Can I get some help with identifying these three models? The bottom 3 are Flicker pencils
Middle one is a M3-1003 I believe.
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Do you know when this was sold? It has a 90s look to it
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It does look fresh! But I’d point to an earlier date, maybe mid 80s. I don’t have any reference points except that lead indicator window that looks a bit like a Lion.
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Some years ago I got one from Andrey. It has such a nice look to it and I was captivated when I found it browsing eBay. I talked him down on price for a bulk order of various items. Still probably overpaid since I think I spent $60 on it. Those were the days. Scanning beautiful vintage items on eBay was a breeze.
In hand, the M3-1003 is not as impressive as it looks in photos. The etched (water jet?) aluminum is pretty nice, but the paint-on graphic and the poor quality of the lead hardness window ring did not meet expectations.
Edit: if Elton is offering it for $65 on eBay right now (he is), then I certainly overpaid in 2020. I think I saw one on Mercari for $35 or something not long ago. Not a very strong collector item, which is a bit surprising since it has a unique and handsome look.
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It’s true, despite the apparent sophistication, I’d be a bit shy to call it a mid range pencil…
Anyway, getting Andrey to say something is an extraordinary feat! Probably even harder than getting a discount from him… Maybe the two things are related! 
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I think I ordered maybe a total of 5-10 items from him in about 2 or 3 orders. One time I had a situation with Andrey where I needed to return something and he accepted the return. Return address was surprisingly in the US, so we had a little back and forth chat. But you are right - he is not talkative. Also, I don’t think he is a collector - he just has a warehouse of MPs.
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I used to talk quite a lot via email with a buyer/collector located in Germany — but he was from the East — who knew Andrey quite well and he actually mentioned that he had a huge collection (especially 2mms). Being near the old DDR Czech Republic Hungary Romania, where many pencil/pen factories were located was quite good for collectors because there where tons of leftovers from the old days of the Eastern Block. I don’t know if that’s still relevant, but apparently Andrey had easy access to complete boxed sets and etc from the old pencil factories. Maybe he also found a way to sneak into the Japanese market long before any body else did
He then moved to Zippos and Victorinoxs ahah so probably got bored of having so many pencils around him and now lives among piles of lighters and folding knives. But hey if anyone made a serious amount of money buying/selling pencils it must have been him.
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I would like to get a view of that 2mm collection…
I feel that in my collector’s heart, I have a more tender love of 2mm holders than of thin lead click pencils. It is probably because I embrace the ‘old is better’ fallacy. However as a designer, I think the thin lead pencils have an edge in the aesthetic and technical domains.
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Yeah probably. Thin lead pencils are especially good for sketching — for artistic drawing or for a more rich inscriptions on paper a 2mm is perfect, variations bring depth and more tonality
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Top to Bottom:
BOXY M5-504 in bronze. Also in black, blue, gold and silver.
M5-1003 - this is the 4th version of uni’s 'Automatic Pencil’s. There is a version where the lead degree is just a fixed printed marking, e.g. HB.
FLICKER uni 5-1060 in gold, bronze and blue. Missing silver.
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Thanks Kelvin! Is it same to assume these are all products of the 1980’s?
Is the greenish one the gold model?
Yes. The silver is more neutral? It’s very hard to tell if a silver one is actually silver if it is sold on its own.
I have no dates for specific models except the earliest BOXY-100 ballpoint and the trio of side-knocks from the 2006 30th anniversary revival. Other clues are the BOXY sub brands and how the ‘B’ or ‘BOXY’ is styled. BOXY with a star in the O is older, 1978-early 80s. Slanted B is late 80s to 90s.
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