I was watching this particular auction and was curious to see how bidding would go. It definitely fell short of the going market price for an all steel Alphamatic in near-new condition. I didn’t bid because it smelled to me like a “Franken-pencil” (parts assembled from different models. I’ve read before that the body threading for the TK-matic and Alphamatic are identical so you can switch the front tips if you want. But, also notice that the eraser cap is from an Alphamatic.
The seller claimed this was all original. I’ve bought from this seller before and 1 out of 3 auctions suffered a deception, so… Can any Faber Castell experts here confirm or deny it?
Considering the seller, I don’t trust this one. Since 2021, he’s become perhaps the #1 reseller of MPs on YAJ, but I’ve noticed the quality of his listings slipping badly since about April 2022.
Prior to that, I had over dozen successful transactions with him, but then between April 2022 and April 2023, I received 3 bunk items (one of which was completely unforgivable—a ¥13,500 PS1045 with a crack in it).
Can almost guarantee this is a Frankenpencil where he made off like a bandit. I’m guessing he had an extra alphamatic nose cone (which I’ve seen in various auctions over the years), and he simply replaced a bent TK•matic L tip.
I saw this pencil and the first thing that came to my mind was somebody putting together different pieces of the Alphamatic and TK-matic, just like they do with the s10 and s20.
I’ve made 3 transactions with this seller, in one I also had problems. It was a set of Staedtler’s that he claimed to be NOS. However, when it arrived, the pieces had scratches and stains.
Yeah, same here. I’d had a number of good transactions with him prior to the past year… and then, I’m getting pencils that had problems… and yeah, it’s this guy.
The eraser cap is from an alphamatic. If the pencil is perfectly functional, it’s actually not a bad price, for anyone not caring about collectibility. Presuming of course it functions! In the auction he failed to show the lead extending or even sample writing.
Oh no not lflyk93290. Don’t like buying from him because the stuff he sells can be quite overpriced. Did not know about quality issues many of you had and the exploitation he does. I believe he also has a Mercari account, as I have seen listings with a very similar table…
The person who won the auction had a 1 transaction history… and apparently they fell through on paying. So this guy has relisted… and is trying to get 22,500 JPY for it now. He’s yosshy43 on Mercari.
If that was a real alphamatic, it would be a good price. But it’s technically a “franken-pencil.” Worst still, it’s this seller who has deceptive tendencies. I would not be confident buying from them.
I deliberately bought a Frankensteined tk-matic some time ago (alphamatics knob), because I like the alphamatics knob more. And I guess it’s the more expensive part if sold separately.
One fellow knockologist recognized another modified tk at one of my photos (alphamatics tip). Here I was not aware of the Frankensteining, but I also don’t care too much.
Of course I did never pay the equivalent to 22500yen for a tk-matic…
Some seller from France has Faber Castell parts for sale. Rather pricey for us in the USA because their shipping rates are high. I had flirted with the idea of buying an alphamatic eraser cap to use on a Tk-matic L. Just looks so nice on that pencil. Anyway, I would probably buy a franken-pencil like this if it was priced at $100 USD. The present price is too high, IMHO.
