TWSBI Pagoda Jr. Mechanical Pencil Review

[Nathan Weston]

After the TWSBI Precision, a premium mechanical pencil which looks not dissimilar to the rotring 600, comes the TWSBI Pagoda Jr., an entry-level mechanical pencil which looks not dissimilar to the rotring Tikky. But if there is a design homage, it comes with some real improvements in execution. Let's take a look.

Design

In a word - pretty. Gently off-white plastic hexagonal faceted barrel (also comes in blue and orange), chrome trim, lovely grippy rubber "section".



Design of the grip puts one in mind of a ghostly Pierrot clown, haunting a spectral pavilion on the end of Brighton pier. Yes it does, look at it. Chrome trim.

Execution

Solid. High tolerances on the fit, no wobble in the pusher, clip is very strong. The retraction mechanism is perhaps a little more spongy than you might like compared to the rotring 600, but that's like saying "the vocal performance lacks a little compared to Tony Bennett." The man's a honey-voiced legend. Why would you say that? What's wrong with you?

Eraser

It'll stop your pencil leads falling out. As a bonus it will erase pencil marks, if you've forgotten to bring an actual eraser.



Writing experience

Feels great in the hand because of the added girth - more "a mechanical pen that happens to be a pencil" than "a woodcase pencil that happens to be mechanical." No sense that the leads might break. This is a pencil you can brandish with confidence. Chin up. The page is yours. OWN IT.

Name

Pagoda is a nice word. Pagoda Jr.? Perhaps it's... a small pagoda? Perhaps it's designed for children? Perhaps they'll release a TWSBI Pagoda that's, like, an inch thicker? I don't know what's going on here.

Price

I got mine for £4.95 from the fine folks at Bureau Direct (https://www.bureaudirect.co.uk/twsbi...hanical-pencil).

Quality of photos

Honestly not great.

Should I buy it?

Look, I can't make these kind of big life decisions for you.

[Wolfman Zack]

These do look somewhat interesting.
I would assume that they are intended for school use, hence the ‘jr’.

My personal taste in pencils leans towards higher quality metal bodies, but for sheer economy these look like one of the best options available right now.
Probably an excellent choice if you are prone to losing pencils, or if you have children who you want to equip with quality writing instruments at minimal expense.

[VertOlive]

Thanks for the review. I just bought one from Jetpens out of curiosity ($4), and came here to find this reassuring review.

[stub]

I got one of these too. Very good bang for buck. Boo on the rubberized sections but the pen is nice and clubby and light. A good cheap work pencil. I got the white one in .7 as a throw in with my last pen purchase. Been using mine at work.

[VertOlive]

I agree with stub. This is a sturdy little pencil for the price and I reach for it often. The rubber strips on the grips don't bother me nearly as much as I thought they would.

Mine is "Marmalade" which in real life looks like a Carmel color.

I'd probably buy this one in other sizes and colors eventually. Besides my Rotring 600 (a different animal anyway), this is my second favorite purchase so far.