If it's Monday, it's Mitsubishi (Uni)

[cytherian]

I was thinking about the long rich history of the Mitsubishi (Uni Ball) Pencil company… and there are so many fascinating designs, developments, experiments, and achievements. While I’m still a little miffed at how Uni decided to release and market the Kuru Toga Dive, and encase the mechanism in a very light plastic body, I’m hopeful that as they advance it forward, there will be more variants… and possibly a metal alloy body at some point. But I think it’s hard to argue against calling the Kuru Toga Dive mechanism the Oscar Winner of mechanical pencil mechanisms across the past couple of years.

Anyway… I just randomly grabbed a bunch of Mitsubishi pencils that were in my small storage boxes (like tackle boxes) and arrayed them out in a circle… for the hell of it. I do have one missing right now… a green version of the W-Knock. It’s going to be about another month before I have it in hand. Also, still missing the red one. Dang nabbit. Maybe I’ll do a Mitsubishi double-knock dedicated post sometime late next month.

If you’re wondering… which is my vintage favorite… it’s a hard call. Probably a tie between the MX-100 “wide mouth” (all steel, with spiral groove cut) and the MX-150.

[drifand]

That blue W-Knock with clear grip!
I’ve managed to find a black and a green but the blue eludes me! I know there’s a super rare all-clear version but how many other colors, I wonder?

[Heath]

There was a skeleton on Mercari a little bit ago for 39,999 yen メルカリ

[Hammer_Jackson]

Which is the Mx-150? (For some reason I can never remember Uni/mitsubishi model numbers :/)

[cytherian]

There was a bit of a problem with Mitsubishi model numbering, and it was also a problem with PILOT and Platinum at various times. They would use the actual company policy price set for the pencil as part of its product code. Awful, really, when you think about it, because of duplication. Not a big deal with sub ¥1000 models, but for that and higher, well made pencils that could last many decades into the future? This is what happened here.

When this first came out, it was priced at ¥1000. So Mitsubishi called it the M3-100 or M5-100, depending upon lead size (MX-100, “X” for the lead size place holder). Well, later on they decided to raise the price to ¥1500. And thus it became the M3-150, or M5-150.

But then… there’s also this model, the M3-100.

And that one looks remarkably like the M3-300, which is the “diamond cut” version (instead of spiral groove) of the same basic pencil.

Anyway, for the sake of sanity, I call that black or silver double-knock the MX-150, no matter if it has the ¥1000 sticker on it.

Btw, thanks to Linus, we now know that the very smooth and slender tapered ¥1000 double-knock executive is not an MX-101, but is an MX-1030. He found a listing with the box.

The chrome ribbed grip with color body double-knock priced at ¥700 is an M5-53, and the W-Knock skeleton is an M5-59. I’m assuming they’re all 0.5 mm, with no 0.3 mm option. I imagine for the colors there’s probably a letter suffix, but not on the main print of the box (likely in black ink, stamped on the box side).

[Hammer_Jackson]

So the all silver wide mouthed double knock is the Mx-100… right?

[pearsonified]

Green?!? Pics!

[cytherian]

[cytherian]

[knocktype11]

This is a relatively fantastic pencil. But I have worries about it. It has a plastic grip, a plastic body, and a really big spring. Is there any worry that the grip or body will crack over time? Do you store this with the grip partially unscrewed? Have we landed on a best practice for this?

[drifand]

FWIW, I have not seen any cracked barrels for Mitsubishi’s w-knocks ever, compared to numerous examples for Pilot H-200x and H-300x. For sure, treat them with care - all clear plastics are prone to damage if dropped onto hard surfaces.

[knowishallnot]

How precise is the M3-300’s diamond cutting compared to a Kuru Toga Metal?

[pearsonified]

Funny—this is the one I have, but I consider it “turquoise” and never think of that as green

[cytherian]

@knocktype11

It has a plastic grip, a plastic body, and a really big spring. Is there any worry that the grip or body will crack over time?

In doing direct comparisons of the W-Knock plastic body and something like an H-1005 plastic body, it does feel like a different kind of composition. It seems to me like the W-Knock has a little more “give” to it, thus resisting cracks better. I’ve only ever seen one cracked barrel, but it was a badly abused example. The PILOT body feels more refined, not featuring that glossy finish as on the W-Knock. But it seems like a harder plastic.

Now, the grip on the W-Knock? That’s a different story. That’s a very hard clear plastic. And yes, it can develop cracks. I have one such example. However, they are “inner” cracks. You don’t feel them on the exterior. And while I’ve not put that pencil through any rigorous usage, it hasn’t gotten any worse. However, as yet I’ve not come across an auction listing for a used W-Knock that has a broken skeleton grip, with actual fragments of plastic missing. But who knows… such a pencil might get tossed instead of held onto and put up for sale later on.

EDIT: I was in error. I examined up close the skeleton grip of my user grade one and yeah… i can see some cracks on the screw threads, at the nose cone. Probably, if the nose cone gets tightened too much and then there’s an impact (like dropping) that could cause cracks there. I’ll be uploading a photo. I wouldn’t store the pencil totally disassembled, but I would make sure the nose cone isn’t overly tightened.

(Note, the “bend” is just a trick of the hand-held booster magnifying lens positioned as an overlay)

[cytherian]

@pearsonified

Funny—this is the one I have, but I consider it “turquoise” and never think of that as green

Strange. The green one definitely looks green to me… but this is going by a seller supplied photo. Maybe even “teal”? My blue one looks like a dark turquoise… and in better lighting, it’s a brighter medium blue. I had trouble getting it right here, because my better lighting setup isn’t available right now.

[drifand]

I agree. No matter what color we call them, they’re distinctly different

[cytherian]

@drifand

That blue W-Knock with clear grip!
I’ve managed to find a black and a green but the blue eludes me! I know there’s a super rare all-clear version but how many other colors, I wonder?

Btw, courtesy of @Linus2K. An image he lifted from a past auction, I believe. Unreal… NINE blue ones. Doesn’t look like the buyer resold any on YAJ or Mercari (no parade of blue W-Knock auction listings).