I’m creating a video review on the latest Pilot Automac (HAT-3SR) and would like to cover the entire Automac line.
I’m specifically looking for high-resolution photos of the previous models, the Automac E (HAE-250R) and the Automac E500 (HAE-500M).
If you have a clear picture of either model you’d be willing to share for use in the video, please post it here or DM me. (I will credit your photo however you want.)
I have the black and silver HAT-3SR models, the boxes, and plan to discuss the S30 replacement. For a familiar grip comparison, I was thinking of using the TK-Matic—any better suggestions?
Looking back I probably got the date wrong on the Newman…
Aside from the grip, there is also the Pilot Automatic HAT-300S-S-05 from 1983-88? Double knock + auto advance but grip is more like a Hi-mecha Holder style.
I gotta admit, the Automac E and E500 are on my ‘Never’ list… because ‘ugly’.
I cannot speak for the Automac E, but for the Automac E500, once you have it in your hand, the level of exactness in almost all possible aspects is enough to change one’s mind (but it is true that I never found it ugly, only perhaps a bit more serious, which I do not think is an issue per se).
That beast is from another dimension — but not the other dimension, say, the Hi-Uni 5050 comes from, or the one where Uchida’s are born. It walks its own path, and it writes its own story.
The only pictures I ever saw — even from catalogues — were for black and white (possibly, with some very specific shades of white).
If there is a silver version, it is either some limited run, or something else entirely — maybe in the post they are referring to the “new” Automac, which in fact came in black and silver?
Can you tell me how you found it? It is such an obscure model that I wonder where they turn up in the world. Or did it just turn up locally in Korea?
I can understand Platinum MT-350 showing up in Taiwan since a lot of other Platinums are made in Taiwan. But the Provision was made in Korea and I don’t know what distribution channels Morning Glory had in the mid-90s. Very odd for me discover it in Taiwan.
Yeah, just locally in Korea. I haven’t seen it posted by anyone else, either, so it doesn’t seem extremely common. Nonetheless, the seller is only asking about $25 for it.
In fact, most domestically produced mechanical pencils here, regardless of how old they are, are extremely cheap second hand. In my opinion, it boils down to the fact that most of them are slightly lower quality knockoffs of Japanese and German designs. And more to that, the actual “higher-end” original designs do command higher prices, more in line with discontinued Japanese mechanical pencils.
Alas, I have only been collecting for about 2 months now, so this is my very basic impression. I’m sure someone out there can give a better appraisal of the situation.
Now, regarding how it ended up in Taiwan, my guess is as good as yours. Perhaps Morning Glory was doing business with some shops there in the 90s/early 2000s.
