TWSBI Jr Pagoda Mechanical Pencil Review

TWSBI Jr Pagoda Mechanical Pencil Review

The TWSBI Jr Pagoda mechanical pencil was released onto the market in March 2018 so is still a fairly new kid on the block. I imagine many readers will be aware of TWSBI, but for those who do not, they are Taiwanese manufacturer of writing instruments. Their roots are as an OEM manufacturer from the 1970’s but in recent years they have been releasing products under their own brand TWSBI.

When I was thinking about background images for use with this post I thought to myself, “Hey, this is a Taiwanese pagoda, I’ve taken photos of those”, nostalgia set in, and I went digging in the archives. So, in something of a first, the background images in this post are mine too. Yes indeed, I have been to Taiwan, I have seen the pagodas, I took photos on good old fashioned film… because back then film was not old fashioned and every mechanical pencil I saw in Taiwan would now qualify as “vintage”.

What then is in a name? Why is this mechanical pencil called the Jr Pagoda? Is it because Jr has an older bigger sibling in the Precision? Will there be a Sr Pagoda? A maxi? I don’t know, and Google couldn’t enlighten me either. I also could not find any reference as to why it was called Pagoda, but you know what, as soon as I saw the pencil and its name pagoda, I made the connection. The conical tip, the rubber grip strips showing the body underneath… somehow the overall look just resonates with pagodas. Don’t ask me to explain it because I can’t, so I fully understand if there’s no connection in your opinion.

Jr and Sr?

Right then, enough of this waffle, on with actual pencil stuff! The Jr Pagoda is currently available in three colours (white, blue and marmalade) and two lead sizes (0.5mm and 0.7mm). As you can see, mine is blue 0.7mm. First impression, the Jr Pagoda looks like a quality pencil, and  the styling is perhaps a little retro. Weighing in at about 12 grams it is relatively lightweight in the hand. The gloss foil stamping of brand and details on the body is well executed with no missing sections or feathered edges.

According to the TWSBI website the body is made from ABS plastic, which is a particularly strong and visually good looking plastic, well known for its mechanical strength and impact resistance but not so much for its scratch resistance. However all plastic and metal bodies suffer from wear and abrasion over time so let’s not make too big a deal out of that statement. The body cross section is a mixture of round and hexagonal areas and the pencil has no resistance to rolling on your desk apart from the pocket clip.

The lead sleeve is a fixed 4mm metal pipe so this is not a pocket safe mechanical pencil but is usable as a drafting pencil.

The push top ratchet lead advance mechanism gives you about 9mm of lead for 10 clicks. The mechanism feels and sounds sturdy. Underneath the top cap is the eraser. This ‘longer than usual’ eraser is a feature of TWSBI mechanical pencils. It is the same small diameter as most other erasers that I classify as emergency use only, but is much longer. It can be pulled up inside its holder as it worn down by use. This is an interesting feature, and definitely makes it more useful than many erasers, but it still remains a fairly small eraser. It is still somewhere in the middle of the two inbuilt eraser theories – the ‘emergency use’ and the larger ‘fully extendable’. I won’t be ditching my separate block eraser anytime soon. I do think it would have been appropriate for TWSBI to have included a lead clearance rod as part of that eraser holder.

As you can see the rubber grips are a series of strips on the flats of the hexagonal section of the body. Now you know rubber grips are not my favourite thing but I really quite like the visual aesthetics of this grip zone. The rubber grip is itself relatively hard and not particularly grippy. I am tempted to think they could have produced an equally pleasing and effective grip by using some plastic insert or other section and dispensed with the rubber.

The pocket clip is a solid reliable one, and its attachment arms are very exactingly recessed into the body. That’s a small piece of good quality work, but it does mean the pocket clip is not removable.

Overall then this mechanical pencil rates pretty well for its price point.

•    Best Points – Solid and sturdy.
•    Not So Good Points – It rolls a bit.
•    Price Range – Low
•    Does this pencil make it into the Top 5? – No

Dimensions – Length 142 mm, diameter 9mm across the grip section flats. Balance point about 65mm up from the tip.

Acknowledgement: This TWSBI Jr Pagoda mechanical pencil was gifted to me by Cult Pens without any request for a review. Thanks Cult Pens.