Ok folks, would like to share my brief impressions after spending some time with few quality mechanical pencils which are considered as an upgrade to the RM3.00 Pilot pencils sold in your neighbourhood stationery stores.

Photo below shows from Top to Bottom ;
Uni Kuru Toga Roulette
Uni Kuru Toga Advance
Zebra Delguard Lx Limited Edition
Staedtler 925 35 07


Firstly, as seen here in this thread, it is down to personal preference as the pencil which I feel is comfortable may be considered as uncomfortable to another person. For instance, Synical found the Uni Kuru Toga Roulette to be uncomfortable but I find it fairly comfortable.

Comfort and looks are based on personal preference which is subjective. However, some aspects of the pencil such as the technology incorporated into it and the writing experience are objective so most people would be able to come to an agreement.

Ok straight to the point. To me, if you want something that is truly special and different, the Uni Kuru Toga would be it. After comparing all the pencils which include the Zebra Delguard with its patented unbreakable lead technology, the Uni Kuru Toga still remains as the best mechanical pencil to me in terms of writing experience. As mentioned earlier, the rotating mechanism inside the Uni Kuru Toga really works in keeping the lines sharp all the time as the lead is constantly rotated by the pencil. All other pencils which include Staedtler and Zebra Delguard write the same as the cheap Pilot, or any other pencil for that matter. The lines don't stay consistent and sharp as they get smeared and go wider after you write for a while. As a result of the thicker or wider lines due to the excessive slanted tip of the lead, the shade also gets lighter and not as dark.

As for the unbreakable lead technology of the Zebra Delguard, personally I don't find it unique as I don't usually break the leads with all pencils which I write on these days, even the cheap Pilot. Perhaps useful for people who are heavy handed who exert a lot of force on the pencil when writing on paper. I only break the leads when writing on REALLY cheap mechanical pencils, maybe those costing RM0.50 or 1.00 a piece. That was way back in time when I was in school.

In summary, for me the Uni Kuru Toga is the best pencil for writing as it maintains the thickness of the lines. With other pencils. If you want to maintain the thickness of the lines, you need to rotate the pencil 90 to 180 degrees with your fingers. Otherwise, you just continue to write with thicker and smeared lines ie. Instead of 0.5mm, you get 0.7 or 0.8mm thick lines, and with lighter shade.

Uni Kuru Toga ADVANCE vs. ROULETTE
Between the Advance and Roulette, I find that there is no difference in the function as both pencils maintain the line thickness very well. One is not better than the other although the rotation speed in the ADVANCE is 2 times that in the ROULETTE. Perhaps other more experienced users may be able to explain the advantage of the higher rotation speed in the Advance model. To me, there is no difference.

However there is a difference where the Roulette with slower rotation speed writes slightly smoother on the paper when compared to Advance. Just a small difference. It is likely the higher rotation speed which causes the lead to rotate quicker ultimately induces more friction on the paper when the lead is rotating at higher speed.

Comfort
All pencils feel comfortable to me but if I were to rank them in order, from most comfortable to least comfortable as follows;
1. Zebra Delguard and Uni Kuru Toga Advance (tie)
2. Staedtler 925 35 07 and Uni Kuru Toga Roulette (tie)

The larger diameter and smooth grip area of the Zebra Delguard and Uni Kuru Toga Advance contributed to the added comfort. The smaller diameter and textured surface of the grip area of both Staedtler and Uni Kuru Toga Roulette brought down the comfort levels a little, but overall they are still fairly comfortable to write on. No complaints.

SUMMARY

I may sound like a broken record by now, but I would surely recommend the Uni Kuru Toga if you want a different and better writing experience from your RM1.00 to 3.00+ mechanical pencils found in your common stationery stores. I feel the basic models instead of the Roulette will be good enough. Perhaps the rubber grip or Gel grip version of the Uni Kuru Toga.

Zebra Delguard and Staedtler don't really feel too special in terms of writing experience but they are well made and look pretty good (metal body, beautiful design etc.). But in terms of comfort and particularly heavy handed users, the Zebra Delguard will be a good choice.

This post has been edited by ryder_78: Apr 23 2021, 10:56 AM

Aha, Rotring, maybe later by end of the year or next year. Read a lot of good things about the Rotring and will try at least one model sometime in the near future. As for now, I'm happy with the Uni Kuru Toga.

Sorry, I only use the Buncho 2B with Uni Kuru Toga and all other pencils. I haven't tried the "upmarket" leads with the pencils yet.

I'm not sure about the original lead for the Kuru Togas. All the pencils came with original leads inside but I have replaced all the original leads with the Buncho 2B as I find the original leads to be too hard and light in shade. According to the seller, the original leads inside the pencils are likely HB grade which may explain the light shade and higher friction on paper.

I suppose you can use the Pentel AIN Stein 4B with the Uni Kuru Toga? The Ain Stein 4B was highly recommended in several reviews on YouTube and also 2 users here on this thread. I will try the Ain Stein 4B in due time but at the meantime the cheap Buncho 2B works well for me, surely better than the original lead(HB grade?) which came together with the pencils.

Just curious, what do you like about the original leads of the Uni Kuru Toga and how is it better than the Pentel Ain Stein 4B or Buncho 2B? Can these original leads for the Kuru Toga be purchased off the shelf?

Deleted, duplicate

This post has been edited by ryder_78: Apr 25 2021, 09:01 AM

Does anybody know if there are fake Pentel Ain Stein leads being sold in the market? I just went to Shopee and found out that the price of the Pentel Ain Stein leads vary significantly between different sellers.

The cheapest tube of Ain Stein lead which consists of 40 leads cost RM2.00. It gave me a shock as it is a lot cheaper that I had expected. The most expensive same Ain Stein lead sold by another seller costs RM27.00.

0.5mm 2B most common, followed by 4B and 3B. For the same Pentel Ain Stein 0.5mm 2B/3B/4B lead(40 leads per tube), the price on Shopee varies with different sellers as follows;

RM2.00
RM3.75
RM4.90
RM5.23
RM5.50
RM12.90 *
RM16.00
RM16.50
RM17.00
RM20.35
RM22.00
RM27.00

* the seller whom I bought the mechanical pencils from (Japanstationery) also sells the Pentel Ain Stein leads but I didn't buy from him previously as the lead only comes in 0.2mm and 0.4mm. The 0.5mm is not available. The price sold by this seller is RM12.90. I also bought a Rotring Tikky 0.5mm B lead at RM12.90 from this seller.

Surprisingly there are few buyers who bought the Ain Stein from the higher priced items and left reviews. So the question, why there is such a big difference in price between the sellers for Ain Stein leads!?? I was expecting above RM12.90 for a tube but was shocked few people are selling at RM2.00 to RM5.23.

I only use the pencils for writing.

A short update on the comfort of the mechanical pencils after spending a considerable period of time writing on them. I have written earlier that the Zebra Delguard and Uni Kuru Toga Advance are more comfortable than the Staedtler 925 and Uni Kuru Toga Roulette earlier due to the larger diameter. That isn't true anymore.

I now find the Uni Kuru Toga Roulette to be the most comfortable pencil to write on in comparison to all the other pencils I have. After some investigation on my own as well as a Youtube video comparison (by a Japanese) which happens to coincide with my thoughts, here are my observations. The comfort of the pencils depends on several aspects. It's not only the weight of the pencil but the grip diameter of the pencil, the portion where you hold the pencil. And lastly, the feel of the pencil when you write with it - this is largely dependent on the quality or mechanism of the pencil such as the control of the lead at the tip.

In summary, personally I find the ideal shaft/grip diameter of the pencil to be not more than 10.0mm for it to be comfortable. This is personal as others may not feel the same. There will be less control on the pencil if the diameter of the pencil is larger. For more accurate or fine writing, a smaller diameter pencil will be better than a larger diameter pencil. The large diameter pencil will be useful for taking quick notes or scribble where accuracy is not important. I find the 10.4mm diameter of the Zebra Delguard Limited Edition and 10.7mm diameter Uni Kuru Toga Advance to feel a bit clumsy in my hands in comparison to the 9.9mm diameter Uni Kuru Toga Roulette which I prefer.

Secondly, the weight of the pencil. Light pencils may be more comfortable but too light does not feel good to me. As I mentioned earlier, the light Pilot Supergrip/Rextrip felt like a toy pencil. I just checked the weight and it's 9.2g. The Uni Kuru Toga Advance is also quite a light pencil, coming in at 11.8g. After writing with the Uni Kuru Toga Advance a while and comparing it to the heavier pencils such as Roulette (15.1g) and Staedtler 925(17.0g), the Advance feels too light. I prefer the heavier Uni Kuru Toga Roulette.

With my limited experience, I have narrowed down the criteria of future pencils that I will be purchasing in the near future;
1. The shaft/grip diamater of the pencils will need to be about 10.0mm or lower. 10.5mm and above feels less comfortable to me.
2. The weight of the pencil will need to be approximately 15.0g or higher.

I have shortlisted the Pentel Orenz Metal Grip which falls within this criteria as the next pencil to purchase (Shaft diam. = 9.5mm ; Weight = 14.0g). Perhaps get another Uni Kuru Toga Roulette in black although it may be silly to have 2 same pencils.

The Rotring 600's shaft diameter is only 8.1mm which will greatly aid accuracy. And at 23.0g it's heavier than the rest too. Surely something to look forward to. I can imagine the Rotring 600 to feel solid in the hands.

And lastly, on the Uni Kuru Toga Advance (2x rotation speed) vs Uni Kuru Toga Roulette (1x rotation speed), personally I feel the 1X rotation speed of the Roulette is good enough. The quicker 2X rotation speed of the Advance model creates a slight friction as you can feel the tip of the lead to be slightly loose when writing. There's slight movement or rattling with the lead when you write due to the mechanism in the Advance, and for this, it feels less comfortable than the Roulette. The Youtube video by a Japanese comparing the Advance and basic model of the Uni Kuru Toga also find the Roulette to write better than the Advance and for this reason, recommend the Roulette instead of Advance.

This post has been edited by ryder_78: Apr 30 2021, 10:02 PM

So you are in Singapore. Nice. SGD30 is cheaper than the local price here (RM149.70). How does it feel in comparison to the other pencils you tried? I presume the small diameter (8.1mm) contributes greatly to accuracy and fine writing while the heavier weight(23.0g) in comparison to most pencils makes it feel solid in your hands. The Rotring 600 is almost 3X heavier than the Pilot Supergrip/Rexgrip.

Just checked on Pentel Caplet. It costs RM2.40 which is cheaper than the Pilot Supergrip/Rexgrip. Nice to know when you have found a pencil you can stick for life. My current favourite is the Uni Kuru Toga Roulette.

Similarly Buncho 2B is good enough for me but I'll be trying some Pentel Ain Stein soon, in all 2B, 3B and 4B before I call it a day.

I too just write with mechanical pencils no drawing or sketches. Based on my limited experience with 0.7mm pencils where I only have the Staedtler 925-35 0.7mm, the only disadvantage with this 0.7mm pencil is the lines become thicker after you write for a while. The lines do not stay sharp, and since it is in 0.7mm, the smeared lines are more prominent than 0.5mm. It is unfortunate Uni Kuru Toga doesn't have a pencil which come in 0.7mm. Otherwise I would buy it.

Pentel Graphgear in the photo. I've not given in a serious look yet but will do later.

Just checked on Davemechanicalpencils blogspot. Quite good. I noticed the author doesn't like the tip of the Zebra Delguard too, just like me. BIC Ballograph, I just did a quick check and it is not sold here in Malaysia.

THanks for the post which is useful. Now I will forget about the Rotring 600 and won't be getting it. The price is not exactly cheap at about RM150.

Good to know you also prefer the Uni Kuru Toga than the rest of the mechanical pencils. I really like writing on the Roulette.

Regarding the Staedtler 925-25 0.5mm that you have, do you have the 925-35 0.7mm as well? I was just wondering if the 925-25-05 writes better than the 925-35-07. As you might have known, I bought the 925-35-07. Although it feels comfortable in the hands and writes very smoothly, even smoother than Uni Kuru Toga since it doesn't have any rotating mechanism built into it, the lines become thicker after you write for a while. Smeared lines. Personally I don't prefer the lines to get thicker and smeared after writing, and for this reason I prefer the Uni Kuru Toga over the rest of the pencils.

I was thinking perhaps the 925-25 0.5mm writes a bit better than the 0.7mm 925-35 due to the thinner lead. I like the feel of the Staedtler 925-35 in my hands, and the smoothness is even better than Uni Kuru Toga, but the major drawback is as said above. Whenever I wanted to write, I will always pick up the Uni Kuru Toga Roulette. The Staedtler was rarely used and inside the sleeve.

Just got to know the Uni Kuru Toga Roulette is the most popular model which received the highest sales. The snapshot of the store which I bought the mechanical pencils from. The Roulette is at the top with more than 1000 sold.





Roulette - >1000 sold
Pipe Slide - 611 sold
Advance 0.5mm - 472 sold
Disney Edition - 359 sold
Basic - 192 sold
Advance 0.7mm - 120 sold
Alpha Gel - 90 sold
Advance Upgrade - 60 sold
Advance 0.3mm - 54 sold
Basic 0.7mm - 34 sold
Rubber Grip - 31 sold
Doraemon limited edition - 24 sold
Advance Puma limited edition - 8 sold

Just tried comparing the premium Rotring Tikky Hi-Polymer lead to Buncho lead. Although a big price difference between the 2 leads, unfortunately the writing feel, smoothness and darkness are almost the same to me. The Rotring is 0.5mm B while the Buncho is 0.5mm 2B.



Rotring Hi-Polymer lead 0.5mm B - RM12.90 for 12 pcs
Buncho Hi-Polymer lead 0.5mm 2B - RM0.85 for 24 pcs

1 piece of Rotring lead costs RM1.075 while 1 piece of Buncho lead costs RM0.035 which is more than 30X cheaper.

After this I will order some Pentel Ain Stein 2B, 3B and 4B lead to try.. Hopefully there's a noticeable difference. I'm not asking for a big difference, just an appreciable difference will do. Otherwise, I would stick with Buncho. Save me money which is a good thing.

This post has been edited by ryder_78: May 2 2021, 03:10 PM

By the way, I'm ordering my last batch of pencils (hopefully) to try before I call it quits. Any experience with any of the mechanical pencils which I shortlisted below?

1. Pentel Smash (likely get one of this, quite expensive this one)
2. Pentel Orenz Metal grip
3. Pentel Graphgear 1000
4. Faber Castell Tk Fine
5. Faber Castell Apollo (cheap, below RM10)

Also, will get another Uni Kuru Toga Roulette in black colour to accompany the silver to complete the collection. I really like the Roulette.

I just tried comparing the Buncho 2B (RM0.85) to Rotring Tikky B (RM12.90). Unfortunately both write and feel the same to me. The darkness is also almost the same although the grade is different, B and 2B. I really wanted the Rotring to feel different after paying a considerably high price for it, but it didn't happen.

Will try Pentel Ain Stein after this. Hopefully there will be a difference this time. I too use 0.5mm most of the time. All my mechanical pencils are in 0.5mm. Only the Staedtler 925 is in 0.7mm

Yes, same here. Money better spent on pencils. As silly as it sounds, I'm getting another same pencil in different colour since I enjoy the quality and performance of the design. (UKT Roulette).

The Pentel Ain Stein leads vary in price from RM2 to above RM22. Think I'll get 3 boxes at RM5+ each and compare to Buncho before I retire experimenting and playing around. To be frank, the Buncho 2B is good enough already even before I try the better ones. At below RM1 for a box, you cannot ask for more. Surely value for money.

Yes, I read your earlier post on the Tk-Fine 9717 0.7mm. I was looking at the Tk-Fine 9715 0.5mm which is selling at about RM20. The Vario is sold mainly in Taiwan, saw some on Shopee. Anyway it's too expensive, above RM100 I think.

Will see how it goes. Will wrap up the adventure with this final purchase.

Currently the pencils freshly bought last month are ;

1. Uni Kuru Toga Roulette 0.5mm (silver)
2. Uni Kuru Toga Advance 0.5mm (black)
3. Zebra Delguard Lx Limited Edition 0.5mm (silver)
4. Staedtler 925-35 0.7mm (dark blue)

Looking to add some of the following by this month before I quit ;
1. Uni Kuru Toga Roulette 0.5mm (black)
2. Pentel Smash 0.5mm
3. Pentel Orenz Metal grip 0.5mm
4. Faber Castell Tk-Fine 9715 0.5mm
5. Faber Castell Apollo 0.5mm