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October 30, 2007

Brand Name Pencils

We have to admit: writing in pencil usually makes us cringe. There are the horrid flashbacks to forgetting a No. 2 pencil on the day of a big standardized test, the eraser smudges, the broken tips, the memories of standing at the pencil sharpener and having the device seemingly EAT your pencil. If we do decide to use a pencil--and there are times when it's necessary--it's usually one of those fancy mechanical ones with a clickable tip (Youngna's favorite is the burnt orange Pentel 120 EX with extra fine 0.3mm lead). But then, of course, there is the fear of running out of lead.

That said, when we discovered Bob Truby's pencil collection site, Brand Name Pencils, we had to admit that we never knew there were so many varieties, such history, such a great variance in color, eraser shape, hardness, and manufacturing location. Brand Name Pencils features Truby's intricately detailed collection labeled by brand (134 of them) and type. He includes a wishlist -- either pencils he covets or wants to update with an unsharpened version--and a duplicates list for those of you who are pencil collectors and might be looking for one Truby is willing to let go of.

For pencil collectors, letter-writers, and those generally interested in the nature of collection, Brand Name Pencils is well worth a look-through.

[Related: We highly recommend one of our favorite collecting books, In Flagrante Collecto, available at Amazon.com for $37.80]