Unlike the pacific, this Staedtler pencil is made in Germany.
It is a traditionally styled yellow pencil, with a pink eraser and shiny ferrule. The lead is also better quality than the pencils I’ve looked at the last few days – not great, but useably smooth, black, and non-crumbly.
A recent blog comment mentioned the Staedtler 134. A bit of searching around shows that the 134 is a made in China Staedtler pencil that is actually labelled “yellow pencil”, apart from being a yellow pencil.
If you have to use a generic looking office pencil, you could do worse than the 132.
Yes, unfortuntely, Staedtler 134, the yellow pencil is made in China, and the quality is just a bit better than very cheap pencils. Occasionally a bit scrachy, overall smooth, non-crumbly, anyway, it’s acceptable. It’s an HB pencil, but a little bit smoother than expected.
The quality of attached eraser is worse than the one of Staedtler Noris, but it’s also acceptable, when I don’t have another eraser.
Even though it’s labelled as ‘yellow pencil’, its color is orange.
The retail price of 134 in Korea is about 2.4 – 3 USD/dozen.
In synthesis, 134 is a good office pencil, especially because of the price.
Kent,
Thank you for the information. I am surprised at the price. 3 USD/dozen is more than most people in Canada would pay for a dozen pencils. (I am excluding artists, pencil aficionados, and professionals using pencils for design, drafting, architecture, etc.)
Your comments and information are most appreciated.
For most people in Korea, Steadtler 134 may be the most expensive pencil they can consider, when they buy a dozen of pencils. (The price of ordinary office or school pencil is less than 2.2 USD, more than 1.5 USD per dozen.)
They would pay 1 USD for 1 single pencil because of curiosity, but they wouldn’t pay 10 USD for a dozen.
I think the wholesale price of Staedtler 134 may be lower than 1.5 USD. But because of the brand, the retail price is more expensive than ordinary pencils.
Oh, I think I might make you to be confused.
“In synthesis, 134 is a good office pencil, especially because of the price.”, FOR ME. :D
I’m always pleased and excited when I visit your blog. Thank you.
Kent, Thank you for the kind comments.
Staedtler school/office pencils here are labelled YELLOW PENCIL 152. It is a little more on the orange-yellow side, though. Same price range, 1.32 USD for a dozen. Is this different from the 134 or the same thing?
I tried it out because my little sister would use nothing else for her exams. I only have the Lumograph for comparison, but I think it’s pretty good, like Kent said, for the price. Better than Mongol, at least, which is the common alternative here.
This blog is the reason I am scouring all the local bookstores for the pencil brands mentioned here, and conducting my own tests and reviews, much to the bemusement of everyone at home. I am enjoying myself, thanks much.:)
I would suspect the different model numbers refer to different products.
Glad you enjoy the blog!
I got the Pencil of the Month Club Limited Edition from Pencilthings.com, and the 134 yellow was the special pencil because it said that Staedtler didn’t make them in united states. There are only 288 of them in the United States because they said that Staedtler thought that there wasn’t a sufficient market for another yellow school pencil. Weird.
i like to use this yellow pencil to write. but i can not find it in australia. and the last yellow pencil which i brought from China is almost used out.
yesterday i went to the stationery store and buy a box of staedtler 134 which cost 1.67USD. but i find there’s no difference between it and chung hwa 6151 from china, though chung hwa 6151 only cost 0.75USD per box. Faber-Castell 1222 [1.43USD] and 1322 triangular [1.15USD] are also available. at that time i thought that staedtler 134 would be better than Faber-Castell 1222 and 1322 since it is more expensive, so i bought it. so disappointed with the quality of staedtler 134! i wonder if Faber-Castell 1222 and 1322 would even worse than staedtler 134.
p.s. i always use chung hwa 6151 for it good price and very acceptable quality. i give a try of staedtler 134 but find out they are almost the same.
Hi hatibys, thank you for your comments. I think it’s good that you are trying different brands . The mentioned pencils are all unfamiliar to me, so I’m glad to be able to learn about them. The major vendors seem to have a few geographically marketed brands.
hi, i am so eager to know what’s the different between super expensive pencils and the cheap one [i always use chung hwa 6151]. so today i go to another local stationery store again and find out there’s a Faber-Castell 3357 sold for 2.18USD. it is more expensive than that staedtler 134 i bought yesterday so i take it as better. i bought it [these are the most expensive pencils i’ve ever bought so far!] and try. hmm….. i still can’t notice any different unless it’s a little bit darker than staedtler 134 and chung hwa 6151. i don’t feel it is smoother. wow, i pay almost three times more but still get the same quality! have anyone ever try that staedtler 134 i’ve just bought? i think i will stick on the old chung hwa 6151 in the future … but it may take years for me to use these two dozens up….
now i feel Faber-Castell 3357 is a bit darker and softer [but not smoother]. staedtler 134 and chung hwa 6151 are almost the same. maybe my hands have problem? i never experience a ‘smooth’ pencil lead. my local stores are small and therefore has a limited choice of pencils. really want to know how a ‘smooth’ pencil is.
What makes a pencil good is an excellent question, and could make for a very lengthy discussion.
The particular pencils you mention are all unfamiliar to me. I have not heard of the Faber-Castell 3357, nor can I find it on the net. Where is it made?
It’s not impossible that all three pencils, despite prices differences, are similar.
the box of 3357 doesn’t say where was it made: here’s the photo:
http://img2.freeimagehosting.net/image.php?bfb9d3b1fb.jpg
http://img2.freeimagehosting.net/image.php?28b47c3497.jpg
Thank you for the photos (scans?) which show all three pencils and their accompanying boxes.
I;m korean^^
I surprised that other country’s pencil is so inexpensive~
Price of Staedtler 134 yellow pencil in my country is 3000won per dozen(about 3.00USD) The other Steadtler pencil(Noris) is 6000won(about 6.00USD) That’s so expensive??….
noris here is 48HKD (6.1USD), i never try it. i recently bought another box of colleen 3030 HB [2.82USD]. did anyone heard of it? it’s a bit smoother but the lead wear out quickly. so i would rather like a 4H or 3H pencil because i am to lazy to sharpen it [though it is not dark enough]
i also find an interesting phenomenon: the colleen or steadtler 1H or 2H drawing pencil is comparable with the inexpensive brand’s HB pencils. so if i need to buy a H or 2H pencil then i would buy a box of no brand HB pencil, they are almost the same but one drawing pencil cost the same as one box of no brand HB pencil
Hatibys, thank you for the update.
I have heard of Colleen. There is whole blog devoted to Colleen pencils. Those may be a real collector’s item that you found!
oh, is that your blog ? i can’t read japanese. that pencil on the blog is ”core 90 highest quality”, it is not available from my local store. the box i bought is ”3030 high quality”, blue in colour. i recently also find out that no matter which band it is [cheap or expensive] , a 3B+ pencil is very smooth and dark but also worn out so quickly!
ah,would anyone know if there is a type of pencil which is both hard, dark, and smooth? for example , i want the lead as dark and smooth as a 3B but still has the hardness of 3H.
hatibys – I have no affiliation with the Colleen pencil blog.
Hey, I just saw many boxes of Staedtler 132 at a local shop and two things have changed – firstly they still have “Staedtler” on the actual pencils but don’t have “132” on them so wouldn’t know what Staedtler number they are once they have escaped their packaging, and secondly the box says they are “Made in Thailand”, not Germany.
Thanks for the report, kiwi-d. Staedtler Thailand seems to sell all sorts of interesting products.
I just got 3 132s from my local Office Depot. They are made in Germany and packaged for the Mexican market, the OD here in Panama has the same stuff sold in Mexico, and that’s probably why they carry them.
The labeling changed a little bit, now it says Staedtler HB 2, and in the opposite side has the barcode and says EAN 30 07817 128107 Art.Nr. 132-2
Someting else, I just sharpened one using an electric sharpener and the wood seems to be pretty good quality.
The Faber-Castell 3357 intrigues me; it may be the closest thing to a “successor” of the old “Venus Velvet” pencil– Certainly it has the royal blue band, and F-C was the company that first bought out Venus in 1971. I think they sold off the American rights to several of the brands that they had picked up over the years to Sanford, as I recall, but that might not stop them from making/ selling successors with the once-famous (and now perhaps obscure) blue band overseas to those customers who would still expect yellow pencils with pink erasers and decorated ferrules… I picked up a few boxes on ebay from a place in Hong Kong that evidently has at least a couple dozen more on hand. I can’t quite tell where they are made, though…
So far I could not buy too many brands of pencil at Hong Kong. Indeed, I’ve tried different brands and following my comments:
MITSUBISHI UNI HB: So far this is a very good pencil with very smooth lead. The brown color coating is solid. Unfortunately, it is hex shape which I don’t preferred.
MITSUBISHI yellow and green B : I could not figure it out the model# but it is the only triangular shape MITSUBISHI pencil I got. I could only find the hardness B. This is the BEST pencil and very good in price. I coul;d only complaint the barrel is too pain and not has good printing of logo or graphic.
Faber castell GRIP 2001: I felt so disappointed as from comments from many users, it is a very good pencil. It does not have any problem with the quality but could not gives me any surprise.
RHODIA signature pencil : I could not figure out the hardness of this pencil but I guess it should be HB (#2). The looking is so sharp with bright orange color and black ferrule and eraser. Triangular shape qwith good grip feeling. The weight seems heavier than normal pencil.
Palomino HB: I think many people already knew this pencil, only one comment, it is a good pencil!
Forest Choice: I could not say it is very good pencil but with it’s low price, I think it is worth to buy and use it.
MITSUBISHI 9800 : Good pencil but I don’t like it’s color.
STAEDTLER Mars Lumograph, Noris : they are both good quality pencil but I really could not tell their difference.
STAEDTLER Mars ergosoft, Noris Club triplus: They are triangular in shape. Very comfortable in writing feeling although it is not as smooth as MITSUBISHI UNI or Palomino. Especially, Mars ergosoft, it is a rubber coating on the barrel and gives a non slip feeling. I strongly recommend pencil lovers to try this.
Faber castell 3357: It is so so, not bad, not good.
Stabilo Trio: It gives me surprise on the quality. This pencil looks very old and dirty when I bought it from the book store and only one left. This pencil has a large barrel and graphite which is very smooth. The large diameter and triangular shape gives a very comfortable grip feeling. Unfortunately, it is the only one pencil I got from the store.
MK, thank you for this extensive review of pencils!