Dixon Multicolor 2 HB Pencil Review

[@HumbleVoyager]

Hi, Kevin! It shouldn't make a difference where a pencil is made, but it does. Thanks for the review and have a lovely day!

[@raccoon874]

It is likely due to the clay & graphite sourcing.

[@DinnerForkTongue]

@@raccoon874 And the lax-ness of the QC department.

[@AlwaysAnalog]

Hi Nancy! I agree! I wish pencils from any part of the world were all high quality, but it's not the case. The Japanese pencils seem to be consistently the best out there. Thanks!

[@DinnerForkTongue]

Fun varied colors, decent writing, can't complain at all. Though I'm more partial to the yellow paint with pink eraser that Pen & Gear carries, and they cost less, so they're my winner. I have a request for you, Kevin: when you get batches of pencils with varied centering, could you please sharpen both the most and least well-centered ones so we can see the difference? Preferably on the electric sharpener (or any of your crank ones), as the machine will naturally make the sharpening consistent between both.

[@AlwaysAnalog]

Hi DFT - I'll try to remember to sharpen the off-centered pencils so we can see the results. Thanks!

[@DinnerForkTongue]

@@AlwaysAnalog Much appreciated

[@user-fg6ro]

​Pen+Gear: made by Hindustan Dixon: made by DOMS (FILA group)

[@ma-mo]

I didn't realize these were being made in India now; it seems that has worked in their favor. Yes, I think Empire had a few pencils that came in similar colors; Fairmount is definitely one of them. I was mentally comparing these to the old EF American pencils, which came in a similar (if muted) array of colors.

[@AlexanderCrump]

I loved the variety of Empire EPCON plastic pencils from the '70s and through the '80s. They were ubiquitous in pencil cases and school supply aisles everywhere. The waxed leads wrote super smooth and erased reasonably well. The last EPCON pencils I recall seeing for sale were the triangular ones and when I saw them on the shelf I had the feeling it was the end of the EPCON production run so I bought up a bunch of them. The only modern plastic pencil of any quality is the Staedtler Wopex which has a very similar lead and plastic extruded body.

[@ma-mo]

@@AlexanderCrump I'm not a big fan of extruded pencils, but the earlier Empire/EPCON variety are definitely better than the new(ish) BIC plastic pencils. And the Wopex are good for making notes in books because they don't smudge at all.

[@GoodOleDFT]

I'll trust you lads' words on those acceptable resin pencils. I've been traumatized by the Bic Evolution and cheap copycats trying to emulate the Bic Evolution (and succeeding in all the bad ways), and will not come remotely close to an extruded pencil even if it was made by Kitaboshi.

[@ma-mo]

@@GoodOleDFT probably the best policy.

[@AlexanderCrump]

@@GoodOleDFT The Bic resin pencils are awful. The leads are like writing with a piece of plastic.

[@jay171_]

Your handwriting is so beautiful ❤…the original American English 🥰🫶🏻

[@AlwaysAnalog]

Thanks so much, Jay! I appreciate you watching!

[@GenWivern2]

Cumberland Florals came in a range of colours not unlike these - I'm quite sure they're not the ones you were thinking of! That would have been 1950s or 60s at a guess.

[@AlwaysAnalog]

Thanks, GenWivern! I wasn't aware of the Cumberland pencils - appreciate the information!

[@MillAppartments-kb5vd]

Were the pencils in the election booth today comparable ? 🇦🇺

[@GoodOleDFT]

Probably significantly worse. Either scratchy cheap clay pencils, or extruded resin ones.

[@AlwaysAnalog]

Hi MillAppartments - I'm not sure. In the election booths here, they only use black ballpoint pens. Thanks!

[@HelmutDoork]

I don't like the Chinese made Dixon's. They have in intermittently gritty feeling which is a big downer when sketching.

[@DinnerForkTongue]

The only good Chinese made pencils are those from national Chinese companies, like Deli. Outsourced Yankee ones are a waste of money, because those Yankee companies outsourcing to China are being cheap.

[@AlwaysAnalog]

Hi Helmut - from what I have tried so far, the Dixons made in India seem to have smoother core. Thanks!