I came across my first XS pretty early in my collecting journey. In fact, I had no idea of its relation to the Smash, and thus, also the Graph 1000, until much later when I discovered various Japanese blogs and Twitter posts.
I started with a single red 0.5 because I liked how the curved aesthetics kind of reminded me of Ultraman… and I had a lonely Ultra Seven pen that needed a companion.
Next I got a blue XS pen, because the black design was not as visually exciting. For awhile, it was a consolation prize for not having a Smash B1000 ballpoint.
Over the years I never really sought out the whole XS family. But chance is funny like that. I’d pick up one of the others in a lot and after some time, I simply had to complete the 2 stragglers in black.
Apparently ‘XS’ stood for ‘eXtra Style’. And of course the (relatively) flamboyant design of the grip is the main thing with the XS. One of the best things about it is the absence of silicone-on-plastic squeaking that plaques the Smash to this day.
Ok, that’s all I have for you.
