Parker Jotter

Here I have a Parker Jotter Mechanical Pencil. It’s the third pencil that I bought along with my Pentel Forte Pro and Pentel 120 A3. The store I bought it from also gave me a black pen box with a clear plastic on top to store it.

I’m sure most of us are familiar with Parker Jotter’s. They’ve been around for a long time and for me is the most famous pen in the world. Naturally being a pencil collector, I would want to have the pencil version of it. I believe these only came out in .5mm lead size which works great for me.

On this visit to the stationery store, I was lucky to have bought the last piece which was actually the one on the display case. I’m sure they’ll have more and these are common on eBay so it’s not going to run out of stock as of this writing.

The pencil is simple and elegant at the same time. From barrel top to bottom, the smooth lines flows well.

It’s design is simple, just click the top cap to advance the lead. As I clicked away, the mechanism feels solid and well made as would be expected from a Parker brand even though it’s not an expensive pencil at under $10.00.

As you can see from the picture, the tip is protruding from the barrel. It is non-retractable and can be dangerous to the pocket shirts.

The barrel is made up of half plastic and half steel and since there are no rubber grips here, it actually makes the look very classic.

As the name suggests, it is not suited for long writing but for short notes here and there.

The pocket clip has a simple arrow design parker is famous for. Engraved on the stainless steel side of the barrel is “Parker and Made in UK P II”.

The top cap can be pulled out to reveal a small red eraser. The rounded cap is also engraved with the parker insignia.
















Use for – Quick notes.
Like it? – Yes for short writing but not for essays.
Design suggestion - Make the tip retractable.

Pentel 120 A3DX A315

I got this the same day I picked up the Pentel Forte Pro II and Parker Jotter. This pencil reminds me of the Pentel Sharplet with its thin black barrel. The words Pentel 120 A3DX 0.5mm A315 Japan is written along the barrel.

I like how it has a .4mm metal tip which is really perfect for tracing lines along a thick ruler. A standard wrap around metal pocket clip is mounted on the other end of the barrel although you wouldn't want to carry this around in your pocket shirt.

The rubber grip looks like an alligator skin wrapped around the barrel although its surprisingly soft and grips well.

Being thin and lightweight, I felt like the tip would break if I wrote too hard and with a small angle against the paper.

To advance the lead, its the usual click at the plastic top which also covers the small eraser. To access the lead chamber, you simply pull the cap and the eraser out.

I've used this in the office for a couple of days and other than being too lightweight for me, I do feel that for general drafting and short writing that it does a good job. Its also at the lower end of my pencil budget so its easy to decide if I should buy it or not. I guess since all three were in my pencil budget price range that I decided to buy all at the same time instead of coming back.

Pentel Forte Pro II A75

I picked up the Pentel Forte Pro II A75 at Swains a week after I bought its cheaper brother the Pentel Forte which I reviewed last time. Its an upgraded version of the same pencil which eliminates a lot of the problems I mentioned in my previous post.

So its basically the same pencil – 3mm non retractable metal tip, wide metal pocket clip, smooth black barrel and removable stub eraser. For the upgrades you get – a smooth rubber grip replaces the hard ridged barrel grip, lead compartment is now easily accessed by removing the stub eraser instead of pulling off the upper barrel and a big plastic cap now covers the eraser which also effectively increases the length by a few mm therefore adding more comfort to writing. The forward advance mechanism has also been improved so lead advance is more consistent every time.





I've used this in the office for a couple of days and I must say that its very comfortable to use. For longer and more comfortable writing, the Forte Pro does a much better job than the Forte.

Now, if only the tip retracts….

Pentel Forte A55

I visited my neighborhood staples store last week and picked up a pack of the Pentel Forte A55. Mine is the black barrel but they also have this in blue. A pack contains 4 Pentel Forte pencils and is very cheap at under $10.00. Pentel makes some of the most affordable and best looking mechanical pencils. I liked the shiny smooth black barrel very much and the diameter also felt just right. The 3mm non-retractable tip and pocket clip are made of metal which is always nice.

For the grip, they cut the barrel where you grip it into 12 sides, half smooth and half having lines cut along the barrel. It doesn’t really provide that much good a grip and was painful after a long time writing.

The wide wrap around metallic pocket clip with the word Pentel nicely engraved on the side was easy to slide into my breast shirt pocket.

To advance lead, you simply click the top of the barrel. The top can be pulled off to access the lead compartment. About 6 additional leads could fit inside.

A small rubber eraser sits on the top cap. Pentel didn’t include an eraser cover so field work is a no no for this pencil where grimy fingers could easily leave the eraser unusable when you click forward. You may also want to replace the eraser as usage nears halfway because the other half is inside and you might not be able to take the remaining half out. The package didn’t include spare erasers so you have to purchase those separately.

There are a couple of reasons why I don’t like this pencil. First is that it is a little short so the balance isn’t good even though the overall weight is fine. Second and most important is that the hard plastic grip can be a pain for longer writing on the finger where you grip it. Third is that half of the eraser is unusable. You would have to remove the eraser to use the other half. Fourth is that they didn’t include an eraser cover which can be useful when on the field. Lastly, there are times when clicking that the lead would not advance.

Use this as your scribble pencil but not for longer writing and definitely don't use the eraser. You're better off using the Pentel Clic Eraser.

Pentel Twist-Erase III

I stopped by my neighborhood Staples store the other day to grab a pack of the Pentel Twist-Erase III mechanical pencils. They sell these in black and blue colors and in .5, .7 and .9mm lead diameters. Mine is the .5mm black. The package contains 2 Twist Erase pencils with 2 extra erasers. The model number on it says QE515BP2-K6. I’ve been trying to hold off buying one for the past couple of months now for the simple reason that it didn’t appeal visually to me. The design looks a lot like the Logo 4 pencils from Papermate.

As I start to write with it, I could tell that it felt a little out of balance. The weight of it is fine but for its weight, I would have liked it if they made the barrel a little longer. The clip and the 3mm non retractable tip are made of metal which fits perfectly in my collection. The wrap around removable clip has 3 holes on it which kind of reminds me of the papermate hearts logo. I had a little difficulty trying to clip it in my shirt pocket as you sort of have to open the clip a little bit for it to go in. Anyway, since it has the non-retractable tip, it’s not pocket safe anyways so you’d want to carry this around in your bag or pencil case.

It has a smooth rubber grip which had no ridges but it kept my fingers in place and is very comfortable when writing.

It’s a click pencil so you push the entire upper barrel to get the lead out as you write. The good thing about the eraser is that its completely inside the barrel unlike the Logo series where part of the eraser sticks out.



The twist action to use the eraser hence the model name is sadly not very smooth as I had to put a little effort in twisting the eraser out. I don’t know if it’s just because my pencil was new or what. Anyway the eraser is quite big, unlike those puny erasers on some cheap mechanical pencils. However, the eraser itself leaves a lot of residue which I personally have no problem with as long as it has a big eraser.

Adding more lead to it is the easiest part as you just smoothly and effortlessly pull the upper barrel off to get to the big lead chamber could easily fit 24 leads. Two extra leads are included with each pencil which uses the Super Hi-Polymer Lead.

Papermate Logo 4

I go to art stores a couple of times a month to check out their stock of mechanical pencils. Most of their inventories are usually relatively cheap in the less than 10 dollar price range. There are a couple of those stores in my neighborhood within walking distance and I usually go there when I get a chance. A month ago, I had some time to visit one and check out their stock.

Besides the Alvin Draft/Matic, and Papermate Technician, they also have the Papermate Logo 4 and Logo 2 in stock. I originally bought the Logo 2 on my first visit and then bought the Logo 4 on my second visit. I initially thought that I would only want the Logo 2 because of similarity in the design. However after writing with it, I decided that I need to buy the Logo 4 just because I felt something was lacking. And that something is a good rubber grip. The Logo 4 has a good 1 and 3/8 inches long contoured rubber grip that’s very effective when writing. This pencil has a good length for its weight which I felt was a good balance. I wrote with this for a long time and I must say that it is very comfortable. Now if they only made the rubber a little softer.

It has a black plastic at the tip of the metal pocket clip. This makes pocketing the pencil easier and smoother. The metal tip is also retractable by clicking on the top barrel and then pushing the pencil down on a surface. This makes it a pocket safe model. The tip is shaped like a ballpen unlike some that are needle shaped.

The eraser is inside the upper barrel that comes out through a simple twist of the barrel. Its very smooth and I’m very impressed with how much eraser it holds. My only complaint with it is that a piece of the eraser sort of sticks out of the barrel so if you’re doing field work and your fingers are dirty, then that dirt transfers to your eraser as you click the lead out.

You pull the upper barrel to reveal the lead chamber which holds only a couple of leads. My opinion on this is that they should have made it a little bigger to fit more leads.

And there you have it folks, a very good writing instrument worthy of any mechanical pencil collection. Get yours now.

Rotring Tikky

This is the third one I bought and added to my collection. By this time, I was already hooked on collecting. I searched eBay looking for similar black mechanical pencils. Then I remembered that in college in the Philippines there were 2 popular brands when it comes to drawing pencils: Staedtler and Rotring. Each was packaged in a college set with 3 Technical Pens, an eraser and ink. The Staedtler Micro pencil was easily recognizable with its blue color while the Rotring Tikky had the familiar brown color with the wave grip. I didn't like the wave grip on the Tikky since it felt like it would hurt your fingers the longer you use it so I opted to buy and use Staedtler for my college drawing classes. My friend Jonathan and I bought our Staedtler College sets at Pecton Mercantile in New Manila. Along with the purchase, they gave us free T-Shirts. So, I searched Ebay and found the Tikky sold in black. I quickly made my purchase for only $3.00. Since its made for drafting, the Tikky had a fixed sleeve. The grip had the familiar wave design and as I expected, it wasn't very comfortable for longer writing since I am a heavy gripper. Like most of drafting MP's, the metal cap is clicked to advance the lead and also hides the small eraser underneath. However, I must say that this is one classic pencil that is a must have in any MP collection.