I recently visited Bangkok and tried to fit in as many stationery stores as I could. Most were bust or selling new stuff, but a few had some really interesting finds. Here is a roundup of my travels and acquisitions.
Two stores nearby the Grand Palace had quite a few Monotech 1000s for around $9 each. The first one (https://maps.app.goo.gl/mQJ34EexA885esXM9) had almost 10 of them in 0.7, so I grabbed 2. The second place (https://maps.app.goo.gl/GjW3o3C7QU1EDQAU8) had 0.7 again, but also two in 0.5 and one in 0.3. Unfortunately none had the coveted 0.4. The SH-300Grip was found at a different store. I had never seen it before, as it’s not sold where I live. The wooden Tombow was found at a shopping mall stationery store.
One place in particular was a gold mine (https://maps.app.goo.gl/NrYHAxt7ZS7jK8K78). The store owner told me that his shop had been in business for 90 years and was started by his grandfather. There were so many pens and drafting equipment, like technical pens and compasses and whatnot, but I have no knowledge of vintage pens and the sort.
He did, however, have a handful of old mechanical pencils. Most were in pretty poor condition, but I grabbed the ones that were most interesting to me regardless.
The first three are, what I assume to be, Sakura Slides or Creates. They appear to be in good condition, but the old lead inside of them have deteriorated to the point of fully jamming the mechanism. I spent close to 3 hours trying to unjam them with thin sewing needles and soaking them in ethanol, but they still won’t clear up. If anyone has any tips on what to do with these, please let me know. My “tools” are lacking as well. I think (hope) they can still be salvaged.
The Pilot H-1010 was bought at another shop (https://maps.app.goo.gl/NqQk2wK9HUPYYyf28) and is still in production. This place had a decent selection and quite a few out of production Rotring 300s.
After that, though, are the Pilots I found at the aforementioned shop - one yellow H-325 with a sliding sleeve and 3 H-200s, one green and two transparent. As you can see, the last transparent one is quite mangled. It wasn’t working and had a bent tip, but I managed to bend it back in place and get the mechanism working, but it is missing it’s clip, cap, and the eraser has pushed through into the barrel, not even to mention quite a few cracks in the plastic body.
The next are four Mitsubishis in fairly good condition. They all worked right away. The first is a plastic double knock. Not sure of the model number. Next is a yellow BOXY (M5-300?). After that is a Uni U9-202 and U7-202. Any info on these last two? They both work well.
I was really happy to find this black Pentel STEIN in the Siam Paragon BeTrend (https://maps.app.goo.gl/gZ9sWhKUrwZt7ZAu8). This shop had a pretty good selection, but still not on par with big Korean stationery stores. The next Pentel is one of three P-105s he had. This is the only one that was in working order. The other two’s tips would separate from the body when knocking the pencil. I probably should have gotten them for parts, but I ended up leaving them there. There is also this transparent Pentel without an eraser that I have never seen before. Any idea as to the model number? [Edit: Checked the Pentel ID book and found it to be an S-15 (Sharp 15). Any idea what it’s worth? Can’t seem to find any auction data on it.]
Next are two Newmans with the Horse brand on them, the first being 0.3 and the second being 0.7. I suspect these were a collaboration with a local Thai brand, because as you can see below, there are more Horse brand pencils I found in Chinatown from the Horse brand shop. There was also this beatup Colleen Jib, my first actually. The graphic on it has peeled in places, but the mechanism works perfectly fine. Last is this old Korean Munhwa Prosharp, which reminds me of the Newman drafting faux-matic. Unfortunately this one was without a cap.
Here are the Horse pencils I was referring to. The first three are Horse-only branded, but as you can see, the last one has the Korean Micro logo on it as well. I suspect this one and the Newmans above were imported into Thailand by Nan Mee Co. (เกี่ยวกับเรา), who slapped their brand onto them. They are all of decent quality. They were purchased at the Nan Mee store in Chinatown (https://maps.app.goo.gl/cLrEWiRvErxLeVux5). I was hoping Chinatown had a better selection of older pencils considering the history of the place, but this shop was the only one with anything of interest. The last two are Thai branded pencils as well, but I don’t have much info on them.
Finally, the rest are a collection of random pencils I found here and there just to fill out my collection.
I was aware that Pilot had operations in Thailand, but I was surprised to find that they also had a showroom (https://maps.app.goo.gl/DhcVXzEXUfnZJkWx5) there too. There wasn’t really anything of interest mechanical pencil-wise, but it was still cool to go into and see the displays.
Anyway, I hope this was interesting to some of you. I kind of had high hopes for exploring, but if it wasn’t for the 90-year-old store, I probably would have been let down. Most older stores didn’t have much worth getting and the rest inside of malls and department stores had new offerings available, as expected. If you do decide to go to some stationery stores when traveling Bangkok, I’ve shared the worth while ones within this post. Happy hunting!
I did manage to score several of the Tombow SH-300 Grip along with a couple of out of print OHTO Horizon ‘Europe’ color pens. And quite a few Pyramid drafting models too.