Dixon Tri-Conderoga pencil.
This past month was the first time I had seen the Dixon Tri-Conderoga for sale in Canada. I was quite happy to find a package of six with an accompanying sharpener at a local store.
The package had NAFTA-friendly trilingual (English, French, Spanish) labelling, and revealed that the pencils were made in Mexico. The two-hole sharpener has a crown emblem on the German made blades, while the plastic body hails from China.
In a triangular shape, the diameter is midway between it’s three sided cousins, the Ergosoft and the Jumbo Grip.
The pencil surface is rubbery, like the Ergosoft. It comes unsharpened, and has gold stamping on one side. There is a distinctive Ticoderoga style ferrule, with a black eraser.
Since it requires a less common large hole sharpener, the included sharpener is an appreciated addition.
In one’s hand, it is indeed grippy. I did find the large stamping to be a drawback, and that side of the pencil side is noticeably rougher and less pleasant to hold. The larger size may require some adjustment, and didn’t feel quite right to me.
On paper, the HB lead, which appears to be a normal diameter core, seemed just a bit scratchier and lighter than an Ergosoft or a regular Ticonderoga pencil in HB.
It is a unique contribution, and the first Mexican pencil that I’m aware of owning. It gets points for design and appearance, and choosing a mid-size diameter creates an excellent new offering.
Despite these pluses, the lead quality makes it not quite as good as the Ergosoft as an actual pencil.
Let’s hope Dixon will upgrade the lead core to be (at minimum) equal to that of their regular diameter pencils.
February 10th, 2008 at 11:44 am
I’m slowly getting interested in pencil collecting and this was actually the first pencil I looked into buying for my collection. It was a little surprising to see the Made in Mexico text on the back but does it really matter where a pencil is made in? The companies would use the same machinery - just in a different country. I suppose the companies get spurred on by the lower cost labor to start using lower cost materials for even more savings.
I didn’t buy the pencils because I didn’t know what I would be buying into. Plus there are so many out there I can always get them later when I understand pencil collecting a bit more.
Thanks for the excellent blog! I am reading through it chronologically and I am enjoying your pictures and text!
February 12th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
I had a bunch of these and gave them away. They’re too large to fit a conventional electric pencil sharpener (thus eliminating the target market for these pencils: offices and executives), and the triangular shape makes them too awkward for the included blade sharpener–you can’t rotate the pencil evenly while you sharpen it.
I think Dixon needs to go back to the drawing board on this one.
April 13th, 2008 at 10:18 pm
Hey
I personally think that this pencil is amazing
as far as the three sided design its fits amazingly well into your hand
honestly,
grab a normal pencil, its a hexagon shape
and only three sides are necessary making the pencil more akward to hold.
the pencil looks amazing and even has nice grip.
someones reinvented the moustrap
April 15th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
This pencil is no different than any other pencil.
like honestly its sorta sad to see a whole site
on pencils.
and how people are talking and commenting on pencils.
Honestly get a LIFE.
Buuut i guess in order to get this posted
i guess ill say this pencil is pretty snazzy