Based on the non responsive webshop, and zero stock online, it would seem that USUS has gone bust. Would love to be proven wrong. Anyone in Berlin who can try calling them?
By the way, I recently TRIED converting my Usus Pi toggle pen into an MP. My honest advice: DO NOT ATTEMPT!!!
My Schmidt 2006 couldn’t fit thru the nose cone, so I tried again with a Parker Japan 0.5 cartridge. BAD. The eraser knock got stuck inside. Now I cannot fit a Parker cartridge anymore due to the blockage. Instead, I’m forced to use a shorter refill like a Pilot BRFN-30. You have been warned.
So, i called the number. Apparently USUS are still around, but they are currently in the process of ‘Abwicklung’, which i understood as liquidation. It seems they still have some stock, but it won’t be sold in stores; if there are any requests for specific pieces, they gave me an email address which we can use and they’ll provide an offer. The dude did not specify which pieces were still available. @drifand (or anybody else for that matter) - anything specific you want me to ask about?
If they have stock, I’d like to order 3 pieces of their Pi pen with the toggle switch. Prefer one in each color: Pacific (blue), Brazil (grey) and Polar (grey).
Sad that USUS is closing up. I guess their product line is a bit too avant-garde for the average buyer. Any word of prices? Would be great if they’re discounted from list price. I’d be interested in their Pi pen as well. Just a Pacific (blue), and possibly IO in frosted, depending upon price.
No idea what the prices will be, but the dude i spoke to used the german word “Angebot” - which means ‘offer’ - so i would assume there will be at least a small discount. Let’s see what’s they say.
Sad to see this brand go bust. They have some really curious designs.
Regarding the Pi, it looks like on their site that they have it in both ballpoint and mechanical pencil. I wonder if they use a proprietary insert in the same body. Regarding your failure with trying to use a Parker pencil cartridge… no way to extract using thin pliers? One technique I once used to extract something from a narrow tube (no way to fit pliers or long narrow tweezers inside) was to take a segment of wire hangar and apply a dollop of epoxy glue at the end, then join it to the stuck piece inside. Allow to thoroughly dry. Slowly pull outward (do not twist).
My only misgiving with the pencil in the Pi is that the lever would probably be an awkward device for lead advancement, as it’s a requirement to periodically rotate the pencil while using… which means the lever travel path changes.
Yeah, one could argue that the very name is enough to not even give it consideration.
Of course, as the old saying goes, “what’s in a name?” or “A rose by any other name,” or “the word is not the thing.”
For my own “counter-thought,” I try to think of the Egyptian Goddess reference. USUS bungled it, because the name should be mixed case as they did with Pi. USUS.Isis.
Phoned them - nice dudes, but they never received my mail (didn’t land in their junk mail either). I said i’d send it again, but if that fails too, i’ll simply phone again and try to do everything verbally.
