He (presumably) knows his stuff. Some very sought after models in his collection.
BTW, for the very last photo with the H-5005, the last pencil on the right (3rd) is model HK-300S and called “Protecs” (or Protex). That’s basically my favorite retractable mechanical pencil. Not a double-knock, but instead a twist-knock.
I wish I had more time to chat with him, he also explained to me in a higher detail the “specifics” of mechanism in Micromatic 777, Alphamatic x TK-Matic… He also talked about the H-5005 resurgence and said he believes this new stock is gonna dry up soon.
Thanks for the info! Always good to find out about a mp I didn’t know
Fascinating. How does he know so much about the automatic lead feed mechanisms of various mechanical pencils? Is he an engineer by trade?
As for H-5005 “resurgence,” I would just call it a recent spike in available inventory. Word got around of how much they’d been fetching on auctions and I think that’s what inspired recent sales. It’s anyone’s guess about when it’ll dry up. There’s no known total production quantity for the H-5005 to even help with speculation. I imagine a few collectors who were lucky enough to obtain several at original (or near original) prices flipped some just to cash out on some tasty profit.
Haha it wasnt that detailed, more like telling me more about micromatics faults, how the alphamatic differs from TK or how H-5005 compares to modern Pilot (its smoother and more well constructed all around).
The hi mechas are incredible.
I’d guess they are mostly korean models? I had never seen any of those stickers before. The only one I knew was the grey circle one on the 2005 on the photo with the sakura archi. I believe cytherian also has that one (maybe I’m wrong).
The alpha-matic doesn’t have a pipe guide. There is a tapered collar where the lead protrudes and as the lead wears down sufficiently, that collar comes into contact with the paper. The depression and release of the collar from the tip pressure on the paper causes the lead advancement. With the TK-matic, there is a pipe guide that comes into contact with the paper and does the same thing–shifts inward, then releases outward and advances some lead with it. The mechanisms are essentially the same type of design, and since they’re isolated to the nose cone, you can swap them between bodies. See Dave’s Mechanical Pencil Blog to see the FC lineup together.
These are mostly made in JAPAN models. It appears that for distribution in Korea, they used a different sticker design. But I see one exception – the first H-2005 in the 2nd to last photo (middle below). This is highly unusual. I can’t tell if the PILOT lettering is a sticker or silk-screened on. And the price sticker is a band with orange coloration. Wild! Given how uncommon these are… did PILOT Korea temporarily make Hi-Mecha pencils?
As for the Protecs (ProTex), I’ve not seen this dark gray circular label on other models. I have to wonder if it was only for this model or just a few. At one point I had seven of these in my possession and this was before there was a wider collector awareness… so, suffering from myopia as I was, I sold off all but two. And yeah, I later regretted it!
Thank you, yes I’m familiar. I was just confirming what I thought I knew about the internal mechanisms and that they’re essentially the same across the two lines.
If he just whipped up these photos on short notice, and can take more… YES! Some nice close-up high-resolution examples would be very much appreciated. These are really intriguing.
Does he remember where he obtained these? A 2nd hand buy, or obtained as new?
