Saturn Uni Point Has the light color. Saturn Noki came in light and dark colors. Very interesting.
Was Fujii a manufacturer?
I think those are not the same, in fact, “Saturn“ is not even the brand, but the model name.
Unipoint is a Taiwanese company (you might have heard of it? In Chinese the brand is called 優點), while Noki is a Turkish company.
Thank you.
Do you know if Raymay Fujii also manufactured Unipoint’s ‘Saturn’ or Platinum’s MT-250, 300, and 350? I believe the Unipoint models are known to be made in Taiwan. I have a hunch that Platinums are as well.
And do you have any insight on the manufacturer of the Morning Glory ‘Provision’? As noted above, the packaging says Made in Korea.
There is always this question of what is meant by the phrase ‘Made in’. Assembly location may be enough to qualify even if the parts are made elsewhere.
I don’t, I feel like even if one of them was manufactured by the other company, it’s more likely for the Raymay one to be made by Unipoint.
Also no, in fact this post is my first time seeing this pencil.
Platinum does have models called M-100 and M-120 that are only sold in Taiwan. I do not think they would have MP models fully produced in Japan but not even sold on their own domestic market that’s so many times larger. My guess is parts are produced in one place and assembled in another, which brings me to the next guess that either Unipoint is an OEM maker for Platinum, or there’s an OEM factory in Taiwan that produced both some Unipoints and some Platinums. Not totally unheard of, given the history of TWSBI.
Just to add some more thirst for completeness to this already rich tableau of variants, allow me to report that one of these models (I cannot recall which one, unfortunately, but it might be the Spalding version) also came as a ballpoint pen; no lead hardness indicator window, but same heft and squareness. I had that particular specimen in my hands for a very brief time (found on a European marketplace, alas without box or papers), and then traded it with another Knockologist in a very pleasant transaction.
A certainly unique design: I still have to decide whether the square section is a genius move or a telltale sign of the impending apocalypse, but it is for sure a pencil with some serious personality. I would dare call it “bold as brass”, but the muted colours and the sleek form factor somewhat drag the image of a tuba or a bassoon out of the mental image.
SATURN NOKI… Well, the Unipoint Saturn is the common clone of the Platinum MT-350, but that SATURN NOKI looks a little different in font… so I wonder if Unipoint made it or it was someone else. Everything else about the pencil looks identical, upon closer inspection.
I like how the NOKI has a darker colorway option, more evocative of the MT-350. Was this a recent find on YAJ or Mercari?
Btw, I managed to get a Unipoint Saturn, courtesy of Kelvin, and while it’s visually pleasing, performance wise it’s rather mediocre. The lead indicator has no detents and moves too easily, enough to rattle. And you can’t disassemble that part, so you can’t try to deaden the rattle.