On Buying Pencils (Online)

What I recommend:

Given what you know about pencils —and you should develop that knowledge – look for a variety of pencils, search using specific terms, or use general terms, and item numbers. You never know how someone has chosen to identify their pencils for sale.

Search by brands, and by color, and buy in lots, make offers, and explore pencils in your general area of interest. Develop a general area of interest. I generally only do American pencils. I don’t go looking for German Staedtlers or Japanese Hi-Unis or German Faber-Castells, although I own them and respect their quality. I don’t go looking for artist pencils, although I’m an artist – I know all true artist pencils are going to be good. But I’m good there. Trust me, I don’t need anymore. No matter how broad your specialty, specialize.

Know what you’re bidding on – There’s no getting around it. Unless you grew up around a variety of pencils and you just know your pencils (lucky you), you will have to pay to become familiar with the products out there. You will get burned. That’s okay. Learning costs money.

You have to know the history of pencils. Pick up a book, or two or three. Pick up Petroski’s Pencil book and refer to it when you have a question about what you’re looking at online. Understand that markings on a pencil change over time. The brand by itself is not enough. Brands change hands, manufacturing companies change hands,  factories and countries of manufacture change, quality changes (sometimes it gets better, sometimes worse). Again, be ready to eat some bad purchases. Look at the pictures, read the descriptions. And don’t buy from sellers with a history of poor reviews.

Here’s a formula that I wish I would always use when buying pencils. It can probably be improved upon.

I’ll define some terms:

General use – I’m a user of pencils so I consider how much use I can make of a pencil, even knowing that I will never use more than a fraction of what I have. My general use art pencils range between 2Bs and a 2H. For writing, I can use anything between a 2 and a 3. A number 1 is too soft for writing for me.

Special use – these are your specialty pencils. These are special use because they may not be pencils that you use on a regular basis. For me, these are 3Bs. I’ll use them when I want to get a very raw line and anything between between a 3H and a 5H.

Very limited use – How many yellow pencils can you use. How much are you willing to spend on pencils that you won’t use very much? Maybe you can change these to special use by switching the paper. I didn’t have much use for my Berol made Eagle yellow ochre Verithins until I needed to draw, a lot, on rolls of black paper; I didn’t have much use for my Venus yellows until I started using them alongside other colors. I’ll play around with a 6H.

No use – Don’t count these when making a purchase. I really don’t need a white pencil ( I think). I don’t need pencils with plastic leads for writing on film– these are the filmograph pencils. I can count with two hands how often I’ve used 9Hs, 8Bs, etc.

Use Total Cost: Seller price + taxes + shipping

Use a per pencil cost calculation: Total Cost/count of pencils

In general, I heed the per pencil cost, to keep me grounded. I don’t want to regret my purchases. I’ll pay more for sealed, boxed, or cased (boxes inside of boxes) — cellophane is so awesome — or what is otherwise in new-in-box quality. It’s amazing to me that quality pencils have survived 60, 70 years in exceptional condition. Condition matters. I don’t mind dusty pencils – a good wiping restores them. But a pencil can be damaged. The wood can be split. Poor storage or just normal oxidation can wreck a pencil’s ferule. I hate pencils with used erasers. I don’t mind a few sharpened pencils. I was going to sharpen them anyway. I don’t like them all sharpened, unless they’re sharpened by the manufacturer. I know that Dixon ferules are susceptible to splitting from age and oxidation – the metal is so thin. I don’t hold that against them.

If a pencil has general use appeal – for example, if it’s a pencil that can be used in everyday writing or drawing – then it’s a straight bulk price sliding scale.

The sliding scale:

Sometimes you just want to have a particular pencil, so you’re willing to pay a higher per dollar amount. For me, that’s a dollar a pencil for special situations – like, I really want this Vermilion Green old timey Colorbrite – fine, I’ll pay 15 bucks total for a dozen. You should pay less on a per pencil basis if buying in bulk, though. So, if you’re willing to pay a dollar a pencil per dozen, maybe you should be willing to pay no more than 50 cents per pencil at volumes of 3 dozen; 25 cents at 6 dozen; 15 cents at 10 dozen, 10 cents at 15 dozen. Now, I’ve purchased in bulk single color, single make pencils, because I just had to have them — this is the case with the Venus Postal Reds for which I paid 70 cents per pencil for six dozen. But in general, if what you’re getting is a whole bunch of the same or very similar (all reds) then you should price the pencils down if more doesn’t mean better for you . Consider the quantity and lower what you’re willing to spend for the same type of pencil in bulk. Am I willing to pay 30 cents for all reds at quantities of 200? This is actually something that I’m contemplating and so far I’m saying no. Twenty cents? Sure. Put me down for that.

Black n’ Red casebound notebooks

I mostly use Black n’ Red casebound notebooks for work notes. For my other writing, I use Moleskines or Rhodia webnotebooks.  Black n’ Reds are excellent general purpose notebooks, with a good look, smooth, opaque acid-free paper. They don’t hold up too well with repeated rough handling, and I’ve seen quite a few lose their spine. For the price, however, there’s nothing better. Amazon sells these notebooks for about 7 bucks in multiple sizes. The 8.25 x 5.875 notebook has sold for as little as 2.99 but event at the 6 dollars that it averages, when available, is a great price. The larger 11.75 X 8.25 size sells for about 7. I have several of each. They work well with all the writing instruments I use, ballpoints, fountain pens, pencils, etc. Highly recommended.

The American made Dixon Ticonderoga Medium 2 5/10 pencil

I recently acquired a half gross of Dixon Ticonderogas in a medium grade, the 2 5/10. These came in a case of six one-dozen boxes. The case made it extra interesting for me, and so I was willing to go a little further with cost. Ended up costing me 41 dollars, which isn’t bad, considering the cost of good pencils nowadays. The American made Dixons are extra special for me, anyway.

The medium is a harder grade than the more common Soft-No. 2. The harder grade is more appropriate for writing, where the hardness translates into longer sessions in between sharpening. I compared the pencil to all my No. 3s, which are my idea of a writing pencil, and the Dixon medium was softer than any of them. It was very similar in performance to the Ben Franklin 500 Medium.

The overall quality of the medium was consistent with other Dixons – a good pencil, not in the same league as my Berol or Blaisdell made Ben Franklins or Black Warriors. The paint job on the Ticonderogas consists of fewer layers, the grain sometimes breaks through the paint, there’s less luster. Still, a good pencil, just shy of greatness. Everything has a cost. Oh, what might have been.

Finally, I looked at my post for the Dixon and noticed that it was, in fact the Medium that was such a favorite of Roald Dahl.

From Storyteller: The Authorized Biography of Roald Dahl by Donald Sturrock

The Pilot Better Retractable – Fine

The Pilot Better Retractable – Fine is an excellent and affordable ballpoint pen.

Are there better pens out there? Absolutely. Better ballpoints? Yes! Of course! The Pilot Better doesn’t claim to be the Best pen…it simply says, there’s better. You don’t have to settle for junk and you don’t have to spend too much for quality.

There are different classes of pens, as there are with many types of products. For pens, there’s trash on one end (we can and should ignore these); there’s premium class on the other end; then there’s a vast middle ground, full of compromises.

This is why I think the Pilot Better Retractable is, in fact, better than its peers:

• It’s a skinny pen — too many pens out there are just too fat, with excess plastic or rubber grips.
• a major step up in quality from disposables (surprise!)
• in design, similar to the Bic Cristal Stic Ball Pen, just more evolved
• good metal clip for putting it in a pocket
• nice metal nib-sleave and clicker
• writes well and for a long time
• good price

There are some drawbacks, though. The absence of a plastic nib-sleave means that the ink stick rattles during usage. A well designed plastic sleeve would have quieted this, but I get it. It was a design choice– there’s already too much plastic in the affordable pen world.

All in all, a good writing choice.

The Rhodia Webnotebook

The Rhodia Webnotebook’s a genuine French notebook with French made paper — yeah the two together are not a given. You can have a non-French made notebook that nonetheless has French paper; for example, the Quo Vadis Habana is an American made notebook using the same paper found in the Rhodia Webnotebook. Anyway, enough about provenance. Now, for the review.

The Rhodia Webnotebook is a great notebook, following the same basic design as the more popular Moleskine notebook. It has an elastic band and an inside pocket. A comparison to the Moleskine is inevitable, and I like both, but the Rhodia is a more quality product and more expensive. For that you get:

• excellent paper in a pleasing ivory tone
• thick, luxuriant leatherette cover
• great sturdy construction
• narrow grey lines for comfortable eyeing while you write

Costly paper is not a requirement to writing; masterpieces have been written on cheap legal pads and worse, but a notebook can be an inducement to writing. In my own experience, a blank notebook is a challenge to be met by emptying out the ideas in my head into it. A page of densely packed sentences is a work of art in and of itself. A blank page is a reproach.

The work in progress:

 

The reward — a brand new notebook:

 

 

Berol – Blaisdell Ben Franklin 500 pencil

First of all, this pencil’s no longer made. However,  through the magic of the Internet, you can buy them online from auction sites like eBay. Amazing. In the pictures below, any warping is a result of my elite photography skills and high-end equipment –or lack thereof. I bought them new (NOS – New Old Stock) but couldn’t help myself and sharpened them all.

  

So far, I’ve purchased two grades of the Berol – Blaisdell Ben Franklin 500, the Medium Hard (3) and the Medium (3/6). In my pictures, the No 3 is more orange-yellow and has a plain brass colored ferule; the 3/6 is a lighter yellow and has a white stripe around the ferule. I’ve seen different styles, different lettering, color, No 3s with white stripes. There are pre-Berol Blaisdells… Here’s my review of the Blaisdell No. 3. You get the point. Your experience will vary.

I discovered that my pencils with the white paint on the ferule have only a golden/brass paint job. Rub off the bright yellow with an eraser and underneath there’s a dull, oxidized brown. I’m sure the metal was fine when they were new. I get it. No one’s fault. The yellow of the solid yellow ferule is yellow all the way — whatever the metal is. I have no clue. So sometimes beauty is only surface deep, after all. That’s the lesson for today, folks. I do like that white on the ferule, though…so disappointing.

Both grades have a thick lacquer coat of paint. The paint shines and, on most of the pencils I have, completely conceals the grain underneath. On pencils with thinner coats of paint, you can see the roughness of a cut or the contours of the grain.The thicker paint on the Ben Franklins gives the pencil a rounder feel along the edges of each face of the pencil. One of the Ben Franklins had a mean-rough cutting, though, and no amount of paint — short of a pouring a can of paint — would hide its raised ridges.

I would regard the 3/6 and the No. 3, both, as excellent writing pencils. In fact, I’m having a hard time using up the lead, it’s so long-lasting. Both pencils sharpen very nicely and have a nice cedar smell to them. Overall, an excellent pencil. I’ll definitely be picking up more Bens as they become available on eBay — and a gross would make my day.

I was surprised to not find any reviews or kinds words on the Internet for the Ben Franklins — plenty of quotes for some jolly, bald, white guy…but nothing on the pencils. It’s a shame, really, that such a nice product should go so quietly into the sunset of writing tools with nary a eulogy.

Here’s someone marking your passage, Ben Franklin 500. May you live forever is New Old Stock (NOS). And I’ll be seeing more of you in my future, I guarantee you. You were a fine pencil and you have a life-long admirer over here.

The American made Dixon Ticonderoga No. 2

The American made Dixon Ticonderoga pencil was a good general purpose pencil. I say was, because like so many  once-U.S. made pencils– it’s no longer made. Modern (2014) Dixons are made in China or Mexico. I own these but won’t be reviewing them here. Suffice to say, they are not the same — and Dixon knows it, which is I’m sure a reason why the foreign made pencils have a different design and don’t even have the country of origin stamped on them.

Here are some key attributes of the American-made Dixon Ticonderoga:

• classic look
• beautiful yellow color
• well crimped ferrule
• excellent eraser — even old pencils retain a soft eraser
• sharpen well
• write well
• sturdy construction

Growing up, my father used Dixon Ticonderogas at his carpentry shop. These pencils were a constant over the many years that I visited his work, and of course they were in the car and in our house. My father sharpened them with a pocket knife against the palm of his hand, blade pressing into his tough skin. I never tried this trick. If I sharpened a Ticonderoga with a knife, usually a utility knife, I would twist the knife into the wood and swipe the blade away from me. I’m pretty good at making a point this way.

Sharpening with a knife is a good test  to see how well a pencil is constructed. Inferior pencils can’t handle the pressure of being whittled — the lead will crack or crumble. The Dixon had a good graphite core — strong, not brittle and the wood bonded well enough to the lead that even in a rough environment where a pencil would be dropped, tossed, and in one’s back pocket, it remained a reliable tool. On the other hand, a cheap pencil–not well bonded to the wood and of inferior lead chemistry, would shatter easily. A quality pencil is indispensable for many occupations.

As a homeowner with wood working tools, I continued to use Dixon Ticonderogas, but have since gathered them all up from my tool boxes. They now occupy a place on my desk, next to my more expensive art pencils. I’ve replenished the Dixons with New Old Stock (NOS) from eBay. I now have about 60 American made Dixons, which I will continue to treasure, and I’ll buy more if I feel the need. They were never the world’s best pencil — in spite of the claim on the box — but they were inexpensive, iconic, and well made.

Here are some sections on Roald Dahl’s love for the Dixon Ticonderogas — rooted, I believe, in the needful utility of a quality tool — from Storyteller: The Authorized Biography of Roald Dahl By Donald Sturrock:

More on Dixon Ticonderogas:

The American made Dixon Ticonderoga Medium 2 5/10

 

Eagle Black Warrior

The Black Warrior has a long history and has undergone a few name changes. Eagle, Berol, Paper Mate Mirado. It’s still being made — but do I have to say it? The new ones ain’t like the old ones.

The Black Warriors I got came in a Berol box, but the pencils themselves have the old Eagle brand on them. I saw them on eBay and wondered at the number of bidders vying for them. I did a search on the Internet and found out about the myth. I think only the Blackwing has more written on it. Turns out the Black Warrior is one of those fetishized pencils writers and would be writers dream about. Of course, once I figured it out, I was more than willing to fork out 90 bucks for a half gross — 6 boxes, a dozen each — still sealed in plastic. Instant writer cred, after all.

Or maybe they were once dreamt about — they’re old pencils and fewer and fewer people write with any pencil, nowadays. The writers I quote below talk about the Black Warrior as mostly existing in the past. This pencil made an impression on the writers, enough to be featured in their books. But who else but an artist would mind the memorableness of an object like a pencil or talk it up to the point that it’s transformed into more than its components — wood, graphite, metal and eraser. For the writers below, the Black Warrior is many things, from a good-looking pencil or valuable tool to a symbol that completely transcends the writing instrument.

I found the Eagle Black Warrior to be a great writing pencil. A writing pencil is a pencil that has writer friendly features, in contrast to an artist pencil or a general pencil, which have other properties.

Here are the writer-friendly properties of a Black Warrior:

• has an eraser
• sharpens well
• is a hard lead (retains a point and lasts a long time before needing resharpening; smudge resistant)
• glides smoothly on paper
• no coarse graphite irregularities
• chemically treated (Chemi-Sealed) to withstand lead breakage

And here are some general signs of a good pencil:

• no warping even after 30+ years
• well-centered lead for good sharpening
• quality paint and stamp job — no over-paint at the unsharpened end
• neat ferule attachment–seamless, no hole-pinched crimping

Stephen King and many others. will frequently refer to the Black Warrior in terms of a collection of them. It’s not about one pencil, it’s about a bunch of them, an army, an assault squad, or a box, a half-dozen, or four. They’re exhaustible ammunition, bullets in the writer’s arsenal. And they’re mentioned by first and last name — the manufacturer and the model and even the hardness.

 

From Misery by Stephen King:

“She sharpened his half-dozen Berol Black Warrior pencils, he wrote them dull, and Annie sharpened them again. They shrank steadily as he sat in the sun …”

From Zak’s Dream Machine By Michael Murphy:

 From The Lincoln Lawyer Novels: The Lincoln Lawyer, The Brass Verdict, The Reversal by Michael Connelly:

Janet Neipris makes the clearest statement about what a Black Warrior is to a writer. It’s THE pencil.

From: To be a Playwright by Janet Neipris:

Melissa F. Miller reaches poetic heights in her descriptions–while remarking on an idiosyncrasy of the pencil –it’s roundness; you have to position it just right or it rolls off the table. This is no mere tool at the service of a person. This object makes demands on you, too.

 From Critical Vulnerability By Melissa F. Miller

From  Pinkerton Waltz: The Oral History of Sadie Albin Aka Etta Place By Michael Thessen:

From Save Me A Place In Heaven By Jerry Deriso:

Finally, here’s Gerald Ribeiro, who treated the Black Warrior as more than just a mere pencil. Gerald doesn’t even use it for writing but it’s there for him when he’s writing, presumably with other pencils or maybe pens. Gerald was a social activist who co-founded and led a drug treatment organization until his death in 2002. He identified with the Black Warrior at a deeper more significant level than anyone else quoted here. And so to him goes the last quote.

From This Path I Took By Gerald Ribeiro:

I’m glad I got the chance to discover the Black Warrior. It meant a lot to many people and I’m glad I was able to find as much as I was able to.

Update (2019-12-6):

Here’s a comment from a post on pencils.com: