r/pencils

Hey yo! Here are the new additions so far this year! Still have a lot more coming. Half Temu and half from Kiichin. First time from both. Here we got a lot from friends and some won in an auction. Finally got some vintage mongols, and Nataraj and apsara. Seen them in many peoples collections, had to get em! The Second pictures are the Japan 37 Pencils Showa Heisei Retro Collectible Stationery Vintage Pencil Set won in auction and below it is my longest pencil. It makes me giggle when i see it. The Las Vegas pencil has 2 pretty cheap pencils but hey. THEN got a 4th Indian Blackfeet pencil in box set. pretty sweet. The my melody pencil box is probably one of the coolest. when you pull down the sliding case the top covers it up.

Spending the day with this legend.

Forgot I had these hiding in my desk. Got these in 2022 at the Chicago Reserve Roastery. Not sure if they or other reserve roasteries still sell these but definitely available from resellers. I was more interested in the box at the time to hold my active-use pencils but never got around to doing so. Glad I kept them though. Not sure if they'll be used anytime soon, but maybe I'll gift it to someone who's both equally crazy about coffee and pencils as I am.

Here's a video comparing the graphite hardness to other pencils: https://youtu.be/Sl9s3iXxMwA?si=JBqRhH4O8\_ELRTl0

some blind luck led to me receiving some later issue blackwings...I can now offer a conclusion on this famous pencil. The rest of the reviews are are HERE in the large thread.

the last two pencils in this photo are a version 7 and 10

- Clearly the formula changed between veriosn 6 and 7. The 7 is much smoother even more smooth than the new 602! But it writes lighter like an American HB darkness or Japanese H

- I don't detect much difference between 7 and 10 but 10 seems to hold a point longer. The 7 seems to wear the same rate as the new new 602.

they are lovely pencils. They glide with no resistance. The feeling is great, and I see why artists got addicted to them - they make you feel flowing, rather than scratching. If they were still 10-15$ a box, I'd buy em. But they write too lightly for me so I still prefer the newer ones, or other Japanese pencils, that are laying down a darker line for less pressure.

Want to know what these versions write like, exactly? The Hi Uni 2B. It has the same smoothness.

the new 602 is super close too. On some rough papers it's almost the same, but now after trying a few generations of these old pencils, I think the new 602 really is closer to the classic blackwing with the black band from the 40,50,60s.

Eberhard faber were ahead of their time. Imo they accomplished this extreme smoothness by obviously adding a binder, wax, but without worrying about darkness. When you want all three, super smooth, point retention, and darkness, you need finely processed graphite from Japan. Hi Uni uses an oil infusion process.

final recommendation...if you want to know what the EF blackwing wrote like across all generations ...pretty much any combo of these will do it:

Palomino natural
palomino 602

Hi Uni B
hi uni 2B

these are "duplicates" in my opinion. Lots of other pencils will embody the same spirit of smoothness, but it will just feel slightly different, not worse.

the fact that the old blackwing compares so favourably to top quality modern pencils is a testament to it's quality and innovation! it was introduced in the 30s!!

Despite round pencils not being my first choice I’ve been wanting to add the round variant of EF Mongols to my collection for some time but have not come across them in my hunting. So imagine my surprise when my father gifted me this set of 11 in the original box for my birthday recently! He had no idea I was even looking for some round ones he just saw a box of old pencils at an antique shop in the glass case and thought I might like them. I was quite excited to open up the gift to see a vintage box of mongols. Then doubly surprised when I pushed them open and saw that they were round!

The Musgrave 60 counts looked very rough coming out of the box. After a good sharpen they were the smoothest writing pencil out of this set after the 602! And the darkest. That surprised me

on Leuchtturm journal paper at least

found a tombow that's no longer JIS but still made in Japan. I like the older design of the wider font, comparison in 4th photo. Found Chikyu pencils and is this Globe Cherry also made by Chikyu? Then an assortment of JIS sticks.

Nice for $2. 2 dozen EF Ecowiters and a dozen EF Venus, all HB.

The sale was outrageous. A room full of 100+ year old clocks, a huge woodworking shop with literally tons of hardwood lumber, 100 beer steins, Avon collectibles. It was overwhelming.

In 1937, Dixon proudly declared May 10 - 15th Ticonderoga Pencil Week! In honor of that celebration, and in deference to yesterday’s Mother’s Day holiday, I present and encourage a series of posts sharing your Ticonderoga collection!

Had to pick up a set!
Queen Takes Book in Columbia, MD.
Going to sharpen it up and try it. Normally I like the 602’s and the matte ones.

I'm sort of an accidental pencil collector. My primary focus is Detroit history, and I found myself picking up pencils here and there from Detroit businesses, schools, events, etc. I somehow developed a soft spot for pencils in general and enjoy saving vintage ones from the trash. These are the non-Detroit and non colored pencils (totalling about what you see here in number) I got from the estate of a WWII WAC officer who oversaw cryptographic radio communications. She was a bit of a hoarder and apparently a pencil aficionado. Saw this sub and figured some here might enjoy this oddball grouping.

Pencil tips up close.

Does anyone know anything about these? Judging from the addressee we think late 1950s but I can’t find much else about this specific pencil. The text says Black Magic Venus Pencil Co. Limited Made in England No. 2384. There are two bundles of 12 unsharpened.

In addition to collecting pencils, I also collect pencil sharpeners. I thought the group might appreciate this one. This was a recent acquisition. The Lamson/Dixon Pencil Sharpener circa 1885. I was fortunate enough to also get the original shipping crate. I also created a short Documentary on the history of the sharpener if anyone is interested.