I think of this as coming from the mid-1980s ‘branded clip’ era, when the name of the product line was proudly emblazoned on that tiny steel landing strip. Pilot had gotten their marketing senses together and had decided that ‘Clutch Point’ was a better name than the beef-like ‘Top Chuck’.
Now there were many iterations of the Clutch Point, from simple executive styles to more extravagant enameled and gold filled designs, as well as a host of chunky rubber grip models. None of these held the same attraction for me as this trio, which I felt had the right balance of modernity and sensibility. While some may prefer all-metal designs that extend to the grip, I have always found the plastic ‘lattice grip’ solution to be comfortable and functional, and with the added benefit of being molded in vibrant color accents.
I recall buying my first Clutch Point, a sleek silver HGWN-150R around 2014 or so and being intrigued by its lead saver function. This was also around the time I bought a Platinum ZeroShin MZ-500A from the newly opened Tokyu Hands in Singapore. Soon after, proxies for Yahoo Japan Auctions opened up and I began my journey of vintage discovery. Without catalog references back then, there was no way of knowing if one had managed to find ‘all of the interesting color variants’. Joining Twitter / X opened up more information sources from collectors and eventually I managed to complete this trio of Clutch Points.
Looking at the model number it’s hard to imagine the thriving state of the Japanese Domestic Market in the mid-80s… 2000 yen was no small matter for a mass produced mechanical pencil! Do you have a favorite Clutch Point?