The PA5 / Graphlet 500 form factor always felt interesting even when my fingers told me ‘no’. The signature clip looks inspired by the TK-matic; although it’s entirely possible that they were merely parallel developments.
I first got interested in the PA5 as the predecessor of the PG500, having a simpler grip that omitted the lead degree window. Normally I would have gravitated to the blue color variant but as luck would have it, Japanese sellers also felt the same way and priced them about 40-50% higher than the other colors. Occasionally, there would bundles of 2-3 PA5 colors but never, it seems, with a blue. And so I waited.
Until the day I got hold of a PNR9, a specialty Graphlet meant to be used with a red 0.9mm lead for technical notations that wouldn’t be reproduced when the master drawing was machine copied. I guess the singular nature of the PNR9 clicked with my FOR FILM side-quest, and suddenly I had a red pencil with very few peers. Aha! That pink PA5 doesn’t look so out of place now, does it? And perhaps someday, a red TK-matic or a red Newman knurled drafter too.
The ‘port red’ Drehgriffel was actually a Christmas present from a friend and was originally a Nr.2 pencil in 0.7mm. I merely swapped out the MP parts for the BP to add some versatility to this duo.
On the subject of pink tools and instruments… I worked in a Biomed shop at a large hospital for years. Most of the technicians I worked with at the time were former military guys, so there was a real “manly vibe” in the air. One guy ( a 20-year Marine vet) had a complete set of pink tools. He took a lot of ribbing about them, but maybe he was a genius after all. He had absolutely no problem with his tools “disappearing” (which was a problem at the time). Between that and the high contrast, they really stood out on the workbench amidst all the clutter, etc.
Every MP devoted solely to a specific type of lead cores deserves a praise. It takes courage to build hyper-specialised lead, but it takes even more courage to devote an entire production line to a pencil intended for an even narrower niche.
Staedtler used to have both non-photo blue and non-print violet lead cores, both in 2.00 mm and 0.5 mm diameter.
There are a couple of Pentel pencils that I would love to find.
The PS255 (based on the P225) are a red and blue pencil for the non-photo red and blue 0.5mm leads.
I had never heard of them until I got hold of the 1979 US Pentel Catalog and found them in there. I have still never seen any sign of them in the wild.
