Hi Everyone,
First time posting after I have joined not long ago, what’s better to break the ice than a pencil review 
Here is a first impression of the Kayou+ Aimvision:
I was in Tokyo a month ago, bit the bullet and bought the Pro version of this pencil. I have never heard of this brand at the time and there weren’t any display model at the Shinjuku Loft, they only have empty display boxes which you take them to cashier and collect your pencil after you paid for it. Upon my purchase, they also provided me with a receipt with warranty along with the box containing the pencil. That little box was substantial, it has quite a heft to it…In any case, my review is for the more affordable version (even though it is not the PRO model, the box still says “for professional drafting”) of the AIMVISION.
I bought this pencil from a Japanese auction for about $30 and added another $20 for shipping (steep!!), naturally my expectations lean a bit on the high side given my purchase experience with the PRO version. The packaging is comparable to the PRO version and the color of the pencil looked really nice against the black foam cutout. However, when taken out of the box its lightness was anti-climatic…
In use:
Due to the plastic main body, the writing experience of the AIMVISION is very similar to a Rotring 500. It has a very comforting (and comfortable) grip to use, the black silicone grip gives a very tactile experience. The hexagonal resin body is very light and one of my criticism here is that the paint application on the resin is uneven and this is especially apparent where the branding is applied. That said, I think the black silicone and clip ground the gold color and the jury is still out for me on the turquoise ring (more on that later) that separate the two different materials. I still really like the color Native Gold and did not regret picking this color but I wonder if the colors had exacerbated the light weight of the pencil, making it so much more jarring when picking it up. For reference, the available colors all alluded to a heavy weight: Stone Black, Mineral Silver and Native Gold. I have never really used clips on pencils, so I have no objection of a tiny little clip, it has a nice profile. What I do use is an eraser at the end of the pencil often but this pencil has no eraser when you uncap the end. It is worth mentioning that the end cap is pretty shallow and it takes no effort to pull off, so it might be a blessing in disguise that you have less chance of losing it when accessing it too often. The uni-directional lead hardness indicator is probably the coolest part of the pencil, the knurling is sharp and it has a snappy and clicky feel to it. The unfortunate thing is that it has a bit too much play when clicking from one stop to the next, still cool though. For those who like to deconstruct their pencils, it is extremely satisfying unscrewing the brass grip due to very tight tolerance between the turquoise ring and the grip. One can see that the ring is part of a much bigger assembly and reveal that it was made with precision.
(the grip is one of the best feature of this pencil)
(you can see the uneven paint coating)
(the hardness selector is plastic and you can see the mold seam, which it was polished off…)
Well, there you have it. Hope it helps if you are thinking of adding this to your collection.
