That’s what I mean, the sleeve was in leather for the 1st edition mechanicas, in plastic for 2nd and 3rd editions.
I wanted to write a post at some point explaining all the mechanica differences. I researched them a lot since I was almost scammed for a frankenpencil being sold as a 1st edition 0.3 mechanica. Anyway
As Damdeok says, 1st edition mechanica 0.3 was made for only 3 years. There’s almost no information online about the 1st edition mechanica 0.5 so I suppose it’s the one that Damdeok has. I suppose that it was released a bit later than the 0.3, so it probably was made for only 2 years, at a 2000 yen price point. Then the design was changed and price raised to 3000 yen.
What he says about the accessories, it probably is just a reference to the items in a full set. Many mechanicas being sold have mix and matched parts, so I guess he’s just saying “this is a true 1st edition 0.5 mechanica NOS”. For example, most people just check whether a pen is 1st edition or not by the grip, but the grip can be swapped from pencil to pencil and it doesn’t say 0.3 anywhere. So you pick the 0.3 1st edition grip, slap it on a 2nd edition shiny 0.5 mechanica with a box, and sell it as a 1st edition to an unknowing buyer for 3x what it’s worth. Profit!!
the sleeve was in leather for the 1st edition mechanicas
Yes, that’s correct. There were probably a few reasons why they switched, one of the simplest ones being a much easier fit into the case. The vinyl is also a lot cheaper and not nearly as sturdy as the leather.
Curious to see Rotring there, did he give any reason? I would also change it for Uni. While Rotring has several solid pencils, to the best of my knowledge they never innovated in mechanisms or tried to make an automatic mechanical pencil.
I’d actually make a point for FC and STAEDTLER, they were the first in the West to release 0.5 and sub 0.5 pencils and leads (with FC even beating Mitsubishi by one year and being the second company to make 0.5 polymer leads and pencils - and STAEDTLER having started research on polymer leads as far back as 1961, eventually releasing their leads and pencils just right after Mitsubishi). Newman is the only one I know a bit more about… specially thanks to the “0.2 debate” so I will ask for his reasoning and thoughts.
One of the biggest MP collectors ever r/mechanicalpencils newbies
Thinking that Rotring is peak stationery.
I feel like many people will disagree with me, since I think that many users of this forum like the minor Japanese brands. But I don’t. I think that, for separating brands into tiers, we have to consider both consistency along time, rate of innovation and amount of copied designs.
Three brands are at the top
Pilot
Pentel
Mitsubishi
All have been big players since the early days and have driven the innovation in the field. There’s no shortage of copying designs (particularly looking at Pilot and their heavy inspiration in early European designs from Montblanc, parker etc) but the amount of originality compensates for that.
The next tier is more debatable, but for me it is
Tombow
Sakura
Rotring
Faber castell
Staedtler
Tombow and the zoom sub brand are very notable. From all of the minor Japanese brands, I feel like Sakura has the most interesting flagships (archi + their automatics). Rotring, faber castell and staedtler have also pushed the limits in an environment not as friendly as Japan, which I think is commendable. Some of these brands have deviated from their roots quite a bit, probably since they can’t compete as “core” brands while Pilot, Pentel and Mitsubishi are still in the market. Rotring may not have products as innovative as the other brands but it has driven the interest in high quality stationery in the west more than most other brands, I think.
And then there’s the rest. Newman trading for such high prices is incomprehensible to me, I guess that’s the appeal of a brand that went out of business. But most of their designs just seem like someone looking at the trend of etched/silver and black pencils and saying “yes, I can do that as well!”. Platinum seems sub par to me, in both pencils and fountain pens. Zebra has almost relegated itself to the “funny gimmick or it won’t sell” category. From the other minor Japanese brands, Uchida and Fuji are some of the most interesting to me, since at least they were trying to do something different. Colleen only has one successful line and it’s two trends of the time (pocket pens and double knocks) fused together with a color/variation lineup which is completely chaotic.
I’ve said before that he loves first generation rotring
His reasoning was that while Mitsubishi had more innovation, Rotring made a more consistent mechanism. He also said it was hard to choose between the two. I’d need to try out the early Rotrings to know if they are this great. If it was about stationery (but more particularly drafting) a point could be made about their history with technical pens…
I agree with you. I don’t like the minor brands that much as well, Tombow to me stands out while Sakura was like a bright fire, they burned hot and bright for a short period (which inflates the price of any pencil they made). And Pentel, Pilot and Mitsubishi are the top, undoubtedly the most innovative and important brands.
From Damdeok:
Well… the answer to that me was that at first too. It is the perception that Japan is superior to Europe. This was an illusion. The reason is that I get a feeling after using the first generation. I mean, there’s definitely a significant difference.
It can be seen that Japan has a majority in brands and mechanisms than Europe. However, my subjective opinion judges that Europe is superior to Japan.
Depending on the results of the judgment on this, you may be disappointed, but I make that judgment.
I used to have a TK-Matic, one with a plastic green body. It worked fine, but it seemed to rely a lot on pressure from the pipe slide to get that auto-advance going. I found myself periodically having to manually advance. I wasn’t pleased with it enough to keep–sold it. Got the Alphamatic. NOW we’re talking. Without the pipe slide in the mix, I find the writing performance more enjoyable. I like it. However, I found that the market prices for the Alphamatic to be too high. They’re not as rare as sellers would make you believe. And there are some collectors out there who keep buying them up, which helps float the market prices. Of course, the Executive models made of titanium and various special treatments jack the price up even more. I think they look beautiful, but not willing to pay those prices.
Staedtler’s real fame is the Micromatic 777. It’s super sought after. But the mechanism is fragile and nearly impossible to fix when broken. That totally kills the feeling for me. Rare for rarity’s sake doesn’t cut it. I would expect a solid pencil for the prices they sell at. Can you imagine forking over $1k USD for one and after a few test runs the mechanism just suddenly breaks? Not for me. Their Micrograph series are respectable. Nicely made. I have a 77017 and it’s nice. But it’s a rather boring workhorse pencil. They’re also all over the place. Some try lottery win prices of over $100 USD for one in near mint condition. That’s just ridiculous.
For me, it’s the Japanese brands. They had a real passion for mechanical pencils. No other nation made so many models with such a diversity in designs. PILOT, Pentel, and Mitsubishi rule. And nobody can touch Tombow for its daring artful designs (many I wish they’d revisit). Sakura wasn’t as prolific in ranges of models, but they made a few gems… the ATS-3000 and Archi series being the most glorious. Platinum made some great pencils at PILOT level quality, although they did have some designs that really didn’t resonate with me. Some were beautifully made. The “Z” ended up in the MoMA catalog. Newman made some great pencils. I wish they’d been more expansive in models. Quality wise, I feel like they fell just a little short of PILOT, with some exceptions that matched PILOT quality. I think they went out of business sometime in the late 1980’s or early 1990’s.
Rotrings are very sturdy, but I’m not sure that’s the defining factor in what makes a pencil or brand great. Many crappy plastic pencils from 50 years ago are working perfectly fine today, which tells me that, well, maybe crappy plastic pencils aren’t that crappy! But of course that’s his opinion, and with such an impressive collection, if he prefers European pencils, he may have a point.
I wonder how many different rotring 600 versions there are. I do have a rr600 with metal internals in Spain that I think may be a 1st edition, since I got it in a set with a rr600 ballpoint and a rr600 fountain pen. I kinda dismissed it since the rr600 was always too heavy for me, but I may have to give it a second chance if Damdeok likes it so much.
Parker Itala and leadholders from designer Venustas
It will be because there are subjective criteria for judgment, both between you and me or between Members. This is a free opinion.
I think the strength of this forum is that we can acknowledge each other and express our opinions on these areas.
That’s great. I think this is the charm of forum sites: forum sites and many members exchange opinions with each other while acknowledging them and expressing opinions.
thank you
EDIT: more treats to the 2mm folks! And maybe to @2nd_astronaut
From what I understand, it was Koh-i-noor that first developed the MP that would become the rOtring 600. It’s certainly an iconic pencil, most widely recognized in the realm of drafting pencil users.
Not talked about much is the 700 series by rOtring. The clip is extremely artful to my eye, but not practical because of the ball shape. They should’ve flattened the ball on the underside. But anyway, I don’t really use clips on vintage pencils. They’re more or less anti-roll devices. Anyway, the 700 mechanism is excellent. rOtring made a mechanical pencil, ballpoint, rollerball, and fountain pen. For some reason, they stopped short of making a 2+1 multipen.
I don’t have a 900, but they allegedly are very well made. Solid metal construction. But I never warmed up to it. I keep seeing a “ribbed tube” akin to industrial piping. And I’m not a fan of that wire clip coming out of the top. KOKUYO had already been far more prolific with the body-knock mechanisms, so rOtring had no innovative claim here.
rOtring did try to be a little like TOMBOW and created some very unusual & daring designs. But some of them went really too deep into the weird zone. The most notable was the CORE series. They were really aiming for the hipster skateboarding dudes. Doesn’t look like it was a major success story, because after discontinuation, there was tons of stock. You could pick up CORE pens and pencils pretty cheap for years. There are lottery fishers out there who overprice them, but if you’re careful you can still get them pretty cheaply. The pencil is junk. The mechanism is so clumsy. The ballpoint is pretty cool, though.
So… maybe rOtring should be in the upper tier, simply because they have ticked off a number of boxes on achievements.
The metapis holder I just sent is a rear end knock function. In other words, it does not come out once like a general holder, but comes out slowly like a knock.
I’ve seen posts about the Metaphys pens and pencils, mostly positive. Have always been curious about them, but haven’t held one first hand. This is the kind of clip they should have used on the rOtring 900.
Where’s a good venue to buy one for a reasonable price?
So true. He should donate them to charity (me)
r/mechanicalpencils newbies
