Pentel

Yoko Tsuno and the Pentel P205

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2022 saw the release of the 30th Yoko Tsuno album.

In case you are not familiar with this series [1]I came across this series a few years ago for the first time.: In the Yoko Tsuno comics the main character, an electrical engineer, is taking part in adventures all over the world. Stories are usually technology and Sci-Fi heavy.

Beginning of “On the Edge of Life” from 1977.

The first story appeared in 1970 and more than 50 years later they are still drawn by Roger Leloup, who is now 89 years old. He is still working on creating more adventures and, according to rumours, the 31st album is already half completed.

As can be seen in the this Kaboom video, Roger Leloup is using Pentel’s P205 to draw his comics. The clip has been removed, presumably to more more comfortable to hold and because the pencils are not being used in pockets anyway.

Screenshot form the Kaboom video

A few years ago I was quite lucky and managed to get a signed print from Roger Leloup that I want so share here with you.

I believe that the use of the images in this blog post fall under “fair dealing” as described by the UK Copyright service.

References

References
↑1 I came across this series a few years ago for the first time.

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Latex-free grip ‘pips’ for added comfort and control

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I really like my Christmas gift: a set of Graphgear mechanical pencils in 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.7 and 0.9.

The official price for one in the UK is £26.68 [1]except the 0.4 mm version which isn’t officially available in the UK, but you can get a set of five, with different lead diameters, for under £35.

Pentel’s Orenz is a mechanical pencil I use often, but I haven’t had the pleasure of using another one of Pentel’s pencils yet: the Graphgear.

The Graphgear’s design is great. I especially like the retractable sleeve, activated via the clip. The grip section, knurled metal with rubbery dots, officially referred to as Latex-free grip ‘pips’, and lead hardness indicator, as well as the overall construction are also amazing and show a nice attention to detail.


The lead that came with the pencil doesn’t seem to be all HB. The lead from the 0.5 mm pencil is so much softer than the one that came with the 0.4 mm pencil.

I will certainly enjoy using the different lead diameters and retracting the sleeve when I have finished writing… When I write a lot in one go I will probably still want to use a sliding sleeve pencil out of convenience, i.e. to always have the right amount of lead looking out of the sleeve.

References

References
↑1 except the 0.4 mm version which isn’t officially available in the UK

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A broken Orenz

8 Comments / Mechanical pencils, Pentel, Uncategorised / / , , ,

If you read Bleistift blog regularly you might have noticed that I really like the Pentel Orenz. I think it’s the best sliding sleeve pencil since Staedtler’s Microfix.

The sliding sleeve works well and the pencil’s design is great, too, but unfortunately there is one weakness in the design that caused one of my Orenz mechanical pencils an issue: The metal clip is very close to the push button and there is only a very narrow strip of plastic to hold it in place. This narrow strip of plastic is will have to bear the brunt of any outward pressure the springiness of the clip cannot handle.

If you regularly clip the pencil onto slightly thicker pockets (or notebooks etc) the plastic will weaken over time and will eventually break off. In my case I regularly carry the Orenz in a pen pocket on my jacket. The pen pocket is not that thick, but apparently thick enough to cause this issue.

If you are squeamish please look away, the following photos, showing pencil mutilations, are not a sight for the faint hearted.

When the plastic from my Orenz broke off I didn’t initially notice as I was in a meeting. I just noticed that, when holding the pencil, the clip seems to be very loose.

Some closer inspection revealed the true horror and damage, though.

Here is a comparison how this looks like on an undamaged Orenz.

Please keep your Orenzes safe…

A broken Orenz Read More »

Uniqlo 2018 t-shirt

Pentel in 4XL

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A quick follow-up to the blog post from two days ago.

Today the postman brought a parcel.

Uniqlo 2018 t-shirt
Nice stamps, again

It’s one of the new Uniqlo t-shirts!

As reported previously the Japanese Uniqlo t-shirt sizes seem to be a size smaller than the European ones, i.e. a Japanese XL is more like a European L. Funnily enough, this is not consistent across Asia. Chinese sizes seem to be like the European ones, not like the Japanese ones.

Uniqlo 2018 t-shirt
Uniqlo 2018 t-shirt

Yumiko sent me the Pentel Sign Pen shirt in 4XL. Thank you!

Uniqlo 2018 t-shirt
Uniqlo 2018 t-shirt

I assume it’s going to be like a European 2XL or 3XL. It’s certainly more than big enough.

Pentel in 4XL Read More »

Well, I never! A fake mechanical pencil – Pentel’s Orenz got cloned

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I love sliding sleeve pencil and am a big fan of Pentel’s Orenz, so naturally, I couldn’t resist when, last year, I saw a fake Pentel Orenz for sale. Well, I say fake, but this copy doesn’t actually pretend to be an Orenz, nevertheless, it is as close as can be…

Packaging

At the time when I bought it the fake Orenz wasn’t much cheaper than the real thing. I bought mine in November 2017 for £2.23 (~ $3.16; €2.55), but now you can get them for much less (£1.32 or $1.50 with free postage).

The Tian Zhuo copy and Pentel’s Orenz

Have a closer look at this pencil in my video.

The click-baity title and cover picture are thanks to some ‘advice’ from Techmoan.

Price: November 2017

Exchange rates: March 2018

 

Well, I never! A fake mechanical pencil – Pentel’s Orenz got cloned Read More »