Some sets had particular model #s (I would say the pencil is PS-1):
After looking at this and Sakura’s past…I really wonder what went wrong? They had all aspects covered, cool designs great packaging
graphics and font choices
That good 1000yen range
But both do still exist – that’s more than other companies achieved in a market which substantially shrinked…
Pentel, Uni, Pilot and Zebra all expanded overseas, establishing operations in the USA, Europe, Asia etc.
Computer Aided Design and the breakdown of Japan’s bulb economy.
For example, PENTEL, ROTRING, and STAEDTLER back then were equivalent to ANSYS, Autodesk, and Dassault now.
Do you know when the Mistral line was sold?
Sakura found that it was more profitable in the niche they made for themselves: CRAYPAS crayon pastel sticks. Even the ‘about us’ mentions this first.
I think the margins became unsustainable for 1000-yen executive pens and pencils because of economies of scale. They revisited their high end roots with the premium priced Craft Lab series but there were no dedicated pencil designs.
Yes, that is an Artline Shachihata. As far as I know, they came in blue, red, black, and brushed steel.
Another example is stabilo: they make the most business with makeup pens.
Do we have any definitive evidence of when the Mistral pencils were sold?
has anyone seen a Kokuyo catalog w/ some listed?
Thank you….
“Body Knock” is the most unnatural, overrated and nonsensical feature anyone EVER could have fathomed:
“Hey! Check this MP out! Instead of pushing the top to extend the lead, you crack it in half!?!? There is absolutely NOTHING wrong establishing this type of muscle-memory!”
Well, I did get lucky, finally. I have a black PS-101 on the way. I don’t plan to collect all Mistral variants, but at least have the top 3 covered.
You’re joking, right? (didn’t see a “/s” or )
“Uh oh, lead needs to be extended proceeds to crack pencil in half, PERFECT!”
Still better than squeezing it
And so… it’s superior if it’s “unbreakable” then? Pretty strong feature, if you ask me.
→ Demonstration
Later you pull out pilot H-2005 and crack it in half through habit lol
The pilot holders explode anyway after a while because of the strong double knock spring .
Best lead advance mechanism still is finger flick
Well… I have to say… I’ve never had this problem. The Mistrals have no obvious rear click-button. So I like to think of it as the transmission of the pencil. When I get into a manual shift car, I know to use a clutch. And with a car having an automatic gearbox? The fact that the lever is a straight forward/back sliding motion, my mind immediately knows there is no clutch to push.