Designed no doubt with
an aquatic animal in mind the TomBow Oceanic is a member of the mechanical
pencil group of graphite organisms. However, it has fallen a victim to consumer
climate change in the pencil world and has sadly become extinct, or so I
thought until I received it in a sleek box that came all the way from Germany.
Not everyone would fall
in love with the Oceanic’s fat circumference but the pencil won the Design Plus
award in 1993 because of its unique appearance. It does look like a fish. Its 13cm body is made from some hard material that feels rough and yet it is fine,
smooth, and reminding of rough velvet. Tombow Japan is discreetly written on
the body - turning grey and almost vanishing as you rotate the pen or catching
the light and glittering. In between these two words floats a simply drawn
shape of a fish leaving behind it a single wave - logo perfection!
Like every
self-respecting fish Tombow Oceanic has of course a tail. Its tip is made from
the same hard black material but the rest of it is made of soft foldable
rubber. Press the tip of the tail down and the rubber creases while the pencil
lead is renewed. Open the tip of the tail and the tinniest of erasers is
revealed. There is no clip. The Oceanic rolls on its fat belly so it shouldn’t
be left unsupervised.
See also Dave's Mechanical Pencils review here
Dear Lito,
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastical pencil! I love the idea of writing instruments too dangerous to be left unattended.... I think I have a few that fall into that category... ;) I do like a fatter pen/pencil these days. I find that they are more comfortable in the hand after a time... perhaps a fish is in my future!
Warm regards,
Erika
I have a few Yasutomo/Niji grip 500 and 350 pencils available. They are new but old in my private collection. Never been used. If interested let me know. I might let a few of them go to collectors.
ReplyDelete