There were 2 versions of the PILOT Sprinter. One had an attractive tear-drop style nose piece and full body length of “coiled spring” steel. The other version had a more traditional nose cone design and a plastic grip, which could be provided in a few different colors.
In all of the versions searchable online, I’d never come across a Sprinter with a coating on the coiled spring body.
Perhaps when NIPPON STEEL commissioned PILOT to make a branded version of the Sprinter for them, they had a coating applied as well to make it look more like brass. If you look very closely at the cap, there’s some additional lettering provided that’s non-standard. All I can make out is “TANIUM.” So my suspicion is that it’s “TITANIUM” and the coating is perhaps capturing a shade of the titanium made by NIPPON STEEL… providing the pencils haven’t suffered a uniform color decay.
Here’s my lame attempt to digitally remove the NIPPON STEEL name.
Looks like Elton bought these… “NIPPON STEEL NAME” still on the body… selling individually for $450 each, claiming they’re made of titanium (when they’re simply coated in a “titanium color” stainless steel).
Speaking of PILOT Sprinter oddities… for the longest time, all I could find on the web were photos of the 2 Sprinter release versions (one with angled nose cone, the other a tear drop nose cone) and a few colors – black, red, and orange. Then came the yellow version, by way of a YAJ listing.
Totally legit. And in fact, @xiaozhenyang4444 managed to win the auction for it. Looking forward to him posting higher resolution photos of it once in hand and possibly a group shot of all Sprinter teardrop variants.
So, is it possible there are some other colors? Did PILOT ever do a press release or detailed catalog page that showed all of the color options?
Circling back to the Sprinter once more. From a PILOT 1988 catalog, there was a page showing 4 different Sprinter colorways, with the model having a flat angled nose (instead of teardrop) and a colored grip section. Does anyone here know if there’s another PILOT catalog showing the teardrop version? I wonder if it shows all colorways that were available. From all I’ve seen, it looks like blue and green weren’t made for the teardrop variant.
I had one of these first models in green (G) it was fine but not really as interesting as the new one… I regret not getting one when they were accessible (even on ebay). Some pencils have a distinctive click that sets them apart from the others — these are of that sort, imo. Just like in the 2mm range where the Rotring 1035 is pretty unique or the PYRAMID 2.0 has a soft cushioned “drop” which is unlike any other pencil. (sorry, I’m digressing…)
Originally I’d thought that this version shown above was the 1st release, but I’m starting to think it’s the other way around. That the teardrop nose cone version was the first, followed by this one with a more traditional nose cone and a colored plastic grip sheath over the metal body.
I find it rather surprising, seeing the pricing PILOT had officially stated in their catalog pages. There’s quite a disparity in quality for models priced at ¥1000. Some feel like they should’ve been cheaper, while others feel like they could’ve been priced at ¥1500 or even ¥2000.
I’ve thought this many times—Pilot’s pricing vs. quality plot is all over the place, especially for non-drafting pencils.
The Sprinter spring, clip, and end cap hint at a ¥2000–¥3000 price point, yet it checks in at a paltry ¥1000.
It seems Pilot were able to manufacture various alloys into whatever shapes they wanted for pretty cheap. Because of this, the pricing variance seems to come more from the finishes, and Pilot didn’t hold back here—they offered every fit and finish under the sun at one point or another between 1965 and 2000.
Ultimately, I assume the Sprinter was cheap because it didn’t have much of a finish (and you can run an inexpensive process to coat clips before attachment).
While the Sprinter was undervalued for its day… the prices it commands on the resale market is crazy. I remember quite clearly a time when you could pick up one of these with black clip in mint condition (but without sticker) for ¥7000 to ¥8000. With worn “SPRINTER” label? As cheaply as ¥4000. The general collector community was like “this is cute” but was not sought after. Occasionally the red or orange colored versions would appear and those would get more than double the black one. Never saw yellow before until it appeared back in November and a bid war ensued.
Anyway, over on Mercari there were a few let go for super cheap, but were set for “reserve” and sold to select parties. But mostly now, the prices are usually over $200 USD.
I think the Sprinter is a great pencil for its art form. Not a seriously practical pencil, but I still like writing with it on occasion. I just lament that I didn’t pick up a couple of spares when the going was good!
I have a sprinter that I guess must have been red originally but looks more like maroon or even brown, depending on the light. I fact I thought it was brown for years until I looked at the catalog and couldn’t find any indication that was a color offered.
This is the only one I have, and it looks nothing like the vivid red displayed in the catalog. Did the other colors also wash out like this?
Yep, I’ve bought many items from him especially since Andrey went offline. I’ve been happy with every purchase and he sometimes throws in free extras. I know he has a markup but I don’t begrudge that, or at least once I decide I’ll pay that much I don’t see any reason to complain about it after. eBay’s fee-gouging is partly responsible for that anyway. I’m also pretty confident he actually has everything he sells in his possession already and hasn’t ever had to delay shipping or cancel purchases on me.
I wondered if the other account was also Elton after both of them “went on vacation” at the same time and for roughly the same duration one year. Singapore Mechanical Pencils is often slightly cheaper but usually in the same ballpark as well, and has roughly comparable inventory.
I’ve bought my fair share from Elton as well. Not always the best price, but he does have a great inventory. I can say as far as being reputable, his communication is excellent – usually responds right away. Once there was a mix-up and he sent me an empty box, by mistake. He replaced it no questions asked.
