The "Perfect Pencil" - Boing Boing

Faber Castell's Perfect Pencil is described by the ad copy as "the culmination of the history of the pencil", which somehow does not quite prepare one for the eye-watering $240 price tag—or that of the $500 gift set! Don't worry, though: refills are only $50. [via Uncrate]

Previously: The new Palomino Blackwing 602 pencil is a fine tribute to the Eberhard Faber Blackwing 602.

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MORE: gifts • pencils • stationary

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http://welfle.com/ Andy Welfle

Frankly, it looks like those ridges in the barrel would hurt my fingers, like the ridges cut into those old Yikes! pencils from the 90s. I’ve seen these in fine stationary shops, but never tried it out. I prefer my Palomino Blackwings and Generals’ Semi-Hex. Expensive, for a pencil, but WAY WAY less than this.
- Ping Kee
  
  I didn’t find anything on your site that indicates you are a pencil blogger. All I can say is that I’m disappointed… :)
  - http://welfle.com/ Andy Welfle
    
    Oh noes! Yeah, I need to mess with my site a bit more. My pencil blog is over at http://woodclinched.com. (:
    - ChickieD
      
      You ARE pencil blogger!
      - http://welfle.com/ Andy Welfle
        
        Sorta – I’ve been a bad blogger the last few months. I’m getting a few samples in the mail soon, so I hope I can get back into the groove soon!
    - Ping Kee
      
      I stand corrected. Your pencil blog is awesome!
puppybeard

This has to be aimed at their hypothetical “perfect customer”

Reminds me of: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVvcD4Czx4Y
arikol

I would literally pay TENS OF DOLLARS for that. Well, maybe ten to twenty, anyway. Mainly because the integrated sharpener might be nice.

$250?
riiiiigght
http://disqus.com/Kimmoth/ Kimmo

If you like the pencil, I have a ream of paper you might be interested in.

Just hold on while I knock up a wanky box for it and slap on a $1257 price tag.
- fuzzyfuzzyfungus
  
  C’mon, man, I’m not paying for that until you come up with a story about how some Ethnic (in a totally sensitive and ecologically responsible way) supplier lovingly and artisinally produced it from some plant fiber that they were using before it was cool. If you can handle that, we’ll talk.
  - http://disqus.com/Kimmoth/ Kimmo
    
    Sifn’t. I have an app to make up that crap for me
ChickieD

That is a really purdy pencil but, it’s a pencil, right? $200? I suspect this is one of those products that will always be on sale for 60% off and is not intended to sell at the supposed list price. So, you’re like, I got this really snazzy pencil for ONLY $80. Instead of, yeah, I just got ripped for $80 on a freakin’ pencil.

I wish they would sell just the barrel part and you could stick that on regular pencil. That would be really useful. I’d pay, like, $30 for such a dealy bob.
- Layne
  
  Actually, there is a product like the one you’re describing. I used one now and then in art class.
  
  It’s basically a metal sleeve that clips on the stubs of pencils and extends the life of your implement. I dont think it has a swanky eraser /sharpener, but you can spend the extra $240 on something to cushion the blow to your ego.
  
  http://www.amazon.com/EM-Peanpole-Wood-Pencil-Extender/dp/B006CQRRPW/ref=sr_1_13?s=office-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1354717426&sr=1-13&keywords=pencil+extender
  
  http://www.amazon.com/Faber-Castell-Extender-And-Pencil-Black/dp/B000WL2S0W/ref=sr_1_5?s=office-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1354717426&sr=1-5&keywords=pencil+extender
  
  http://www.amazon.com/Universal-Pencil-Lengthener-Extender-Black/dp/B005QPWZSY/ref=sr_1_2?s=office-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1354717426&sr=1-2&keywords=pencil+extender
  - TheOven
    
    I think the point is that the swanky eraser / sharpener is the desirable bit. A pencil extender is for poor people. (I have two)
    - ChickieD
      
      Click the middle link. That one has a sharpener. No eraser, mores the pity, but for us plebeians, it is an acceptable alternative to the platinum plated pencil dohookie of glory.
      - TheOven
        
        Oooh, it was platinum? Well I’ll get two!
      - http://profiles.google.com/westcarleton Ray Perkins
        
        Why would the Pretentious Platinum Plated Pencil have an eraser, anyway? Would the target market admit to ever making a mistake?
fuzzyfuzzyfungus

Maybe this is because I use them for writing (and increasingly rarely, at that) not artistic purposes where variations in line and shade are much more valuable; but pencils have always struck my as a relatively solved problem. A mechanical model using .5mm or smaller lead of decent durability will give you a consistent, not-to-smudgy line, and never require sharpening, and can carry enough lead internally to last for months to years of steady use.

Totally unromantic; but your basic Pentel p205 .5mm costs $5, less in quantity, and will probably last longer than you can avoid losing it (unless exposed to high voltage arc discharges, so don’t do that, learned that the hard way).
- TheOven
  
  I use a Kuru Toga from Japan. It’s a mechanical pencil that rotates the lead as you draw/write so as to always have a sharp tip against the paper. It works really well – too well sometimes as you have to watch you don’t rip the paper.
  
  http://www.jetpens.com/Uni-ball-Kuru-Toga-Auto-Lead-Rotation-Mechanical-Pencil-0.3-mm-Black-Body/pd/3215
  - fuzzyfuzzyfungus
    
    Ooh, .3mm, I am in…
    - TheOven
      
      I had a hard time getting them in Canada. I ended up getting a japanese friend to send me a pair. Amazone said they c/wouldn’t send them to Canada and I could find no retailers here.
DisGuest

Team Sharpie.
Sparrow

This seems a bit more reasonable http://www.amazon.com/Faber-Castell-119037-Castell-Perfect-Pencil/dp/B000KT8RSI/ref=pd_sbs_op_4 but after reading http://www.amazon.com/How-Sharpen-Pencils-Theoretical-Contractors/dp/1612190405/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1354718586&sr=1-1&keywords=pencil+sharpening+book I send my pencils out to be sharpened by a professional.
http://evilbobdayjob.blogspot.com/ Deidzoeb

Americans can’t afford to return to the higher tax rates we paid under Clinton or Reagan or earlier decades when the economy prospered. We need to ensure that job creators have enough money. How can we afford to create jobs without that capital? After I finish writing this message with my $240 pencil and send it to my transcriptionist to post it on your world wide web site, I will dash off my report about the healthy market for three-figure pencils, and then I’ll set down the details proving why job creators need tax breaks.
- welcomeabored
  
  ‘Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle.’
Boundegar

Just one example of why we need to extend the Bush-era tax cuts. Just think of the poor $250 pencils that might not get bought if we squandered that money on inferior pencils for public-school kids.
lz4005

The derp is strong in these comments.
Its a platinum plated piece of functional jewelry.
There’s a plastic version for $15 and a steel version for under $50. And they fit normal pencils. You don’t have to use the (admittedly overpriced) refills.
- ChickieD
  
  You’re right. I went to Amazon and typed “Perfect Pencil” into the search engine and there are several less expensive versions of the exact thing-a-mabob. I am now thinking this would be an amazing stocking stuff (not the super high priced version) for my teenager who is into sharp pencils.
  
  Also, if you haven’t seen the graphite gel pens – I searched and searched for an image or link for this and I don’t know what has happened to this product. However, every now and then I can find #2 graphite gel pens that look just like yellow pencils but they are pens with graphite ink in them. They are eraseable. They are fantastic for school kids because the never need sharpening. This is the closest I can find but it’s not a trick thing like this implies, it’s just a normal pen that has graphite in it:
  
  http://www.perpetualkid.com/faux-pencil-pen-set.aspx
  - TheOven
    
    I’ve tried the Sharpie Liquid pencils and they are shite. Terrible flow. They leave blank spots and globs of “ink” that smudge easily. Totally useless, though I’ve heard people like them for plotters.
    - ChickieD
      
      I haven’t used the Sharpie product, but the ones that look just like #2 pencils are freakin’ amazing. They don’t last very long though. Sometimes they turn up in 3 packs at the local pharmacy, but they are a real hit or miss item to locate.
dannyg

The aroma of those refills is heaven. Not something the internets can convey.
Ethan Holman

Actual perfect pencil:
http://www.stationeryart.com/staedtler-staedtler-mars-technico-lead-holder-pencil-p-691.html

At least for me. Got it for an architecture class, now use it for everything. It is every kind of pencil, incorporates it’s own sharpener, albeit not as good as a standalone pointer, but functional. It doesn’t include an eraser, but a separate eraser is always better than a little pencil nipple eraser anyway. Love that thing.