LION Fukui may be relatively obscure but the quality of their drafting pencils is by no means ‘second tier’. Over the years, I’d wanted to complete the 3/5/7 for each of the LION families but there is always one or two that slipped through my searches.
And of course, when it comes to the peak of LION drafting, the 35x0 series, I believe none of us have seen any model except the 0.7mm for auction in the last 5-7 years, even before the current hyped up state of the Japanese collecting scene.
Rather than wait for some impossible miracle, I decided to take some pictures of just the 0.7mm models… like a truncated showcase of the LION drafting family. From L-R:
No. 3170 - with its distinctive black and silver scheme and a tapered grip, this lowest tier model is somewhat reminiscent of the UCHIDA Drawing Sharp S, except in reverse. The lead degree indicator up top is ok but not super secure.
No. 3270 - this is what I consider the oddball in the family. The all-silver body stands apart with its super aggressive micro-knurling. The lead degree indicator carries over from the 31x0 but together with the pinstripe grooves on the body, it somewhat resembles a Uni M5-1003 ‘Automatic Pencil’.
No. 3470 - Probably the most well rounded and modern looking of the LION family. The black metal grip looks and feels professional but I wonder what happened to the lead degree indicator? This makes me think of the first generation Pentel Accugraph series…
No. 3570 - From looks alone, the shiny and smooth chromed grip screams “deluxe executive model”. Its owner would have gone beyond the needs of daily drafting and into making occasional remarks and approvals on subordinates’ work. The weight is substantial compared to the rest, and that is a statement too.
I hope this has started some gears turning in the minds of folks who are still unsure about getting into LION. These are real gems on par with UCHIDA for their design, materials and usability.
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The last image is really beautiful.
I appreciate the economy of means approach Lion took with their colors. Black and silver. Matte and glossy. Simple.
With the forms, however, these pencils are quite different and explore a variety of ergonomic ideas. The last picture is a surprising detail that ties their formal explorations together.
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Speaking of gears turning…
Back about 8 years ago when I started moving beyond Pentel, PILOT, Platinum, Mitsubishi, and Tombow, I began to discover these curious seemingly little brands named Newman, Uchida, Sakura, and LION. Back then, YAJ was the only available source through proxies. You’d rarely see any of them on eBay. LION’s lowest tier was most common and from the looks of them, the designs didn’t speak to me. I think the best LION models I’d seen up to that point was the 31x0. So in my myopic ignorance, I ignored the brand and stayed focused on the bigger makers. If I’d only known… I didn’t know about Aucfree and its 10 year rolling database search. And of course, there was fleeting vintage mechanical pencil camaraderie. There wasn’t anything around like Knockology.r/mechanicalpencils was mostly inundated with low end modern pencils. However, I did tend to stumble upon some great photos posted by @drifand on Pinterest. Periodically I’d see some new pencils previously unknown to me. Still, photos were nice, but without a good comment section, there were so many questions that couldn’t be answered.
LION auctions seem to be getting more scarce as time goes on. I’m thankful that I’ve at least got one of each from the 34x0 and the 35x0 series!
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Thank you! You sensed my subconscious intentions with that last shot 
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Yup! Agree and what you said mirrors my own experience of collecting and discovering along the way. We all have to go through our own challenges and coming to grips with the ‘price’ of diving deeper. For me, the first vintage piece that I got was a nothingburger of a Pilot ‘Reje’ that was listed on Rakuten as ‘out of production’ - I had delusions of value appreciation, haha! This was followed by an executive Newman in the style of a Pentel 5… I just wanted to see what was different. Eventually I got into a groove of sorts with the vintage S55 series.
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For some reason I am more attracted to the red or green sticker lion mps more than others. I feel that these have aged really well and still look quite modern! Wondering if this brand was still alive what might their latest products could look like 
Yeah, the yellow sticker lacks contrast — it’s hard to make out the text. I don’t have a blue sticker yet. I think they switched between red and blue for 0.3. Yellow for 0.5, green for 0.7.
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I’ll probably always continue to reiterate how much I love GREEN! Deeper greens in particular but almost any shade.
YELLOW is actually my favorite color but the problem with yellow is that certain shades just don’t look good with certain material, ie: the yellow Rotring
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Very nice and clean example! This looks like the later version when LION began to print the model number on the body and not rely on the sticker, which could come off, etc. So it looks like ‘blue’ is the later version for 0.3 while ‘red’ is older.
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