Better than "Innie" and "Outie"

Parker 21 pencils don’t get a lot of attention, due to "matching pen syndrome." Some pencils, like Waterman Patricians, are worth a lot more than they would be otherwise solely because of the pens they match. Others, like Parker 21 pencils, are worth less than Parker 51 pencils – even though they are exactly the same on the inside.

Until recently, about all I could tell you about the Parker 21s was that some of the clips were convex and others were concave – or, since no one gets too upset if you trivialize a 21, I called them "innies" and "outies," to borrow a belly button reference.

At the Raleigh show last summer, I was offered this grouping of pencils, and I had to accept for no reason other than that they took my vocabulary up a few notches:

To learn more, this full article is included in The Leadhead's Pencil Blog Volume 3, available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and everywhere else you buy books, or you can order a copy signed by yours truly through the Legendary Lead Company HERE.