Tombow Mono Graph Lite Mechanical Pencil Review

Is there a more underrated stationery maker than Tombow?

Their product lineup is not the biggest, and they don’t cover every corner of the stationery world. They are more Zebra than Pilot, for comparison. But everything they make, especially in the sub $10 price point, is outstanding. Often, that product is the best in its category.

Is the Tombow Mono Graph Lite Mechanical Pencil the best in its category? If not, it’s close. When I pick it up and use it, I smile. Sometimes stationery is that simple.

Oh, did I mention this is a $3 mechanical pencil? That’s right. This pencil would be right at home on a students desk as much as it would be on the drafting tables of an architectural firm. They still have those, right?

Why do I like this mechanical pencil so much? Design execution. You’d think companies wouldn’t obsess over a $3 pen or pencil, but the ones that do are clear. The plastic barrel is light and smooth. The rubber grip hits in the right spot and feels nice. The fixed lead pipe is long, but proportional to the overall length of the pencil. The clip color is designed to match the barrel across the lineup. And finally, a Tombow staple, the eraser doesn’t have a cap, it twists to extend and retract.

If I can overthink a $3 mechanical pencil this much, they must be doing something right.

The stock 0.5 mm Tombow graphite is crisp and firm - exactly what I’m looking for. Written on the Kobeha Graphilo Square Notebook.

This isn’t the first time I’ve gushed over a Tombow mechanical pencil or ballpoint pen. Their woodcase pencils and brush pens are pretty darn good to. They also make my all-time favorite color pencil in the Tombow Irojiten, so yeah, you could say I’m a fan.

Tombow isn’t the largest stationery brand in the world, but not everyone needs to be Taylor Swift on The Eras Tour to be important. Sometimes, three friends loading in and out from their Econoline every night, heading from Athens to Asheville to Amherst, is exactly what you need. Like a Tombow.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Delfonics x Pentel Sharp P205 Mechanical Pencil Review

Long-time stationery fans are certainly familiar with the Pentel Sharp series of mechanical pencils. On the market for over 50 years, they are a classic workhorse mechanical pencil, used by students, artists, professionals, and general stationery lovers like myself.

Why do I like this pencil so much? It is lightweight, with a narrow plastic barrel that tapers towards the metal nose cone. The entire feel and shape of this pencil is designed to disappear into your hand and provide exceptional control and sight lines from the tip. With this design, it became one of the most popular technical pencils ever made.

Over the past decade or two, Pentel has leaned into special editions for the Sharp series, mainly in the Japanese market. I’ve been able to add a few to my collection, and am always on the lookout for more. An orange barrel had always eluded me - unless I wanted to go the eBay route - until I spied this Delfonics x Pentel Sharp at Vanness Pens.

The product color is listed as red, but it is clearly a reddish orange in my book - even leaning more to the orange side of the spectrum. I purchased my favorite 0.5 mm lead size for those fine, fine lines, but it is also available in an 0.9 mm.

While the barrel color made the purchasing decision easy for me, I was curious about them working with Delfonics for this pencil. Pentel has dabbled in collaborations, most notably with Craft Design Technology, who has taken many of Pentel’s classic designs and reimagined them into a premium brand. This more direct collaboration with Delfonics surprised me in its simple styling, and is not something I recall seeing much of from the brand.

It wouldn’t shock me if these types of “Brand X Pentel” collaborations were more widely available in Japan. Delfonics, a Japanese brand themselves, is mostly known for their paper goods and stationery accessories, so collaborating with a big big brand on a popular product - even if that collaboration is a simple barrel stamping - is a good match for both.

For my money, Pentel has the best mechanical pencil lineup on the market. There are single pencils, like the Rotring 600 or Uni-ball Kuru Toga, that may be better, but as a full collection from top to bottom, no one does it better than Pentel. They are consistently high quality, fairly priced, and feature my favorite stock graphite in the Pentel Super Hi-Polymer. Even the eraser is top-notch.

The Pentel Sharp is an all-time stationery great. The only downside I can list is that the barrel may be too small and light for larger hands. Even the price is right, at under $6 for standard editions, and around $8 for limited and special editions, and collaborations like this one.

I’ll always have a soft spot in my heart for the classic black P205, or the pale blue of the P207. But these bright colors - I’ve added more since acquiring this one - are the ones I want living on my desk.

(Vanness Pens provided this product at a discount to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Pentel Sharp Rave!!!

Pilot Dr. Grip Play Balance Shaker Mechanical Pencil Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

We all know that there's a lot of preference that goes into the perfect balance and handling of a writing instrument. The lower the center of gravity, the better the control. Too low, though, and it just feels weird. Each pen or pencil has a unique balance, and that attributes so much to the overall writing experience. But what if you could customize the balance of the pen or pencil by adding/subtracting weight to the grip section?

I'm guessing this is the question that came up in a Pilot design session at some point, because that's why we now have the Dr. Grip Play Balance Shaker Mechanical Pencil. There's a lot going on in this name, so let's break it down.

• Dr. Grip — contoured and squishy grip that you'll either love or hate
• Play Balance — you can add or remove weight from the grip section to alter the center of gravity!
• Shaker — you can press the nock at the top of the pencil to advance the lead like any other mechanical pencil, but you can also advance the lead by giving the pencil a little shake.

The Dr. Grip product line has been around quite a while now. If you've never tried one, you owe it to yourself to see if the grip fits your hand and grip style. If it happens to fit, it's really one of the most comfortable writing experiences I've had for a moderately cheap pen that I can buy at most big-box stores. It's got plenty of soft give while also having enough firmness to easily control. For me, the Uni Signo Alpha gel grip is just too soft and I have a hard time writing precisely.

With this mechanical pencil, you have the option of 0.5mm or 0.3mm lead sizes. The version I have is the 0.5mm in the clear body color. There's also black, red, green, and blue if clear isn't your thing. Regardless of the lead size or color, there's a chrome lead advancement button on the top of the pen, a chrome nose cone and lead shoulder, and a small nub at the top of the pencil to keep it from rolling away. There's also a small hole in the nub, so you could theoretically attach it to a lanyard strap or something else to secure it. Unfortunately, there's no clip on this pencil!

I have several mechanical pencils that use the shaker mechanism for advancing the lead, and I have to say that I like it a lot more than I thought I would. At first glance, this just seems like a gimmick that only exists to sell units. But, after retraining my brain that a quick shake will extend enough lead to keep writing, I was instantly sold. The quick shake is milliseconds faster than changing my grip to click the button with my thumb, and it's also just more fun. The shaker mechanism in this pencil is well done — it works easily and doesn't take much effort.

Now, let's talk about the main differentiator for the pencil — the reason is exists and has its own SKU: the Play Balance feature. While I'm not a fan of the name, I actually like the ability to change up the balance of the pencil will little effort. I've seen this type of option in gaming mice — the mouse comes with a cavity inside that you can fill up with a number of small weights until you achieve the perfect weight for your preferences. The idea here is similar, but since you hold a pencil upright instead of laying it flat on a desk and moving it around, you're actually shifting the center of gravity when you move the weight around.

So how does this work? Well, the package comes with three weights (equal sizes) and two silicone spacers. The pencil is preloaded with one weight and two silicone spacers. The weight is closest to the writing tip of the pencil. Changing out the weights and spacers is easy — just unscrew the cone, slide off the Dr. Grip squishy bit, and add/remove weights and spacers to the inner section. The grip section slides back over pretty easily, and as soon as you screw the cone back onto the pencil, you're ready to go. Since there are three available spaces to play with, your options are quite numerous. It's been a long time since I had a statistics math class, but I think this comes out to eight unique configurations (I checked the JetPens page after spending an embarrassing number of minutes trying to remember how to calculate the number of possible options, and JetPens had me covered). It's difficult to tell a difference between small changes, but it's really obvious when you from one extreme to the other. This is similar to how it feels to write with a pen that's posted versus one that isn't. For me, the perfect balance is one spacer at the top, and then two weights at the tip of the section. The beauty of this system is that you can find the perfect balance for your writing style or the task at hand!

At just under $12, this is a fun pencil that I'd happily recommend if you need a solid mechanical pencil that also allows you to play with the balance. It seems like there are so many gimmick-y stationery items in this price range, but this one actually delivers. Even if you never play with the weights, it's still a solid pencil that will serve you for decades to come.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!