All new Tombow ZOOM series launching soon

Three all new designs: C1, L1 and L2

Use the translate function in your favorite browser:

Official site for product info and interviews with designers: https://www.zoom-japan.com/

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the push-knob left is cool :slight_smile:

the website is too much design for me ;-). at least at a desktop I cannot use it. Is one of the 3 a pencil?

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The C1 on the left with the mystery gap and the sculpted L2 on the right… both of these designs will include MPs. Only the middle L1 is a capped pen only.

It’s interesting how they’re ‘playing’ with materials and finishes. The frosted / textured duralumin on the middle L1 feels like an answer to Sakura’s craft_lab 001.

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The L2 has some curious design cues that seem to echo a little of the Espana and the v472. Can’t wait for this to be available at normal prices in the USA!

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I bought the matte black versions of the L2 and C1, so I wanted to write my first impressions

I’m very pleased with both pencils. High quality metal internals except for two plastic connectors on the C1. Interesting designs, particularly on the L2, and with a weight that isn’t too heavy to feel uncomfortable nor too light to feel cheap.

The materials the bodies are made of are quite interesting. The C1 is made of duralumin, which tombow markets as a very difficult material to work with + difficult for paint not to fall off. I’m not sure how much of that is true but reading its wiki page, it seems like its a material that was used a lot in aviation and bicycles. Indeed, touching the C1 feels like some medium-high end bicycle finishes. The L2 is made of polycarbonate coated with neorabasan, a Japanese rubber coating with high hydrolysis resistance (i.e. doesn’t get sticky like most rubber grips). I really like how both feel to the touch but no matter how much engineering went into it, they feel like the “never let anything metallic remotely close to this or it will instantly scratch” class of pencils. Well, as long as it’s not thrown in a pencil case it should be fine I think.

On the topic of buying these, the matte black versions seem to be sold out in most places



Amazon doesn’t have any color and rakuten has them at retail price, but the black ones are sold out. I bought mine in a physical store (Loft) after going to another shop, which had all colors except the matte blacks. I may have gotten lucky or something because Loft seemed to have no stock, it was only after asking a worker about them that she pulled two out of a box in the back.

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In addition to being a referencing back to the Espana and the v472, can you also see some references back to the Oceanic, 707, 717, and 727 in the design of the L2? The knock button looks like a hybrid between that of the v472 and Oceanic. The overall body looks some like they zoomed in on the grip of the 707/717, made that the entire body.

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Do you think the Zoom C1 will ever be readily available to US retailers? I am trying to decide if I should pick one up now(ish), or maybe wait a bit longer and save some money. I don’t see them often but the ones I have seen for sale have bee around $100 USD.

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No idea honestly. My favorite local speciality importer who still stocks Tombow’s Zoom Ying, 535 and Havanna said that Tombow Japan has not made the new Zoom series available for overseas orders. And they do not know when that might change.

One thing I absolutely want to see for myself is the actual finish, especially the play of light on the all-black C1 versus the dark grey/blue.

Also came across one or two reports of the L2 pencil developing faint cracks around the cone… Not sure if that’s why a couple of sub-3000 yen listings for the L2 pencil showed up on YJA and Mercari.

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They are available on Rakuten through Buyee, you can get them from there at retail price that is 7700 yen.
https://buyee.jp/rakuten/detail/daimarufujii-central%3A10019791?conversionType=service_page_search

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Thank you!

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Buying more stuff I see :joy:

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I am happy, I was the one who broke the streak :yum:

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Hmmm, doesn’t seem to be that difficult :rofl:

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I wrote to TOMBOW in Japan. It took 4 days, but they just responded to me, regarding the new product line.

Thank you very much for your inquiry. This is Kyoko Ishigure from Tombow Tokyo.

We are sorry that the planned date to release the new ZOOM models (C1, L1, L2) internationally has not yet been decided. Currently our plan is to launch next year.

We appreciate your interest in our products.

So, that’s a good sign. It may take a while, but they are planning to do an international release. It’ll be interesting to see how they do the pricing for the C1.

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Looks like KT Dive might arrive in Singapore before Zoom does…

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Hey, totally off topic, but were you the one looking for a pilot h-109x? If so there is one on mercari right now if you want to snag. 0.5

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Hey thank you! Yes that’s me. I saw this but he says it has some paint peeling on it.
Looking at the pictures i can’t see what he is talking about.

Are you talking about this one?
https://buyee.jp/mercari/item/m21146264687?conversionType=mer_top_browsing_history

There’s a bit of a nick in the body at the edge next to where the plunger inserts. Seller annotated a photo of it.

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No, its on buyee yahoo auctions. Sorry, about to crash, its a h-1095

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