The Tombow 2558 is a simple yellow pencil for, in Tombow’s own words, “general writing”.
Price: $1 to $1.20 each
Lead grade options: H, HB, B
Barrel colours: Only yellow
Barrel shape: Hexagonal
Eraser?: Yes
I love how this pencil looks. It’s a very classy shade of yellow with very crisp dark burgundy printing (except for the as always ugly barcode and serial number, which is in black). The ferrule is a purplish gun metal colour and the eraser is a simple (classic?) pink. It’s simple and elegant.
It sharpens easily and cleaning, giving a good strong point.
In use, the lead is smooth and keeps its point. It is a very lovely pencil to write with. It hardly smudges.
The eraser isn’t at all gritty and it lifts the graphite efficiently without crumbling away before your eyes.
Now the Mitsu-Bishi 9850 is better than the Tombow 2558 in every way, technically. The eraser is a little better. The printing is a little sharper. The lead is a little smoother. But only just. And the thing is, there’s more to this hobby of ours than simple technical specs. I enjoy this Tombow more, possibly because of the joyful sunny yellow colour, which I adore.
Tombow make my favourite drawing pencil, one of my favourite fountain pens and now, it seems, they also make my favourite writing pencil.
Pros
Good looking
Smooth lead
Keeps a good point
Sharpens cleanly
Efficient eraser
Cons
A little tricky to get hold of outside Japan (especially the H)
You can find some more reviews of the Tombow 2558 on Pennaquod.
“Mitsubishi”
Ah yes, well spotted. Corrected now.
I think that there are Amazon sellers for these, offering them by the dozen for £5 or so, certainly cheaper than 9850s by the box!
I came to the opposite conclusion to you, I think. I like the Tombow, but for me, the finish is slightly better on the 9850, and I love the latter’s burgundy lacquer. The 2558’s purple ferrule is lovely though.
Your conclusion is much more sensible I think. The 9850 is, just, a better a pencil. It just doesn’t appeal to me the way the 2558 does. Heart ruling head, in this case!