That's About Right

This article has been edited and included in The Leadhead's Pencil Blog Volume 4; copies are available print on demand through Amazon here, and I offer an ebook version in pdf format at the Legendary Lead Company here.

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A few weeks ago I bid on a group of crap . . . er, I mean interesting treasures . . . in an online auction.   It appeared to be what was left in the bottom of someone’s junk box, with a mix of early ballpoints that didn’t work, parts and a few interesting looking pencils.  It was cheap and there were just enough things in that group that looked a little interesting that I knew it would keep me busy for a couple hours.  What the hell, I thought.  It’s cheaper than a movie ticket these days.

What I didn’t even notice was that the seller was Rob Bader, a longtime friend with enough great stories to fill an evening and  a reputation for being a bit of a prankster.  After you see this one, if you know Rob, you’ll say as the title of the article suggests, that’s about right.

One of the things in Rob’s bag of tricks – and it wasn’t one of the things I thought might be interesting, mind you – was this one:

Hmmmm.... unmarked, and not American . . .

Jon’s unwritten laws of pencil collecting specify, in the absence of American origin or manufacturers marking, that this one must be either (a) attributable to a manufacturer or (b) freakishly awesome.  I have no idea who made it, so you know where this one was going.

I couldn’t figure out how to advance the lead - no amount of twisting the cap made any difference, so I decided to jot something to see if maybe the lead advance was tip-actuated . . .

. . . and as I pressed the “lead” onto the table . . .

Sproing!