http://www.vettedshop.com/products/craft-design-technology-graphite-pencils

I do have the CDT boxes. They are stamped 51050017.

Bear in mind, these are relative minorities, but common enough to cause a little concern. I guess the blotchy finish affects perhaps 20% of my pencils, though usually it’s only minor around one or two of the stampings or around the end. However, about one pencil in every two boxes was distractingly bad. Not a terrible rate I suppose. It’s also pretty common to come across very obviously color-mismatched halves and slightly decentered leads. The Mitsubishi pencils seem to be more consistent as far as wood and centering are concerned, but I don’t have enough Tombows to say much in the way of consistency yet.

About half of my CDTs were bought in Taiwan, though with the original Japanese box. The rest were ordered directly from Japan. I suppose it’s possible that the quality has degraded over time, or it’s possible that it was always “within spec”. I’ve come across very little if any warpage from the CDTs, and the finish is always very glossy and thick-looking. As I mentioned before though, it seems like they skimped on the primer, and darker wood shows through the paint. The pencil still feels smooth and glossy, and there’s no hint of wood grain or anything, just discoloration (as the picture hopefully showed).

Out of curiosity, do you still have boxes for your CDTs? If so, is there a number printed on the inside of the opening flap? ALL of mine have either the number 51050017 or 50150018.

The late 2007 / early 2008 CDT pencils I have compare well with the best of Tombow and Mitsubishi. (Not a lightly made statement.)

After almost five years of publishing this blog, my sense is that quality control is one of the core strengths of modern Japanese pencil manufacturing. Inconsistent US pencils inevitably raise questions of whether one has a “bad batch”, but the Japanese pencils never seem to have such issues. So I’m quite amazed to hear your report.

I don’t want to say the lacquer itself is thin, but it seems that there’s normally something like a white primer coat that is intended to keep the green consistent and vibrant, and it seems that that primer coat is what’s weak. The pencils themselves are still glossy and look thickly coated, but the color is weak in parts, especially around the stampings, but some are blotchy all-around.

http://tinyurl.com/27cycr7 is a snap I took. It may not be extremely easy for people to see the inconsistencies, but they are quite easy to discern on casual personal inspection.

I guess that doesn’t change that it’s an overall excellent pencil. However, I think I might be done purchasing CDTs whether or not they are discontinued, and I’ll continue buying Mono 100s and Hi-Unis instead, even though they too have the occasional flaw.

As per all fans requests, we would produce all lines of them by special price.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Very best

CDT-USA
139 Fulton St Suite 509
New York, NY 10038

taktoshia@plusone-usa.com

As per your a lot of requests, we at CDT-USA are going to provide all the products 35% discount if you order more than $100.00.
Please note the “Pencile talk” word when you order us.

Thank you so much again.

CDT-USA
139 Fulton Street
New York, NY 10038

We will finish the first sale (35% discount/more than $100) the end of September 2008.

Next sale will be November-December.
Of coursem we have stock all items of CDT.

Please do not hesitate to contact me by e-mail takatoshi78@gmail.com

Thank you in advance!

Pencils are soft and easy to use, the pens are also nice especially the brush pen.
They have a new line of products (white leather series) that are hard to find, which I highly recommend. It’s the softest cow leather that I’ve ever touched. The bill case is beautiful. I would like to purchase the roll pencil case which looks like it’s inspired by the traditional Japanese brush holder.

Anyways two thumbs up for the brand.