Zebra DelGuard - The Other End

The Zebra DelGuard range of mechanical pencils has been around for a while, but hasn’t been mentioned on this blog before, so it’s time to put an end to that. The DelGuard system is a very effective anti-“lead breakage” invention. Sure, you can still break the lead if you advance it out a stupidly long way, but for all reasonable intents and purposes, leads in a DelGuard mechanical pencil are virtually immune to breaking from writing pressure. It really is impressive. If you don’t have a DelGuard then I really do think you need to add one to your collection. It would be like not having a Kuru Toga. It’s sort of compulsory, whether you like it or not. My only negative is that I don’t like the aesthetics of the current crop of DelGuard tips.

Zebra DelGuard - full strength for strong leads

The Japanese pencil brands still seem to produce a lot of advertising material, and some of it is a constant reminder of just how different the Japanese market is to the western market. This DelGuard video sort of sums it up. I can’t imagine a western brand producing such pencilporn. Softcore hard lead?

Anyway, as I said, I’m not a fan of the DelGuard tip, so let’s turn that around and focus on the other end.

Focus on the blunt end, not the sharp point.

Top to bottom = DelGuard standard, Type-ER and Type-Lx

Firstly, take a look at my three DelGuards. Two have pocket clips but the third one does not. The Type-ER model has a small anti-roll finial rather than a pocket clip. At first I didn't really like it, but it has grown on me. The Type-Lx (luxury?) has a smooth metal grip section and a metal pocket clip as opposed to the standard models plastic grip and clip. I much prefer the eraser cap on the Lx to the standard.

Now, taking a further look at those erasers.

The DelGuard Type-ER has one of those magic erasers. The type that automatically extends out when you turn the pencil upside down to use it, and it locks in place whilst the pencil is upside down, but then it automatically retracts back when you turn the pencil up ready to write. Magic 😁 I am a bit of a sucker for magic erasers.

DelGuard tips - no thanks.

DelGuard Type-ER

All Black colour scheme and magic eraser - hooked - addictive and habit forming.

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.

Staedtler 760 Mechanical Pencil Review

A little while ago Max from Copenhagen sent in a guest review of his latest mechanical pencil purchase. So, I’ll now hand over to Max.

Review of the Staedtler 760 Mechanical Pencil

I’ve just recently bought the fairly new Staedtler 760. (Mine is a 0.7 mm).

It looks nice and it’s reasonably priced at around £6 (GBP). It follows what has become the “new” standard triangular shape of Staedtler. I am not really a great fan of that triangular shape – neither with Staedtler nor with the Faber–Castell Grip 2011. According to Staedtler this pencil is designed for writing. It has a rubber grip. The grip has a sort of hard rubbery feeling. It’s not too soft but not too hard and plasticy either. I’m not a great fan of most grips whether they are of rubber, plastic or metal. I just prefer a plain pencil of a material that is pleasant to hold – like the Lamy 2000. Sorry…back to the Staedtler…

The pencil is very light, a little too light for my liking. The body is made of a shiny blue plastic. This makes it look better from a distance than up close. The transitions between materials are actually nicely made despite the triangular shape. The pocket clip may look a little cheapish from a distance – like the clips on cheap ball pens. But examining it a little closer reveals that it is actually of quite good quality.

It is a push top mechanism with a twist operated eraser as on the Paper Mate PhD and the Faber–Castell Grip Plus. The eraser itself is quite thin but does a decent job. There is no description of how to fill the pencil with leads, so you need to figure out for yourself just to pull the top off with a firm grip. The benefit of is that the ratchet is held firmly in place. It was a pleasant surprise to learn that it holds a lot of spare leads – actually on par with the Lamy 2000.

The push mechanism is pleasantly smooth and without noise. Ten clicks will give you about 9 mm of lead.
The pencil is completely pocket- safe. The tip supporting the lead stays firmly in place while writing without being locked. It only takes a light push to retract it after writing while pushing the top button down.

What is the Staedtler 760 like to write with? This is where it is actually a bit of a surprise! It is light, triangular and with a rubber grip. It has everything against it! But it is actually a very pleasant performer with good balance (approx. 40/60 weight distribution, being bottom heavy). But but but…after a while the rubber will start to loosen a little and the edge of the rubber grip is felt against the finger tips.

This will never become one of my favourite pencils. It just lacks the quality feel of my favourite pencils. But it is a good pencil for carrying at work. I do find it a bit pricey. You will get three Rotring Tikky 3 for the same price or almost a Lamy Safari which is far superior.

Papermate Clearpoint Mechanical Pencil Review

You may recall an earlier guest review of the Paper Mate PhD Ultra mechanical pencil sent in by Bob from Arizona. Well, Bob actually sent in two reviews, the PhD and the Clearpoint. So, here’s the second of his reviews…

Paper Mate Clearpoint Mechanical Pencil Review

I am writing this review of the Papermate Clearpoint mechanical pencil at a ramada (an un-walled shelter) along a hiking trail in Glendale, Arizona. I have hiked about a mile and a half and I am overlooking Pinnacle Peak road about 20 to 30 feet below. To get to this ramada, I walked across a substantial pedestrian bridge connecting two small mountains in the Park and spanning the road below. I have been to the top of one of the mountains, about 350 feet higher than my current location, on the other side of the road. However, it is heading toward a dry 90 degrees [Fahrenheit] and I am not hiking any higher than this today. The hillside vegetation is greener than usual for this time of year due to a number of recent rainfalls and the trim on the two Clearpoint pencils that I am using to write this review matches the color of the landscape. The trim on the 0.5 mm pencil is dark green whereas the trim on the 0.7 mm is a much lighter and brighter green. The exterior surface of the pencils, excluding the trim is crystal clear plastic, exposing the inner mechanical workings.

These pencils are inexpensive side-button activated models with retractable conical tips and large twist-to-extend erasers. The largest visible component within the pencils is the white plastic lead tube with a funnel at the top, along with a prominent y-shaped component that transfers the horizontal force from the button to a downward vertical force toward the writing tip. When the tip is retracted, the first press of the button releases it. About 1 mm of lead is released with each subsequent press. The retractable tip, itself, is a metal tube ending in a cone where the lead is released.

Below the long rectangular button is a contoured indented surface surrounded by rubber grip lines connected to a ring just above the bulging plastic cone at the bottom of the pencil. Most of the plastic clutch resides within a short metal tube except when the button is pressed to extend the lead. The aperture to the lead tube within its funnel entrance can hold approximately a dozen leads in the 0.5 mm model, but ten would probably be more appropriate to minimize jams. I have 8 leads in the 0.7 mm and it appears to be a rather tight fit.

The top third of the pencil consists of housing for the eraser well and twist mechanism and plastic clip. This is connected by a raised vertical ridge under the clip into a slot in the front of the main body of the pencil. The slot allows the housing to snap into the main body of the pencil once the pencil has been filled with lead. The connection seems to be quite sturdy. I have dropped both of these pencils on tiled floors on several occasions with no visible damage to the surface and without the eraser housing separating from the rest of the pencil. On the other hand, I have seen a number of these models with broken clips. The eraser material is Papermate’s common Tuff-Stuff polymer and the eraser is held in its cylinder at the top by a plastic apparatus with two prongs that squeeze the eraser in a viselike fashion. The “knob“ for twisting the cylinder to extract or retract the erase moves the two prongs, which are connected at the bottom, along an inner spiral rail within the eraser well. Did I mention that the Clearpoint is transparent?

This lightweight pencil is suitable for long periods of general writing, but its appearance makes it inappropriate for a formal office environment.

• Best Points: Pocket safe, Large Eraser, Inexpensive, Seeing what makes it tick.
• Worst Points: Potential Breakage of the Plastic Clip, Limited Lead Capacity, Inexpensive Appearance.
• Other Points: I find the contoured ergonomic grip with its ridges very comfortable and the hard rubber grip components seem to be quite durable.

[Note: I wrote this review in its entirety with Clearpoint 0.5 mm and 0.7 mm mechanical pencils. I then copied it into Microsoft Word with minor grammatical changes, etc. Here’s a link to the Thunderbird Conservation Park]

Thanks Bob. I see the Glendale park has ravens – they might fancy a nice bright shiny Clearpoint so might pay to keep your Clearpoints close at hand.

Note:- This article text by Bob, schematic drawing by Bob, all other images by Dave.

Papermate Apex Mechanical Pencil Review

Papermate Apex Mechanical Pencil Review

The Papermate Apex mechanical pencil has a got a lot going for it. Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, it is a member of that fairly exclusive club, the ‘Vanishing Points’. I’ve come to the conclusion that vanishing point mechanism pencils don’t actually get much press. Well, certainly not the press that I think they deserve. The Papermate website describes the Apex mechanism as “retractable”. That’s it. One word. One single word to ambiguously describe what is surely the primary marketing feature of the product? A sliding sleeve is retractable too, but that’s not the type of retractability we are talking about here.

Anyway, enough of Papermate’s marketing plans, but it does beg question - what to call pencils with that kind of retractable mechanism? A mechanism where the whole front tip section is retractable back into the barrel. The first push on the top button extends the tip section out and locks it into place. Subsequent lighter clicks then extend the lead like a ‘normal’ mechanical pencil but if you keep pushing past the first pressure stop-point then you unlock the tip and it springs back up inside the body for supreme pocket safety. So, what to call them? I cannot stand calling them ‘double knock’ pencils, the literal translation of the Japanese wording. ‘Double action’, ‘dual action’ and ‘double push’ all seem reasonable and descriptive, and have been used by some manufacturers, but surely ‘vanishing point’ sounds far more interesting and marketable? So, cast your vote on the poll in the sidebar. (The poll is now closed - see results here)

One problem I do have with vanishing point mechanisms is that many of them are designed so that when retracted the end of the lead sleeve is only just inside the barrel, and you can easily end up with lead sticking out past the end of the barrel.

A problem that some folk have with vanishing point mechanical pencils is that the retractable tip introduces another possible source of lead wobble. The amount of lead wobble you can tolerate obviously depends on your personal requirements. I generally don’t have too many problems with the amount of wobble on vanishing points, and the Papermate Apex is no exception, but there is of course more wobble than on a good quality rigid sliding sleeve or fixed sleeve pencil.

In the hand the Apex is a medium weight pencil and a little top heavy. Well it feels a little top heavy, no doubt thanks to the twist out eraser cartridge, but objective measurement of the balance point doesn’t entirely back me up. The grip is a dimpled rubber piece. The compound is quite hard and doesn’t really move under finger pressure, but at least the compound is reasonably grippy.

The pocket clip is strong chromed steel, quite springy, with ‘Papermate’ and ‘Japan’ stamped into it. The only other markings on the mechanical pencil are ‘Apex’, the lead diameter and the Papermate double-hearts printed on the barrel.

Up at the top end of the pencil we have a twist out eraser. The top of the twist out cartridge has a knurled chromed ring which adds a touch of class to the whole thing. The eraser is one of the thin diameter types, with the eraser core being just under 4mm diameter and having about 28mm of usable length.

The eraser cartridge is also the push top button that activates the lead advance mechanism. Whilst one big click will extend or retract the vanishing point mechanism, ten more modest clicks will get you 6mm of 0.7mm lead. You pull the whole eraser cartridge out of the main body to access the lead refill chamber underneath.

Overall then I’m pretty positive about the Papermate Apex, but somehow this pencil just doesn’t grab me, to me it just doesn’t look right. It’s the grip. The Apex has got some great features like the vanishing point mechanism and the twist out eraser, and it’s a good pencil, but for me, the grip…it’s just such a negative. Obviously many will disagree, but visual styling is a matter of personal taste and that matt black grip as part of a long straight otherwise glossy and metallic barrel…it just doesn’t fit. Maybe if the grip was a different diameter to the body, or contoured, but as just a long matt black dimpled continuation of the line of the barrel, it’s just doesn’t look good to me. Sorry. Anyway, I don’t want to end this review on a negative, so I’ll be positive - if you like the look of the Papermate Apex mechanical pencil, then buy it.

• Best Points – Vanishing point mechanism.
• Not So Good Points – For me, the grip just spoils the whole aesthetic look of the pencil.
• Price Range – Low.
• Does this pencil make it into the Top 5? - No.

Dimensions – Length 136mm, diameter 9mm. Balance point about 65mm up from the tip.

Paper Mate PhD Ultra Mechanical Pencil Review

This is a guest review submitted by Bob from Phoenix, AZ, USA.
I didn't even have to twist his arm!

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Paper Mate PhD Ultra Mechanical Pencil Review

Major League Baseball teams in the US use traditional wooden bats, but aluminum bats are used in many other levels of baseball as well as the many variations of softball. I am writing this review while watching a community college baseball game. Unlike many [perhaps all] four year college and high school baseball teams, these teams use wooden bats. It would be appropriate, then, to review a traditional wood case pencil. Nonetheless, I will be describing the predominantly plastic Papermate PhD Ultra mechanical pencil. And this pencil may even have some aluminum parts!

The PhD Ultra is a sizable pencil with one of those ubiquitous large twist-to-extend erasers. It is also designed and marketed for its ergonomic semi-triangular finger grip. The body of the pencil is composed of numerous contour curves, bulging along the portion of the body defined by the length of its clip. It narrows down to the contour semi-triangular grip that is the basis for the design of Papermate’s family of PhD writing instruments. The Ultra constitutes one of the newer editions to this product line.

The lead is extended through a retractable conical sleeve, making the instrument pocket-safe. The cone surrounding the sleeve is a metal component shaped like the nosecone of a conventional missile or rocket.

The clip is fabricated of the same non-reflective metal with a smooth finish.

The top two-thirds of the pencil is composed primarily of a highly reflective glossy black plastic with a gray ring design where the clip connects to the body. Although it is a relatively inexpensive pencil, its appearance would make it suitable in a formal office setting. With its metal trim and high-luster plastic, it is one of the more attractive of the many larger and wider pencils with ergonomic grips and twist-to-extend erasers, derived from a variation on a common manufacturing design.

The grip, itself, comprises a very taut material, stretched across the underlying contoured triangular surface. There is no give in the surface covering and upon initial observation, it might not be immediately obvious that this material is not part of the fundamental structural surface of the pencil. Due to the triangular shape of the grip, the pencil may be rotated in the hand to one of three positions and the fixed clip means that most users would only write with the clip side facing outward. The grip occupies most of the bottom third of the instrument. The rest is occupied by the cone and the retractable tip when it is extended.

The eraser material is Papermate’s common Tuff-Stuff polymer and the eraser is held in its cylinder at the top by a plastic apparatus with two prongs that squeeze the eraser in a viselike fashion. The “knob” for twisting the cylinder to extract or retract the eraser has a smooth outer surface of glossy plastic like most of the rest of the body of the pencil. This improves the appearance of the eraser unit, but makes it harder to grip.

As in most of these pencils, the pencil point is released by depressing the eraser unit. The initial press releases the conical tube. Subsequent presses release approximately 1 mm of 0.5 mm lead. The writing tip appears to be cushioned because the lead breaks much less frequently than I would expect with a typical 0.5 mm mechanical pencil.

For those who like ergonomic grips and large erasers on their mechanical pencils, I believe that is one of the better examples. The pencil is quite suitable for long periods of general writing. It is probably not as suitable for precise drawing tasks for a variety of reasons, including the bulky cone at the bottom which may result in a more obstructed view than thinner pencils or pencils with transparent materials at the end of the writing instrument.

I’ve had this pencil for almost a year and it appears to be reasonably durable. There is some abrasion on the bottom portion on one side of the grip section. This may have resulted from pressing against a metal key or some other metal object. The abrasion is barely noticeable and has not increased. In addition, some of the writing on the barrel is gradually, but very slowly, wearing off. The internal aperture in the lead cylinder allows for approximately a dozen 0.5 mm leads. However, I have found that a smaller number such as 10 leads prevents occasional jamming. Such jams are rare and the usual lead clearing steps resolve any problem. I enjoy using this pencil and appreciate its outstanding grip, large eraser, and overall appearance.

[Note: I wrote this review in its entirety with my Phd Ultra. I then copied it into Microsoft Word with minor grammatical changes, etc.]

*********
Thanks Bob. I appreciate you accepting the challenge and taking the time to write this review and send it in.
You have no idea how much I want to stick another 'i' in aluminum!
Dave.

Monami Gripix Mechanical Pencil Review

Monami Gripix Mechanical Pencil Review

The Monami Gripix mechanical pencil appears to be part of a small ‘Gripix’ range of products sold by the Korean stationery company Monami. There is the 0.5mm Gripix mechanical pencil, Gripix-T lead refills and a Gripix eraser. Both the eraser and lead refills include the wording “…for professional” on them so I assume Monami market the Gripix products as superior grade products.

Over the last six months or so I’ve ended up with quite a few mechanical pencils from various Korean brands. Korean people have generally implied to me that most Korean made writing instruments tend to be cheap both in price and quality, and their attempts at more expensive looking pencils are not good. This has always surprised me as many Korean manufacturing industries don’t operate in the cheap or nasty end of the market. But I did say “most”, not “all”. There are some Korean brand mechanical pencils that are not down there in the mire, and an initial glance at the Monami Gripix pencil suggested it might be one of them.

Firstly, it didn’t look cheap from a distance, and a second closer glance didn’t reveal any glaring issues either. That’s better than many Korean pencils have done.

So then, the Monami Gripix mechanical pencil is a drafting or technical style pencil. In the black and silver plus chrome colour scheme of my example it looks quite good. Close inspection though reveals the printing on the pencil body is not of a high standard – the silver rings do not completely encircle the body, and there are some dots of silver splattered on the body. The chrome appointments though look good, and the body and rubber grip appear to be well moulded.

The Gripix is quite lightweight, only 10g, and it certainly doesn’t feel any more substantial in the hand. The round rubber grip is quite a narrow diameter, with moulded in grooves which give a little under finger pressure. Combined with a reasonably grippy compound this is a rubber grip that works well, one that actually improves grip. Although the grip is round the groove pattern is not constant and a smooth area aligns with the fixed pocket clip perhaps discouraging those who like to twirl their grip.

The lead sleeve is the traditional draughting pencil fixed non-retractable thin lead pipe, this time at about 3.5mm long.

The lead advance mechanism is a standard push top ratchet. It’s a fairly positive feeling mechanism; ten clicks will get you 7mm of the 0.5mm lead. At the time of writing Monami only offer the Gripix mechanical pencil in 0.5mm lead size. I did an unusual thing (for me) and unscrewed the tip section to have a look at the mechanism and chuck. It is an all metal chuck for those who demand that.

Just above the rubber grip is a lead hardness indicator. It is a simple rotating ring with a U-shaped cut-out to display the lead grade printed on the body underneath. Grades 2B, B, HB and H are available for display. Not a particularly large selection, and perhaps geared more towards art and general writing rather than drafting work. There is no positive lock on the ring, it just sits in position by friction. It is prone to being inadvertently rotated as you handle the pencil. Also the plastic ring is a moulded metallic silver colour and it just looks plain cheap. I think it is the single most obvious feature that detracts from the Gripix.

The pocket clip looks quite good, but is only barely adequate. It doesn’t spring well. ‘MONAMI’ is stamped into the pocket clip.

Up at the top end of the pencil there is a twist out eraser cartridge.

The eraser is about 3.6mm diameter and has 22mm of usable length. The twist function works well, but the small chrome ring around the top of the cartridge is loose. It spins on the black plastic cartridge. That’s no big deal, it is purely decorative, but again it just seems “not right”. I feel it should be fixed, not free to spin, and I keep expecting it to fall off. A more important point is that the eraser always has some black powder on it. Nice white eraser, clumps of black powder…again it just looks wrong. I’m not sure if the powder is graphite dust or plastic grindings, but no matter how many times I wipe the eraser clean, next time I twist it out the black stuff is back. I’ll be honest and say that from the feel of the eraser compound I had my doubts as to whether it would be any good, but I gave it a quick try and it did a respectable job of erasing HB mechanical pencil lead.

You pull the whole eraser cartridge out of the body to refill the lead chamber, which is a decent size so you’ll get a good number of spare leads in there.

‘Gripix – 0.5’ is printed on the body. The barcode and price sticker states KOREA which I want to believe means “Made in Korea”, but that may not be the case at all. Somebody from Korea want to enlighten me - does stamping ‘Korea’ on an item mean ‘Made in Korea’, or just that it’s got some association with Korea, like designed in Korea but it could be made in China?

Overall then, despite the mainly aesthetic faults detailed above, I quite liked this pencil, and for the peanuts that it costs, the Monami Gripix mechanical pencil is a pretty good deal.

• Best Points – The rubber grip (Have I gone crazy?).
• Not So Good Points – The lead hardness ring design and appearance really lets the side down.
• Price Range – Economy.
• Does this pencil make it into the Top 5? - No.

Dimensions – Length 145mm, diameter 10mm at widest part of grip. Balance point about 70mm up from the tip.

Coming soon to a blog near you…more on Gripix eraser and leads.

Tombow Cool Mechanical Pencil Review

Tombow Cool Mechanical Pencil Review

Over the past few years I have become increasingly aware of just how much the offerings of the global writing instrument brands vary from one country to another. I guess ages ago I had a rather naïve and simplistic view of the global brands, something along the lines of the brand having a basket of products with a sort of pick and mix selection of those products being offered in various countries or geographical regions by the relevant national distributors. These days my view is more along the lines of the global brand having a basket of products, as well as the various national distributors each having their own individual baskets, such that the products offered in any one country are a selection from the global basket plus the contents of the local basket.

Although it is far away on the other side of the world, Turkey is an inextricable and visceral part of one of the most important events in the history of my country, and that of our ‘Trans-Tasman Cousins’. So, unusual connections to Turkey have a little extra interest for me. There are writing instrument manufacturers in Turkey, one of which is ADEL, a joint venture between Anadolu Group of Turkey and Germany’s Faber-Castell, but I haven’t as yet got my hands on any of their products. Today though I have something else of interest - it appears that there are some Turkey-only Tombow mechanical pencils. You can see them here at the website of Serve, who are an office supplies company in Turkey, and in particular a (or the) Turkish distributor for Tombow of Japan.

So, from Turkey, I present the Tombow Cool. According to the Serve website (with the assistance of Google translate, and as far as I can understand it) the Tombow Cool mechanical pencil is available in seven colour options and in 0.5, 0.7 and 0.9mm lead. Mine is the metallic grey colour and 0.9mm lead.First off then, does the Tombow Cool look cool? Well I quite like its looks, and the Cool logo printed on the body does look rather cool. The combination of black, metallic grey and chrome blends nicely.

The Cool is a triangular bodied mechanical pencil. The rubber grip is triangular and feels a little wider than average. It is quite long in length, taking up over a third of the length of the pencil so you can pretty much hold the Cool wherever you like – down low close to the tip or way up for that relaxed stance. The rubber is smooth without any surface pattern and a reasonably grippy compound with a small amount of give under finger pressure. The Cool is reasonably lightweight and neutrally balanced so it doesn’t have a lot of presence in the hand.

The tip section is a chrome metal cone, and the retractable lead sleeve is also a short cone so this pencil is pocket safe but clearly intended as a general writing pencil. The mechanism is a standard push top ratchet. For my 0.9mm version, ten clicks will get you 7mm of lead. The mechanism feels and sounds nice, smooth and positive. Up at the top end of the pencil, the push top button is an extendable eraser housing. I quite like the grooved chrome ring around the housing. The eraser core itself is a fairly hard white plastic or TPR and is about 4mm diameter. You can twist out about 26mm (1”) of usable length. The eraser is obviously replaceable. The entire cartridge pulls out to allow access to the lead refill magazine.The pocket clip is very smart looking. It is rather strongly sprung, almost too strong. It certainly won’t be accidently slipping off whatever you clipped it to.

Markings on the body are minimal – “Cool” up by the pocket clip, and “09, Tombow, Japan” down near the rubber grip.Overall then this is a nice smart looking mechanical pencil and quite reasonably priced. It’s unusual origins are a little added bonus to mechanical pencil collectors. Cool is not an inappropriate name.

• Best Points – The looks.
• Not So Good Points – Nothing really leaps out at me.
• Price Range – Economy/Low.
• Does this pencil make it into the Top 5? - No.

Dimensions – Length 145mm, triangle sides about 11mm. Balance point about 70mm up from the tip.

PS – if there are any collectors or regular readers out there from Turkey, it would be great to hear from you – send me an email on the address up in the blog header.