New here - not so much a collector/enthusiast per se, but the mechanical pencil has been my writing/sketching tool of choice since middle school. My folks, way back when, got a couple dozen Pentel Champs (the original AL15/AL17 - and many thanks to the glorious madmen who put together the Pentel Identification Book for helping me track down the specific model!) on the cheap for us kids to use. Naturally, we broke half of them just being careless/clumsy, and others have succumbed to the ravages of time and regular use since then…
I’m currently down to two out of that original pile, one of which has been my go-to for over twenty years of writing and drawing on the regular. A good run, but I know eventually it’ll reach its limit. I’ve nabbed a couple others off eBay since I finally recalled the model (the print on mine has long since faded,) and I’d be interested to hear people’s thoughts on what might make for a good replacement.
The things in particular that I’m looking for, here:
- Simple, straight lines. The business end of the original model is pretty nearly a straight cylinder, about the same diameter as a traditional pencil. Sits very nicely betwixt my fingers. I’ve seen mechanical pencils in more chunky-pen form factors, and I don’t care for them.
- Related: I do like the rubber grip on the O.G. Champ - but the big puffy grip on the second iteration is exactly the kind of thing that made me appreciate the slim lines on the original. I’d be okay with no grip at all if it came to it, but I’d like one that’s just there and not in the way.
- Eraser-cap advance - nothing against barrel-mounted clickers, but they tend to end up in the way of my fingers when I’m doing Thoughtful Twiddling, and get clicked when I don’t mean to.
- And speaking of erasers, definitely want the standard simple-rubber-nubbin (the print on my refill tubes identifies this as PDE-1 type) - I really do not care for the narrow screw-out extender ones, and from what I see in office-supply stores it seems most basic consumer mechanical pencils these days are about 50/50 between the two.
- Lightweight, or relatively so. I’d be down for something with higher build quality, but I do appreciate that I can hold my trusty old pencil for as long as I please without my hand getting tired.
Definitely curious to hear some opinions on this from people who know their stuff ;D
