Comments on: Mirado Black Warrior pencil

By: DP

DP — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 09:30:25 +0000

So I discovered that the “Black Warrior” was a Confederate schooner during the Civil War. I’m still trying to find out the connection with the pencil. I guess Canadians weren’t ready for a Black Warrior pencil.

By: DP

DP — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 03:45:43 +0000

Maybe it’s a Canadian thing, but the ones I use just say “Mirado Classic Black”. What is the story behind the name “Black Warrior”? Is is a nickname by loyal customers that was adopted as a marketing decision?

Regarding the quality issues: Any package of USA made Mirado Blacks were always of superior quality, even the package I have now which are USA made, by papermate, are still outstanding pencils. It is very sad, this was a fantastic pencil for so many reasons, not the least of all, it’s sleek design and the fact that it’s a ROUND pencil! Not too many high grade round pencils out there, unless you hit up a dollar store or souvenir shop and try to write using novelty graphic pencils.

Maybe it was a marketing decision, but it was a bad one! I will never buy these pencils again, unless I find a made in USA pack. The ones I see in Wal-Mart these days are CROOKED, bent, and a disgrace.

By: margaret

margaret — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 21:19:06 +0000

PaperMate-Sanford Brands has bought out Mirado Pencils, testing the quality now? So sad if the quality has changed. Mirado was my favorite pencil

By: christopher

christopher — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 02:37:27 +0000

I have a box of 1993 Berol Mirado Black Warriors and they are tip top. Perfect stamping, straight, and best of all, no little hearts…. The box is brown and white with a symmetrical cutout in the front. I have looked for them but cant seem to find them for retail – I dont want to spoil my experience with a more recent version.

By: Ruth Martin

Ruth Martin — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 18:15:30 +0000

I too have noticed the decline of the Black Warrior pencil. The new ones I just purchased from Office Depot feel nothing like a Black Warrior. They are thin, and have a matte finish. They do not feel anything like the Black Warriors I have always used . The ones I had were much thicker, had a glossy paint and were a joy to write with.

By: David O.

David O. — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 22:28:40 +0000

I still sort of wish that they had the older glossy finish vs. the current “flat” paint finish. They are a bit more slippery to hold now, especially when compared to something like the old glossy finish “Carmine Red” Prismacolor (Col-Erase) pencil that I also use periodically.

By: Sheryl McDowell

Sheryl McDowell — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 12:16:22 +0000

I have used the Black Warrior exclusively for 10 years or more. I am a musician and use pencils on music alot. These pencils are easily identifiable and write dark and smooth. The name and the look are sexy, bold,and elegant. Exquisitely perfect.

By: Corvus

Corvus — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 03:15:13 +0000

Well, I got my three boxes of Mirado Black Warrior #1 pencils today, and they mostly look pretty good. In one box, there was one pencil that was a little bit warped, and a couple others were not crimped just right. But they will work just fine. I noticed that although the box said Papermate, on the back, it also said Sanford. I’ll try one out sometime. Still have a Berol one that I have attached to my instrument that works OK, but a couple more sharpenings and it will be too short to hold!

By: Corvus

Corvus — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 07:41:15 +0000

I just bought the last three boxes of Mirado Black Warrior #1 pencils from pencity.com. I actually ordered six boxes, but the pencity order confirmation said they were sending three boxes and were backordered on the other three. Then I got another e-mail saying that the item is no longer available from Papermate and that the backorder was cancelled. I hope the ones I did get are decent quality. I’m giving some away as gifts (to fellow musicians) and keeping the rest. I still have 4-5 Berol Black Warriors from a box I bought in 1996. They are excellent for music, just like David O. said. The erasers are all dry and stiff, but I just put the cap erasers over them. Hopefully I’ll have enough #1 Black Warriors to last the rest of my career!
If I run across any other sources for these pencils, I’ll be sure to post it here.

By: Joe

Joe — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 04:38:10 +0000

Once upon a time two buyouts ago there was a pencil called the Eagle Elite. It was black all the way through and made of some sort of composite. The real show was the graphite, thick and soft. They called it a 2hb, but I would say on a drawing pencil scale it was about a 4b. Best damn sketching pencil I have tried. I’m saving my last few dozen for special occasions and filling in with the Dixon Ticonderoga 1b ex-soft.

By: BCS

BCS — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 01:52:52 +0000

If you still have some Berol Black Warriors, hold onto them. Berol became Sanford, and then Sanford’s pencils became PaperMate.Each name change was accompanied by a step down in quality control.

(The same pattern happened with the FaberCastell/Eberhard Faber American, a perfectly usable cedar pencil which took a dive when it became the Sanford American, and another when they became the Paper Mate ~~American~~ Classic, with nary a trace of cedar left.)

Wasn’t there a time when the Black Warrior was materially different from the regular Mirado? Today, the only difference is the shape and finish, but I seem to recall a time in which the Black Warriors were held to have better graphite and/or wood than the regulars.

By: Al

Al — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 22:58:59 +0000

We have some lovely pencils at work printed “Berol BLACK WARRIOR 372″ in number 2.

These write great. I don’t know if more than one company produces Black Warrior pencils but I would rate these as a step above Steadtler.

I’m a fountain pen user so I appreciate a smooth writing pencil more than most.