Another Amazon.jp special pricing deal.
For less than $13 I got a Tombow Mono Graph Zero, the vaunted Mono Zero eraser, and some eraser refills. I’d say that qualifies as a strong value proposition.
9 Likes
How do you like the zero? Many choose the GG500 but it seems that the zero has more followers among connoisseurs.
3 Likes
I just picked it up for the first time yesterday, seems legit. Good balance, the lead is held rigidly, and the eraser in it is pretty fancy - very skinny and retractable. I’ll use it a bit as time permits but certainly a good first impession.
The strong reputation is what had me keeping an eye on it and I agree with you, it does seem to have some enthusiastic users.
3 Likes
Update: the sleeper in this bundle is the standalone eraser - it’s pretty great! The rectangular block shape is good for both scrubbing tiny details and clearing a larger area, and the material is a good compromise between soft/smooth and hard/coarse. It’s not a better compound than the Sumo black erasers but the form factor is, frankly, wonderful and looks great.
The pencil very good EXCEPT the grip knurling is pretty smooth, feels more like a pebbled area than a knurled area if that makes sense. The skinny, adjustable eraser feels like a solution in search of a problem, but at least you don’t have to worry about losing the cap I guess?
All in all, a decent pencil, particularly its rigidity, but not “my new favorite.”
5 Likes
The Mono Zero Metal eraser is my current favorite, though I do still sometimes use the 2.3mm round Mono for small/crowded writing. The former is a better width for me than Pentel ZE31/2/3 and it feels more sturdy.
3 Likes
I’ll throw My opinion in: When I first received it ( I had ZERO previous knowledge about it, Had never seen posts, images, ANYTHING…) I was astonished that a PERFECT in-hand pencil existed, as well as ASTONISHED it had ZERO “Fans”.
At my time of discovery, I was coming close to purchasing all currently mass-produced pencils (not yet having discovered the vintage pencil game). All I had been exposed to regarding Mechanical Pencil enthusiasts was the worship of the gg500, the !Blasphemy! that is the gg1000 and the “well, it’s a heavier pencil” of the Rotring 600…
I’m STILL shocked how LITTLE market share it held. It was a dark horse that was never let out of the stable imo.
If ANYONE wants the best pencil for the lowest price, the MonoGraph Zero is your answer.
3 Likes
^ see above re: “has its fans” - here is a clear example!
You don’t think the knurling is too smooth? I kinda like it when it’s borderline sharp, but I have pretty dry skin. So maybe I’m exfoliating at the same time.
2 Likes
Its knurling, weight and every physical aspect are lightyears beyond a gg1000 or Rotring 600.
If I wanted to do curls after every sketch or paragraph, the 600 would be ideal.
If I wanted the boardgame “Candy Land” expressed as a Mechanical Pencil; while is also 15% larger than it should be; while ALSO loving slick, brown bubbles that CONFLICT with the area where GRIP is expected… and is ALSO seemingly designed to SNAP in half —for some unknown reason —except entropy not being satisfactory, therefor deliberate subpar parts/designs are intentionally implemented…
1 Like
The mystery of why the MONO Graph Zero didn’t take off in the JDM… I think it has to do with the fact that the number of Japanese people who prefer knurling is much, much smaller than those who prefer some sort of rubberized grip.
It came out in 2016 two years after the hit of the original MONO Graph. And it was up against the rising tide of Smash, as well as growing color variants of the solid Graph 1000 CS.
Plus, the super fine eraser could feel like a poor value compared to the larger unit on the plain MONO Graph.
It would seem that Tombow learned from this and it resulted in, first, the MONO Graph Lite: rubberized grip, lots of fun colors at launch, and wider eraser unit; followed by MONO Graph Fine: soft touch coating on metal grip, also larger eraser unit than the Zero.
3 Likes