The late Broadway legend Stephen Sondheim was a big fan of the late Eberhard Faber Blackwing 602 pencil. This pencil was famous for its smooth and soft lead, as well as its unique design. His collaborator Burt Shevelove introduced the pencil to him while they were working on "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum." They weren't the only ones who admired this iconic pencil – Leonard Bernstein and Adolph Green were also Blackwing devotees.
In a 2005 interview with the Academy of Achievement, Sondheim revealed his penchant for these pencils. He said, "I use Blackwing pencils. Blackwings. They don't make 'em anymore, and luckily, I bought a lot of boxes of 'em. They're very soft lead. They're not round, so they don't fall off the table, and they have removable erasers, which unfortunately dry out."
Recently, a Doyle estate auction featured three boxes of these rare vintage Blackwing 602 pencils from Sondheim's personal collection. These sets, which are from the 1940s-50s, were still in their original blue boxes and ended up selling for $6,400, which is way more than their estimated value of $600-$800. The collection includes a total of 32 pencils in different conditions. That's $200 per pencil! I wonder if the buyer will ever sharpen and use one? Maybe they'll snort the pencil shavings to channel the ghost of Sondheim.
If you're interested in trying out a Blackwing 602 pencil, you have a couple of options. Option 1 is to buy a genuine one on eBay for around $50 each. Just make sure the pencil says "Eberhard Faber" on it. Option 2 is to go for a nice imitation made by Palomino, which costs about $2.50.
Previously: The new Palomino Blackwing 602 pencil is a fine tribute to the Eberhard Faber Blackwing 602
