Dixon Ticonderoga Noir pencil
Has Dixon gone too far in extending the Ticonderoga brand?
Fort Ticonderoga has played a part in French, British, and especially American history. It played a landmark role in the American revolution. The Ticonderoga pencil has been named and marketed such that its identity is inextricably bound with this history. Dixon, dating from the 18th century, was itself a part of American history. Some would call the Dixon Ticonderoga successful branding.
So when Dixon releases a pencil like the Ticonderoga Noir, a Made in China garish fluorescent silver finish pencil with black dyed wood, I have to ask, have they strayed too far from the Ticonderoga brand and tradition? If they felt they had to release such a pencil, did they have to do it in the Ticonderoga name?
Am I being too harsh? Do you like this pencil? Would you buy it?
July 13th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
:::cough:::Actually, I have a few dozen. :)
I love them. I love silver pencils, and I love black wood. The lead is good. The eraser, not so much.
Downsides: The silver paint is thin and dings easily in my pencil case, and the signature green-and-yellow ferrule is hideously out of place with the silver and black. But it writes well, and did I mention I like silver and black? :)
July 13th, 2008 at 11:53 pm
phew. For a second I thought you were actually going to vouch for these pencils. I think you’re being too kind by even posting about them. I would’ve just let them slide into oblivion…
July 14th, 2008 at 2:29 am
I’m not really all that familiar with Dixon, but it certainly does tend to imply that Dixons owners do not see Ticonderoga as a premium brand. Many of their recent actions seem to indicate they are going for the middle/low segment of the market.
July 14th, 2008 at 7:53 am
Awful. Make them stop.
July 14th, 2008 at 8:29 am
Very cool find! ;-)
July 14th, 2008 at 11:43 am
I ordered these online a while back because I was excited about the black wood. I didn’t realize the silver was so garish until I opened the box. Plain slver would have been OK but the rainbow reflections are too much.
July 14th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Okay, I’m lonely.
July 14th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Didn’t Dixon say a few years back that they were never going to abandon their US manufacturing base?
July 14th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
The whole point is that they are over the top. They always get attention. I have one I got from Pencil Things in a Pencil of the Month package, and it always gets noticed. Garish is good.
July 14th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
I suspect they’re designed for kids/teenagers, the age group who bought the Yikes! pencils and erasers.
(Er, not that that says anything about me.)
July 14th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
My thanks to all the commenters. There seem to be a couple of different discussions here.
First, the pencil itself. There is nothing wrong with novelty and entertainment focused pencils. They may not appeal to everyone, but they have their market, which seems to include both young people and the young at heart.
Second, the brand. Maybe it isn’t a concern for many, but this pencil seems to share little other than the name with traditional Dixon Ticonderogas. I don’t know what segment of the market has loyalty to the Ticonderoga, but won’t some of these new brand extensions potentially push away existing customers?
July 14th, 2008 at 8:04 pm
But why would a line extension that you consider ugly or cheap push you away from the standard yellow Ticonderoga if you don’t consider it ugly or cheap and you’re loyal to it? I used to be loyal to the Mirado Black Warrior, but in the past 8 years the actual product degenerated. Whatever else Papermate slapped the Mirado name on wouldn’t bother me; the decline in Black Warrior quality did.
July 14th, 2008 at 8:36 pm
Hmm, I think the overall “name” can mean something to some consumers, apart from the relationship they may have with the specific product(s). In consumer electronics, for example, the brand sometimes “is” the product. If Apple released a beige discount PC, would it upset the people who own the fancy stuff? You bet it would. Not all of them, but some number would not like it, and finding the brand value diminished, not buy Apple again.
July 14th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
I don’t understand the logic of the name. The black wood of the pencil is overwhelmed by the silver paint, which has nothing to do with “noir.” To me, marketing this pencil is “noir” is analogous to selling a yellow pencil by touting its “natural wood.”
The black Ticonderoga is a lot more “noir” than this pencil.
July 14th, 2008 at 9:42 pm
I dunno. I’ve been an Apple user since 1995, and from the lists I’m on I gather it would take a lot to get people to give it up.
Besides, I just think a pencil’s different. Electronics are complicated, and some brands are known for being better at it than others. To most, a pencil is a pencil. I guess I don’t see them as apples/apples enough to make the comparison.
Now if Faber-Castell did something like this . . . :)
(But I still like my silver iridiscent Noirs.)
July 14th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
If they wrote well, I could see the appeal. the ferrule’s clash with the silver is just so awful, though. Starting a whole other brand seems like it would have made more sense, both in terms of aesthetics and in terms of business, but what do I know?
July 15th, 2008 at 6:01 am
I agree with the ferrule clashing. It’s also bad on the red and purple Ticonderoga checking pencils. I can’t figure out how they can’t see that. But I can hear someone saying of the green and yellow, “But it’s OUR brand.”
July 16th, 2008 at 11:07 am
I would buy them. I almost bought some yesterday but bought some other pencils instead and would have bought both but I didn’t have enough money with me. In the spirit of free exchange of ideas, every pencil has value because it has been produced and already a part of history.
July 16th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
I agree with the commenter that mentioned this is is probably a pencil for the younger demographic. If this introduces them to the Ticonderoga brand, then I think it is smart marketing.
July 18th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
The Ticonderoga Noirs are the best Dixon pencils currently available in the USA. Sad but true - because the made in Mexico Dixon Tikes in yellow and black are just terrible - quality wise. The Noirs have a wonderfully dark lead and while some people may find the colors jaring (I don’t) - it’s a pencil, and it writes well.
My complaints with the product though - they are expensive, and considering they dont have cedar wood, I think it is misleading to call that pencil a Ticonderoga.
July 18th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
YOU GUYS ARE HAVING A LONG, INVOLVED DISCUSSION ABOUT PENCIL MANUFACTURERS AND BRAND LOYALTY.
I just wanted to remind everyone of this hilarious fact, in case you’ve forgotten.
July 18th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
And now you are participating, Spazador. :-)
July 20th, 2008 at 8:19 am
Dave - Part of the reason I have so many is that Office Depot had a brief, back-to-school timed sale on them - a dozen for 99 cents.
I believe it was Woodchuck who said that he didn’t know of any cedar pencils dyed black like the Noirs or the Rhodias. Not sure what they are. Basswood seems more popular these days . . .
July 21st, 2008 at 11:07 am
I’m not a big fan of the Ticonderoga line to begin with, does anyone else here find the lead to have an unpleasant feel when writing? I much prefer the original (cheaper) Dixon 14402 pencils that write with a crisp finish. If anyone knows of a pencil that writes like a 14402 and has the superior quality eraser inherent to the Ticonderoga line (I push too hard when I write), please let me know!
That said, in and of itself, I have no problem with a flashy stylish pencil.
July 24th, 2008 at 12:27 am
I was just at a staples today and it looks like “ticonderoga” is the new name that they are using on everything. There were ticonderoga permanent markers, red pencils, the old oriole is now a “dixon by ticonderoga” and i swear there were dey erase markers too…
Sad to see a once proud name slapped all over chinese goods having little to nothing to do with the name invoked.
September 26th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
pencil is fabulous! very chic and makes writing with a boring old pencil so much fun!!!
September 28th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
i actually like these pencils. they perform well but the eraser is kinda bad. The design is cool looking. everything is good except the eraser, it works but not as well as others.
October 25th, 2008 at 3:05 am
My husband just bought these … he’s not in the younger demographic; he’s pushing 50. But then he is someone who is easily impressed with new, garish coloring. I thought this was something limited to breakfast cereals and Oreo cookie fillings, but he showed the same child-like enthusiasm when he brought home the pencils. They do write nicely, and the lead is well centered (my biggest pencil pet peeve). My seven year old daughter likes them too. While my husband was at work, she ground several of them up in the pencil sharpener, and then excitedly showed me the “coffee grounds” she made with them. She did not use them for their intended purpose as her homework was done in in colored pencil, each word another color.
October 26th, 2008 at 10:04 am
Monique, thanks for sharing this great anecdote!