Question! Is the Embossed Writing Rare on the Pentel 200 Series? I just found this pencil within my collection and I’m not sure if it is a rare one!
2 Likes
I do not think so, I have some of them also.
But @nimrodd will give us an explanation.
2 Likes
As stated, nimrodd will gone the best explanation but they’re just an earlier version. The rare one would be the 0.7 with a 0.5 embossed mold!
2 Likes
See
That the is a gen 2 or 3 I think
In my PS315 video I cover 4 of the 6 P200 generations.
2 Likes
That is what I would call Generation 3 of the P200 series. Generations 2 & 3 (from about 1971 or 1972 to about 1975 or so. The difference between Generation 2 & 3 is, Generation 2 did not have any text printed on the side, while Generation 3 did.
More explanation here: P200, the Second Generation… and the third…and the fourth… and so on – Nimrodd's Blog
3 Likes
I think it’s fair to say that these older generations (gen 3 and below) will become harder and harder to find, being >50 years old. Especially in good condition.
However, harder to find doesn’t necessarily mean expensive. Many were produced, and they do still show up online (in lots or offered individually).
I’ll soon have a complete set of the gen 3 models (m/m text), and have a few of the gen 2 and gen 1B.
2 Likes
Thank you very much, everyone. I wasn’t familiar with the Nimrodd’s bolg. I also thank @Pdunc67 for the video. There is a wealth of information I didn’t see before. I just took the inner parts out of the two pencils I found, and there are codes imprinted on the barrels. @Pdunc67’s video suggests these are date codes, similar to the Pilot pencils.
4 Likes
791226 - Dec 26, 1979!!
800604 - June 4, 1980!!
1 Like
We didn’t get the date codes figured out until long after I wrote my blog post.
I am working on a Pentel P200 Book (sporadically) that will be updated to the latest information (including Date Codes).
3 Likes
That’s nice, cann’t wiat to see it. Will you explain the codes imprinted next to Japan on these pencils?
I thought that 1979 and 1980 should be Gen 4!
That is the Mold Mark
1 Like
Again, I did not have hard dates when I wrote that. It will be updated in the Pentel P200 Book.
2 Likes
there is also always the chance that someone swapped the internals from a different pencil
- but I am sure there may have been some overlap in the years/generations
1 Like
That’s exactly what I was looking for, thank you very much!
I think the overlap is more likely with these two pencils because they are close in date codes and in features as well.
1 Like
After checking some of my P205 NOS pencils, I found something that didn’t add up! I have two Carbon Fiber pencils and two white pencils that all came together, and three of them have codes from 1978. The seller from whom I purchased those had many NOS Pentel pencils ( I purchased them with no regret). According to Nimrodd, the two white pencils were released in 2016, although one of them has the 1978 code. Is it possible that there was a 1978 version that was reproduced in 2016, or is this just someone who messed up one of the pencils and replaced the inner tube? I have the feeling that they are all ancient, so I took some photos to show the details of these pencils. I would appreciate the feedback on these pencils.
Also, I think the Carbon Fiber finish ones are “known” to be relatively recent, maybe also from around 2013 (as Nimrodd stated). Is that true?
1 Like
By those mold marks (meaning they are Gen 6), the absolute earliest they could have been manufactured was 1994.
Someone definitely changed out the internals on the bottom 3 pencils.
Try rotating the clip so the opening is lined up with the text. Most of the time, there is a 2 digit date code printed (or stamped) there, but some of the limited edition pencils don’t have them (since they were only run once).
The White pencil is from the Japanese P200 for Boys and Girls set that was released in 2016.
The Carbon Fiber edition was probably first released in Europe, in the early 2010’s. The 2013 date is when I picked up my copy of it.
Why someone would change out the insides, I couldn’t begin to guess.
3 Likes
I expected this feedback, but just wanted to confirm. Just in case, how to check for the 6 sided vs. 12 sided retainer?
just pull out the internals and look down the tube from the eraser end. Sometimes it helps to have a light source at the tip end.
2 Likes