Lisa at Ninth Wave Designs writes about her beloved Blackwing 602s:
“I began using Blackwing 602 pencils as an art student years ago and have never found another pencil to compare with the richness of the lead. They give a deep dark black without being overly smudgy, and all the silvery range of greys are there too. The feeling that comes to mind is ‘smooth’ and it is a pleasure to put this pencil to paper.” (Read on.)
The Revolution is without Blackwings to speak of and hopes against hope that Sanford will get that ferrule machine fixed or replaced. Maybe if enough members of the Revolution step up and write to Sanford Corp. it might help? It should be obvious to them that the fans of the Blackwing are willing to pay good money for it. Here is their contact info. In my experience, they do actually write back or at least read what people send them. Perhaps this is a job for the power of the Pencil People.
Since the key performance superiority of the BW 602 is the lead, why not encourage production of the pencil with standard ferrule/eraser.
PR could encourage a pre production subscription drive to achieve some economic production quantity.
RayD
True, Ray. I think that some people might be purists about it, but I would personally be satisfied with the Blackwing returning sans fancy eraser. They could even just cap it like the ends of the Torquise drawing pencils with a simple metal topper.
I think I read somewhere that the lead in the Blackwing and the Primsacolor Torquise 4B (also owned by Sanford now) are the same. I can’t vouch for this, however.
Thanks for the heads-up. I’ll have to check those pencils out.
Chris
http://amateureconblog.blogspot.com/
Hello and thanks for picking up my post! I agree that it is the lead that makes these pencils so special, so I would be thrilled to see them make ANY pencil with the same lead in it. My experience with the erasers on the 602s hasn’t been that good – they are dried-out and have never worked well – but they sure look good doing it! Let’s hope we can get these back in production in some form or another.
They are extraordinary writers. It would be great to get them back into production; I would sacrifice the eraser if it means that the lead would be available, since the asking prices for the NOS/used ones on ebay are a bit rich.
My response from Sanford: “Hello Kolskeg, Unfortunately, we no longer manufacture the Blackwing Pencil. We do, however, manufacture the Prismacolor Turquoise Drawing Pencil that has many of the characteristics of the Blackwing Pencil.We are continually evaluating and improving the products we offer to deliver the highest quality, best performing brands available today. “
I like pencil very much. I use them regularly, they r so invigorating, i liike em both ways deep deeper very satisfying
U bet pencil r fun
Hold ur pencil wet
Lead on
According to an article on Blackwings, the lead formulations in the Turquoise 4B and the Blackwing 602 are similar but not identical. A recent convert to the cult, I read this excellent article: http://www.pencilpages.com/articles/blackwing.htm
Then I tested a Turquoise 4B next to my *one* Blackwing. (sniff sniff) Different “feel” and gradation. It must be the wax ratios or type of wax?
I agree that reviving the Blackwing’s lead formulation would be fantastic. The funky ferrules were just eye candy.
(Wouldn’t it be lovely to make Pencil Revolution’s “official” pencil with Blackwing lead? Then people would be scrambling to get “our” pencils. Talk about advertising!)
I too love Blackwings (I have 18 stashed away), as well as Mongols (of which I still have dozens–no, not for sale).
It seems to me that Sanford is missing a real opportunity to bring back the Blackwing as a high-end pencil. It has a distinguised history–various American writers have sung its praises. It has, well, class–it’s like the pencil equivalent of the Parker 51 fountain pen. I can easily imagine the Blackwing, with or without the distinctive ferrule, as a lugzhury iterm in something like the Levenger catalogue.
nice photos
Michael – What’s your favorite Mongol?
What might work is if a more dedicated pencil manufacturer bought the rights to the Blackwing “recipe” and took matters into their own hands. This, in a sense, it what happened with the Moleskine, which was originally made in France (hence the French name) and is now made famous again by an Italian company.
And I agree, a reborn Blackwing would be the perfect weapon of choice for Pencil Revolutionaries! – Ninth Wave
Okay, I’ve been reading about this pencil for a while – surely the fascination is with that eraser? There are many 4B pencils from companies with reputations as good or better than Sanford – Staedtler, General Pencil, Faber Castell, Derwent, and many others. Are all of those 4Bs truly less capable than the Blackwing?
Ninth Wave, my favorite Mongols are hexagonal #1s and #2s, depending upon the paper. (Yes, there were round Mongols too.)
I really love the old “2 and 3/8″ Mongols, but I have only a handful that my Dad gave me from an old drawer. I love the idea of a world that took the grading of pencil-lead so seriously.
I’m new to following the pencil world — I have maybe a dozen and a half Mongol #1s from college in my closet, most unsharpened. I take it they’re no longer available? In college, we all loved our Mongols. The bookstore carried them.
I saw this: http://www.amspecial.com/main/mongol/yel_mong.html
Same thing?
The Blackwing was a beautiful pencil. With the Blackwing, I could make great art while drawing up a grocery list. Who would ever have thought we would have to live without them? Like an old friend — when they’re gone we learn their true value in our lives. Resurrect the Blackwing!!!
Let’s not let the idea in this string die! A new post on the top of the Revolution homepage may be the spark needed to motivate people to write Sanford–I would. Sending them dozens of letters (on paper) would be fantastic–we could even request that comrades who write in do so in pencil!
Let’s keep this idea moving. While we may not be able to revive the Blackwing in its original state, Sanford may consider production of a limited quantity signature pencil for the Revolution. Think about the possibilities.
God, this CRUSHES me. About 10 or more years ago, I went to a major art supply store in San Diego, and after reading the book, “The Pencil”, I found a pile of the soon to be elusive Blackwing 602′s. I don’t recall how many I bought, maybe 10. I am a pencil and pen freak ( yeah maybe it’s the phallic thing lol but I don’t think so.)I’ve always had a love and fascination for writing implements. This is why it KILLS me, because I did have some half stubs of my Blackwings in one of my art boxes- and I was packing things up, and my EX boyfriend just stupidly thought my art box was worthless; well, it had odds and ends of dried pens, and broken colored pencils and old erasers and the like. But I KNOW it had at least two of the Blackwings, and I’ll just have to dry my eyes and move on. What a blow!
oh please bring back the blackwing 602 – i am an artist and now 70 yrs. old – have used blackwing 602 as far back as i can remember and have not ever found one that comes anywhere close – i do like the eraser but would consider anything as long as the pencil comes back – thank you – peace/ragna
Why would these idiots not make limited edition version?
It’s so absolutely stupid.
I think some pencil co. should make a exact knockoff.
My writing teacher, Bill Scott, creator and voice of Bullwinkle, used only the Blackwing pencil. With very good reason.
The author Joseph Finder just wrote about his own obsession with the Blackwing 602 in his December newsletter — http://www.josephfinder.com/content_newsletter/newsletter.asp#11e094f6074b3c08_articles_3 — he’s got a secret stash, but I know he’d be glad to participate in any campaign to get them made again.
The PENCIL art means the CLASSIC art.
This is the base of an Artist.