The Alpino Junior, revisited

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Thanks to a great and informative comment from reader Raúl, I have some more information on the Alpino Junior pencil, which I recently reviewed. You might recall that I speculated about the different aesthetic qualities of the barrel, as well as the wood that composes the casing, between the eraser-tipped version and the dipped one. Raúl ‘s comment sheds some more light on that question.

Apparently, Alpino pencils — previously manufactured in Catalonia — are now made in China. I’m assuming that the transition from Europe to Asia likely corresponded to a change in wood, and aesthetic design. Also worth noting is that the eraser-tipped version clearly displays “SPAIN” as its country of origin, while the dipped one is silent on the issue. I’m guessing that I picked up models of the pencil produced both before and after the transition from Catalonia to China.

It’s awesome to be able to put together a more detailed and accurate story of the Alpino Junior pencil. At the same time, I’m a little bummed that they’re no longer made in Spain. I have nothing against things made in China, but part of the fun of this blog is trying to scrounge up pencils from all over the world, and it’s getting harder to find ones that aren’t made in China. Mixed feelings. Anyway. Thanks for listening to my TED talk.

Thanks Raúl!

Pencil Review: Mitsubishi 9825EW (HB)

Jesse

When you live in Alaska, you end up spending a lot of time in Seattle. It’s just kind of the way it goes: unless you want to drive for several days through rural northwest Canada, going anywhere usually involves flying, and Seattle happens to be the most easily-accessible major city/airline hub from Anchorage. Flights between the two cities are frequent and — if you’re willing to fly at 3 a.m. — cheap. More often than not, Seattle is the go-to whether you are connecting to another flight to points beyond, or just need to go somewhere to “get outside” for a while. On top of all that, the Polar Pencil Partner’s parents just moved to Seattle from back East, so needless to say we are regular weekenders in the Jet City.

We just took a long weekend in Sea-town, and ironically, I brought a pencil back that I’d purchased there months ago: the Mitsubishi (or is it Mitsu-Bishi?) 9825EW, graded HB. Given the prominence of Japanese-American culture in the city, it just seemed like an appropriate pencil to carry around town, so I sharpened up the 9825EW (a variant of the more traditional 9825 “standard” version) and gave it a whirl.

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Notebook Review: Rifle Paper Co. Graph Notepad

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As you may know, I’m an engineer in my “day job” profession. I’ve been doing it for a while now, but I remember way back in my undergraduate studies learning that there is actual engineering paper. For those of you who aren’t familiar, it’s basically really fancy graph paper. It’s only grid-ruled on the back side, although when you write on a pad of it you can see the grids through to the front; but when you scan or copy it, they aren’t visible. It’s usually tinted green or yellow, and it has boxes at the top so you can write whatever header info you want. It’s drilled into undergrads’ heads that you absolutely positively do all hand-written work on this paper, no matter what. Even if that sounds ridiculous — and even if the cost of a pad of the stuff is even more ridiculous — it’s still somehow ingrained in my psyche, years later.

When I saw the Rifle Paper Co. Graph Notepad out of the corner of my eye at Metro Cooks a while back, you know damn well I impulse-bought the hell out of it. It’s like engineering paper…in tiny notepad form! What better scribble pad for my desk? A few months have passed, but I have finally decided to unwrap the pad and take it for a spin. Here’s my take on it…

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Pencil Review: DOMS X1

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The first thing I did when I rolled into the office this Monday was pick out a new pencil to test. I poked around a little bit through my cheap big-box pencils. I picked up a few Japanese ones. Then, it occurred to me…it’s been a little bit since I’ve tried out a pencil from India. Ah! We have a winner: the DOMS X1.

This ungraded pencil has been sitting in my stash for a while. Somehow I accidentally ordered two boxes, so not only will this review satisfy any readers particularly interested in pencils from India, but it will also clear two boxes out of the to-review drawer (which has actually overflowed onto the top of my desk and could probably occupy two drawers now). It’s a win-win. So, without further ado, let’s find out of the DOMS X1 itself is a win…

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Pencil Review: Alpino Junior (HB)

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Having thawed out on the Mediterranean for a bit, I’ve returned to the Great White North and my desktop computer where I can properly review pencils and blog about them. Thankfully, I also came back with a couple fists full of fresh pencils to review! Today, I’d like to dip into my Spanish pencil haul to have a look at a model I’d never heard of until about a week ago: the Alpino Junior.

I have to confess that until I found this pencil, I was still trying to figure out if any pencils are actually made in Spain. Thankfully a chaotic little papeleria in Madrid settled things for me when I stumbled upon the Junior in both dipped-end and eraser-tipped format, the latter of which clearly bears the name of its homeland. I think it’s very fitting that, upon return from my Spanish vacation, I should resume my pencil review duties with a look at the Alpino Junior, a pencil that’s actually from Spain.

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If you’re not using undated planners what are you even doing

Jesse3 Comments

Daily expressions of gratitude are important. Studies have shown that those who express gratitude on a regular basis are happier and healthier. Faithful folks profess the power of prayer, and as atheistic as I am, I have to agree: taking a moment every evening to profess to God, Allah, or whoever may be within earshot that you’re grateful for the specific things that you are is worth the time and effort. So today I want to say that I am grateful for undated planners.

The paper planner is what led me to become a pencil nerd in the first place. It was proof positive that writing things down with a pencil makes me more likely to stay on top of them than relying on a website or phone app to keep more organized. If you’re not using a paper planner, I highly recommend it.

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Presenting: the great Spanish pencil haul of 2019

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I am back from this year’s overseas adventure! After a little digging around, Spain turned out to be a great place to pick up some pencils. Somehow I managed to get all of these out of the EU and into the USA without some customs agent thinking that I must be some sort of pencil mule running a black market office supply scheme…

It was actually really interesting, because I had an idea of specific pencil makes or models that I expected to find. For the most part, I didn’t. However, I did find a bunch that I didn’t even know existed.

As you can see, the Staedtler Norris is well-represented. I did keep my eyes peeled for that specific pencil, and found it. In a way, it seems to be the Ticonderoga of Spain (and perhaps the rest of Europe) in that it is pretty ubiquitous and most shops seem to have a little display of them at the checkout stand. I did not find some brands I was thinking I would, such as Viarco, Caran d’Ache, etc. However, I did find pencils from many well-known European makers such as Lyra, including specific models I’d never heard of. I also found a few that are specific to Spain. Many are Chinese exports targeted for the Spanish market, but some — like the Alpino Junior which (spoiler alert) I am growing pretty find of — are made in Spain. There are also some that I still haven’t figured out what they are or where they come from.

So, needless to say, there’s lots of fresh fodder for reviews and it should be fun to work my way through them.

Lapices aqui!

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Aquino!! Success. I finally found some pencils in Barcelona. Models which I haven’t found back home. Despite my attempts to look far and wide, the best haul was right around the corner from our house in Gracia at Art Hilgard.

My first impression in Spain is that art supply stores are going to be the best bet for pencils (although I did also find some behind the counter at La Vanguardia, and purchased them once I became confident enough in my spanish to ask). Papelerias would seem like a natural location for them but the pickins tend to be slim. Of course, I’ll keep searching and hope to strike another jackpot.