Posts filed under Mitsubishi

Mitsubishi 9850 HB Pencil Review

I’ve known for years that the Mitsubishi 9850 HB Pencil was good, but maybe not necessarily great. I think I’ve been selling it short: it is great.

I guess I’m fortunate that I didn’t review it previously, as it has stood the test of time on my desk, in competition with dozens of other pencils that have passed through my hands. Good products rise to the top in this way. Usage is a good scoreboard.

In previous pencil reviews, I often grabbed the 9850 to use for comparison. Only when recently reviewing the Kitaboshi 9606 HB did I realize I had never done a proper review of the 9850. I went looking for that review because as I was testing pencils, I realized the 9850 was better than all of them. That included the Blackwing 602, a default favorite pencil.

There was no review to be found.

I found praise for it as a side note in other posts, but only against these other pencils did I finally realize how special the 9850 is. Am I going to tell you it is the best pencil on the market? No. But I’m not going to not tell you that, either.

Pencils are difficult to compare directly to one another. Graphite cores are an obvious differentiator, but sometimes they are tough to tell apart when they are the same grade. Heck, they are sometimes identical, as I discussed in the aforementioned Kitaboshi review. I like a dark core, with a balance between smoothness and some feedback, plus good point retention. That’s honestly not too difficult to find between several brands.

Freshly sharpened with the Uni KH-20 (left,) and 300 words later.

Aesthetics matter, too. The 9850 is a classic, general-use design, while other popular brands like Blackwing and Caran d’Ache have more premium fits and finishes-with prices to match.

This is all to say that when accounting for everything-quality, style, comfort, experience, price-the Mitsubishi 9850 might be the best total package on the market.

I do hedge a little bit, because there are a few pencils I prefer style-wise over the 9850-the Blackwing Eras with the Extra Firm core, and the Tombow Mono 100 HB, for example. But are they better than the 9850? I wouldn’t go that far.

The Mitsubishi 9850 has been around for decades, and is the standard by which all office pencils have been measured. It should be the standard by which all premium pencils are measured as well.

You can pick up the 9850 for $1.40 per pencil at JetPens, or grab a dozen from St. Louis Art Supply for $10.95.

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Posted on November 21, 2022 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Mitsubishi, Pencil Reviews.

Mitsubishi 9800VB Pencil Review

Anti-microbial stationery goods have been around for decades, but they haven’t exactly been interesting for avid stationery fans such as myself. These products were generally a combination of low-quality/low-cost for bulk purchase and usage by schools, hospitals, and the like. And unless you wanted to go with a full copper-barrel product for it’s natural anti-microbial tendencies, a premium writing experience was hard to find.

Now, don’t let me lead you on too much in advance, thinking I’m going to tell you that the Mitsubishi 9800VB Pencil is going to break barriers and is the greatest pencil of all time. That’s not going to happen. But what I will tell you is the combination of what’s under the hood (i.e. the graphite core,) combined with a stylish and functional exterior, make for a pencil I want to use frequently-virus blocking or not.

Let’s get the marketing specs out of the way up front. The “VB” in the 9800VB product name stands for Virus Block. From Mitsubishi:

“Here's the interesting part: that lovely sky-blue coating isn't just paint. It's made with a new antiviral coating called "Virus Block" (hence the 9800VB model number) that was jointly created by Tokyo Institute of Technology and Keio University.

In lab studies, towels coated with Virus Block had 99% fewer viruses and fungi on their surface after 60 minutes than an untreated towel, and 99.9% fewer after 24 hours. That makes the 9800VB an attractive choice for public settings like schools and offices, which even in non-pandemic times are sites of cold and flu transmission.”

Awesome, right? Also, no one else will be sharing my pencil with me. That said, there are use cases you may have for this product, making them a good option. For me, I want great performance and beautiful design. The Mitsubishi 9800VB gives me both.

The key to any good pencil is a good core, and in using Uni Mitsubishi’s 9800 core as a base, this one is off to a good start. While it may be their entry level HB graphite, it is a clear upgrade to any basic yellow #2 pencil you will come across. The core is smooth, but has a firmness that provides excellent point retention. It does fall shy of being as good as more premium cores, such as those found in Blackwing pencils, but at a fraction of the price, they are more than worth it.

I’ll readily admit that the aesthetic of the 9800VB makes me love this pencil even more. The light blue barrel coating, combined with at the royal blue foil stamping is chef’s kiss goodness. The lack of an eraser never bothers me, and certainly was the correct choice in conjunction with the Virus Block feature of this pencil.

Do you need the Virus Block? If you are like me and will be the only one using this pencil, sitting at my desk, unshared with others, then no. Do you like the aesthetic, and the quality of Japanese pencils overall? For $1 per pencil, then yes. I’m clearly in the latter category. And for those who could use the Virus Block technology in their home or workplace, I think they are absolutely worth trying. I’d maybe even go for a bulk discount if you were looking at buying a gross (144 count) or more for your facility.

Mitsubishi 9800VB vs 9850 — *The 9850 is softer and darker.*

For a similar pencil, minus the Virus Block, you can grab the original Mitsubishi 9800, or for a softer, darker core (despite also being marked HB,) try the eraser-attached Mitsubishi 9850-both of which are at the same price point as the VB.

(St. Louis Art Supply provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Posted on July 4, 2022 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Mitsubishi, Pencil Reviews.

Uni Mitsubishi 9000 3H Pencil Review

I had the pleasure of joining the Erasable Podcast crew last week to discuss my recent fascination with wooden pencils. This led to a lot of great conversation around the stationery discovery process, like when I realized fountain pens would work for me and my writing style.

That discovery process went something like this:

I have no use for fountain pens. They can’t write how I like to write.
They are messy - who wants to deal with that?
Wow, that ink color is neat. Look how fine that line is!
I should buy one to try.
That was ok, but not perfect for me. Let me research more.
Japanese Extra Fine! And orange ink!

For wooden pencils, the process was shockingly similar:

I have no use for wooden pencils. They can’t write how I like to write.
They are messy - who wants to deal with that?
Wow, that pencil barrel is cool. Look how sharp that point is!
I should buy one to try.
That was ok, but not perfect for me. Let me research more.
I understand the hardness scale! And rarely have to sharpen!

This is why The Pen Addict exists in the first place. My journey to find the best micro-tip gel ink pen is what got this blog started all of those years ago, and the discovery process never ends. I’m always on the lookout for great pens, pencils, inks, and paper. And, I am willing to step outside of my traditional comfort zone to see what else is out there that could be better for me than what I have been using.

Sometimes it is a $200 fountain pen with a unique nib. Other times, like this one, it is a $1 pencil that fits me and my writing style perfectly.

The Uni Mitsubishi 9000 Pencil in 3H was a random cart add at JetPens at some point in time. I know I’ve had it for a while because it is no longer available in that grade. That’s too bad because LOOK AT MY HANDWRITING!

That’s how I know I’ve found a good one - when even I am impressed with my own handwriting. Luckily, and one of the reasons I have a newfound love for pencils, there are many choices that give me this kind of quality output. I find the 9000 to be one of the best.

My fawning over a $1 pencil begins with its paint job. The green on green coating with gold stamping is nearly perfect. The only visual flaw is the unfortunate presence of the bar code - something many individually sold pencils are plagued with. I can overlook it, and should sharpen past it soon enough. Or not, because I rarely have to sharpen a pencil this firm. That is a big item in the plus column for me.

The preponderance of random marketing quotes on pencils fascinates me, and the 9000 has one of the best: “Made by elaborate process.” Does this add to the performance of the pencil? Of course not. Does it make me giggle every time I say it out loud in my most serious “this is a $1 pencil” voice? Absolutely.

When I recommend fountain pens I am careful to differentiate what works best for me with what I think will work best for most people. For example, I buy Japanese EF nibs whenever I have the option. I recommend others start with F nibs if they don’t have any experience or baseline. With pencils, the same idea holds true. 3H works great for me. You may want to start with H or 2H lead grades to see if you even like writing with a pencil that feels like a nail. I do. You may not.

The Uni Mitsubishi 9000 3H pencil is a prime example of why I love doing what I do for a living. This is a journey - a lifelong discovery process if you will - and if I can get this amped up about a $1 pencil then I know I am in the right place. And I’m glad to share this journey with you.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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