Got hold of a vintage style PLATINUM display tray and started laying out some of my favorite classic pieces… and suddenly the MSD-1500 drafter reminded me: Yo! Don’t forget the PRO-USE seriessss! And here we are.
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First pic, far left. Is that a multi? And what is the teal one in the middle?
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My bad for leaving out the details. Hang on.
Pic 1, L-R:
• 2 Color pen, circa 1978
• Riviera etched steel MP & BP
• Black double-knock with slide pipe and cushioned feed
• Blue double-knock with side release button
• W-Knock MH-120 in orange / black
• MSD-1500 drafting pencil - only 0.5 was made
• Unknock ballpoint - tilt the pen down and the tip slides out and locks in place. Tilt up to drop the tip back into the body. Kinda like the Uni Flicker eraser or the one on the current Tombow MONOgraph Fine.
• Hayaai 1000 ‘Point Push-Matic’ MP. When lead runs short, push the tip into the paper and feed out more lead. Cheaper 500 yen models were very colorful.
• ’Angle’ body-knock MP. Mid-1970s.
• ‘Z’ telescoping tip BP in black and MP in matte grey steel. A pair was gifted to the MOMA collection. There were earlier telescoping ballpoints, but I think the Z was the first MP with a twist to extend tip. Could be wrong! Pilot was an innovator in this style too with their Protecs and Grandee PRIERE.
• Beeline point knock ballpen. Whacky mechanism where you push the tip against the writing surface to deploy the tip.
• Double 3C Action multi-pen BW-1200AN. Love the steel finish and pendulum selector action.
• ZeroShin MZ-1000 MP with double clutch lead-saver tip in marbled finish with gold accents.
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Pic 2, L-R:
• MSD-1500 0.5mm (repeat appearance, I know.)
• MD-200 0.9mm in green
• PRO-USE MSD-1500 0.3/0.5/0.7
• PRO-USE MSD-1000 0.3/0.5/0.7
• PRO-USE BSD-1500 ballpoint 0.5/0.7/1.0
• PRO-USE MSDB-1500 black edition 0.3/0.5/0.7
• PRO-USE 171 black x copper 0.3mm
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Ahhh! Hayaai 1000 push point! (my enthusiasm stems from learning of a mechanism that sounds new to me). Can we get a feature on this? So the lead and sleeve retract together on a spring when pushed onto the paper forcefully and then more lead is fed out as they extend again? Like FF matic but by pushing into the paper rather than a piece to pull back on.
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Do these show up on mercari/YAJ from time to time? The pencils are some of my favorites and I wouldn’t mind getting the BP versions too
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Hey, Stu. Yes they still show up on Mercari and YJA but not as often as the pencils. Honesty, you just need ONE of those? haha. But i’m a sucker for the color rings. These are really well made, and I should get around to finding a modern refill for them.
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Yeah…I’m gonna have to find all 3, the color rings bring out the completist in me, too 
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I’ve been wanting to find the MP (second pic, first on left, and send) for a reasonable price, but have been weary. Is it a quality, higher weight pencil?
-I never knew the second existed…. It’s beautiful. Does it come in 0.3mm??
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The vintage MSD-1500 is really nice. The upper body is resin, but the appeal is in the unique window-box design of the lead degree display, and one of the earliest knurled grip examples on a Platinum. It is a pity that 0.5 seems to be the only version made. If a 0.3 or 0.7 surfaces, all hell would break loose.
As for the MD-200, it is made by Platinum Taiwan. A full range of widths was produced but they rarely show up on Mercari or YJA. You might have better luck finding one on a Taiwanese e-mall. Try “白金” for platinum and “自動鉛筆” for mechanical pencil. They only use traditional Chinese text, which is different from the simplified text used in mainland China.
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Tha’ts a rumor has been floating around for a long time, but in Platinum Taiwan’s website you will find their catalogs online (hosted at flickr).
Many of their pens and pencils are clearly listed as made in Japan, if not stated, then it’s probably made in Taiwan or elsewhere. The MD200 in this case is made in Japan as you can see in Platinum Taiwan 2015-2016 catalog here:
website is so old style (it seems like they didn’t pay much attention to it) but we can still click on it and view their catalogs of each year on flickr
http://www.platinum.com.tw/
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So it would seem that by 2014/15, the MD-200 had been deprecated to just the 0.9mm model…
I think the production might be stopped long time ago as 0.9mm was never really popular in Taiwan. Sometimes when I travel outside Taipei, I can still see some 0.7mm and 0.9mm MD200 in mid and southern Taiwan stores. (so they are just selling slow most likely as these drafting pencils are usually not open for all customers, most stores will lock them up behind glass cabinets to prevent kids fooling around)
Most people only use 0.5mm since students often like to write in “small letters”, some demanding students use 0.3mm and carry these habits along the way when they grow up. So normally 0.5 and 0.3 tend to sell a lot faster than 0.7 and 0.9 in Taiwan.
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@bluejeff I am very curious what stores in central and southern Taiwan you visit. Also in northern Taiwan…
Do you shop at physical stores in Taiwan for vintage items? I have found some specialty stationery stores in Taipei, but they feel more trendy/boutique and luxury, rather than long-time institutions. Regular student stationery stores have the current production stock and it is nice to be able to shop in person for quality writing instruments - an activity that is extremely rare in Los Angeles. Old mom and pop stores don’t have interesting pencils, only interesting pens. It is too bad I am not a vintage Lamy pen collector…
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