This past month was the first time I had seen the Dixon Tri-Conderoga for sale in Canada. I was quite happy to find a package of six with an accompanying sharpener at a local store.
The package had NAFTA-friendly trilingual (English, French, Spanish) labelling, and revealed that the pencils were made in Mexico. The two-hole sharpener has a crown emblem on the German made blades, while the plastic body hails from China.
In a triangular shape, the diameter is midway between it’s three sided cousins, the Ergosoft and the Jumbo Grip.
The pencil surface is rubbery, like the Ergosoft. It comes unsharpened, and has gold stamping on one side. There is a distinctive Ticoderoga style ferrule, with a black eraser.
Since it requires a less common large hole sharpener, the included sharpener is an appreciated addition.
In one’s hand, it is indeed grippy. I did find the large stamping to be a drawback, and that side of the pencil side is noticeably rougher and less pleasant to hold. The larger size may require some adjustment, and didn’t feel quite right to me.
On paper, the HB lead, which appears to be a normal diameter core, seemed just a bit scratchier and lighter than an Ergosoft or a regular Ticonderoga pencil in HB.
It is a unique contribution, and the first Mexican pencil that I’m aware of owning. It gets points for design and appearance, and choosing a mid-size diameter creates an excellent new offering.
Despite these pluses, the lead quality makes it not quite as good as the Ergosoft as an actual pencil.
Let’s hope Dixon will upgrade the lead core to be (at minimum) equal to that of their regular diameter pencils.
I’m slowly getting interested in pencil collecting and this was actually the first pencil I looked into buying for my collection. It was a little surprising to see the Made in Mexico text on the back but does it really matter where a pencil is made in? The companies would use the same machinery – just in a different country. I suppose the companies get spurred on by the lower cost labor to start using lower cost materials for even more savings.
I didn’t buy the pencils because I didn’t know what I would be buying into. Plus there are so many out there I can always get them later when I understand pencil collecting a bit more.
Thanks for the excellent blog! I am reading through it chronologically and I am enjoying your pictures and text!
I had a bunch of these and gave them away. They’re too large to fit a conventional electric pencil sharpener (thus eliminating the target market for these pencils: offices and executives), and the triangular shape makes them too awkward for the included blade sharpener–you can’t rotate the pencil evenly while you sharpen it.
I think Dixon needs to go back to the drawing board on this one.
Hey
I personally think that this pencil is amazing
as far as the three sided design its fits amazingly well into your hand
honestly,
grab a normal pencil, its a hexagon shape
and only three sides are necessary making the pencil more akward to hold.
the pencil looks amazing and even has nice grip.
someones reinvented the moustrap
This pencil is no different than any other pencil.
like honestly its sorta sad to see a whole site
on pencils.
and how people are talking and commenting on pencils.
Honestly get a LIFE.
Buuut i guess in order to get this posted
i guess ill say this pencil is pretty snazzy
I received three packs of this pencil from my friend today. I was quite disappointing after using this pencil.
1. The diameter is too large which could not fit to the conventional size sharpener. Although they include a sharpener in each pack, they are not good and give very bad shape of the barrel and the core after sharpening.
2. The graphite is not as smooth as I thought.
3. The rubber coating is not well applied onto the barrel. The ergosoft also has the same finish but they look excellent and sharp.
Overall, I cannot say it is a poor pencil, but with too high expectation, I really feel so disappointed.
Last year I loved the Dixon Tri Conderoga. This year I bought 12 dozen, enough I thought to last for the school year. I teach first and second grade combined. But nooooo…. They seem to have been re-designed so the lead breaks by itself very frequently. I have taken a pencil out of the sharpener and pushed gently against the lead to see if it’s tight only to have it come loose in my fingers. This is exactly why I quit buying other brands. When I worked in a juvenile detention facility we had to account for every piece of lead. We were constantly hunting for little pieces of lead to avoid having to put our students into Lock Down. Pencils that break this easily are a rip off to the consumer. I am going to go back to using the eraserless primary pencils which are very sturdy. I prefer the shape of the Tri Conderoga but I can no longer afford to use them. Very disappointed consumer. Diane Millican
Cassie, you’re a bitch. I’m sorry, but apparently EVEN YOU are going on this website, so…
I love this pencil. I had it a couple of months ago, but I ran out. :P
I bought one set of these at Staples a while ago. Unfortunately, the first pencil I tried has to be warped; it broke in the sharpener that was given with the set at least 3-4 times! :( I took a look at other pencils in the set I bought and found at least one that was visibly warped, so it looks like a quality control issue.
Also, the lead is not centered, so I have broken this pencil several times when using a hand-held sharpener.
The good thing about this pencil is that I like the eraser and the lead. The lead is dark and smooth. Also the rubberized feel of the pencil surface is really nice and fits comfortably in my hand.
However, due to the larger diameter of the pencil and the warping problems, I will probably not buy this kind of pencil again. The best way to sharpen this pencil is with a knife, not a sharpener as I have broken this pencil almost every time with a sharpener.
Oh, and finding a sharpener that has a big enough hold to actually sharpen this pencil? Another degree of frustration since the sharpener that comes with it has repeatedly broken this pencil.
Correction:
Oh, and finding a sharpener that has a big enough _hole_ to actually sharpen this pencil?
@Cassie Really, this is what I hear from people at my school all the time. If you don’t have an appreciation for the art of the pencil, at least respect the people that do.
Also, I saw these at Staples the other day and have used them before. I kinda like them, but the lead quality, as was stated, is subpar. Not worth the money spent. Neither are other Ticonderoga pencils now. They claim to be an American company but make their products mainly in Mexico and China-in my opinion, all new Ticonderoga pencils should be destroyed. I have compared the older ones (USA) to newer ones (Mex.) and the newer ones definitely have more impurities and are less pleasant overall than the older US made ones.
hmmmm… i have mix feeling about these. i do like the design, feel and girth of the body, but i agree with what has been said about the quality of the graphite -it’s not there. that’s bad, cos’ it’s my firts and only Ticonderoga i own!
PS. i don’t mind having to use a bigger sharpener!!!
Is there an electric sharpener for the Tri-Conderoga pencil? The sharpener that is included is ok but I’d like an electric model
I have a titanium i-Point that puts a nice, long point on Tri-Cons. It’s not great with regular pencils, but it’s very nice for the wide ones.
The leads are SO fragile. I spent half of the life of the pencil in sharpening it, because of the fragile lead. Unacceptable that the lead actually breaks while the pencil is being sharpened. Whatever happened to the original high quality Ticonderoga pencil?
First pencil I found made by Dixon
Haven’t tried it yet , not to sure if I will
Adding to my collection
I think it’s beautifully designed
Thank you
why is it that the last 3 times i’ve bought these pencils, the leads are already broken in every pencil? makes it kind of hard to use.
Because it’s a Tri-Con?