pencil talk has learned that the famed Mirado pencil has been discontinued.
From correspondence with Newell Brands Office Products:
[T]he manufacturing of our Mirado Classic Pencils are already discontinued and we do not have a direct replacement at this time.
The Mirado is a global classic. It and the predecessor Mikado have over a dozen mentions in the definitive pencil book, The Pencil by Henry Petroski.
The Mirado line has been the subject of several pencil talk posts:
Goodbye, Papermate Mirado Classic pencil (2009)
Mirado Black Warrior pencil (2008)
Last large American pencil factory to close in 2009 (2008)
Eagle Mirado pencil (2009)
Papermate Mirado Classic pencil (2010)
A blog reader, “B. Johnson”, sent some information about this several days ago, but I wanted to confirm the information with Newell / PaperMate before sharing.
The business logic is elusive. These pencils probably aren’t a revenue leader for Newell, but with such brand recognition, they must still sell. They have been regularly seen at big box stores for years.
[Update]
Please see these excellent posts at Orange Crate Art: