Tombow Mono 100 Photos

To complement a previous post on the Mitsubishi Hi-Uni, here are some photos of another pencil legend, the Tombow Mono 100.
Stacked boxes of the Tombow Mono 100.
The packaging has an outer layer – a silver and black cardboard sleeve. One end is fully rounded, which is not really that much of a flourish, but still untypical. It’s no ordinary pencil box.
The Tombow Mono 100.
The case is black with a silver lid. The lid has a clear window, showing the pencils inside.
The Tombow Mono 100.
Here’s a photo of the Mono 100 with some other top Japanese pencils:
Four Japanese pencils.

pencil talk 1st anniversary: The Rhodia Pencil

This blog is now one year old! The first post was on an iconic stationery item: the Rhodia pad. A year later, we’re happy to welcome an accompanying Rhodia pencil.
The Rhodia Pencil
The pencil is painted in Rhodia’s famous orange. It’s very distinctive, with a triangular body, black dyed wood, black ferrule and black eraser. The imprinting is minimal: each side has Rhodia’s two fir tree logo and name.

I’m not sure how well the photo reflects this, but the pencils were covered in graphite dust when they arrived. And not just a light dusting – enough that I’m not sure they can all be fully cleaned up. It seems very odd for a pencil at this price point. The Palomino is the only other pencil I’m aware of with this presentation issue.

The pencil handles nicely, and the lead is rich and dark. I’m not a huge fan of erasers being on a pencil, but these seemed sleek, and are very effective at erasure.

There is no country of origin stated, though I have a suspicion.

Overall, they’re nice pencils, and ideal for jotting notes in your Rhodia pad.