Comments on: Review of California Republic Palomino.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 00:53:30 +0000

This is an update and quite a happy one. I sent an email to Pencils.com and got a quick reply from them. It seems they are going through a few problems, as the conpany is growing, which is very good news for pencil users… Their Blackwings are very nice writing instruments and I can only hope to see them develop other such product lines in the future. Some of the staff in the shipping department are in training, which explains the problem I encountered. They’ve assured me the problems I’ve identified are being corrected and they’ve shipped me two packs of the damaged pencils, which I expect any day now.
Any company who responds to a customer within 24 hours (and on a Saturday!) and agrees to work quickly to resolve an issue is a good one, and quite a rarity in this day and age.
They will definitely be getting more of my business. Needless to say, I am quite pleased.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 02:19:20 +0000

I really like this blog! After many years of fountain pen using and collecting, I’ve gotten back to writing with woodcase pencils, thanks to blogs like yours. Which is why I placed an order with Pencils.com for a dozen Blackwing 602′s and, as General’s products aren’t readily available in Canada, I also decided to get a pack of Semi-Hex no.2 pencils. For good measure, I got some 2b Prospectors and Orange Golden Bears.
Just got the package and I must say the General’s and the Blackwings are great. However, my order was so poorly packed (unpadded large envelope, items just thrown in there quite carelessly) the GB and the Prospectors, which are only held together with a paper band and stored in ziplock bags, where filthy with graphite dust, from point to erasers, and as they were pre-sharpened (contrary to the photos on the pencils.com site), 2 from each pack had broken points. The envelope itself shows no sign of having been brutally treated and the boxed pencils are fine, so there’s no blaming the postman. True, they are entry level pencils, but that should not matter.
What a disappointment! For a company which seems to pride itself on offering quality pencils, what a let down. I just finished writing them an email and I’ll wait for their response. In the meantime, I will not be ordering from them.

By: Mark Greenwell

Mark Greenwell — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 03:29:50 +0000

Love my blue Palamino’s! Still have several short pencils from a gift of 2 dozen 18 months ago. I bought a dozen of the aclaimed Blackwings and the Palamino’s in my mind come out ahead. I prefer a lighter lead than the soft, dark Blackwing. THe “Carolina Blue” color is gorgeous. Another plus is the traditional eraser and ferrule of the Palamino, over the unusual longer eraser system of the Blackwing – they just didn’t fit in my storage box without sawing off about 1/2 inch. Thank you for THE WORLD’S GREATESTPENCIL – THE PALAMINO!

By: New Blackwing Pre-Review. » Pencil Revolution

New Blackwing Pre-Review. » Pencil Revolution — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 21:07:20 +0000

[...] pencils which cannot be gotten by Comrades, at least somewhere in the world. We held off on reviewing the Palomino until you could buy it, and we’ll hold off on a complete review of the new Blackwing until [...]

By: NaNoWriMo 2010 Gear: Pencils. » Pencil Revolution

NaNoWriMo 2010 Gear: Pencils. » Pencil Revolution — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 14:35:30 +0000

[...] California Republic Palomino (HB). It’s no secret that this is one of my favorite pencils. The darkness and point retention is a good balance, while smoothness is excellent. The shape and [...]

By: Review of Rhodia Pencil. » Pencil Revolution

Review of Rhodia Pencil. » Pencil Revolution — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 19:28:10 +0000

[...] a quarter of that price (or less), while premium pencils run about $1.00 each (Faber-Castell 9000s, Palominos, Mars 100s, etc.). I could definitely appreciate the Rhodia pencil as a premium piece on par with [...]

By: September 2010 Pencil Wallpaper. » Pencil Revolution

September 2010 Pencil Wallpaper. » Pencil Revolution — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 11:50:46 +0000

[...] September is here already! While you’re (hopefully) enjoying the smell of cedar during a restful long weekend (especially our comrades in the United States, where Monday is Labor Day) we thought you might enjoy a desktop wallpaper for the month, featuring an image of a Palomino from the original review. [...]

By: Bob

Bob — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:23:10 +0000

Received your pencils here in Scotland yesterday and have already enjoyed lots of pleasure using them. Great product. Continued success to you.

By: gracie

gracie — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 17:05:19 +0000

Are these pencils only available online? If not, which stores carry them?

By: LA

LA — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 21:51:02 +0000

I have just recently put down my fountain pen and switched to the other end of the spectrum: wood-cased pencil. I felt a need to get back to basics, beyond even the fountain pen. First I switched at work, and now I have switched at home as well, particularly in my journal writing.
I am excited because up until a few weeks ago all I had were some dumpy cheap foil-design pencils I bought from my local grocery store…happened to find pencils.com today and ended up ordering a set of Forest Choice and the multi-lead 6 pc Palomino set. I can’t WAIT to try the Palominos particularly… I feel that while writing with pencil you get to ‘feel’ what you’re writing a lot more than with ink.
I’ll be back to comment once I’ve received the goodies!