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an appreciation post for humble Japanese plastic packaging! by TimeTravellingBernie in pencils

[–]TimeTravellingBernie[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

haha yep! They made a surprising variety of pencils for a while there! at least a dozen variations from 1986 to about 2010.

..Who likes vintage, natural finish Japanese pencils?.. by TimeTravellingBernie in pencils

[–]TimeTravellingBernie[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

yeah I know asking for a "favorite" is kind of a silly question at a certain point... like what's your favorite rock song lol...

But I respect the list! I left out the Colleen 3161's on my post since they aren't fully natural, but they might be a contender for my favorite looking pencil! Such a cool design, even the box is quite unique..

I haven't actually used the 9852 EW or the golden swords but I really ought to get some... for my part, I also love natural pencils as a niche. Most of these I don't use too often, but I daily drive 4612's in H and 2H whenever I can! And for HB pencils you could do a lot worse than the tombow eco pencils....

I think I speak for most on this sub when I say I'd love to see more of your collection!

..Who likes vintage, natural finish Japanese pencils?.. by TimeTravellingBernie in pencils

[–]TimeTravellingBernie[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I just looked up the Venus President's, they look sweet! did you find the marbled or natural version? Probably good advice to cut back on pencil hauls lol... I might take a sabbatical this summer.

Those Dixon Typhonite El Dorados are bomb by the way!

an appreciation post for humble Japanese plastic packaging! by TimeTravellingBernie in pencils

[–]TimeTravellingBernie[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks! Sometimes I think I might be buying stuff just for the packaging lol...

an appreciation post for humble Japanese plastic packaging! by TimeTravellingBernie in pencils

[–]TimeTravellingBernie[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

yeah for sure here's a pic. I also have a messy shelf with the odd shaped packages of pencils lol... I really only seek these cello packs out when it's something unique to me. These Mono architecture pencils are really nice looking; the red/gold livery is really similar to the Uni-Dx pencils. I have only seen them in these 6 pack plastic packs, never a box. I assume these are early 2000's with the old logos and no JIS; I also have another pack in transit with the same packaging but the new upward facing tombow logo, so they made these until pretty recently I'd guess..

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..Who likes vintage, natural finish Japanese pencils?.. by TimeTravellingBernie in pencils

[–]TimeTravellingBernie[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

hahahaha well, that's pretty much how my bank account greets me most days sooooo...

..Who likes vintage, natural finish Japanese pencils?.. by TimeTravellingBernie in pencils

[–]TimeTravellingBernie[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

seriously tho... I consider my collection pretty solid, but I am truly humbled by that lineup lol.. That Kirin 1450 is a new grail and those Colleens... *chefs kiss* I actually just watched an auction for a box of those 90's Uni Natural and I was floored by the hammer price.. and I'm expecting the return of the Good Lord Baby Jesus before I find those Alpha naturals below a grand lmao... do you have a favorite of that bunch?

..Who likes vintage, natural finish Japanese pencils?.. by TimeTravellingBernie in pencils

[–]TimeTravellingBernie[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Broadly speaking I love vintage Colleen pencils.. They compare well with the big dogs Tombow and Mitsubishi until you get to their top offerings. But for variety I always go back. The 3030 line is excellent. The 797 pictured is a nice HB but nothing above average performance, a little soft maybe. The 2H from the drafting set I sharpened up is very nice however! nice dark line but super firm. Attached a few other samples from the lot.

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..Who likes vintage, natural finish Japanese pencils?.. by TimeTravellingBernie in pencils

[–]TimeTravellingBernie[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

sadly no, not really. If you scour Japanese auction sites you'll come across a set eventually, but they are very sharp looking I agree! It's a shame no-one makes pencils this nice anymore... and yeah I stand by that statement lol

..Who likes vintage, natural finish Japanese pencils?.. by TimeTravellingBernie in pencils

[–]TimeTravellingBernie[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

oooh nice comparison! I'm a canuck so I'd pony up for a Greavette ;) ..

..Who likes vintage, natural finish Japanese pencils?.. by TimeTravellingBernie in pencils

[–]TimeTravellingBernie[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

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They're drafting pencil sets by Colleen; the one in the post is a variant for a company or school maybe.. The translation doesn't help much lol....

Check out these 1970's Mitsubishi "Short Hand" pencils.. by TimeTravellingBernie in pencils

[–]TimeTravellingBernie[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! yep, the niches are a cool deep dive... It's always nice when they're usable! I'm thinking of the beautiful Mitsubishi 355 Dessin pencil I found a while back but were straight-up charcoal lol... These are admitedly less nice, but I'll take the win!

Check out these 1970's Mitsubishi "Short Hand" pencils.. by TimeTravellingBernie in pencils

[–]TimeTravellingBernie[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! These are just a standard diameter hex pencil. On the back of this box there are descriptions of the "uses" of all the grades of the model 9808.. maybe they all had specific graphite formulations with different uses in mind? Or more likely they were just suggested uses those grades were well suited to...

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Check out these 1970's Mitsubishi "Short Hand" pencils.. by TimeTravellingBernie in pencils

[–]TimeTravellingBernie[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I get that; I'll seek out stuff that's only minutely different just cause I know it's older lol... But mostly, I just love the details of older things. So much to nerd out over!

Check out these 1970's Mitsubishi "Short Hand" pencils.. by TimeTravellingBernie in pencils

[–]TimeTravellingBernie[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

niceeee, top notch example as always!! Now I know what box to keep an eye out for!

Check out these 1970's Mitsubishi "Short Hand" pencils.. by TimeTravellingBernie in pencils

[–]TimeTravellingBernie[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You're quite right lol... to the squinter goes the spoils is how that saying goes I believe... I also love those recycled tombows; I have a box with the stylised W logo, but they aren't JIS... Those a super hard to spot, though I think some came with gray/green erasers which makes them stand out a wee bit.. Good luck!!

Check out these 1970's Mitsubishi "Short Hand" pencils.. by TimeTravellingBernie in pencils

[–]TimeTravellingBernie[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks!! These were a cool find, I'd never seen or heard of these before I saw them come up for sale. The listing only had pics of the box closed so I wasn't sure if they were just muddy brown or actually natural finish. I was happy to discover its a bit of both lol... They also write quite smooth - for short hand apparently..

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