Because the 925-95 doesn’t have a slot window cut out in the barrel and a little indicator mechanism, it’s just a little more solid sounding than the 925-85… in my opinion anyway. Both are remarkably good pencils considering the original purchase price. And the 925-85 can periodically be found in lightly used condition for very reasonable prices. The TOMBOW Variable SH-1500VP is just a… sexier looking pencil. I like the choice of anodized colors and how the cap is very small. All it needs to do is protect the tip and it does that well. Plus, when posted, the plunger is directly accessible through it. Smart idea.
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I do like the cap design of the variable. And I wasn’t putting it down. It’s great.
What was the original price for the 95?
I know you can get an 85 for 20-30$ on mercari.
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1200 Yen according to Penessay.
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In usd perhaps? Taking inflation into account?
Super curious…
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Assuming the price didn’t rise I will use 2005 figures:
During 2005 the Yen-USD exchange rate sat at around ~111 Yen (102 lowest rate, around 120 highest rate for the entire year).
So that’s around $10,8 in 2005, taking inflation into account it’d be around $17.65 nowadays.
Now, this is if the price didn’t rise at all, that is, it was 1200 Yen from when the pencil was launched (sometime around the 90s) all the way to 2005. I find this hard to believe but still we can say it’s a pencil that cost around $20 today’s money. Which is a believable figure for a MSRP in my opinion.
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Thank you!
And that is insane…. The 95 is an MP I stumbled upon looking through @drifand’s posts on twitter (maybe). Once I saw it, I immediately tried to acquire it.
I’ve never understood its lack of popularity.
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Patrick, another magnificent review!
So much so that I went down the rabbit hole trying to find one of thee puppies. A very deep hole.
cheers,
elliot
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Thank you Elliot! Did you find one?
I did in fact. And, of course, a long story. Inbound from Japan in a couple of weeks? I’ll post a pic or two.
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Holy cow that was fast
I was shocked, shocked I say.
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I’m very impressed with OneMap FROM JAPAN
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Is that a proxy?
yes
They have a marketing challenge coz they also have USA proxy services… hence ‘OneMap’. I just call them ‘FromJapan’. Their fees are 500-yen per item, so buying multiple items from a single seller (or Rakuten store) gets you no savings. Their staff do seem to be more attentive with regards to messaging and checking with sellers, and also if a delivered item seems ‘off’. However their biggest downside is the convoluted site navigation, especially for auctions… I have lost out on several high bid listings because it took too long to get back to a repeat bid. Buyee has actually lowered their fees to 300 yen per item such that even a 10% discount from FJ may not be as worthwhile.
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I had a fantastic experience. And with shipment taking two days to get from Japan to California is Harrison Ford quick. Communication was excellent. I bought one item and with their welcome 20% discount on shipping it was easy peasy. Nothing but good things to say. Though I’m not (wink) going to buy another pencil. Nope
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Someone got one hell of a deal! (Mercari)
The clip finish is trashed… but the light scratches on the body could be buffed out.
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OK, teaser is over.
It’s quite a long story but the TLDR is after kinda missing the boat on one, the very next day I found this -
And I know all you fine peeps are coo-coo-for-cocopuffs crazy for stickers, it even has the sticker!!
And this is the first of mine that has one!
The clip seems to be perfect -
In fact, the whole pencil seems like it was purchased, put in a time capsule back in, what, 1990, and then taken out to sell -
Oddly, and I didn’t even notice this until I read down in the listing, it included this! -
A (somewhat) complete drafting set. And note that the Variable-5 has a perfect foam cutout!
I don’t know the first thing about drafting tools, and I did some research on PLUS but I can’t come up with anything. They seem too to have been put in the same time capsule. To my eye, perfect condition.
Anyhoo, I think a good find. And again, shipped from Tokyo and in my hands two days later. Nice.
cheers,
elliot
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A fantastic example! Congrats!!
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