I have been wondering for a while why all the supermarkets here in the UK sell t-shirts with ‘brand advertising’ – these days mainly Star Wars, but you can also find other brands, like Coca Cola or Volkswagen – while there are no stationery themed t-shirts.
Well, Uniqlo to the rescue! When I moved to the UK in 2001 you could still see this brand outside London, but in the UK it now it seems to be restricted to very few locations. My wife said that there was an article in The Economist explaining that there UK presence actually has the main aim of improving Uniqlo’s reputation for their Asian customers.
One of Uniqlo’s Pelikan T-shirts
Anyway, they are offering currently Pelikan and Tombow themed t-shirts, you can see them here. Unfortunately the Tombow themed t-shirts didn’t make it to Europe, at least not to the UK or Germany …but the Pelikan t-shirts are available over here.
You can find more Pelikan-themed blog posts in the Pelikan category.
Further information:I bought this mug in December in Carrefour in Shanghai’s HongKou Dragon Dream Shopping Centre for ¥14.90 (~$2.25; £1.60; €2.10). The print on the mug says “My Pencil” on one side and “Happy Hour” on the other.
Yet another blog post related to my recent visit to Shanghai.
You might remember the Chung Hwa Drawing Pencil 101, together with the Chung Hwa 6151 it forms the pencil backbone of Shanghai. Whenever you see a pencil in Shanghai it usually is one of these two – and they are made in Shanghai, too.
…but what happened? Deli dared to enter Chung Hwa’s home turf – disturbing the natural order of things.
…and what a pencil they sent to threaten Chung Hwa’s hold on its home territory: it’s the Deli No.7083[1]I assume the product number is derived from the last digits of the bar code before the heck digit …or maybe it’s the other way round..
The Chung Hwa 101 in its natural habitat
Price
I bought the 7083 in the Carrefour in Shanghai’s Hongkou Dragon Dream Shopping Centre and paid 11.80 元 (~$1.80; £1.25; €1.65) for a dozen HB pencils. They were also available in 2B and 2H.
The Chung Hwa 6151 in its natural habitat
Appearance
Let’s look at the appearance first. The 7083 looks like a pencil with a very thick layer of paint. The paint seems to be applied very well, except near the end of the pencil, which seems to have been dipped in just a bit too much paint. The 7083 has an unusually large diameter for a modern pencil. The paint job and the large diameter make it feel like a much better pencil than what you’d expect from a pencil with this price tag.
Deli No.7083
It is dark green like the Chung Hwa 101, but there’s also a similarity with another pencil. The shade of green used is virtually identical to the one used for the Castell 9000.
Deli No.7083
Lead
The 7083 lays down a very dark line and feels very smooth, even creamy when writing – but just to put this into context, we are talking about a very cheap pencil. The 7083 is not as good as the big boys, like the Mars Lumograph. Nevertheless it is very good and probably the best pencil I have tried in this price range.
If I had to compare to a pencil that is well known I would compare it to Staedtler’s Mars Lumograph in B. Point retention is very similar, but in direct comparison it is ever so slightly lighter than the Lumograph in B and slightly less smooth and erases slightly worse than the Lumograph in B [2]In case you wonder why, based in these statements, I don’t compare it to the Lumograph in HB: It is still much closer to the Lumograph in B, which shows you how minute these differences are. .
It writes well even on paper that is not good for non-soft pencils, like the original (‘Kraft’?) Field Notes.
Deli No.7083
Wood
The wood is slightly red, similar to the one used for the Chung Hwa 101 and when you knife sharpen the 7083 you notice that the wood is harder than cedar wood.
Deli No.7083
Conclusion
A great pencil that is nearly as good as much more expensive pencils. It has a strong paint smell, similar to other Chinese pencils, but for this price you probably won’t be able to find a much better pencil.
Price: December 2015
Exchange rates: January 2016
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In case you wonder why, based in these statements, I don’t compare it to the Lumograph in HB: It is still much closer to the Lumograph in B, which shows you how minute these differences are.
One of the pencils I bought in Shanghai this Winter is the M&G m9, also known as the AMP85405.
Price and properties
When I saw it in a stationery store [1]I think it was 立信帐册, house number 618, even though according to Google it is somewhere else. on FuZhou Road, the book and stationery road I mentioned many times before, I just couldn’t resist. Only 15元 (~$2.30; $1.60; €2.10) for this quite handsome mechanical pencil. It is available in white, grey, red and black. It feels very well made, from some kind off metal, and with 12 g it is quite heavy for it’s size. The pen’s centre of gravity is in the middle.
Well made, including the clip
Sliding sleeve
It does feature a sliding sleeve, but the ‘sleeve’ is shaped more like a cone than like a pipe. This means that it is not good at what I like sliding sleeves for, i.e. sliding back while you write so that you don’t have to keep advancing the lead manually, despite only needing 4 dN – 6 dN to slide the sleeve.
The sliding sleeve – or should that be sliding cone
Conclusion
Great value for money, despite the sliding sleeve not doing its job properly. I think the m9 might benefit from its centre of gravity a bit closer to the front …and maybe from having a slightly larger diameter.
Price: December 2015
Exchange rates: January 2016
You can read about a wood-cased pencil from M&G in a previous blog post.
After a bit more than three years and many posts later the Bleistift Facebook page reached 100 likes this week. Well, I have to confess that I cheated and invited some of my friends to like the page, anyway: next aim: 200 likes by 2018, but that will be more difficult, as I have already invited some friends plus some people will probably unlike the page over the next three years. We will see…
Wopex vs Noris
Anyway, onto the real blog post:
You might remember the blog post about the Staedtler 501 180 sharpener. Staedtler’s rotary sharpeners start with 501 and their Wopex pencils are associated with the number 180. Despite this sharpener being officially available in the UK I didn’t come across it yet, so I keep using my Deli to make a great Wopex point. Here’s a comparison of a Wopex, sharpened in a Deli 0635 and a Noris, sharpened in the same Deli.
