Staedtler

Eraser Bonanza

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In a recent post (“My favourite eraser”) I wrote about the Faber-Castell 18 71 20 Dust-Free eraser. In a comment to this post Henrik mentioned Staedtler’s PVC free eraser, which he said is quite similar. Curios about the Staedtler’s performance I got hold of this eraser andoday I want to write a bit more about this eraser and about the Läufer Oval Office.

The Staedtler 525 B30 PVC-free eraser

What I like most about the recently reviewed Faber-Castell 18 71 20 Dust-Free eraser is that you only need to apply very little force when erasing and that it does erase very thoroughly, much better than most other erasers. To my surprise the material of the Taiwanese-made Staedtler 525 B30 PVC-free eraser seems to be even softer than that of Faber-Castell’s dust-free eraser. It is therefore also no surprise that you do need to apply more force when you use the Faber-Castell eraser. This might be down to the fact that when I compared them the Staedtler eraser was brand new, freshly unwrapped, while one of my Faber-Castells has seen a few months, the other one a few years of use and contact with air. Just like Faber-Castell’s eraser the Staedler is also available in two sizes: the model number of the big one ends with 20, the number of the smaller one ends with 30.

Conclusion: The Staedtler is an exceptionally good eraser. It is not my favourite but comes very close. One disadvantage for me (others might not mind at all) is that the eraser waste does not twists up into strands, which makes it a bit more messy when you want to clean the paper and get rid of the eraser waste – but to be honest, for most erasers the waste does not twist up into strands, so this is nothing unusual.

I bought the Staedtler 525 B30 in November 2010 for 47c (~62¢, ~38p).

Läufer Oval Office

Läufer is relatively well known in Germany for their erasers. In 2004 Läufer merged with Gutenberg, a company some stationery fans might recognise because they supply indelible, permanent ink used for official documents – in Germany many dioceses and government offices use their G10 ink for official documents. As far as I know Läufer & Gutenberg are now part of Société Bic, the company that owns the BIC brand – but I have not been able to confirm this.

The Läufer Oval Office is, in my opinion, an average eraser when it comes to perfermance and the material it is made of. It is mainly interesting because of it’s shape and that is also why I bought it. The Oval Office has the shape of a stretched lens. While the 90° angle of a traditional eraser will soon get too wide for erasing small areas, the shape of the Oval Office means that it can be used for more precise erasing for longer.

Conclusion: A nice eraser I will use occasionally. The shape is practical and looks nice, but performance-wise I would describe this eraser as ‘normal’.

I bought the Läufer Oval Office in November 2010 for € 1.69 (~$ 2.20, ~£ 1.40).

The Staedtler Mars rasor you can see in the photos has been reviewed at pencil talk.

Prices: November 2010

Exchange rates: December 2010

I bought all three erasers in November 2010 from Schule-Uni-Shop. The Staedtler Mars rasor was € 1.37 (~$ 1.80, ~£ 1.15).

On a slighlty unrelated note: If you like Staedtler AND Star Wars, have a look at this article: Staedtler and Star Wars

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Staedtler promotional tins 2011

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Next year Staetdler will release “nostalgic metal tins” as a limited edition. There will be tins for the Mars Lumograph, the Noris and the Tradition (yes,  this time with an upper case “T”).

I assume that that only the tins have the nostalgic look and that  the pencils inside will have the modern look.

Fantastic! I hope I will be able to buy some before they are gone. Getting this years 1835-2010 set was difficult enough.

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Staedtler Inspiration No. 176

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3 October 2010 was not only the 20th anniversary of the German reunification, but also the 175th anniversary of Staedtler [1]Even though Staedtler’s history goes back further, 3 October 1835 is the official ‘birthday’ as it is the first day Staedtler can trace their business back to without interruptions. It was also the last date of their “Fascination of Writing” exhibition.

Happy Birthday Staedtler!


You might have already read about this exhibition at Lexikaliker (Google translation of this article), but I just discovered that there is an article about this exhibition in Staedtler’s latest newsletter Inspiration No. 176 (from August 2010).

To celebrate this special year Staedtler released a 175th anniversary pencil set. You can read more about it at pencil talk.

References

References
↑1 Even though Staedtler’s history goes back further, 3 October 1835 is the official ‘birthday’ as it is the first day Staedtler can trace their business back to without interruptions

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Two articles

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David O. just posted two comments with links over at pencil talk’s. They are linking to  great [1]great because they are about the pencil industry, I am not sure what to think about the content articles and it would be a shame to miss them because are hidden in the comments, so I thought I post them here.


One article is from the economist, focussing on Faber-Castell and our favourite nobleman.

The other one is from the Wall Street Journal and is looking at the rivalry between Staedtler and Faber-Castell. To be honest I always thought they get along perfectly fine: selling name rights to each other, having joint press statements, …   but the article portraits a much darker image. I am not sure whether they exaggerated a bit to make the article more catchy.


Thank you David O. for posting the links at pencil talk.

References

References
↑1 great because they are about the pencil industry, I am not sure what to think about the content

Two articles Read More »

Staedtler Wopex 2B and 2H

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I have been looking forward to receiving Staedtler’s Wopex in 2B and in 2H since I started using the Wopex HB a few weeks ago. Even though writing with this pencil is somehow strange, it is also quite nice at the same time. If the Wopex is not over-sharpened and if you write on the right kind of surface it will perform really well. Another thing I should mention is that the Wopex does not smudge, something I find quite important (others might not care).

Back to the main topic: I received the Wopex in 2B and in 2H and after trying the new pencils for a few seconds I was quite disappointed. Not because they do not perform well (they are nice writers), but because I really struggle to find a difference between the 2B, the HB and the 2H. They lay down a line of the same intensity, they ‘shade’ paper the same way, erasing them is virtually the same and they all do not smudge either.

Is selling the same pencil under different grades some sort of marketing trick?

Did I get a bad bunch?

…or does the production process mean that the different grades of lead are the same at the ‘start’ of the pencil and the real lead will appear after more sharpening?

I would be very interested to hear whether other Wopex users have the same problem.

Comparison Staedtler Wopex / Mars Lumograph

You can find a review of the Staedtler Wopex HB at pencil talk.

Lexikaliker has a review (in German) of the Staedtler Wopex HB (Google Translation of the article into English) and of the Staedtler Wopex 2B (Google Translation of the article into English).

The Staedtler Wopex was recently mentioned in the Battle of the eco pencils post.

My mother bought the Staedtler Wopex 2B and 2H from Bürobedarf Jäcklein in Volkach and sent them to me. At about €1 each they were rather dear, but you can find them cheaper online.

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