u/eduardopfsc

Tell me oh, what can I do?

Another day, another haul! This time it just so happened that six packages arrived all at once (although one of them was delivered to the wrong person, but that's being taken care of), so I feel like a rich kid on Christmas morning.

I had a bad experience with the Tombow Mono Graph Zero (the print on the barrel began to chip and the grip felt too coarse), but after an incredibly positive experience with the Fumi I decided to go nuclear and buy not one, not two, but three Tombow Mono Graphs! Of course I did a lot of research prior to closing the deal, but it was a risky (and fiscally irresponsible) move nonetheless. However, I'm glad to report I love them — they feel a lot like the standard DelGuards and Kuru Togas in terms of texture and weight, and while advancing the lead by knocking the clip feels a touch too flimsy, the whole thing is very sturdy and, of course, the long eraser is a godsend. As for the barrels, well, I had to get one with the traditional Tombow Mono Graph design; the red Tune was so beautiful I couldn't resist it; and then at the end I had to make a stop at Townsville and recruit Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup (I'm a grown man with a job, but I'm a terminal millennial, too).

The Tombow Zoom 707 looks like what happens when you give a pencil Ozempic, but it's a good addition to any collection or EDC kit. It serves a practical purpose, is surprisingly tough, and in the wrong hands it could do some serious damage (not that I'm suggesting anything).

I often sing the Zebra DelGuard's praises in this here subreddit, and when I saw the LE Van Gogh models I had to get a couple of them. I ended up going vanilla and choosing the Sunflower and the Starry Night varieties, and if you look closely the latter one is a misprint, as the art partially covers the text on the barrel, but that doesn't bother me much.

My love for the Smash has also been documented here, so when I saw this Seasar brown LE I knew I had to get it. It really makes you wonder how nice a wooden Smash would feel (easy now).

(Side note: I recently discovered that some Smashes' lead grade indicators ditch the 4H in favor of a 4B text. Weird, but appreciated.)

Finally, the Staedtler 925 15 Metal. I am really happy with this pencil! If they made the LE 925 25/35s with this sort of grip I would go bankrupt. It's probably my favorite Staedtler after the Hexagonal. They really know how to make a solid, stable product. Amazing brand.

That's all for today, folks!

I think it's fair to say we have all had the experience of buying an expensive pencil only to be disappointed by how cheap it feels. We read reviews that feel more like a list of caveats and pull the trigger knowingly, but deep down still hope those shortcomings won't be as bad as everyone says they are.

That is NOT the case with the TWSBI Precision, and with good reason.

This pencil is a delight. For the equivalent of $57 (R$ 292 in Brazilian currency) I got an all-metal pencil that is as skinny as a P205 (but obviously considerably heavier) with a retractable tip that doesn't wobble, a grip that feels just right, and no noticeable rattle. On top of that, they package it in a nice little case alongside a very good supply of erasers (that are long and can be used up in almost their entirety) and extra leads.

It's no wonder I haven't seen any negativity towards this guy. This is gonna sound strange, but what caught my attention was the fact that I felt respected as a customer for the amount of care TWSBI put into making the Precision. Surely, it'll set you back a pretty penny, but so do many others and they are not nearly as good.

This is the second mechanical pencil I've acquired in the last few days that immediately entered my top 10 favorite pencils of all time, the other one being the Tombow Fumi. It's been a good month for this hobbyist — no complaints.

Zebra's themed DelGuards always look so good — as someone who loves mechanical pencils but also loves Pokémon, cats and carbohydrates, I feel seen. The all-white one apparently has some sort of antibacterial coating (!), which I don't know if I fully buy but is interesting nonetheless. My only beef with the DelGuard is that sometimes you have to shake it sideways a little bit in order to get a lead in the shaft to enter the mechanism.

The M-301 is a delight. I love a simple, robust and minimalistic pencil. It also looks like it was designed in the 1980s (much like myself).

I was very positively surprised by the Rint; it's light, sturdy and has a retractable pipe. The barrel is a very smooth material that's comfortable to hold. My only gripe is that the color looked much better in the picture, and I happen to not be a fan of most shades of green.

The only reasons why I bought the Drafix were the design and the color scheme, like a late 1990s/turn of the century sci-fi movie director's idea of what a futuristic pencil would look like. Thankfully it also happens to be a pretty good product. Gotta love a lead hardness indicator.

I'll be getting an M-701 this month. Still on the fence about getting a Tect 2Way.

These arrived yesterday in record time: only two weeks between purchase and delivery, especially considering the Tombow came from Japan, the Staedtler from South Korea and I live in Brazil (normally a package coming from Asia takes anywhere from three weeks to a month to get here and be cleared by customs).

The Tombow FUMI is a serious contender for my favorite pencil — feels great, weighs just right, perfect thiccness and a look that blends tradition and innovation. It's also my first Vietnamese-made pencil, which might send me on a dangerously expensive quest to get one mechanical pencil from each Asian country if I don't show some restraint (if any of you know someone from Pyongyang, hit me up! 🙃).

The Limited Edition Staedtler REG is a really solid one-of-those, but I'm still getting used to it. The grip doesn't feel like sandpaper, which is a HUGE win for me because I took a big financial gamble on this pencil and was afraid it would be similar to the 925 25/35. However, the texture of the barrel above the grip makes my skin crawl nearly every time (another hypersensitivity I'll have to chalk up to the ol' 'tism).

Anyway, very happy with the new toys. Gonna be putting them to good use.

OK, this is gonna get a little personal.

I know other Brazilian collectors who swear by the Graph600/Graph620 models and say they're the best Pentel have ever produced. Having never seen one in person, I was a bit skeptical; they simply looked like a GraphGear 500 with a different grip and a less attractive text font, and because they had been discontinued they were also rare and expensive — all very good and convenient reasons not to bother getting one.

One day I decided to go to every stationery store in my hometown just to see if I stumbled upon anything out of the ordinary. I hadn't been to one in a while because most of what I want I can find online for much better prices. As I suspected, most of them didn't have anything exceptional, and the only rare/discontinued models I kept seeing were Neon Collection Pentel Sharps and Pentel P365s/P367s, all of which I already owned. Then I made a stop at a tiny little shoebox of a store in the city's marketplace and lo and behold, there was the Graph620 in all of its glory — one beige 0.3, three black 0.5s, each going for around $13. I had no interest in the pencil, but I took a picture to show my fellow collectors (in case they were interested) and went home.

As the days went by, the thought of an affordable rarity being there for the taking started nagging my collector brain. I finally decided I'd get a 0.5 (I only collect 0.5s and 0.7s) next time I went Downtown. Well, it just so happened that my next trip Downtown was to see a neuropsychologist that had been investigating the possibility of me being neurodivergent; I'd gone through a series of tests and was due to receive the results that morning.

The diagnosis of level 1 autism and giftedness did not surprise me, nor did it surprise anyone else who knew me, but it was a bit shocking to suddenly get the answers to so many things about myself at thirty-eight years old.

And the first thing I did while being in possession of that information? Went to the marketplace, got myself a 0.5 Graph620, went home.

I didn't think much of the pencil at first and even considered taking it out of rotation, but the more I used it and admired its simplicity, the more it grew on me. Every time I looked at it I was reminded of what a great find it was and the fact that it was purchased at one of the most traditional places in my hometown on the same day I found out something new and big about myself. The Graph620 took on a whole different meaning than I thought it ever would.

However, I couldn't stand seeing it be the only one of its kind in my collection — it needed some company. Luckily, an online storefront from Asia had just put up for sale a batch of NOS Graph600s for a fair price, so I pulled the trigger; two of them arrived in August, three more arrived yesterday. I absolutely love them and I think they're the perfect complement to their older brother.

If this whole thing seems silly and exaggerated, I make no apologies for it. Collecting stationery is a hobby I picked up two years ago in order to fulfill a lifelong fascination that had been dormant for a long time, and having all this cool stuff and using it whenever I want means the world to me. On top of that, finding a community that shares this (very specific) hobby in different ways and degrees of interest has been awesome. And all of that because of these overengineered writing implements. It really is the little things, isn't it?

I've grown to love Mitsubishi Uni pencils — especially the Kuru Toga family, from the more serious-looking models to their partnerships with other brands. Nothing writes quite like them.

Even though the MX-552 is not a KT, I love its classic look; the Mitsubishi logo looks so cool on the barrel that I think they should put it on every Uni product. Similarly, the Uni α•gel Switch doesn't qualify as a KT, it allows you to activate the Kuru Toga mode whenever you like, which I think should be implemented in every KT pencil to make it more versatile.

The more premium Dive, Wood and Metal models are my favorites, although I do share some of the negative opinions people have about the Dive. The KT KS is very stable, but I'm not big on that rubber grip.

I don't see much of a difference between the Advance and the regular KTs, but I like their fun LEs; curiously, I only found out after I got it in the mail that the one that reads "Shooky" is actually a partnership with a k-pop group. I'm definitely not their target demographic, but it's a cute pencil anyway.

I've been considering getting a KT Pipe Slide, a KT Elite/Roulette and a Uni Shift, but I'm still on the fence about them.

In recent months I developed an unexpected appreciation for Pilot pencils. The plastic that the H-32x series is made of is very retro-looking and reminds me of older writing implements, and I love that the more premium S20 and S30 models retain the traditional Pilot shape. I've also given a chance to the Dr. Grip series because I was told the gel grip is different from rubber, and while it definitely is, it's still not the best tactile feel. I never got any of the intermediate models (like the S10 or S15) because of their knurled grips. I've seen some people post retro Pilots here and they are stunning, but those are out of the question for me. If anyone's got any other Pilot models they like, I would love to hear about it.

I revamped the whole area, essentially, and got rid of most caves to make way for railcar stations and a sewer system (near where my poison-type Pokémon live). I tried to be true to the general topography while making it all very symmetrical and organized. This took me hundreds of hours and there is still a part of the area I need to work on.

Recently acquired three sets of LE Pentel Sharps: the COE365, the Delfonics, and the Neo-Classical series... Maybe the most beautiful Sharps ever? (that is, at least until I get my hands on the Brazilian flag editions someday)

Got two 0.5 600s in white and green to go with my 0.7 black 600. So far, no complaints; they are just as sturdy as my 0.7 and the coarseness of the grip is very acceptable (I'm VERY sensitive and picky when it comes to some knurled grips). The picture doesn't do justice to their colors — they're truly stunning. I haven't been able to determine whether they're German-made or not, as many people have said some European brands now make their mechpens in Japan.

I've never understood why some people get tired when using heavier pencils. In my experience the weight of the metal does half the job and I barely have to apply any pressure; all I need to do is "guide" it to get dark and consistent lines. My only complaint regarding the 600 is the fact that the lead hardness indicator only goes up to 2B. I know that there are more 4B lead sickos out there who agree with me!

Now the only other Rotring I'm interested in acquiring is the yellow 600, which I know won't happen anytime soon, if at all.

Here's my modest Pentel Smash collection (two more are on their way!). I love how it feels — no wobble at all, effective grip — but I wish the hardness indicator went to 3B or 4B because as much as I prefer softer leads, I need the indicator to match the hardness.

(My white whale right now is the Spider-Man Smash they released a while ago. Unfortunately I can only find the Captain America one, which I don't care for 🥲)

Two years ago, after a decade+ of being digital only, I decided to go back to using stationery and immediately noticed my handwriting had drastically worsened to the point of being illegible. I like Paul McCartney's handwriting, so I used his style as a starting point to develop mine (which wasn't very intuitive, since he's left-handed and I'm not). I feel like it's gotten to a point where I'm mostly satisfied with it, but I can't quite put my finger on what still slightly bothers me about it, so I'd like to hear from you.

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.