Comments on: World’s Best Pencil – Guatanteed.

By: Tara

Tara — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 17:46:49 +0000

I don’t get how sometimes when you buy the pencils in bulk, the laquer isn’t as bright yellow or shiny, and the green stamp isn’t as cleanly stamped, and it kind of ticks me off. Especially with the fact that the lead doesn’t center correctly, which totally throws off the sharpening process completely. How hard is it to center the lead correctly during manufacturing???

By: Adair

Adair — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 15:21:47 +0000

If you are just considering shape, well, the Ticonderoga has the same shape as all standard wood-cased pencils.

By: Ruma Mukherjee

Ruma Mukherjee — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 06:31:25 +0000

sorry,ticonderoga I,do concern only with the design & shape.I would like to give you 3 out of 10…………..lol……..

By: Adair

Adair — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 01:08:39 +0000

What I do realize with some sadness is that the packaging is no longer the same. Ticonderoga boxes have lost all trace of the American flag and the figure of Ethan Allan. The name Ticonderoga must mean nothing at all to its new European owners nor to its Mexican makers. I admire European things, and I happen to know that Mexico is a far more sophisticated and cultured place than we in the USA give it credit for, but still, I want my Green Mountain Boy on my box of Ticonderoga pencils!

By: Adair

Adair — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 02:59:46 +0000

You know, after years of spending a lot on high quality pencils from Japan and Germany, I decided to give this old childhood favorite another try, even if it is no longer made in the USA. I bought a dozen of the Mexican Ticonderoga no. 2′s. I sharpened them with a Carl sharpener, and the points were as clean and sharp as on a Tombow Mono. And guess what? They write. Not super smooth, but not horrible, either. They do the job decently. I did not experience any lead breakage. (Many problems with pencils are not the fault of the pencils themselves but of the sharpeners—good sharpeners are few and far between! Carls are the best ever.) Except for the shoddy paint job on one or two of the barrels, this pack of pencils did not strike me as terribly inferior. From now on, I’m always going to keep a box of 12 of them with me for daily use. It is actually fun to be able to use something that you can still buy at the corner drugstore and not have to order from a specialty website.

By: Debra

Debra — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 13:54:39 +0000

I agree with Joseph G. The pencils are horrible. They are constantly breaking. I teach third grade and this is a major class disruption because we are always sharpening pencils!!!

By: Patriotjohn

Patriotjohn — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:32:42 +0000

I thought I understood this post…satire about this ugly pencil, calling it the World’s Best. But, wow, until Joseph G comes around…I realize that the posts and most comments aren’t satire, but people here actually like the “world’s Best.” Thanks Joseph for telling it how it is, this pencil is crap and it sure is understandable why they had to move to Mexico. They may be good people, but they sure live in another century…I mean a yellow pencil. And don’t get me started on the eraser. Sometimes I wonder who is writing the comments here as they take themselves so seriously, Lighten up folks and thanks Joseph for calling crap, “crap.”

By: Joseph G

Joseph G — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 23:01:11 +0000

Hey guys, I’m really happy for you and I’mma let you finish, but Dixon makes the world’s worst pencil. Writes poorly, made from cheap wood, exists in an even more cheap plastic packaging. Messy to sharpen, poor for the environment, there is NOTHING good about this pencil, it is if not ORDINARY, a POORER than ordinary choice. I don’t know about you, but if I were to buy a pencil, it shouldn’t be something I’m going to throw away right after I use it. It should WRITE WELL, sharpen WELL, and not CRAP out on me if I drop it a few times. BEST PENCIL? This thing comes in the ugliest yellow that has ever graced this earth, there is not a SINGLE strong point to this piece of crap, it would’ve served a better purpose as a tree, at least I can PEE on a tree. HEY Dixon, I know all your pencil sniffing staff love reading this blog, hear me out. How about you try making a pencil that doesn’t suck, a pencil that I see more often in the hands of children instead of in the trash? Also please fire the person who designs your pencils (if you even have one), talk about living in the 20′s. Funny thing is, I don’t know a lot of 90 year olds who still use pencils, so how about some designs huh? Don’t let me get started on the tree cutting and the pencil sniffing I hear about on this blog, if you wanna sniff pencils instead of actually use them for what they’re intended, then buy a smencil or something, idk.

By: Ticonderoga

Ticonderoga — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 01:40:35 +0000

Although I was saddend to hear that Dixon moved its plants to China and Mexico, I still love their brand and purchase them regularly. Dixon does make one Ticonderoga in the U.S.A , it is called the “Renew”, its made of old tires. Its a neat idea but you need a good sharpener ” not electric” to get a good point. Is anyone else glad that something from their brand is made in the U.S.A?

By: Robert M.

Robert M. — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 17:38:56 +0000

I picked up a Mexiconderoga from a coworker’s desk because I don’t often see “American” brands of pencils in Taiwan. Coworker showed me the box so I could verify it was Mexican-made, though she was a little curious why I was so interested in it. Another coworker mentioned they broke too easily so they weren’t very good to write with, though after I sharpened one up and tried it out, it didn’t strike me as particularly brittle (1388-2 marked “soft”). It was reasonably dark, and reasonably smooth.

I think what got me was the general fit/finish of the pencils. While the performance was pretty decent, the pencil looks no better than many of the cheapest Chinese and Taiwanese products I see locally. In fact, had I not recognized the brand, I would not have bothered to even pick it up. I am pretty glad I didn’t buy a pack, and I don’t think I’d recommend it either. Perhaps as another poster said, the Chinderogas are better, but I haven’t seen them and don’t really plan to.

Gotta say I’m a bit disappointed, but they’re far from the only company that has voluntarily or involuntarily milked a brand’s familiarity and heritage. Perhaps it only bothers me since I’m an American. Oh well!

By: Ipmala

Ipmala — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 22:27:16 +0000

To my knowledge…GENERAL PENCIL CO. is the only one that’s still made in the USA. They make “the very BEST” pencils anywhere in the world–
American (USA) materials with American workers…something we can all
be proud of in today’s day and age– I BUY NOTHING FROM CHINA. I just
ordered 3 doz. of their top-of-the-line yellow “hex” writing pencils…and
they are of equal or better quality than even the old USA made pencils from Dixon Ticonderoga —AND YOU CAN BUY FROM THE GENERAL PENCIL
WEBSITE. REMEMBER: YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR & ALWAYS BUY
‘MADE IN USA’ !!!

By: CHarles

CHarles — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 23:06:51 +0000

I purchased some Dixon Tri-Conderoga, and some Regular yellow and some black Ticonderoga pencils after reading about them and seeing their web site and history. As their web-site says, “a fine American name for a fine American pencil.” So I purchased them because I like to buy “Made is USA”. Boy was I disappointed. The 12 packs of the Tri-Conderoga and the yellow and black Ticonderogas in the green cardboard box say “Made in Mexico”. The clear plastic 24 pack says “Made in China” in very tiny writing. Now I don’t know about you, but I think it is deceptive to play up their illustrious history and the “American Pencil” angle when they make them overseas by non-Americans. I don’t care what the “History” is if they are no longer made here. A Mexican or Chinese pencil is NOT an American Pencil! I wouldn’t have minded if they were honest about it so I was honestly informed. I spoke to a lady in Dixon Marketing today. She said they were not being deceptive because they did not print “Made in USA” on the Pencil. She told me I would have to write a letter and convince here they are decieving customers. I advised her that with that attitude, I would help convince her by no longer being a customer. Thanks for listening.