[Pen/Pencil Review] The Pentel P203 and PS523 in Fall Colors
This week features something from Jimmy’s line of blogging – the Pentel PS523 in Olive Green and the Pentel P203 in russet brown. These mechanical pencils were also a gift from my husband – from his stash. These are older variants in lovely fall colors.
If you want all the nitty gritty on the Pentel 200 Sharp pencil series – please check out Jimmy’s blog at Nimrodd’s Blog: Pentel P200 Sharp Pencils and more. Though I have yet to see the “more” unless it’s the history of this pencil. He’s the SERIOUS collector.
These are fairly standard mechanical pencils. The bodies are enameled in the beautiful colors. The hardware is metal probably aluminum, maybe stainless. These are 5.6†long and 0.3†in diameter. They both have the classic hexagonal barrel with the grooved grip, but no other ergonomics.
The cap over the eraser is both secure and easy to remove. It’s snug enough that it’s not going to go flying off your pencil, but you don’t have to be Hercules to get it off in order to refill it. The needle tip guards the lead and lets you see where you’re writing.
These are both 0.3mm pencils. I have 0.3mm 2B lead in these pencils. It’s a strong lead for what it is. However, the thinner the lead, the easier it is to break. I usually extend the lead a couple of clicks to write, but I have to keep this lead a lot closer to the sleeve to prevent some of the breaking.
The numbers:
1. How does it work? – 1 – These are mechanical pencils. The mechanism advances smoothly. The cap is secure but easy to manipulate to get to the eraser. It’s easy to refill. Everything you want in a pencil.
2. Grip and feel – 1 – Better than I suspected. The grip is what it is, but the grooves give it some comfort and there’s nothing to dig into the fingers.
3. Material – 0.5 They’re a standard mechanical pencil. Metal hardware, hard plastic enameled body. Nothing super fancy. Nice “paint job” though
4. Overall Design – 1 – They’re decent mechanical pencils. They don’t feel all that cheap or all that expensive. The needle does seem to protect the lead which doesn’t seem to break very easily.
5. Price Point – 0.5 – These are older pencils, they’re going to be more difficult to find for sale. You’ll have to look on eBay or other options.
I give it 4 out of 5 Bronze Pencils
