What colors were released for the U.S.A. A.W. Faber Sure Grip 6803? I’ve seen images for red, blue, yellow, black, and silver. I saw mention online of one in maroon, but no images.
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Yes they did… now there are one, or two images..they also made a line by the same name under the 6400 designation…(almost) ironically, neither had a green one…
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Thank you so much! Interesting that the length of the shiny section of the tip, as well as the number of rings, differs between the blue and the others. Do you know which would be earlier, the 6-ring or the 8-ring?
I’ll go out on a limb and suggest that the blue one is older since it has more rings…
but seriously, I have no real idea. It is the only blue one I have and all of the others I have show the same fewer rings. Interesting tidbit re 6803: look closely at the location of manufacture on these four…covering the world…(USA, Italy, Germany, Japan)
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Very nice! Interesting differences among the countries. (And 7 rings for the A.W. Faber Germany model!) I wonder if the changes were because of the different manufacturing processes in each country and/or because of changes in design. I was under the impression that the A.W. Faber name was from the early 1900’s and prior, but I’m thinking that might not be the case with the pencils. (Also interesting that the red U.S.A. pencil has the blue push button.)
I know sometimes the gold-colored printing gets washed out in pictures and looks silver. The printing on all of yours is/was golden, yes? Are any of push buttons gold colored?
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I only have one of those Sure-Grip leadholders: a generous gift from @Gunther , if I remember correctly; it has “Italy” carved on its barrel, and it is of the kind I can see in @lsd300 's picture, second item from the left, red body.
I find it a very nice variation on the theme of the immortal KIN 5611: while it retains most of the cool features of its immediate neighbour, both the weight reduction and the octagonal faceted barrel add a few points in terms of usability and comfort, while keeping the light knurling and the general sturdiness of the construction.
The “next-best-thing” in this sense is an unusual clutch pencil called “V.P.I. «Professional» No 61”, also from Italy (my specimen is an ad pencil from a “College Book Store”, who knows where it comes from), which instead prefers to keep the hexagonal barrel and the all-metal body — with an unusual burgundy hue — but just a smidge lighter and smaller than the KIN 5611, and once again, this makes all the difference.
Sometimes, it is not necessary to change anything big; just attempting tiny incremental modifications, iterating to perfection even when perfection itself has already been achieved.
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Which pencil are you referring to with an octagonal barrel? My two Sure Points shown above, as well as my KIN Adapto 5611 all have hexagonal barrels. My Staedtler Mars 780 has an octagonal barrel for part of it.
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The one in this picture (second from the left: mine has an octagonal barrel):
Single-pattern knurling, retracted clamp, 8-facets plastic barrel, shiny metal pushbutton. 
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