Can I get some information on this one?
The seller had this listed as “ Yasutomo NIJI GRIP 500” but when I got it home I can see OHTO on the body.
I like the vanishing tip. Are there other models in this line? Hold old are these?
The clip reminds me of the GG1000, the way pressing it retracts the tip.
That’s a near-exact replica of my high school pencil, and one of the few pieces I don’t have. (I have an Ohto version, but I think my HS pencil featured Y&C branding. Also, I never understood why the barrel said “Ohto” until I re-discovered mechanical pencils in 2009.)
Ohto white-labeled this piece to (seemingly) everyone else, and now there are tons of up- and down-market variations of this pencil.
You could make a case that, for Americans at least, this is the most influential double-knock of all time.
I remember the excitement of learning about THIS version of double-knock mechanism when I’d only seen/used the more common Kotobuki design. Part of the interest was random comments from folks who had used the Y&C or NIJI in their drafting or architectural work. Finding out that Y&C = Yasutomo was the next ‘Aha!’.
Can I get some search term suggestions to help me locate some of these? I’m using “Niji grip” and get nothing.
I think the problem is that most sellers wouldn’t know enough to list them with specific terms beyond ‘double knock sharp’, i.e. ダブルノック シャープ.
Elton had a few of these for sale in 2021, and I scooped 'em up. Haven’t seen any since (not on YAJ or Mercari, either).
A couple months ago, I got super lucky with a random eBay seller who unloaded semi-transparent red and blue specimens, but that felt like a once-every-couple-years type of score.
In the “Japanese Translations” post in these forums, I included a search for double-knock (in kanji), and it’s somewhat effective.
But IMO, searches are for absolute amateurs. If you want to make sure you exhaust ALL possibilities, you must manually search through ALL new listings on YAJ and Mercari every day.
This is what I did for over 2 years; it was the only reliable way to find all the pieces I wanted at the best possible prices.
Seems to be pencil version of OHTO’s double knock ball point pen OB-500. I guess the pencil would be OP-500? Maybe searching for that can aid you. NIJI probably had some sort of distribution right.
I don’t have OHTO OB-500.
I understand double knock mechanical pencil but I don’t understand double knock ballpoint pen.
Does it mean knocking the top to write and press the clip to retract?
if this is the case, should the pencil be called triple knock?
Or it is a half press mechanism (like camera?)
Half press to write. Full press to retract? However, I see “PUSH” on ballpoint clip?
Yes, for the ballpoint it’s simpler… because there’s no movement as done for lead advance. Once extended, it’s locked in place. You full press the clip to release.
