Discovery

The Pen Type-A

/ Andy Welfle / 4 Comments

While I love pencils, and use them as much as I can, sometimes you need a good, sturdy ink pen. And I’ve often run into the problem of a disposable pen that has a great ink cartridge and rollerball, but is encased in a crappy barrel.

That’s why I got excited when I surfed The Pen Addict the other day, a great blog I check every day that feels about pens the way I do about pencils.

Apparently there is a pen called the Pilot Hi-Tec-C, a gel pen I haven’t tried (but the Pen Addict really likes!) Unfortunately, the barrel is a bit cheap and plasticky.

There’s a small design firm in Brooklyn called CW&T who found a solution to this problem — they started a Kickstarter projectfor a product called the Pen Type-A, a stainless-steel replacement barrel for the Hi-Tec-C cartridge.

The Pen Type-A

This thing is really beautiful. It’s milled from a single block of stainless steel, and the minimalist barrel fits into a square sheath (that has a ruler on the side!) so well, it almost has a pneumatic sliding effect.

If you pay $50 towards the (fully funded!) Kickstarter project, you’ll get one of these pens, which is a deal, because it’ll retail for $99.

I’ll admit, I’m thinking about it. It’s supporting a small, creative venture, and this thing really is gorgeous.

Check out CW&T’s Kickstarter Project to watch a quick video about why they decided to make this thing. And if you’re on Twitter, go follow Che-Wei Wang, the CW of CW&T: @sayway.

 

 

 

How it’s Made: Video Dump!

/ Andy Welfle / 3 Comments

I posted a link to a great How It’s Made video the other day, then proceeded to spend the better part of an hour watching videos for other office-supply related clips from that show. And because I like to help others find ways to waste their time, I thought I’d share it with you.

You’re welcome.

Of note is the fountain pen video: it’s amazing how they regulate the ink flow, and how much is made by hand!

Which one was your favorite? Let me know in the comments!

Pencil sharpeners (hat-tip to David Wasting Paper)

Fountain pen

Retractible ballpoint pens

Bic Cristal ballpoints:

Dri-mark highlighters:

Eraser

Graphite cores for pencils

Copy Paper (disturbing if you fancy yourself an environmentalist)

Pre-inked rubberstamps
http://youtu.be/e2w7REXrGnQ

A new pencil blog, and an amazing offer

/ Andy Welfle / 4 Comments

It’s been a while since I’ve checked in, so I thought I’d share a few things with you. I promise, some original content will be coming soon.

New Pencil Blog, Pencil Reviewer
This guy is awesome. He’s a long-time blogger, and a long-time pencil fan, but, according to his About page, only recently did he combine those two. He already has a couple of reviews up, including the Palomino Blackwing and some Koh-i-Noor Mephisto pencils with awesome typography on the barrel. And just today he posted a great list, 10 Things Pencils have in Common with Cigars.

Go check out the blog, here.

Special offer from Staedtler for PencilTalk.org readers
I am most definitely a Pencil Talk reader, so I was thrilled to see this. Staedtler is giving away 175 kits to build your own historic pencil, to celebrate their 175th anniversary, and they’re giving them to PencilTalk readers! Go over there and learn how to request your own.

When I was recalling my favorite Staedtler line (have I written about them for this blog? I don’t think so…), I recall the Noris, a beautiful yellow-and-black lacquered pencil with an apple-red tip. This is a clip from a show called How It’s Made, about how those Noris pencils are made, from cedar slat to finished pencil. I’ve watched it on YouTube no less than 20 times. Check it out for yourself:

Poppin sample unboxing

/ Andy Welfle / 2 Comments

I love unboxing videos. Usually the best ones are of Apple products or RC helicopters or something, but one that you don’t see often is of office supplies. That’s because the packaging is usually uninteresting.

Until Poppin.

Here’s the video. I’m sorry it’s seven minutes long. You don’t have to watch it all if you don’t want to.

While I don’t think Poppin will necessarily be the next Pentel or anything, I think they will be extremely popular among creative agencies, arts nonprofits, and anywhere that is willing to pay a bit more for some color and fun.

Of course, I have no idea if they will actually cost more than regular office supplies. If not; great!

I’ll be posting a full review of the wooden pencils soon, but in the meantime, here are some thoughts about the pens and mechanical pencils:

  • The capped ballpoint pens are very pretty, they write average, but the cap fits loosely on the barrel, making it rattle and feel kind of cheap.
  • The premium mechanical pencils are really nice. I like that they use a 0.7 millimeter lead instead of a 0.5 — it doesn’t feel like it’s going to break as easily as, say, a Bic mechanical pencil.
  • It looks like they have a great selection of colors. I wish they came in packs of assorted colors, rather than each color in one.
  • I wish the pack included some Poppin-brand paper, so I could see how the pencils and pens looked against them.
  • I loved the personal, colored note from Meredith included in the box. As a office supply marketing professional, I think it was really classy of her.
All-in-all, I think this is going to be fun. If ever I get to be in charge of buying office supplies for my place of business, we’re definitely going to have some Poppin stuff around. I don’t know the scope of the business yet (maybe I should have a phone conversation with Meredith from Poppin some time), but it looks like they are going big, considering the budget that went into the beautiful packaging and marketing collateral alone.