A realist's review of the legendary Blackwing 602

I'm sure those pencil enthusiasts out there know what I'm talking about. It is the Holy Grail of Pencils. What the DeLorean is to cars, is what the Faber Castell Blackwing 602 is to pencils. It's the hard-to-find, insanely-expensive, out-of-production pencil.

And many people out there give it a perfect 10 rating.

A popular review of the Blackwing, which has captured the attention of such sites as Boing Boing (here and here) is pencilpages.com's review, "The Blackwing 602 - Final Chapter."

An excerpt:

"What is so special about this pencil that its devotees will accept no substitute and make them willing to spend $250.00 for a box of them? It has a sleek and unique design, and if you've ever used one, you know it is a very smooth-writing and easy to use pencil. Its famous slogan "Half the Pressure, Twice the Speed" is no exaggeration. It is also the last of a line of pencils featuring a distinctive rectangular ferrule with a unique, replaceable eraser. I am no artist, but I know that professionals rely on quality and consistency in the tools they use, and the Blackwing was one that could be relied upon.

The Blackwing was originally manufactured by Eberhard Faber. When Faber-Castell USA (F-C) bought Eberhard Faber (EF) in the 1980s, the pencil continued production with the E-F name, but some were also produced with the F-C name on them. Either way, the pencils were made with the same 4B lead formula. During the 1990s, the company was bought by Sanford Corp., one of the world's leading manufacturers of writing instruments of all kinds. Sanford is also the owner of the Paper*Mate and Berol brand names, as well as many others.

The Blackwing continued in production until 1998 and has not been made since. It was originally reported that production ceased because the machine used to make the unusual ferrule broke down and the company did not want to fix it. This is not the entire story. In June 2004 I met with personnel at the factory where the Blackwing was last made and got the real scoop."

Click the link to read the rest of the story.

I took the financial plunge. I got on eBay, scoured around, got aggressive with my bidding, and scored a Blackwing. I will admit, it is a nice pencil. Maybe the nicest I've used before. But it certainly isn't worth $25.

First, the graphite. The slogan "Half the Pressure, Twice the Speed" is true enough. It feels like there is a high amount of wax in the lead to make it just glide across a piece of paper, but the line is dark and significant, which is usually indicative of a harder, rougher element. I was impressed.

Understandably, the eraser is old, as the pencil I bought couldn't be any newer than 10 years. The commodity of being able to take the rectangular eraser out and turning it over, though, improved the performance -- I just used the side that hasn't hardened with exposure to air. The shape is innovative, and gives a good wide angle with which to erase effectively.

One thing I like about it is the extreme glossiness of the paint coating the barrel. Even jostled around in my aforementioned various pencil boxes, the patina never got dinged, scratched, or otherwise blemish the Blackwing. It looks good, a bit like a shark with its not-quite-gray, not-quite-brown coat.

A positive review all around. I am impressed with the performance of the Blackwing. I might pay $5, or even $10 per pencil, but $35-$40 per actual pencil? I think not. Recently, eBay had a lot of 144 Blackwings, and that sold for about $1400. I almost bid on it, thinking that I could then make a fortune by splitting up the lot and selling individual pencils. But I stopped myself -- I love pencils, don't get me wrong -- because I couldn't bring myself to make a major (for me) investment in this particular writing instrument.

One of my joys of pencils is the fact that they're cheap. Even top-quality products like California Republic's various pencils aren't any more than a couple bucks apiece -- and that's at the higher end. If I go out and splurge on a couple unique pencils for my collection, my wife isn't going to get mad. I'm not collecting antique fountain pens, after all.

I think that maybe the Blackwing's hype is super-inflating the price. Its extremely high quality performance has been expressed by writers and artists alike, and sites like BoingBoing and other lesser meme-spreaders caught on. That's certainly how I heard about it. Like Tickle-Me-Elmo and, most recently, the iPhone, the Blackwing is legendary in the world of scribomechanica enthusiasts.

My recommendation is that if you are serious about your pencils, and you want one, just go ahead and buy one. It's worth the experience, and in the bigger scheme of things, it isn't too much. But don't use it often, and treasure it. For your daily writing, use something else, something cheaper. Break out the Blackwing when you want to start a conversation.

-Andy Welfle

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EDIT: Welcome BoingBoing readers! Feel free to look around and contact me if you know of any products you want to be reviewed.

Comments

[slywy]

They were from Papermate, and I can't remember when they said they discontinued them (I believe in the interest of making room for new product lines). This UK site still shows Epics (and of course they're on ebay):

http://www.rowtex.co.uk/parker/epic.htm

[Andy]

Diane,

I remember that -- it was a Cross brand, wasn't it? It felt nice in the hand.

You're right. We should start a comprehensive list of writing utensils that should be on the market, but aren't.

Thanks for bringing that to the forum!

-Andy

[Diane]

I asked PaperMate what happened to the Epic ballpoint (when I realized I hadn't seen one in a while), and they said it was discontinued due to market demands, etc. But it's still fairly popular on ebay, and it really is one of the best, good-looking, comfortable, not-pricey pens ever. And you can twist it open one handed. Bring back the Blackwing 602 and the Epic!

[Andy]

Mark,

Thanks for sharing your response with us! I'm going to attempt a letter-writing campaign to Sanford, so if they are truly "continuously evaluating new and old products to fulfill your needs," then maybe they'll bring it back if enough people request it.

-Andy

[Mark]

In response to the letter that I sent to Sanford requesting the return of the Blackwing 602, here is the reply that I received:

"Thank you for reaching out to us and for your support of Sanford products. Unfortunately, our Blackwing 602 is no longer available and there is no exact replacement at this time. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

"We’re continuously evaluating new and old products to fulfill your needs, so our marketing and product development teams appreciate your input. Additionally, your inquiry has been sent to our consumer insights team for further investigation. We are always looking for ways to better serve you and your comments are an integral part of this process.

"Sanford makes a wide variety of high quality writing instruments, office organization and art products. We invite you to browse all the brands Sanford manufactures at www.sanford.com to discover another great product from a trusted brand that will satisfy your needs.

"If we can be of further assistance to you, please do not hesitate to contact us again.

"Have a good day, and we trust this information will be helpful!"

[Andy]

Don,

Wow! Still, you made a lot of money -- I guess my advice is for if anyone STILL has some Blackwings stockpiled, to wait just a while longer -- it might be worth even more in a few years.

Unless, of course, you want to just give them to me. (-:

-Andy

[Don]

I bought six boxes of these about ten years ago or so after I read Petroski's book ("The Pencil").

The pencils made a great line but, brand new in the box, the erasers were as hard as a rock. My experience was that, because of the blackness of the line, no eraser was up to it anyway. So my opinion is that if Sanford brought back this pencil without an eraser, a great pencil would be even better.

As good as the pencils were, I couldn't resist selling the five boxes I had left for $275. I should have held onto them a bit longer!

[Mark]

Thanks, Andy, and I will post here any response that I get from Sanford Corporation.

[Andy]

Adair and Mark,

Thanks for the comments! I wonder if we can start a letter writing campaign about the Blackwings. I'll contact Mark Frauenfelder over at BoingBoing and see if he has any resources to help get that off the ground (namely, his insanely popular website).

I'll keep you filled in!

-Andy

[Mark]

Here is the letter that I wrote to Sanford Corporation this month:

Sanford Corporation
Attn: Consumer Affairs
2707 Butterfield Road
Oak Brook, Illinois 60523

Re: Blackwing 602 pencils

"Ladies and Gentlemen:

"I am writing to ask you to consider resuming production of the Blackwing 602 pencil. I have read on a pencil website that the machine that made the Blackwing’s distinctive erasers broke down and was eventually scrapped. I wanted you to know that there are many fans of the Blackwing who would be happy to have new stock of this wonderful pencil with a conventional eraser, or with no eraser at all. It was the best pencil ever made, in my opinion, and I urge you to make it again.

"Thank you for reading this."

[mdhatter]

"Break out the Blackwing when you want to start a conversation."

nice.

[adair]

It is insane of Sanford/Papermate not to put this pencil back into production. If people are so desperate for this pencil that they will pay over $20 apiece for it, imagine how they'd buy if it were suddenly available again at, say, $2 apiece. I don't think it is merely collectors hiking up the prices---I think that there are artists, writers and composers out there who really NEED this pencil and use every one that they purchase. I cannot believe that a new machine for crimping the erasers cannot be built in this day in age. Sanford/Papermate are showing a typical corporate lack of imagination here; can't they see that they're sitting on gold? I don't know what effect our letters will have on them. They probably just yawn and say, ah, another Blackwing nut. Meanwhile, we'll just have to make due with Palominos and---my latest "discovery"----Musgrave Test Scoring pencils...

[Mark]

I'm a professional songwriter and draft songs in pencil, so this is important to me.

[Andy]

I'm sorry if you all you ever want to read are the important things in life, w.r. Sometimes we all need a little frivolity. (-:

[w.r.]

its a pencil kids, just a pencil. now go back to the important things in life.

[Andy]

Mark, thanks for the great comment. I know, I remember using these things off and on throughout the years. The unusual eraser shape really makes it stand out. But, of course, I had no idea what would happen to it, that it would take off like this. I use the Palomino, too -- it is the best I have run across, and it looks like all the other internet buzz about it says that, too.

Keep on reading, and keep on penciling (if that is a word).

[Mark]

Andy, thank you for this well-written and thoughtful review of the Blackwing 602.

I bought half a dozen Blackwings in the 1995 and paid about 60 cents each for them. I sought out the Blackwing because I had read that it was the favorite pencil of the composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim, a hero of mine. I used all of my Blackwings in about three months, and highly enjoyed the experience. At that time, however, I was a struggling songwriter, and 60 cents per pencil was a lot for me to pay. I was well aware that I had splurged on a pencil, and when my supply of six pencils ran out, I did not buy more.

Now, 12 years later, I am kicking myself for not having bought more, and so I have been scouring thrift stores, garage sales, and of course eBay for the Blackwing. I'm not struggling as a songwriter anymore, but even so I can't bring myself to pay the current market price for what I remember being a great pencil.

I suppose the positive side of this story is that my quest for an affordable quality pencil has led me to find several pencils I had never heard of, and one in particular that I now use on a daily basis: the California Republic Palomino 2B.

Earlier this month I wrote a letter to Sanford Corporation, asking them to consider putting the Blackwing 602 back into production. One can always hope. In the meantime, I'm happy to be acquainted with the makes of pencils that are still being made, and I'm thankful for PencilThings.com for helping inform and supply those of us who care about pencils.

Thanks again, Andy, for your essay.