Just took these out while sorting out my collection. L-R:
• Retro de Luxe 778 25: One of the few metal bodied double knocks and the mechanism is deservedly different, having a very smooth deployment and light subsequent clicks. There’s a matching BP for it but it is not a priority for me. I believe I chanced on this on eBay before I even knew what it was.
• Retro 778 v1 in Pink, Aqua, Blue, Navy. These were listed with the de Luxe in the 87-88 catalog. They sport the ‘<< retro’ marking and use the ‘standard’ Kotobuki type mechanism. I like that Staedtler opted for molded axial grooves for the grip instead of rubber. The first 3 ‘brighter colours’ have Staedtler Japan price stickers on them.
• Retro 778 v2 in black. While still sporting the ‘<< retro’ markings, the clip has changed to a curved design and the grip has sadly lost its grooves. The nose cone is slightly longer too.
• Retro 778 v3 in burgundy and blue. Same form as v2 but now with boring-er markings.
A look at the tips deployed and recessed.
A quick comparison of the internals. Strangely, I could not fully take apart the v2. Didn’t want to force the issue. Note the loss of the cleaning pin from v2 onwards.
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No way, had no knowledge about the existence of the all metal staedtler double knock! 
Guessing it’s extremely rare to come by?
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Yes, it turned out to be quite hard to find. I have only seen it on auction ONCE over the last 5-6 years, and it was a complete BP & MP set. Starting bid around 350?
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Is there a connection to the Staedtler 9829?
Disassembled:
Like V1 above, it cannot be completely taken apart. – Does anyone know what „PUG“ means?
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This is new to me! Do you have a date for when this was made? The clear plastic tip looks a bit flimsy but I like that it’s not the ‘usual furniture’ with Kotobuki clones. I wonder if ‘PUG’ is the model name or some corporation’s branding for gifting?
For ‘full disassembly’ from the top half, you usually pull the mechanism down with increasing pressure to detach the ‘plug piece’ that holds the eraser and button cover. In my v2, you can see the white ‘plug piece’… the problem I had was that the mechanism was somehow stuck to the lower half.
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Unfortunately I don’t know when it was made. If I remember correctly I have bought it about 15 years ago.
At first I also thought it was a promotional pencil, but the fact that the manufacturer and model name are printed on it made me doubt it.
I made a mistake – I wanted to say that I can only disassemble the pencil as far as the red one above, i. e. I can’t pull the mechanism out of the upper part. But I’ll have another look at it.
PUG is the name, Amazon says they were first available in June 21, 2007
From Amazon
From reddit user u/
Money-Mechanic
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The PUG is new for me, too. I think it’s more similar to the generic double knock type (ohto protect and many other) than the retro.
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The v1 retro is the only Staedtler that I have any interest in. I found one in the copy room at a place I was working at in the early-mid 90’s. I carried that pencil around for years. My only complaint is the grip which would leave grooves in my fingers after writing with them for a long time.
The v1 also had a burgundy and black colors also.
The metal bodied one is fantastic.
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