Looking for 0.3 MM Pentel pencil

I recently had a strange experience with Pentel, USA. I have been
looking for a replacement for my Pentel P203 mechanical pencil for a
couple of years. It's 0.3 mm and it fits my hand just right. I bought
it when I was in college, over 12 years ago. Well, a couple of years
ago, the gripping apparatus inside the pencil started deteriorating.
When I would lean the point towards the paper, the lead would slide
out, and when I would press on the pencil to write, the lead would
disappear inside the pencil. I have several other 0.3 mm pencils that I
use daily, (Yes, I write REALLY small.) but they are all round-barreled
and the P203 is hexagonal-barreled, so they just don't feel the same.

Well, I found that the P203 is still sold in the UK. (It's displayed
and listed on the Pentel UK website.) I emailed Pentel UK to find out
if they could recommend a UK stationer that I could order several
P203's from. I got back an email from a rep at Pentel USA. The email
stated that the P203 was no longer available in the US, and their UK
division and "authorized retailers" were not allowed to sell me the
P203. If I wanted one, I would simply "have to travel outside North
America".

This seemed a bit severe of a reply to a potential customer. The P203
is not an expensive pencil, nor is it inexpensive. (The Pentel UK site
said they ran approx. 4 pounds each.) I would be willing to purchase at
least 5 or 6 (plus shipping) if I could find a reputable UK stationer
willing to sell them to me.

Anybody got suggestions? I'm not familiar with any UK stationers, at
all.

Thanks for the help.

Dave

"DiamondDave65" wrote in message
ups.com...
snip
Well, I found that the P203 is still sold in the UK. (It's displayed
and listed on the Pentel UK website.) I emailed Pentel UK to find out
if they could recommend a UK stationer that I could order several
P203's from. I got back an email from a rep at Pentel USA. The email
stated that the P203 was no longer available in the US, and their UK
division and "authorized retailers" were not allowed to sell me the
P203. If I wanted one, I would simply "have to travel outside North
America".

This seemed a bit severe of a reply to a potential customer. The P203
is not an expensive pencil, nor is it inexpensive. (The Pentel UK site
said they ran approx. 4 pounds each.) I would be willing to purchase at
least 5 or 6 (plus shipping) if I could find a reputable UK stationer
willing to sell them to me.

Anybody got suggestions? I'm not familiar with any UK stationers, at
all.

Thanks for the help.

Dave

It sounds to me as though you've run up against an EU trade agreement or
something along those lines. I encountered it when I wanted something else
from the UK. I don't know all the restrictions but, I know that at least
some items can't be sold to someone outside the EU. Don't take it
personally; I doubt that it's Pentel that's doing it to you. They have to
abide by the law.

--
~~Bluesea~~
Spam is great in musubi but not in email.
Please take out the trash before sending a direct reply.

"DiamondDave65" wrote in message
ups.com...
I recently had a strange experience with Pentel, USA. I have been
looking for a replacement for my Pentel P203 mechanical pencil for a
couple of years. It's 0.3 mm and it fits my hand just right. I bought
it when I was in college, over 12 years ago. Well, a couple of years
ago, the gripping apparatus inside the pencil started deteriorating.
When I would lean the point towards the paper, the lead would slide
out, and when I would press on the pencil to write, the lead would
disappear inside the pencil. I have several other 0.3 mm pencils that I
use daily, (Yes, I write REALLY small.) but they are all round-barreled
and the P203 is hexagonal-barreled, so they just don't feel the same.

Well, I found that the P203 is still sold in the UK. (It's displayed
and listed on the Pentel UK website.) I emailed Pentel UK to find out
if they could recommend a UK stationer that I could order several
P203's from. I got back an email from a rep at Pentel USA. The email
stated that the P203 was no longer available in the US, and their UK
division and "authorized retailers" were not allowed to sell me the
P203. If I wanted one, I would simply "have to travel outside North
America".

This seemed a bit severe of a reply to a potential customer. The P203
is not an expensive pencil, nor is it inexpensive. (The Pentel UK site
said they ran approx. 4 pounds each.) I would be willing to purchase at
least 5 or 6 (plus shipping) if I could find a reputable UK stationer
willing to sell them to me.

Anybody got suggestions? I'm not familiar with any UK stationers, at
all.


Not the lowest cost for the pencil itself (~$11) but they ship to the USA
and for a very reasonable price (under $4 in total for 5 units).

HTH

I'm afraid I didn't understand that last post. Who, exactly, sells the
pencil for ~$11 and ships to the US?

"DiamondDave65" wrote in message
oups.com...
I'm afraid I didn't understand that last post. Who, exactly, sells the
pencil for ~$11 and ships to the US?

Oops. just knew I'd neglected to include something...

http://www.scribblers.co.uk/acatalog...c_Pencils.html

Thank you, so much! That's it exactly. I will be ordering several right
away. That pencil wasn't "cheap" even 12 years ago. I was an
engineering student, and, if I remember correctly, it was $8 when I
bought it here in the US back then.

I knew Usenet would come through. It usually does.

Thanks, again.

Dave

I used a Pentel .3 in college as well had a couple of them over the
years paid about $7 or $8 for them. The last one at the bookstore on
campus Nevada-Reno probably about '89. Still have some spare leads
around here someplace. Great pencil for taking notes in all my Poli Sci
classes with.

"kwhiner" writes:

I used a Pentel .3 in college as well had a couple of them over the
years paid about $7 or $8 for them. The last one at the bookstore on
campus Nevada-Reno probably about '89. Still have some spare leads
around here someplace. Great pencil for taking notes in all my Poli
Sci classes with.

What is it like to write with 0.3 mm mechanical pencil? Do you break
those leads easily because of too much pressing?


--
Juhapekka "naula" Tolvanen * http colon slash slash iki dot fi slash juhtolv
"sinun kauneutesi kaataa valtakuntia. minun pimeyteni raiskaa runoutta." CMX

Actually, no. I usually use an HB lead, and it doesn't break that
often. It helps that most 0.3 mm pencils have a metal sleeve to keep
the lead from breaking.

Plus, I write REALLY small. I'm a software and hardware engineer for
the military and I make notes on engineering graph paper (5 squares per
inch). This allows me to make sketches and notes side-by-side, and I
always write inside the lines. All my co-workers have commented on how
small my writing is. Our tech writer (who converts my notes to actual
formatted documentation) has several times enlarged my notes on the
copier so she could read them more easily. I write neatly, just small.

And, now, most US manufacturers have gone to larger lead pencils, so
finding 0.3 mm lead and pencils has become difficult.

Speaking of which: Has anyone besides me noticed that the descriptions
for mechanical pencil sizes have changed? Until the last couple of
years the following applied: 0.3 mm = "micro-fine", 0.5 mm = "fine",
0.7 mm = "medium", 0.9 mm = "thick". Now, 0.3 mm no longer exists, 0.5
mm = "micro-fine", 0.7 mm = "fine" and 0.9 mm = "medium". And there are
new thicker leads in sizes I had never heard of before like 1.3 mm and
2.0 mm. OK, maybe I notice this because my favorite size has been
phased out.

Seeya,
Dave

"DiamondDave65" wrote:

And, now, most US manufacturers have gone to larger lead
pencils, so finding 0.3 mm lead and pencils has become
difficult.

Strange. Here in Austria I see pencils (Staedtler and Faber-Castell)
and leads (Staedtler, Faber-Castell, and others) in 0.3mm size in a
lot of stores.

And there are new thicker leads in sizes I had never heard of
before like 1.3 mm and 2.0 mm. OK, maybe I notice this because
my favorite size has been phased out.

As I recall, some older mechanical pencils took 1.1 mm leads, and I
believe the Yard-O-Led still does.

The Faber-Castell E-MOTION pencil takes 1.4 mm leads.

In high school many years ago I had a clutch pencil (examples of
which are the Faber-Castell TK 9400, TK 9500, and TK 4600 and the
Staedtler Mars technico 780 C and 788 C), and I assume that even back
then the lead size was 2 mm, as it is for the models just mentioned
(the TK 9400 can also accomodate 3.15 mm leads).

--
Steve

My e-mail address works as is.