I really can’t think of a more whimsical and daring Japanese writing instrument brand than TOMBOW. They’ve made so many unusual and nearly farcical designs. In the La Nave series, “The Oceanic” resembles a fish! Of course, that was a commissioned designer who made a number of rather physically unusual pens and pencils for TOMBOW. The brand also took some standard designs and dressed them up in everything from silver & gold gawdy facets & etchings to youthful colors and patterns.
Some of their patterned designs were very symmetrically geometric. One of my favorites is the “check box” grid. I’d had a mechanical pencil of it sitting in my collection for a long while and then one day I spotted this pencil and pen set. Very unusual to see these. This one comes in a plastic presentation box and comes with a 2-tone carry sleeve that has a curious old-style TOMBOW “T” logo.
Once I have it in hand I’ll post a group shot. Please add whatever fun or kitschy TOMBOW writing instruments you may have below!