u/eduardopfsc

Amassing a sizeable collection of mechpens means they're not all gonna be winners. Here are the ones I keep in a pencil case in my drawer plus the reasons why I don't use them.

– The Faber-Castells don't match the build quality of the TK-Fine Vario L. The Executive was an NOS unit that feels light, wobbly and too plastic-y; the 9715 feels very cheap and there's a scratchy feel to the way it advances the lead.

– The pink Paper Mate was bought more out of nostalgia (it was a popular brand among Brazilian schoolkids) than anything else, and I was motivated to get the Sharpwriter because of a video where Adam Savage swears by them (they're trash).

– My issues with the Koh-I-Noor are their grips: the Mephisto's rubber grip is sticky and unpleasant and the Rapidomatic's knurling is just extremely coarse (even worse than the Staedtler 925 25/35's... someone should make a list ranking knurled grips by level of coarseness).

– The same applies to the knurled grip of the Mono Graph Zero, but the paint started to peel off so I would have spared it even if it had a good hand feel.

– The LEGO mechpen is a joke of a pencil and I regret spending my money on it. Absolute garbage.

– I bought the Kaco Coca-Cola pencils out of curiosity because they were dirt cheap and was surprised to find brass clutches, but ended up never using them because they are very light and rattle-y.

Now for the Pentels.

– The Pentel Graph Rocks are just Sharps with a different tip, and since I already have 60+ P200 pencils in rotation I just chose to keep these two stored away.

– The Graphlet feels very cheap in spite of its classic design.

– It's a shame I can't stand the way the PG5 looks, because it's got incredible internals. Every time I look at it all I see is Bert from Sesame Street.

– I got the Forte under the premise that it was an NOS unit, but it arrived here damaged: the lead refused to advance from the clutch to the pipe. When I unscrewed the tip, a tiny little plastic piece fell out of it, then I put it back together and now the lead just slides down the pipe and out of the pencil when I try to advance it.

– I got a killer deal on the last Technica-X ever available for sale in Brazil (R$ 3, or about $0.58) and it is incredibly well-built, but the body feels awkward when writing.

– As for the rest of them — Sharplet, Caplet, Techniclicks, Hot Shots, Jolt, Quicker Clicker, Quick Click, Prime and the A525 — they just all felt very light and cheap.

In the last couple of years I have amassed a small collection of notebooks and it kinda bothers me knowing they're all sitting in a drawer unused. I have a notebook where I plan my schedule/classes (I'm an ESL teacher) and another one I use to write songs (I normally do it on the computer, but for some reason writing lyrics longhand makes me connect more to the general ideas/feelings I'm trying to convey), and that's about it. I have watched some videos with journaling suggestions, but I tried regular journaling last year and it didn't do much for me as my life is very uneventful and I don't go out much (by choice). I would very much appreciate any suggestions, especially if they're not typically featured in stationery aficionados' videos.

This is the current state of my Orenz collection. The LE dark green Nero is my favorite, but I couldn't resist getting the (admittedly much more colorful) Showa Notes and COE365 models.

Saw both of these pencils for sale at an online storefront for secondhand products and jumped at the chance to own them as these blue-print Sharps have long been discontinued. I got in touch with the seller and she told me that, upon removing the sticker, it became clear that the yellow pencil was in fact a white display unit that had been yellowed by sunlight, as the previously covered bit had retained its original color. She told me she'd send me the "defective" unit free of charge if I bought the white one, and that's how I ended up with a one-of-a-kind Sharp that I jokingly refer to as Achilles. Now I wonder how other Sharps would react to prolonged sunlight exposure. Maybe we could get even more unique colors?

This is the section of my collection that's the least likely to grow anytime soon. I love how the P360s are essentially Sharp innards in a bulkier body.