My cue!
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The 2020 Joyful Color series… from the year 2020. Lots of fun but the plastics somehow felt ‘cheaper’ than the originals. Just enjoy them for what they are. 
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I’ve never seen anyone having a collection of these with all of the colors. Amazing! Did you collect these back when they were being sold in stores? If I’d had any clue these would become collectible I’d have bought a full box of each color!
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I know lots of folks who dislike the basic oil-based ink of Zebra’s F07 refill, but I actually enjoy using it, especially as the default in the F-701 (modified with a metal flange from a donor F-402).
Why? Because only these slightly tacky and viscous inks allow me to shade a drawing like a pencil. Lighter pressure gives you lighter strokes, unlike the uber smooth hybrids like Jetstream. AND. The F07 is also the closest analog to a variety of obsolete refills from Tombow, Sailor, etc from the 70s through the 90s. Sometimes I just have to remove the small plug and adjust the length, or maybe remove the metal jacket to fit a narrower cavity. In THIS case, however, I put in an older OHTO needle point with a similar form factor and ink formulation, i.e. NOT a current gel ‘flash dry’.
But enough of that. I rounded up this weekend group with my choice of an all metal 3/5/7 double knock combo:
0.3 Fuji Corona No. 205-03
0.5 Blick Premier (or should we call it the Slick Premier? Heh)
0.7 Cult Pencil by Cult Pens UK (OOP)
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My autumn setup:
- Rosetta pencil extender with uni HB stub
- Pentel Smash (Seasar Brown, Q1005-SSKS) with Pilot Neox Graphite B
- Pilot Custom Heritage 91 F (barrel: yama-guri brown) with Aurora Black
- uniball Jetstream 3-colour (Hobonichi Techo freebie; grip: 2024, barrel: 2023)
- Pentel P203 with Turn of the Century Cocobolo barrel and Pilot Neox Graphite 2B
- uniball Signo Needle brown black
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I like the Turn of the Century pencils. I have a few of them.
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I love the array of different nose cone shapes here. I understand #2 is Fuji Corona, #3 is Blick Premier, and #4 is a Cult Pencil. The Zebra F701 looks right at home there. What’s the metal flange swap you did from the F401? Do you have a photo of it?
Also, I didn’t know that Cult Pens retired the Cult Pencil. When did that happen?
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I’ve been looking for the cult pencil for a very long time, do you happen to have any you are willing to sell?
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It’s been a couple years… I think the Cult Pencil really didn’t sell as well as they’d hoped. The lead sizes eventually sold out one by one over the years. I’d picked the 0.7 right away back around 2015(?) as it was uncommon for a double knock. It is essentially the same internals as the Manufactum Druckbleistift.
As to the F-701 mod, it was all the rage a couple years back when folks took to cannibalising the F-402 (got the number checked) for its all-metal button assembly, in order to replace the black plastic flange on 701. Involves freezing and applying a flame or lighter to crack the glue and dislodge the respective assemblies. This is no longer necessary if you can order the latest F-XMD version of the 701.
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I’m sorry. I’ve never been resourceful enough to deliberately buy multiples of a cool pencil just for the chance of trading it someday.
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Fair enough, very nice collection still!
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That’s great to hear! They are really very well made.
Finally bit the bullet and got hold of an S.T. Dupont Defi Skeleton pen in gunmetal accents. This pen’s peekaboo aesthetics has been on my mind ever since I spied it online. The problem, of course, was the MSRP. After years of hoping for a lucky find, I got around to the fact that owners of this piece are highly unlikely to want to part with it. And so I… saved up.
Honestly, I don’t have any skeleton pencil that is as modern, sleek and alluring. So the best I can do is to opt for a classical design with at least a similar bulk. And that happens to be the Pilot Crystal cap action from Korea.
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I’m not sure I’ve ever seen the Pilot Crystal… very nice.
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It was also made with a light blue and light pink tint, plus gold trim instead of silver.
oh my 
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Interesting Spalding model by Raymay Fujii… it looks similar to the Walter Wolf Racing MP and BP designs!
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I am genuinely surprised to how heavy it is, almost feels like it’s a solid metal barrel.
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A double dose of chunky clips! A vintage Tombow stainless steel ballpoint and a Newman with golden accents.
Based on the original refill, I believe the Tombow is from 1977. The clip block is, I believe, designed as an abstract ‘T’ and features black enamel paint filling in the negative space. Very solid feeling and the clicker feels perfectly fine after nearly 60 years. I’ve replaced the refill with a Zebra F0.7.
The Newman is a 1500 yen executive model, with a fine grid etching on the steel body. The golden (I hesitate to say gold-plated) accents are found on the cone and clip-block. When viewed from the top/back, the block reveals an elongated octagon profile.
In use, the mechanism feels fine, not harsh or mushy as some mechanisms do in older Newmans. There is also very little wobble. My last pic shows the inner profile of the block/button and you can see the machining used to give the plug a wider diameter near the top, thereby reducing clearance and wiggle room. Even the reservoir tube is machined with 2 flange rings that reduce internal wobble and act as a stopper for the button.
My wish now is to find out more about the Tombow, and maybe someday locate the accompanying MP. The Newman… will probably remain anonymous unless a miracle catalog surfaces.
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