I’ve been utilizing this platform for a while now, though I’m not sure if I have p
osted my collection at it’s current state:
P.S… feel free to recommend what you feel I’m missing!
osted my collection at it’s current state:
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Nice!
Incredible collection! From your collection, the one I want most at the moment is a TK-Matic (also want a PWP15, but it is way outside my budget kkkkk).
What is your overall top 5?
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I love how you’ve gone wiiide and also probed some of the depths 
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Thank you!
Maybe not top 5: some faves of note: Fuji Corona 205-03, a perfect device in every way. The Pilot HH-50-k 0.5, could only be improved by it being a 0.3mm (which I’m avidly hunting.) annnnnnd the Variable of course, so cool. The Mitsubishi Hi-Uni 2050 0.3 is still what I always reach for (even though I don’t have the cap 
)
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Thank you thank you.
I’m realizing a new feeling and price point in my collecting process. Fewer and rarer desires, higher and higher prices.
I was getting 20-30 a month. Now it’s hard to find ten to be enough to ship.
Though it sounds like I’m complaining, Im enjoying having this issue.
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Is it my old weary eyes or the H-2103 has a substitute clip?
P.S. Before I start selling many pieces away, my collection was a bit in the same tone/scope as yours — even the black fuji/kokuyo* — thanks for sharing!
*they were produced by OHHIRA
If you accept suggestions — be on the lookout for a Pilot Holder 2mm, they are very very nice.
Humorously enough, I got the 2103 from Elton after NEVER seeing available anywhere for almost a year (they then started popping up like crazy for MUCH cheaper). I lived a learned on that one.
But the clip notice of yours, great eye, I’m guessing the clip should be the same as the h-2003?
I’ll definitely check out the pilot holder. I’m not TOO attracted to 2.0mm, but some definitely defy my preferences
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Do you happen to have an image of the Pilot holder?
And the 2103 clip has apilot written at the bottom, and has a raised center towards the top. The 2003 has pilot written at the top and is flat through.
Maybe someone more knowledgeable than I can chime in and let me know if I’ve been hoodwinked haha
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I sold my 2103 only kept the 2105 — but this was it with the original clip
P.S: I’ll try to take photos of the Pilot 2mm later — it’s too dark right now,. Who said this is a sunny country??
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Here’s the Pilot Holder 2.0. Triangular body, round grip section. The clip is the same of the H-100X, H-210X, etc
Need to clean it up a bit with wd-40 or something like that.
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Ah yes! The hh-80k (?)…. I need that in a 0.3 as well. My two 0.5mm’s just sit and remind me what I don’t have… But yes, it’s on my list of expected acquisitions.
And thank you for this. It definitely doesn’t match the rest. The clip mine has is from some lower tier pilots.
Elton sold me some snicklefritz…
I’m not sure if the original H-210X clip is actually any different from the original clip on the H-56Xs. Maybe it is a little shorter? idk…
I’m pretty sure though that the clip on the H-108X is the same that was used on the higher models. Might be easy to replace if you find a broken H-108X pencil online, they’re usually not very expensive 
edit:
I’m having a hard time spotting any significant differences between these clips H-2105, Holder 2mm and a H-563… The positioning of the lettering is uneven, not sure that counts. Somehow the chrome plating looks better on the H-2105 but that’s maybe just the state they are in now and clearly the higher model benefited from a more careful storage throughout its life.
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The best time to be into pencil collecting from overseas would’ve been15 years ago, as proxy buying services were becoming available. The tough things back then were a strong Japanese yen (making everything quite expensive relative to now), not as much inventory available, and costly proxy service fees. Local collectors were having a heyday. I’d once found a list-serve stream in Japanese where collectors were discussing their combing over old stationery shops in various towns & cities in Japan. They’d known about the “5 toxic” back then and were on the hunt… often grabbing the most sought after models for sticker price, as aging stationery store owners had no clue about the value and were just glad to finally make a sales of old inventory. These guys were “living it up.” I’ve long wondered what happened to them. Maybe one of them turned out to be Monogusa (who, incidentally, has been selling some of his pencils on YAJ).
There was a stretch from 2015 to mid 2016 where the yen weakened a fair amount. That was a very good time to buy. But then there a painful dip, followed by a slight recovery in 2017. That languished for 4 years. The start of 2021 was the beginning of Japanese Yen devaluation that presented great buying opportunities. And unfortunately that’s when new crops of collectors emerged from China, Korea, Singapore, Philippines, Thailand, etc., who made competition tough and prices soar.
Anyway, if you bought during the lower JPY valuations, you could do rather well. This past year we’ve been incredibly lucky. By the last quarter of 2023, we’d seen the lowest strength JPY to the US dollar. Unfortunately, we’ve also seen some of the highest prices ever for quite a few desirable models, offsetting that currency advantage.
I got started about 10 years ago (roughly). And didn’t get more serious until around 2015. I did score some really great auctions from time to time, but unfortunately not knowing that it wasn’t going to last I didn’t make haste to get a variety of other sought after models that now… are too pricey relative to what I’ve seen in the past. And like you, I was backing off from pricey purchases, until I simply had to jump on a few that came into view (finally). I’ve got only generalized themes in my collecting and not OCD about getting every variant. So there’s plenty of holes.
I think many of us here have done well and because vintage pencils will continue to get more scarce as time goes on, in the long run, there will be gems worth quite a lot down the road.
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ahah I was totally hooked up on Monogusa when I started buying pencils in 2013-2014. I was aware of that pencil hunt in old pencils shops in Japan because I was able to copy paste most of the blog into google (god bless that thing). There was another blog that even had pics of the old stores that were raided 
The proxy services were starting and you had to transfer money prior to bidding, which was a limitation in the heat of battle. You’d loose nice pencils when you run out of funds. Good times though. Some pencils were already quite expensive, but most of them, especially the vintage ones, were not very difficult to obtain.
For example, it was relatively easy to get a 925 95 for 5000¥-6000¥. And most top tier Pilots between 4000 and 9000¥ if memory doesn’t betray me… At one time there was a guy selling box after box of hi-unis FF for 12000¥ but I was completely broke and didn’t get a single one! Then they disappeared altogether for a long time and whenever one would surface it was already well over 25000¥.
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Yep, that’s what I did. It was before the days of a built-in translation feature in browsers.
I had saved links to those blogs. But over time those servers were retired and the links went dead. Would’ve been cool to have saved off the text. So easy… didn’t even need to do image capture, just straight ASCII text, nice and small. Wish I’d thought of doing that back then.
Yes, I also remembered there being photos of some store fronts. Some looked a bit dumpy while others pretty decent.
There was one guy who’d gotten about 4 PILOT H-5005’s from stationery store trawling. ¥5000 was still a fair amount of money then, but relative to the value of the H-5005 on the used market, quite low. Some were bought at sticker, while some for a bit more. I don’t recall hearing about a lot of others, like Tombow variables, Pentel Technomatic, or Hi-Uni 5050 / 3051FF.
eBay had nothing back then. It was all YAJ. I don’t ever recall seeing the more desirable double-knock Pilots going for below ¥9000. What I do remember was after currency conversion, fees, and shipping, most of them would cost over $100 USD for modestly worn user grade examples, and about $150 USD for ones in excellent condition. Stickered ones were hard to come by and would cost more. Anyway, back then those were prices that were painful for collectors who were getting so much better value on lesser models.
Anyway, it’s so frustrating to see the JPY valued rather low against the USD and EUR, yet inventory has become more scarce as well as the bidding pool is just so much more intense now.
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