u/dwasifar

I guess I bought too many.

That last batch had 109 Ceres America 250, and I kept them. They're great. Nice laydown, smooth cedar, attractive finish.

Here are some pencils I kept from the seconds boxes I've been buying.

Of note:

• Ink 48 Hotel (#3). This is a luxury NYC hotel in a former ink factory building. Having worked in an ink factory myself when I was a young man, I can only imagine what it was like to clean that place up.
• Songwriter (#11). This is blue, rather than their current white, and has a very soft core.
• Mails by Quails (#12). "Slow? Horribly. Messy? Inordinately. Cool? Exceedingly." This one goes with a game pack from Bluefish Games called "The Curious Elevator of Mr. Hincks." I also have a dozen that say Hincks Observatory. Because of discovering this pencil, I'm going to get that game and play it with my wife's granddaughters.
• Ms. Basile's Forest Friends (#13). I have not been able to find out where this one is from.
• Peninsula Papagayo (#19). This is a resort community for the wealthy, on the Costa Rica shoreline.
• Wind Socks (#20). Just pictures of wind socks, no text. Can't figure out where it's from.
• Shhhh (#25). That's all it says. Must be from a library.
• Spyscape Technical Ops (#27). Just kind of cool.
• Angelo's Fairmount Tavern (#28). I have been stuck with almost a hundred of these, which the schools won't take. It would be different if they were cool looking, but they are almost violently ordinary.
• Colonel Littleton's Expedition Grade, Field Tested, No. 2-4/8 (#29). Also just way cool. Colonel Littleton is a luxury leatherworking company. They sell these with their leather pencil cases.
• Library of Congress (#33). Just interesting to have this. It has a Thomas Jefferson quote on it.
• Pencil (#36). Probably from the Captain Obvious collection.
• The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (#37). This dropped through a time warp to arrive with its eraser still soft.
• Therapro #4 (#39). This is a genuine #4 lead, super large core.
• They're Writing in Their Notebooks Over There (#40). Probably to teach they're/their/there.
• Blotch (#43). It's got about a dozen different stamps all on top of each other. Probably something they just used for setup until it got too munged.
• Numbers Game Four-Bagger Scoring Pencil 4B (#46). Baseball scoring. Presumably nice dark core.
• For Top Secret Notes (#52). I'm sure that will come in handy someday, when the CIA reactivates me.
• It's a Wonderful Bostick Life (#54). Another one I'm drawing a blank trying to identify.
• Pigeon Sweat (#55). From Ted Lasso. The school accepted the ones that say things like Be Curious, Not Judgemental and Smells Like Potential, but they gave back the Pigeon Sweat ones. (I didn't even show them the Wanker ones.) I took the rest of these down to use in my workshop.
• Porthole (#56). A blank hex pencil with a perfect little window-shaped hole showing the core.

Last box.

• 53 round blank: 15 white, 1 blue, 37 forest green.
• 17 round foil teachers' pencils (Star Student, etc.).
• 14 hex yellow Cra-Z-Art American Premium.
• 11 round pastel Blue Bell Ice Cream, scented. 2 pink, 9 blue.
• 6 round dark green CGC 1929. (Carolina Golf Club.)
• 1 round red Tulnoy Lumber.
• 2 round dark green Peninsula Papagayo. 
• 1 round black Kuiken Brothers Building.
• 3 round foil Navy: Forged by the Sea.
• 4 round white The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.
• 1 round blue Ink 48 Hotel.
• 10 hex black Old No. 77 Hotel & Ohandlery.
• 4 hex sky blue LM Kersting Const Co.
• 1 hex black plain.
• 3 hex black Celebrity Cruises.
• 2 hex with various double (or more) imprints.
• 10 hex various imprints: Angelo's Fairmount Tavern, Dan's Tire Service, Eastern Michigan University, I Like Gentle Thrills, DLA Training, Yellowtec, Judy Harvath, and two that I can't quite make out. One of them, I can make out the words "Men's Shop Cville," which might mean Charlottesville, VA, or Carpentersville, IL, or something else. The other one is "[something]fabrics." I took a guess and got lucky at ennisfabrics.com.

Okay, that's it!

Box 7. Coming into the home stretch now.

• 44 round blank: 21 white, 23 forest green.
• 37 round foil teachers' pencils (Star Student, etc.).
• 9 round pastel Blue Bell Ice Cream, scented. 2 pink, 7 blue. The more I smell of these, the less I like them.
• 15 hex yellow Cra-Z-Art American Premium.
• 7 hex black Celebrity Cruises.
• 10 hex black Old No. 77 Hotel & Ohandlery.
• 10 round black Kuiken Brothers Building, most with capping flaws.
• 3 hex sky blue LM Kersting Const Co.
• 1 hex pink plain.
• 1 round white The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.
• 1 round dark green Peninsula Papagayo. 
• 3 round dark green CGC 1929. (Carolina Golf Club.)
• 2 hex with various double (or more) imprints.
• 6 hex various imprints: Near Perfection, Lammer's Truck Center, Maven, The Francisca Club, Study Hotels, DLA Training.

One more to go.

Here we go with box 6.

• 45 round blank: 20 white, 25 forest green.
• 19 hex yellow Cra-Z-Art American Premium.
• 15 round foil teachers' pencils (Good Job, Student of the Month, etc.).
• 15 round pastel Blue Bell Ice Cream. 4 pink, 11 blue. These seem to be scented but I can't tell what they're supposed to smell like. The Blue Bell site offers eight scents but doesn't distinguish which color is supposed to smell like what.
• 16 round dark green CGC 1929. (Carolina Golf Club.)
• 3 round dark green Peninsula Papagayo. 
• 2 round black Kuiken Brothers Building.
• 3 round foil Navy: Forged by the Sea.
• 1 round red Tulnoy Lumber.
• 6 hex with various double (or more) imprints.
• 1 hex black Unigraph 6B with missing foil on the imprint.
• 2 hex blank (1 pink, 1 white)
• 6 hex sky blue LM Kersting Const Co.
• 6 hex black Old No. 77 Hotel & Ohandlery.
• 5 hex various imprints: Maven, Angelo's Fairmount Tavern, Celebrity Cruises, Aurora Project / Watch out for backstabbers!

A lot different from the others.

• 54 round blank, many with wood flaws, in various colors: 1 blue, 12 white, 41 forest green.
• 10 round foil teachers' pencils (Good Job, Student of the Month, etc.).
• 6 round foil Navy: Forged by the Sea.
• 21 hex yellow Cra-Z-Art American Premium.
• 4 round dark green Peninsula Papagayo. This is a luxury coastal resort community in Costa Rica.
• 6 round dark green CGC 1929. (Carolina Golf Club.)
• 2 round black Kuiken Brothers Building.
• 2 round blue Ink 48 Hotel.
• 2 round red Tulnoy Lumber
• 4 round white The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.
• 4 hex sky blue LM Kersting Const Co.
• 3 hex pink plain.
• 1 hex dark blue On-Site. This appears to be a tenant screening service for landlords.
• 10 round pastel Blue Bell Ice Cream. 5 pink, 5 blue. Yum!
• 7 hex black Old No. 77 Hotel & Ohandlery.
• 3 hex Celebrity Cruises (1 black, 2 blue).
• 4 hex various imprints: Eastern Michigan University Official Test-Taking Pencil, DeLeeuw lumber, Maven.
• 1 hex white pencil with a single little heart stamped on it.

Box 6 through 8 coming later this evening.

A weird coincidence in this box, which I'll get to shortly.

• 70 round blank, many with wood flaws, in various colors: 1 brown, 1 red, 2 white, 3 maroon, 4 orange, 59 forest green.
• 26 hex Ceres America 250: 13 blue, 13 white.
• 16 round round clear lacquer Zuern Building Products, with various wood or eraser flaws.
• 3 round foil Bonne Fete.
• 1 round foil affirmations.
• 3 hex yellow Cra-Z-Art American Premium.
• 3 round yellow Therapro #4 Pencil.
• 4 hex with various double (or more) imprints.
• 2 hex blank (1 white, 1 clear lacquer).
• 3 hex black Old No. 77 Hotel & Ohandlery.
• 1 hex dark red simply marked "Pencil."
• 5 hex various imprints: Judy Harvath, Maven, Colonel Littleton, Dan's Tire Service, Urban Eyecare.
• 1 yellow hex New York Public Library with a Thomas Jefferson quote: "I cannot live without books."
• 2 round black Library of Congress with the SAME Thomas Jefferson quote.
• 1 round with an indecipherable blue-green wrap. 
• 3 round with various imprints: Standard Building Supplies, Peach State Lumber, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

Here we are with box 3. A lot like the others, except for the onesy-twosy items.

• 44 round blank, many with wood flaws, in various colors: 1 mint, 1 green, 2 white, 2 orange, 2 blue, 2 brown, 4 maroon, 30 forest green.
• 36 hex Ceres America 250: 13 blue, 23 white.
• 22 round bare wood Home Depot.
• 14 round clear lacquer Zuern Building Products, with various wood or eraser flaws.
• 5 round various imprints: Peach State Lumber, Standard Building Supplies, Park Avenue Building & Roofing, Seers Lumber. I wonder if they sell Creftsmen.
• 3 hex various imprints: Dan's Tire Service, Eastern Michigan University Official Test-Taking Pencil, and Colonel Littleton Expedition Grade, Field Tested, No. 2-4/8.
• 5 hex with various double (or more) imprints.
• 2 round foil affirmations (I am brave, I am strong, I am kind, I am important, and so forth.)
• 2 round foil Bonne Fete.
• 4 round yellow Therapro #4 Pencil.
• 3 round clear lacquer Trust the Process.
• And, apparently having fallen through a time warp to get here, 4 white round The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, with wood flaws (cut for capping on point end).

Much in common with box 1, but some differences.

• 61 round blank, many with wood flaws, in various colors: 1 blue, 2 white, 4 orange, 2 maroon, 52 forest green.
• 2 round foil affirmations (I am brave, I am strong, I am kind, I am important, and so forth.)
• 1 round with an indecipherable blue-green wrap. Might just be an ink smear.
• 1 round foil Halloween.
• 6 round foil Bonne Fete with minor wood flaws.
• 1 round foil Student of the Month.
• 21 round clear lacquer Zuern Building Products, with various wood or eraser flaws.
• 1 round red Tulnoy Lumber.
• 1 round plain wood Home Depot.
• 1 round orange Standard Building Supplies.
• 1 hex clear lacquer Colonel Littleton Expedition Grade, Field Tested, No. 2-4/8. This is impossibly cool.
• 13 hex various imprints: DeLeeuw Lumber, LM Kersting Construction, Happily Ever After, Yellowtec (which, oddly, is gray), Old No. 77 Hotel, Bluff Country Financial, Celebrity Cruises, New York Public Library, Lammer's Truck Center, Eastern Michigan University Official Test-Taking Pencil.
• 6 hex with various double (or more) imprints.
• 4 round yellow Therapro #4 Pencil.
• 1 hex yellow Cra-Z-Art American Premium.
• 1 red hex Unigraph 6B that was stamped so hard the core must be pulverized inside it.
• 22 hex Ceres America 250: 6 blue, 16 white.

Onward to box 3.

Here we go again! I was hoping for a better selection this time, and if this box is any indication, I'm getting it.

• 72 round blank, many with wood flaws, in various colors: 1 red, 1 pink, 2 white, 3 orange, 9 maroon, 56 forest green.
• 1 hex blank white.
• 1 hex blank forest green with paint flaw.
• 25 hex Ceres America 250: 16 blue, 9 white.
• 1 hex yellow Cra-Z-Art American Premium.
• 3 round yellow Therapro #4 Pencil. According to the website, these are legitimately #4, with jumbo lead.
• 1 round black Numbers Game Four Bagger Scorekeeping Pencil, 4B.
• 4 hex black Old No. 77 Hotel & Ohandlery. This is apparently supposed to be Chandlery, but it was imprinted too deep and closed up the C.
• 13 round clear lacquer Zuern Building Products, with various wood or eraser flaws. There is no Dana, only Zuern.
• 1 round foil Halloween.
• 5 round foil Bonne Fete with minor wood flaws.
• 6 hex various imprints: Eastern Michigan University Official Test-Taking Pencil, DeLeeuw lumber, Queenstown Harbor Golf, Maven, Dan's Tire Service, and one more friggin' Angelo's Fairmount Tavern.
• 2 round clear lacquer Trust the Process.
• 1 round foil affirmations (I am brave, I am strong, I am kind, I am important, and so forth. I am nauseated.)
• 1 round bare wood Home Depot.
• 1 round with an indecipherable blue-green wrap. Might just be an ink smear.
• 6 hex with various double (or more) imprints.

Next box coming up!

Here are four white plastic block erasers put to a casual test.

The contenders are:

• Rotring Tikky 20
• Pentel Hi-Polymer
• Staedtler
• Tombow Mono

The pencil is a Musgrave Harvest Pro, which leaves a pretty dark line.

The Staedtler is a pretty basic eraser, not a premium product. This is the eraser you get when you buy a 20-pack of Norica. And if you look at the results, you can see it doesn't do a very good job. It feels coarse to use. It ranks last.

The Rotring did better than the Staedtler, but it still didn't pick up everything. You can still read all the letters. It also feels coarse. It ranks third.

The Tombow got almost everything, and it felt great to use. In terms of erasing performance, it ranks second, but in terms of speed and feel, it beats the Pentel, because it did the job more quickly and with less effort and crumbs.

The Pentel erased the cleanest, but it drags more and takes more effort and time than the Tombow.

The Pentel and the Tombow are both excellent choices. I have a bunch of these Staedtlers that I'm going to give away now.

Rather disappointing end. Pretty much the same as the others, plus too many D&D pencils.

• 35 round teachers' pencils, most say "Believe, Achieve, Succeed."
• 41 hex black Dungeons and Dragons ( 27 "Do the voices / You put the RP in RPG," 2 "The DM isn't actually out to get you," 12 "Not everything is trying to kill you").
• 7 hex Ted Lasso pencils (3 blue "Be Curious, not Judgemental," 3 dark blue "Smells like Potential," 1 red "Wanker").
• 21 hex clear lacquer Outlander (7 "Not the Meek and Obedient Type," 2 "Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ," 2 "Je Suis Prest," 5 "Dinna Fash Sassenach," 5 "Bolt the Door").
• 1 hex mint green with a single tiny heart in gold.
• 1 hex yellow "Thy kingdom come / Thy will be done on earth / as it is in heaven."
• 37 round black LA Metro. 
• 1 hex blue plain.

That's it, everybody!

Getting into the home stretch now.

• 31 round teachers' pencils, most say "Believe, Achieve, Succeed."
• 1 hex black Dungeons and Dragons "Do the voices / You put the RP in RPG."
• 44 hex Ted Lasso pencils (1 dark blue "Believe," 34 blue "Be Curious, not Judgemental," 3 dark blue "Smells like Potential," 2 red "Pigeon Sweat," 4 red "Wanker").
• 12 hex clear lacquer Outlander (2 "To Bed or to Sleep," 5 "Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ," 1 "Je Suis Prest," 3 "Dinna Fash Sassenach," 1 "Bolt the Door").
• 6 hex white "Hincks Observatory / Clear then square then circle." A couple of pretty serious wood flaws.
• 1 hex teal "Slow? Horribly. Messy? Inordinately. Cool? Exceedingly. Mails by Quails. Hincksville Graphite | Hincksville, U.S.A."
• 41 round black LA Metro. 
• 3 hex blue plain.
• 1 hex white plain.
• 1 hex pink plain.
• 2 hex red plain.

Last box coming up. I hope it has some different varieties.

Again, almost nothing that wasn't in earlier boxes.

• 33 round teachers' pencils, most say "Believe, Achieve, Succeed."
• 36 hex Ted Lasso pencils (1 blue "Be a Goldfish," 17 blue "Be Curious, not Judgemental," 12 dark blue "Smells like Potential," 3 red "Pigeon Sweat," 3 red "Wanker").
• 24 hex clear lacquer Outlander (1 "Not the Meek and Obedient Type," 12 "Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ," 2 "Je Suis Prest," 4 "Dinna Fash Sassenach," 3 "To Bed or to Sleep," 2 "Bolt the Door").
• 4 hex white "Hincks Observatory / Clear then square then circle."
• 1 hex orange "Camp Longhorn - Inks Lake / #1 Camp Longhorn Rd. Burnet, Texas 78611."
• 38 round black LA Metro.
• 4 hex blue plain.
• 2 hex red plain.
• 1 hex clear lacquer plain.
• 2 hex dark blue plain.

Getting a backache. :) On to box 7.