The Mitsubishi Uni M-552 is another inexpensive drafting pencil.
Lightweight at about 12.5g, they come in five lead diameters. I bought all five. I may soon regret this, as the 0.4mm pencil does not have refills available in Canada. On the other hand, it’s not too often that I’ve found myself saying that I need a 0.4mm pencil for a particular purpose.
The tip, grip, clip, and cap are metal, and the barrel is plastic.
The lead advances by clicking the cap. A thin plastic ring, the pencil’s only colourful element, is the pencil’s lead grade window.
The grip, very lightweight, screws off of the plastic barrel (see photo). Why a removable grip? I’m not sure, but if the idea was to make available a choice of grips to suit individual preferences, that would have been an excellent offering.
The grip superficially resembles that of some expensive drafting pencils – which is probably the intent. But it doesn’t at all have the smooth feel of the Staedtler 925 95, for example. In fact, I found the 552 quite unpleasant.
It seemed to be a pencil that had a lot of attention paid to the cosmetics. Unfortunately, the looks don’t achieve much in person, and I would rate it lower than the A120 – though there is a 0.4mm version, if that is important to you.
And I was desperate to receive the 0.5 M552 that I ordered yesterday. Well, I still are desperate.
Is this the same Mitsubishi that makes cars, heavy machinery, and industrial equipment? Do they actually make the pencils themselves? I would be pretty surprised if they did. Cool stuff though.
— Boris
The Mitsubishi Pencil Co. is one of the world’s top pencil companies, and is publicly traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. They are apparently not related to the car manufacturer.
That’s curious, because their logo is identical. I just found that out last week.
See About Mitsubishi, Q10: “[…] Mitsubishi Pencil Co., Ltd. is not a part of the Mitsubishi companies. They have a completely different origin. […]”
Soon to be added to the collection…..once I can source some in the UK!!
I just got mine, I like it a lot, but I can’t compare it to higher end pencils, right now I only have, besides the Uni, a Zebra drafix, 3 Pentel 120/A305, a Pentel P205 and a plastic Staedtler 925. I might order one or two more, since it might be my last chance to get one.
I have one in 0.3mm. It is a great pencil. I like the look and feel of this pencil. The metal grip makes the pencil slightly bottom heavy which feels nice in the hand. It feels like it will stay put and it does. Because the metal grip will tarnish with use I put clear heat shrink tubing on it to protect it. It makes for a non-slip plastic grip.
Hi there:
Could you please specify where did you buy the Uni M-552 0.5MM?
Thanks
In the US, jetpens.com carries it.
The Mitsubishi CO. Is a famous Keiretsu. Essentially, this type of keiretsu is horizontally integrated which means it aims to have one company in many industries. Each company is legally independent but tied together by a series of social, political and familial networks.
These are absolutely fabulous… I’ve owned them for 7 years now (it’s a miracle I didn’t loose them), heavily used (I’m an architecture student) and still the writing on them is still visible. They are the best mechanical pencils I have ever owned, and I have tried about 10 other brands.. and they all jam or brake after 1week/1month.
Where could I possibly buy the rest of the collection.. ?I only own the 0,3 0,5 and 0,7 (red yellow and blue) ones.