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?
I’m very confused about Damdeok showing that set of 3 Metaphys Lead holders. As far as I know, the lead holder isn’t discontinued, and the regular 0.5 mechanical pencil is more rare. But I’m not too knowledgeable on those and maybe they’re some rare 1st edition.
My hunch is that, in those photos, the rare thing is the box and not the pencil. Which is why there’s 4 photos of the boxes and 1 of the pencils.
I’m interested in some first hand opinions on the metaphys pencils. I like how they look, but it seems like the paint on those chips pretty quickly.
I am not into 2mm holders, but the TK9400 anniversary edition is a collection’s highlight <3
To the top 5 manufacturers: I agree with Damdeok’s list :-). But it’s because of my German viewpoint. The Japanese brands are (or were?) nearly invisible here, including the large ones Pentel and Pilot (Tombow is and was the most visible Japanese brand here I think). All the engineering and drafting was mainly done with FC, Staedtler and Rotring. Rotring was dominant in technical drawing (ink), the rooms with drawing boards were the reign of rotring. and rr600 was iconic – I guess it was the first time for many people to actually see a striking product design of writing instruments.
the history and size (in terms of employees, because that’s what you see) of FC and Staedtler is impressive. for example the so much loved US based Alvin is a joke with its 50 people if you compare this to the sites of FC, staedtler or stabilo here.
I consider both to be a single entity, much like I consider Tombow’s Turkish offerings to be part of the greater Tombow lineup.
Can’t separate the MT-350 and these W-knocks from everything else; it just doesn’t make any sense to me.
Pilot has a similar issue with pieces intended for the Korean and southeast-Asian markets. Some are conspicuously marked with a KK insignia, but others just look like riffs on popular Japanese pieces (with no indication they are “outsiders” beyond the aesthetics).
A few of these pencils are extremely nice, but because they don’t borrow from themes established by Pilot Japan, they can be difficult to organize in a large collection.
