In the latest Coveted episode, a historic lace factory is preserving the dying art of Leavers lace in England: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-XD2nh75Yz8E.html
Honestly $40 for 12 high quality pencils doesn’t seem like an insane price to me. If your career requires you to use a tool all day every day I imagine you want to have one that feels good to use. It’s like a high quality chef knife for a chef.
I know Blackwings have a cult following, but some years ago I tried a bunch of different pencils and found the price-quality sweet spot in a smooth-writing office pencil to be the Mitsubishi Pencil Co. 9850 HB, still made in Japan (I think) and available from Amazon at about $8 a dozen.
What's amazing is a company picked up the brand, and decided to recreate the actual product. Rather than just using the brand, and running it off for quick profits
Their dedication makes my jaw drop. They couldn't fix a machine to attach the eraser so they made their own machine to do that. That's such a boss move. I have only respect for them for all that backbreaking work to get the pencil as close as possible to the original.
Remember the most important two comments this video states, “Just for $300 I Bought the Brand” and “We just want it to FEEL THE SAME, not actually being the same artistic quality, there is an enormous difference as an artist the quality of the mark rather than the FEEL OF MAKING THE MARK….
@@markvann9347 there is always be bad batches due several variation due manufacturing process, and it's common. In Indonesia, Faber Castel 9000 & Straedler Mars Lumograph 100 is the classic here, and I did have several bad batches from them. Most common bad batches on me were: easily broken leads, the wood is too soft so when saving it went fray, and uniquely several time the leads were detach from the wood and I can pull the lead EASILY from the wood. then I switch to Stabilo Exam Grade, and it was better in term durability & batch consistency, but because it formulated specially for exam, the lead are much more softer but also went darker & smoother on any papers, so you need to learn not to put much more pressure when drawing & sketching; the wood also more grainier somehow, but it was reliable during exam & drawing overall.
I used one Blackwing pencil, i happened to find at work, throughout my 4 years in design school, down to a nub. I keep that little pencil in a box of memorabilia.
As an artist, I love using these pencils. It is not uncommon to go to the art store and buy a pencil for about $2.50 a piece. So $30 for a box of 12 is a sweet spot. These are the best, 99 cent pencils have nothing on these!
Not really all that expensive, high quality colored pencil are about the same. I'm not an artist but I find them useful in construction with the very specific colors you can order individually.
Mitsubishi's are great, just not THAT great, as the Blackwing are. Blackwing provide better precision, which is crazy because they are softer and with softness, you supposed to ;lose the precision, that a harder HB pencil can provide! Blackwing also have 10 layers of lackuer,a decent eraser and an overall quality, that no other pencil can much. IT's the same as cars, all cars have wheels and all can take you places, but Rolls Royce is Rolls Royce and Mercedes is Mercedes,Mishubishis and Hundais, are a different category.@@DrBananananananananananananana
I admit, I am weird. I have loved pencils since kindergarten. That love, has made me a snob of pencils. My pet peeve with most pencil makers is they use low grade materials for the graphite core and the wooden jacket. I hate the 'premium' pencils you buy that, that the wood is bendy and gummy, and the graphite core is all busted up because the wood is bendy. So you never get a good point. Black Wings are a true premium pencil, you get what you expect. Its a solid pencil, the graphite is nice and hard and you can take a few pages of notes, the wood is properly cured and tight grained. Sharpening one of these pencils is a joy, second only to writing with it.
Idk when cheap pencils flooded the market, but I couldn't stand many pencils in the 90s. Erasures would just smudge. Always cracked graphite. Sharpen and it's broken. Buying pencils at an art supply store is where it's at! You can test them, get diferent kinds and darknesses.
@@bsanchez3563 Tennessee red is one of my favorites, however some of the pencils I have of theirs got fairly splintery when sharpening, you need a nice sharpener to go with it.
FYI, as you wear down the erasure, put it out and lift it out further from the aluminum sheath, crimp the aluminum and stick it back into the gold holder.
A friend of mine went to Japan and brought me back one Blackwing as an in-joke, not really knowing the story behind them-- after using it I hopped on line and immediately bought a full box. They're so great for outline and sketching for the watercolors I do for fun (I prefer to write with a Pilot Metropolitan fine nib fountain pen.) Haven't talked to that friend in a while but I will always be grateful she saw something she thought would make me laugh, and in the process introduced me to the best pencil I've ever used.
@@ellaisplotting Ironically I just bought a Lamy to try out their left handed nib and it's the first left handed thing I ever felt made a difference. The angle at which it hits the paper means I'm not smudging the ink constantly before it has a chance to dry.
I vaguely remember a friend gifting a pack of the originals like 10 years ago during highschool, both the friend and pencils are phenomenal, there's probably even a few remaining in the pack!
I've been using the original Blackwing 602 since 1978. I'm a classical musician and my teacher always used it since he played under Toscanini. FYI, L. Bernstein/Percy Grainger, Marvin Hamish and many other composers all used the 602. In the old 'Hogans Hero's' you see Col. Klink using one at his desk. I still have 4 one dozen boxes of the old 602's. I was over joyed they brought back that pencil EXCEPT they first released the black color pencil only called 'Blackwing'....THAT pencil MOST closely feels like the original 602. When they LATER released the BW 602 the graphite is stiffer, not gliding as smoothly as the old 602. If you want the feel of the old 602, purchase the black color "blackwing".... all my symphony/freelance musician colleagues now use that pencil.
Are you referring to Blackwing's Matte pencil? Or are you describing a pencil which is no longer in production. I'm curious b/c I want to try the original pencil.
The new blackwing BLACK color is most like the original...and they released that one first...the old orig. was gun metal gray and had '602' written on it...WHY the new company didnt release that design first, is beyond me...@@kinghenry7058
Yeah I’m surprised to see how many people here haven’t heard of this pencil… but I’m also a classical musician. It must be abnormally popular in our field. Personally, I find Blackwings to be a tad on the expensive side for we do and I love my Mitsubishi 9850s, and while I wouldn’t buy Blackwings for myself I’d happily welcome them as a gift.
The new ones still don't quite match the original 602 from the late 1990's and before....when I use one of them, it just glides SO beautifully.....I cant tell you over those earlier years of my career when a stand partner would grab my old 602 to mark the music, after using it, they would ALL turn the pencil over to see what KIND of pencil it was.....@@Bootus123
I’m an engineer too (chemical/environmental). I don’t really do any engineering that requires a pencil anymore but sometimes I need to sketch something on a site visit. I’m a mechanical pencil girl. I started using fountain pens for writing. I do love a good old-fashioned pencil and may buy a Blackwing or two to sketch and write a bit.
When I was working as a draftsman back in the 1970s, the Pentel and Staedtler were the standards for mechnical pencils and lead. I even tried the 0.3mm pencil, but quickly gave up on it because being so small, the lead was always breaking. Back then, they hadn't put the spring mechanism into the lead holder that allowed the lead to retract slightly if you pressed too hard... The first one with that mechanism that I encountered was when I was in the military and it was made by Skilcraft. Surprisingly, I still have a couple of the "US GOVERNMENT" marked Skilcraft mechanical pencils and they still work perfectly even after all these decades.
One pencil for $3.is worth far more when you really need a writing instrument of any kind. It's a fetish... Freedom is grand when you are not afraid to enjoy it. So many people have houses full of unnecessary stuff and don't flinch. Same people will get all messed up on a really nice $3 pencil.
people love their office supplies. I never tried an original, but I’m happy to have tried a new release Blackwing! The quality and elegance are unmatched
Mitsubishi 9800 is a superior pencil, followed closely by the Tonbow 2558. The Mitsubishi woodgrain is so tight, it feels like you could beat a bull elephant to death with it, and the graphite is effortlessly dark.
I've been a fan of the Blackwings, my go-to is the Extra Firm lead. But I picked up some cheap Tombow Monos at a Japanese store and they are way better in terms of lead.
Your comment a few days ago inspired me to order a box of the current Tombows, so I can see if the quality is still good now that they've moved production to Vietnam.
@@gerald5344 Oh, please update me! The Tombows I got were Tombow Mono-R HB pencils in a plastic case. I just got the new Blackwing Volume 2 with the XX-Firm lead and I still prefer the Tombows. I think I'm ready to leave Blackwings behind and explore the Japanese brands.
These pencils are worth the price. It is really had to explain it until you have used one. It's like butter, very little effort is required to draw with these. They silky smooth and consistent. If you are not sure, get try the 3 pack that has the white, gray and black pencils. You will not regret it.
This. I thought they were ridiculously priced. Bought one to really dunk on the hype and then used it up entirely in one week. It’s just a great drawing tool.
I have used Staedler, Faber, Derwent (new ones), Caran Dáche in my drawings. Blackwing is in another league, it's like butter, I don't want anything else.
as an artist who works in pencil.....quality is hard to find, and I hate any pencil that does not live up to my art pencils... I had a Blacking back in the 1960's, and thought the eraser was really cool... I think my dad snagged it from work....... keep up the good work...... and thanks for caring so much, cheers from an old guy in Florida , Paul
I remember these pencils from childhood... The silvery grey paint. The funny little rectangular eraser and ferrule. The little aluminum curlicues on the sides. I didn't even know they were discontinued, much less resurrected, or even special. But somebody in my childhood home liked them, because we had more than one.
As a professional sketch artist I use buy boxes and boxes of the Dixon Ticonderoga #2 (HB) pencils for my day to day sketching and projects, but when I am embarking on a serious project or I'm really intent on a piece I actually do go to my Blackwings. There IS a difference, maybe partly psychosomatic wherein you think it's better so you act and work better, but damned if it doesn't make the art feel better! I do believe it's a better pencil.
As much art gear as I've collected over my lifetime, how is it I've never even heard of this pencil? I have tons of pencils that I've picked up since the late sixties, always keeping an eye out for a new one. Weird. I think I'm going to visit my favorite art supply shop in the near future...as soon as it gets enough above zero.
They're pretty great. I've been using Blackwing Pearls for about 10 years now. They're a little softer than the 602's, but not as soft as the Matte's. It's been a while since I had a set of varying hardness pencils, but writing with one right now, it feels pretty close to a 2B. I don't have any 602's anymore, but I remember them being closer to a 2H, maybe a little softer. Never tried a Matte.
big fan of Viarco and even their packaging is made with old machines, if i remember correctly. i find it too firm/light to compare it to Blackwing. i do think they are coming up with fun ideas with some of their product lines that i haven't seen many other companies do.
I remember those pencils from school in the 70's. We had an art instructor that always used them and I liked them so much I started using them. There's probably still a few in the pen & pencil box at my parent's house. In college I started using a Pentel mechanical pencil as it was great for engineering classes. Though I hardly ever use a pencil these days.
I was a bit Blackwing fan in the 90s and early 2000s until they just disappeared. But I moved on to the Mitsubishi Pencil, I have been using their art supply for a while and I did try the new Pearl, 602, and the Matte blackwings recently and wasn't moved enough to pay their premium.
The Pencil: A History of Design and Cirumstance by Henry Petroski 450 pages. Most pencils in desks, tolboxes, etc got thrown away as they preserved the rest of the contents
I don't know much about pencils, but I love how people treasure a product that has quality and is a cut above the rest. And it's not just for status, it's because of the pencil itself.
I can't be critical of people who spent tens of dollars per pencil after blackwing went under. I've spent hundreds of dollars on spectracolor colored pencils (precursor to prismacolor). I am definitely going to go buy a box this morning.
I was thinking that exact same thing while reading these comments. I sold a set of Prismacolors I found thrift shopping and have regretted it ever since - despite the *huge* profit!
Back in the 80s, we had pencils that would produce these long, graceful curls when sharpened. The wood was so dense and smooth, and those curls were a dream. Since then, I seem to only get crumbles and shards when sharpening a pencil. Whatever happened to the gracefully curling pencils?
The quality of wood, almost in general across the board, is steadily going down. Older trees have been harvested, and replaced in the market by faster growing younger trees.
Artists trying to be engineers reveals the beauty of their minds. So many misinterpretations of why someting mechanically works, but an indominable spirit to make it work. Really makes for a beautiful story.
@@kniter01 You can replace "artists" by "children" and clearly notice how paternalistic that sounds. "Children trying to be engineers reveals the beauty of their minds. So many misinterpretations of why something mechanically works, but an indominable spirit to make it work. Really makes for a beautiful story."
@@sleepmore8587 of course! Sorry if it came off like I don’t respect different creative processes. I see my own approach to solving their problems with manufacturing and material science, and it would be a lot easier. BUT I wouldn’t make a perfect pencil, I’m not an artist. Their approach to solving problems is geared entirely around the writing experience, and I think it’s really beautiful to create something that way. Very different from my thought process when designing for manufacture.
My favorite pencil is the Scripto 1.1mm twist top. They also were discontinued in the late 90’s. Several years ago I amassed a pretty large collection. Everyone thinks I’m crazy lol.
The comment at the end about are you crazy for selling a box of pencils for $30 the answer is you get what you pay for. It’s a high quality pencil and hands down my favorite and I’ve been drawing for 25 years.
I have a box of original Blackwings, sometimes I think about taking one out to use, but then I see some absurd prices for them and I figure the Palomino's are a decent substitute while I hold onto them for a little longer. They're not totally the same, but they're close enough.
No, use them! What if you die tomorrow.. My grandma always saved the “better” stuff, after her death we had small museums worth of things, from design glassware sets to nice clothes and shoes, never worn and out of fashion. She wouldve enjoyed these things so much, loads more than we did.. we ended up donating most of it. Use your fancy supplies, treat yourself. I think we all deserve something nice, as the world gets more broken each day.
I like the Black better than the Gray 602 or Pearl. I like the 6B, soft & dark, like a "No. 1 or 0.5" pencil. I also like Mechanical pencils, Fine Point. They never get dull. You NEED the "Long Point pencil sharpener", and buy extra erasers(need replacing after half used). It's like using a fine Carnauba wax on your Classic car rather than Turtle Wax liquid. Life is short. You should have the BEST of something!
And if you like these then you'll love the Hagaromo chalk - specifically the dark green one. That one has the smoothest feeling on a chalkboard. Like a wax pencil on glass.
My dad was a hand pencil drafter. I touched all of his old gear. There is definitely a difference in types, brands and shapes/sizes. Sand paper to hone the edge. Bags of eraser dust to fine wipe the dust off. Very cool. I wish i had it today. he has it in the garage. Cheers I'll check these out and compare to the old. He didn't have black wing, but it was staedler and faber for sure. Different hardness ratings
I love the complaining about how hard it was to recreate something that someone already did most of the work for and you could get into the name cheap. And then out source it. Everything is in the marketing, not in the substance.
What was the price from the original manufacturer before being discontinued? The $40 is the starting resell price after being discontinued and this new company is selling them for $2.25 which seems pricey but still not too crazy. Doesn't really matter to me since I will always prefer mechanical pencil and those won't have issue with rolling off either.
So if Faber-Castell ended the Blackwing just because of the eraser ferrule - they most likely continued making that Blackwing graphite blend under a different name with a round eraser, right?
Faber Castell has the original formula their drawing pencils are amazing but so are Dixon Ticonderoga 2HB Soft and being an artist I prefer the latter. The control you get with the Dixon is unsurpassed all you need is the one pencil 2HB Soft. I was drawing and painting before 5 years old and now I am over 70. I use the Dixon 2HB Soft exclusively for all my art projects.
I've bought about 10 dozens from blackwing over the years and I think only two of those dozens were properly glued on the ferrule. Get better with your QAs blackwing! You charge a premium on these things and they aren't even high quality. I've never in my entire life bought any other pencil and had the ferrule just come off. Also there's the other end of the spectrum, y'all use TOO MUCH glue and the eraser clip doesn't wanna come out.
Over the course of my career I have seen so many companies go under because of tooling. Some of the machines that produce these parts date back to the 40’s and were used during war production. Some are still in use today. Tooling is one of the most important factors of manufacturing. Without the proper equipment and tooling, you will not be able to produce a single piece and really shows the effectiveness of a good toolmaker. Sadly most of the people that do this specific work are old now and retired. These companies have not taken the time to pass the knowledge on to new employees to learn the trade, and so when the toolmaker retires, so does the tooling. 😎
These are the only pencils I use, will never go back to regular ones. I carry a blackwing pencil, a Lamy fountain pen, and a Muji gel pen with me everyday
@6:45 She nailed it. It's a tribute! They aren't the original, but you can tell they spent a lot of time and effort to get fairly close. I have a bunch of the new ones, and they have different styles/lead types. The old ones seem to be somewhere between their 602 and their natural. Maybe the next one will be just right.
I like the Palominos better than the 602s - the Pearls are wonderful too - but (my opinion) any Blackwing is superior to all other pencils. So happy that this company brought back the brand!
An older pencil is going to writer “harder”… as it has dried out more and the composition has been altered. I think comparing this pencil to “antique” existing examples of the Blackwings would be misguided.
After I watch this video I went to the attic and rummage my old stuff. I found 8 original Blackwing pencil still unused and 2 used from my college days. Thanks. But I rather used Staedtler, Pentel, Pilot, Uni Kuru, Kaweco pencils now.
I love my Blackwing for sketching and drawing, I can see why animators were so obsessed with them - but I've always thought the new ones were just a little too soft for everyday writing, and they don't really keep a point for long.
I love the (new) Blackwing. It's the only pencil I use for writing or drawing. The downside is the eraser is only good for minor changes. I always keep a Staedtler eraser handy for bigger erasing jobs. A few years ago, I brought a collection of my artist pencils to a group of friends that were all artists, but not pencil nerds. I had them try each pencil and draw a gradient from the lightest gray they could produce to the darkest black. The goal was to make it a smooth transition across the spectrum. Every one of them preferred the Blackwing. The main reason cited was the smoothness and the ease of which they could change the darkness level.
$2.50 a pencil, not $3.00. Just saying. $30.00 ÷12= $2.50. $2.50 for an item that will give you utilitarian and aesthetic satisfaction for a bit doesn't seem bad at all.
I mean half of the price you are paying goes to the box it is put in for sale. lol seriously the boxes probably cost more to produce than the pencils themselves.
Just remember one thing... These are "Tribute" pencils. The originals are still superior at what they did for their original price point. For that matter, modern FaberCastell are leagues better. They didn't make a bad call dropping that line for a niche eraser.
This has got to be the most tragic story I have heard in my life.. They openly admit to having part of the assembly process be shipped overseas. Then the original business discontinued the business because one machine in the assembly line broke!
In this day and age I can't believe that the "formula" of the composition of the "lead" can't be determined by a chemical analysis of same. Just asking....
According to the video the originals did not have one composition. I find it strange that they went with something closer to an older formulation rather than the most recent. The most recent one should be the one that the majority of current users would have the most experience with and most likely to replicate whatever those users are after.
