return, because i know there are going to be a lot of new mechanical pencils that will catch your attention. Never say "RIP", Dave. It's "See you again".

Regards,
a proud Staedtler Triplus Micro 774 owner.

Unknown said...

I'm so sorry to see you go. A few months ago I was looking through my old Artbox and came across a Sanford Protouch II which I had completely forgotten about. I started searching for info online about it and that is how I came across your blog. After reading through a few entries, I was reminded about how much I loved mechanical pencils. You know how it goes, once you leave school and get busy working some of your favorite things are simply forgotten. Luckily I was reminded of all of this before a trip to Korea and Japan. I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to pick up a few gems since MP seem to be more available there than in the States. I just came back from my trip a couple days ago only to discover you've ended your blog! I certainly hope you return to it someday because I'm sure that I'm not the only one that got giddy reading about pencils! My favorite part of your blogs were the clever magazine clippings always placed behind a featured pencil. You have quite an eye. I wish you well and thank you so much for your entertaining blog.

Stephen said...

Hi Dave,

How the years pass by!

Best wishes.

Stephen

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the company in the world of mechanical pencils. Its a large range of products.
You are the master. Good Luck in your life and projects.Muito Obrigado. Marco Bona..
and finally i bought a Pilot Rocky 2020.Rs.

KiTA said...

Aww, sad to see you go. :(

Kiwi-d said...

Thanks everyone for your comments.
See you again, perhaps, maybe, never say never :)


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