u/drifand

Dug up some of my pens and pencils that have a similar style of knurling on the button as found on the Luddite ALTDRAW. Some are nameless models that I found on eBay Spain many years ago, and the pair that resembles Staedtler 925 25 / 425 F9 was OEM’d for Rambold. I left out the FC Alpha-matics as they are in deep storage.

Pic 2, L-R:

• Unknown ballpoint from Spain
• Luddite ALTDRAW 0.5mm
• Unknown MP 0.7mm from Spain
• Rambold drafting pencil 0.5mm
• Rambold drafting ballpoint

Early reviews of the ALTDRAW from Japanese collectors mentioned a slight rattling issue with the button and a more neutral balance, unlike the usual low center-of-gravity feel of the EVERDRAW and TECHDRAW II. I waited for my local specialty store THINK to import the ALTDRAW so that I could try it before buying. The local retail markup on the 6600 JPY MSRP was brutal but I felt it was worthwhile to support local shops when I could. Once I got home, I decided to compare it to the original TECHDRAW wood model and EVERDRAW pen.

The build quality was expectedly high and I chose the lighter colored cherrywood with silver metal parts for the pleasing contrast. The knurling on the grip was crisp without being rough and comparable to the original slimline TECHDRAW. I also liked the knurling being repeated on the button to give it a more industrial aesthetic. The return of laser etched markings on the wood barrel was also a plus. The choice of a conical front-end departs from the previous stepped and 2-step designs, giving it a slight resemblance to the Staedtler 925 85 REG.

The ALTDRAW disassembles to reveal the usual high level of fit and finish. The metal cone screws down securely onto the brass clutch, which is itself screwed into the permanently attached metal grip. The lead reserve tube is surprising skinny for unknown reasons, meaning it can safely take 3 to 4 leads without fear of jamming. Luddite added an o-ring to the metal flange on the tube to reduce rattling, and honestly, it's not a biggie for me. It's possible to add a bit of clear tape to the bottom of the attachment point of the button to cancel out the last bit of movement but I don't find it necessary.

The ALTDRAW is quite hefty at 27+ grams and the button itself is 4.5 grams. This chunky button is the reason for the potential rattling as it has a fair bit of momentum if you purposely swing the pencil about. The weight of the button also counteracts the mass of the grip, cone and chuck, shifting the balance point closer to the middle of the pencil. It's something that fans of low center-of-gravity pencils like the GG500 might dislike, but for me, it's no different from, say, a solid, heavy and neutral balanced design like the Kaweco Special Brass, or a Ystudio Classic Revolve.

End of the day, the ALTDRAW is slightly more expensive than usual, but definitely a beautiful and well-made keeper.

We first heard about John Wick’s deadly skills with a pencil in the first movie from 2014. Crime boss Viggo was telling his wayward son about the legendary assassin John Wick, aka ‘Baba Yaga’, the bogeyman sent to get rid of other bogeymen. And the chain of events all started because Viggo’s son had decided to steal John’s car, a 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1… without knowing who the owner really was.

It was only in the 2017 sequel John Wick 2 that audiences got to see him actually use a yellow wooden pencil with a pink eraser to off two enemies in a train station. And that visual made me think of current day’s OHTO WN01 Wooden Mechanical Pencil. It really fit the description, except it was mechanical… and not really disposable.

This one’s for those who have lost a treasured pencil to ne’er-do-wells in the office or at school… may they face the justice of Baba Yaga!

L-R:
• Koh-I-Noor 5635 Rapidomatic 0.5mm
• Scrikss Graph-X 2.0mm
• MUJI Graphgear 500 0.3mm
• Craft Design Technology item 16 0.5mm
• Platinum Pro-Use 171 0.9mm
• OMNI Anchor ACS1005 0.5mm
• Staedtler 925 15 Metal 0.3mm
• Zebra Tect 2way RO 0.5mm
• Mitsubishi R:E 3 Biz erasable ink multipen

Featuring Tombow SH-1000 0.5mm (1978), Mitsubishi EXCEED etched steel rollerball (1980s), and Tombow SH-500MR MONO series 0.5mm (1979).

Reference to pic no. 2:
• Pentel Ergonomix Wingrip 0.5mm
• Zebra Delguard LX 0.3mm
• Zebra Tect 2way 0.7mm
• Seika Ultraseven ballpoint
• Seika Ultraman sharp 0.5mm

The mid- to late-1980s was the peak of Tombow’s drafting line up, and one of my favorites from that era is the SH-500LG. What I liked about it was the distinctive metal grip with concentric grooves that made it pretty grippy without the rough feel of knurling. And the nose cone also had a milled edge to aid twisting it in and off.

Part of the fun of collecting is discovering small but significant differences between different generations of a mechanical pencil. And in this case I happened to see a post on X showing a version of the 500LG without the milled edge on its cone. From what I’d observed of other major brands, simplifying a design or deleting features is a sign that the product was being revised to reduce the cost of production. Hence, I refer to this model as the late version or gen. 2.

I didn’t want to ‘collect em all’ but somehow, one of them turned up in bundle of old pencils I’d acquired. After that, I kept an eye out for the other 2 sizes and finally completed the gen. 2 set this year. If you’re starting out, I’d still recommend going for gen. 1 first… it’s still pretty affordable when it shows up on Yahoo Japan Auctions or Mercari. Happy collecting!

When I hear 'PURE MALT', the one thing that comes to mind is the premium oak wood capped pencil that is basically a Kerry decked out with a cigar in one hand and a shot of whisky in the other. Although Mitsubishi made different designs for PURE MALT with different looks and lighter wood materials, I always preferred the combination of dark brown and chrome. I'd gotten the M5-5015 capped pencil way back around 2011 after I learned about it on Dave's Mechanical Pencils. Then in 2015, I also got the MSE-3005 multipen, which has a really nice clip design with a round metal button to retract the components.

I thought I was done with the PURE MALT series until I learned that there was also a 2mm lead holder! After much searching, I managed to find a boxed example of the MH-3005 that presented the holder in a beautiful cutout along with a whisky barrel style sharpener. The sharpener is pretty heavy and works very well. I like how easy it is to unscrew the top to dispose of the lead dust compared to the DSP600 pocket sharpener. The lead holder itself can be partially disassembled except for full removal of the inner plastic tube, held in by a metal end-plug that I didn't want to force off.

I'm really happy to add the holder to my little PURE MALT family. Someday, I may try to modify the multipen to use a 0.7mm pencil component instead, so that each pen(cil) delivers a unique function.

I’ve always liked the clean industrial design of the Parker 25 by Kenneth Grange that dates back to 1975. So when I recently discovered this cap-action pencil by Papilla, a Japanese OEM for multipen selector mechanisms, the resemblance felt uncanny… especially with the raised square block detail on the clip.

While the Parker sports a white inked-in logo, the Papilla features an embedded cross-cut metal circle resembling a steel pizza. The Papilla also has concentric cut grooves for a better grip in the hand. Pulling off the cap reveals a typical refilling tube topped with an eraser plug. The mechanism reminds me a lot of those found in Pilot and Tombow pencils.

Would I have bought the Papilla without knowing about the Parker 25? I think so… it is beautifully sleek, modern and sturdy, and that little gem of a detail on the clip feels like it belongs on an 80s era hi-fi set. Papilla is almost unknown as a pen or pencil brand, so I hope this was interesting!

Pilot launched the SPRINTER series in 1985 and they stayed in production until 1995. Instead of having a main spring inside the body that compresses when you push down on the button, the entire external body is a steel spring coil.

The SPRINTER came in two versions: the more common model with a colored plastic grip, and a more premium all-steel model. From the grip up to about 3/4 of the length, the coil is tightly packed and acts like a steel cylinder. Then the last 1/4 toward the tail is uncompressed and hints of color are visible in between the coils, at the rear flange and in the button finial.

During the years I spent hunting these down, the most common issues I encountered were:

1. Worn or missing markings. The text was printed onto the steel coil and was easily scratched or rubbed off through daily handling.
2. Cracked plastic flanges near the clip. After all, the flanges were under constant compression stress from the huge spring coil.
3. One other unusual problem was having the clip misaligned with the text, sometimes by as much as 180 degrees!

I didn’t want to compromise on any of these issues so it took extra long to locate good examples at a reasonable price. I did give up on finding ‘perfect’ specimens with intact price seals. There are a couple more extra rare all-steel models with yellow or red painted clips but I’ve more or less given up on them to focus on other priorities.

I’d always wanted a Lamy Persona but by the time I learned about them, Lamy had revised the design as the Imporium and made it like 2x more expensive. So instead I got myself a Wörther Profil instead, which cost like 1/10th of the Imporium. It was only recently that I managed to track down a second hand Persona L222 that I could finally show these two similar designs side by side.

The basics: both the Persona and Profil feature pinstripe fluting along the barrel, ending with a series of concentric rings on the cone. At a glance they really look a lot like each other. But up close, the difference in finesse becomes apparent, especially at the clips.

While the Profil has a simple folded metal clip (that I don’t really use for fear of bending it out of shape), the Persona has a complex diagonal slide-out structure that pulls on a hidden spring. During its production run from 1990-2005, there were reports of clip damage either because of over stressing the spring, or people yanking it wrongly expecting a normal hinge. So when it was brought back in 2015 as the Imporium, Lamy had the clip design revised to a more conventional sprung hinge. I’m just glad I managed to find the original :-)

There’s something about the crisp machining on the knurled dial of the Zento 3 Signature Model, and how it contrasts with the surrounding white plastic. I briefly considered thought about pairing it with the Craft Design Technology edition of the Pentel Kerry but the braided design of its middle band didn’t quite match the Zento 3’s knurling. In the end, it was the recent Zebra Tect 2way RO in white with its equally crisp one-piece knurled grip that felt just right.

The box set celebrating 60 years of Pentel drafting mechanical pencils is kind of conspicuous in what wasn’t included: an all-black PG5 as tribute to the original Graph Pencil that started it all back in 1965. It was doubly disappointing because, 1) The folded leaflet clearly shows the Graph Pencil and the PG5 that descended from it; and 2) The PG5 is still in production since 1972!

And the other silly omission has to be the Sharp P205, in production since 1970. Heck, it wasn’t even mentioned in the leaflet. 🙄 And yet, it is undeniably the entry point to Pentel drafting for millions of users because of its affordability, reliability, range of sizes and widespread availability.

And so when I spotted these two custom fitted examples on Mercari, I snapped them up right away. I still think Pentel should have made them available for purchase, perhaps separately from the boxed set.

Every manufacturer makes low cost models aimed at young students. To save on production, there would be more plastic than metal, and this could often mean a plastic clutch as well. After all, the kids would probably trash or lose the pencils within 2-3 years and pester dad and mom for another.

Even so, such production parameters doesn’t mean the product has to turn out ugly or boring. Pentel has been mostly successful at the 100-300 yen tier throughout the 80s and 90s, and one of my favorites is the SHARPentel A115. Check it out:

Forget about extra molding for a cone and screw threads! The A115 is almost like the plastic analog to the GraphGear 500 or Smash: the nose is a one piece molding with the barrel, leaving a simple cutout for the clutch mechanism to ‘clasp’ onto.

And while the button is just a button, it is molded with a jigsaw puzzle style pattern that fits into the back flange of the body when you press it down. Simple, satisfying to fiddle with, and doesn’t cost extra to make or assemble.

I think I’d place the A115 up there next to the Zebra Arbez Piirto series for not lacking in imagination despite the low, low price tag.

The knurled grip ring on the new Zento 3 Signature Model multipen instantly reminded me of the Tokyu Hands limited edition of the Pentel Kerry. So I swapped in the stealthier matte black cap, cone and button from the 2023 Korean limited edition Kerry for a "more perfect" union.

I'm a big fan of the Gunsmith Cats manga (and anime) by Kenichi Sonoda. Set in Chicago, the series features a pair of female bounty hunters who also run a gun shop. Lead character Rally Vincent not only is a sharpshooter, she also drives an iconic '67 Shelby Cobra GT500 in dark blue with white racing stripes.

To match up with the muscle car, I picked the Rapidomatic 5639, another legend developed by Koh-I-Noor USA, which split from Koh-I-Noor Hardtmuth after WWII. I love that it comes in a similar color scheme, and that it also handles beefy 0.9 leads with precision.

I’ve always liked hex barrel designs but it’s extra nostalgic when they come in wooden bodies like old school pencils. Here’s my line up for the week:

• J.S. Staedtler 1001 Technico 2mm lead holder (1960s)
• PG5 custom by Nokyang (Green Sun) Workshop of Korea - swapped with PG7 internals
• OHTO WN01 0.5mm
• Object Index Needle Point Pen (OEM by OHTO)
• Uni recycled wood lead case (1990s?)
• Kokuyo RESARE eraser

The Nokyang is my first custom wood PG5 and I decided on it for a couple of reasons:

1. I wanted it to be all-wood to experience the organic feel of the material instead of the wood upper/metal grip combination used by other brands like Steef.
2. It has a relatively slim width indicating skilled crafting to maintain structural strength
3. Included custom metal parts for the lead grade indicator if you didn’t want to use the original colorful plastic ones.
4. Well handled slope angle transition from cone to body, slightly rounded edges for comfort.

And since it was made for PG5 I can swap for any of the other Graph Pencil sizes as and when I like.

The world of Smash is so full of variety that collectors often don’t know where to start… or even when to stop :-)

When I first tried to collect the old run of Loft full-color exclusives, I ran into some issues:

1. The painted grips often didn’t seamlessly match the color of the plastic uppers. Though to be sure, Pentel has improved a lot since 2014.
2. The text markings were sometimes in black and other times in white in order to maintain legibility against the color of the body. I hated this inconsistency.

And so I’ve arrived at my own set of rules for collecting Smash:

1. It must be a shade of color that that I don’t already have;
2. The text markings must be in black, so that they can match…
3. … My preference for a black grip, clip and button.

A couple of years ago there was a huge discount on Rakuten for standard issue Smash in black, so I bought about 10 pieces so that I would have plenty of black grips for my collection. 😎

Just acquired the Pilot TIMELINE Past ‘Evergreen’ pen to go with my Kuru Toga Wood. The Evergreen was released in Jan of 2026 as a special edition to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of Books Kinokuniya. I guess global shipping was really out of whack and that’s why it only showed up here in Singapore after 6 months.

On the pen body is the latin phrase ‘Verba volant, scripta manent’, which means “Speech may fade but the written word endures.” Pretty eloquent and apt for Kinokuniya!

I’ve basically stopped keeping track of Smash releases after accumulating more than a handful of special editions. I even bought a bunch of the regular black ones for less than 900 yen apiece when there was a blowout sale on Rakuten a couple of years ago - so that I could make custom combinations.

So it was totally by chance that these 3 showed up (separately) while I was browsing on Mercari. Something about how the hues harmonized just shut down my resistance. It was a bonus that one of them was a 0.3, adding some variety to my Smash collection.

Smash will always be a favorite of mine: The original design stood out for its tough and bold styling; using it made me appreciate the stability of its one-piece grip-tip. And I actually enjoy the tactility of the embedded rubber grip studs. 👍🏻