UPSB v3
Regular Pen Discussion / Tragic Dr.Grip Classic News
FYI: Please read and stay reasonable
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Date: Mon, Jan 28 2008 12:23:58
Hello, and a wonderfull (whatever daytime you might be reading this....)
I just spoke with an international Pilot Pen Salesman from Pilotpen.de, I asked him some questions concerning pens I am interested in, like I did some times the last years.
He assured and checked it back on their company net.
The Production of the classical Dr.Grip Mechanical Pencil, Manufaturer Number
3080 H-705
3080 H-707
Dr. Grip Ltd.
Dr. Grip Neon
Dr. Grip Center of Gravity
Dr. Grip Classic
Dr. Grip Antibacterial Shaker
were stopped in production Late 2007. The ones still sold are the rest of the storage / rest of "in stock", to empty the storage rooms.
The One's now prudoced are the Dr. Grip Equilibrium, where Pilot Pen sets all efforts in.
He did not know whether the Gel and Ballpoint versions are continued, he will check it up this week.
The stocks will last quite some more month, but the production has been discontinued.
Hope it does not hurt too much.
Get yours now, they might not last for eternity. (Reminds me of my beloved Pentel PH800 Series)
Sincerely TheHOINK -
Date: Mon, Jan 28 2008 12:36:47
Lame... Still, if pen spinning reaches the same degree of popularity as it has in Korea in some more countries around the world, pen companies may actually sell enough of pens that are good for pen spinning, (use in modding or just to spin) because of demand, to keep them in production!
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Date: Mon, Jan 28 2008 18:02:52
Hitlist:
Pentel
Pilot -
Date: Mon, Jan 28 2008 19:49:47
Does this mean that we'll finally get rid of Dr.Kts?
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Date: Mon, Jan 28 2008 19:57:21
you better hope for psing to grow 10 folds soon. it makes up so little of the market that they would not care. the stoppage on dr.grip production is mostly in europe. while many models are being discontinued in japan too there will still be many models left.
QUOTE (Mats @ Jan 28 2008, 08:36 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Lame... Still, if pen spinning reaches the same degree of popularity as it has in Korea in some more countries around the world, pen companies may actually sell enough of pens that are good for pen spinning, (use in modding or just to spin) because of demand, to keep them in production!
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Date: Mon, Jan 28 2008 20:09:23
Do you know why they were discontinued? It seemed like the Dr. Grip was getting a ton of awards and was really popular. Why would they discontinue it?
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Date: Mon, Jan 28 2008 20:12:15
It's just certain models. They're old, maybe not as secure or legal in all countries, and hard to keep track of.
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Date: Mon, Jan 28 2008 22:56:29
As pitifull as it seems....
Introduction:
Every company has modells, some win great prices. And even though, they are discontinued.
Why is the Playstation One being discontinued for the Playstation 2? And the PS2 for the PS3? And why did the Nintendo Wii replace the Gamecube?
Because the customers request better graphics, more fluent gameplay, more complexe storys, more diverse characters, more connectivity to other players, more more more... that the playability and enjoyability got worse and worse during the last 10 years is just a very little point of interest.
And why not getting off new systems?
When the NES or SNES were introduced to the puclic, internet was a scientific project, not opened to the public view. It started in the 90s. So, the NES and SNES couldn't bee wished by customers to have internet access. Why having something that is not existent?
But when the internet was there and games started using it, the request grewd.
Production secrets (at least to a lot of customers
Last Year, in 2007, Pentel of Japan introduced the Pentel Ergonomix Winggrip to the Public.
It won several Design Prices and an award of the American Society for Arthritis Research (and some other comfortable stuffs for muscular disease...)
Link to the Manila Bulletin Online Article....
http://www.mb.com.ph/issues/2006/10/23/TEC...6102377863.html
Yet, it was never succesfull, and was not released in europe due to nearly no requests in european stores. What a pitty. Need it for my collection.
Or just take the Faber-Castell eMotion Twist Pencil / Ballpoint with rubber-covered body / Soft-feel Barrel.#
It won the international Red Dot Design Award in 2003 for innovative writing instruments design.
But it was discontinued in 2005, since the market did not request it enough.
Link to the Soft-Feel eMotion
http://cgi.ebay.com/Faber-Castell-E-Motion...7QQcmdZViewItem
The Plastic version was discontinued, since it seemed to look to cheap to customers.
Only leftovers from storage rooms are for sale, for half of the price they had been three years ago.
Faber-Castell eMotion plastic versions
http://cgi.ebay.com/5-Faber-Castell-E-Moti...1QQcmdZViewItem
The same pen, with a differendt acrylic body and lasered textures was released in all black in 2006.
This version won the Red Dot Design again, although more expensive and less innovative.
It was such a big success, that the Crocodile and Carbon patterns were although released in dark, warm brown and in ivory white.
Warm Brown Version.
http://cgi.ebay.com/FABER-CASTELL-E-MOTION...7QQcmdZViewItem
My beloved PH-Series from Pentel, mostly consisting of the Pentel PH801, PH802, PH803 and the PH158 was discontinued in 2003 except for the PH158.
Why?
I won dozens of design prices, and is unique up to date, since it holds eight different leads of 6cm in length and with a diametre of 2 mm in one pencil.
It is one of the best pushbutton clutch pencils to date, since it can use every manufacturers lead, and the leads are cheaper if you buy them for a holder instead of full pencils, are more comfortable to cvarry around since retractable, and are a helluva lot more comfortable, since their length in your hand never dicreases.
Why have they been discontinued then?
Link to the PH-series by Pentel on "Leadholder.com", the biggest archive for 2 mm Leadholders.
http://www.leadholder.com/lh-non-pentel.html
Discontinuation comes from two possibilities, if you wanna keep it short and explainable in a language that is not your native ones... or my native one.
Request and Actuality.
If a pen is just old-fashioned, it might get discontinued. Watch the Pentel Sign Pen. It is old-fashioned, has not changed in it's outlooks since 1963, but is considered a classic since it was the first fibre tip brushpen / Signpen.
The same time, take a look at the old Pelikano Fountain Pen, which has gone through three changes of appearance in 20 years.... it still is the "Pelikano" fountain pen, but is has changed. It is the signature fountain pen of this company for student's use, but it is a completelydifferent one.
Why? Because the technics change, and the customer's requests for an actually modern design. New inventions come, who prevent ink from leaking, secure the tip better, have a better lead advancer in the tip, last longer in writing durance.....
Other Examples....
Make it simpler, maybe....
The classical VW Käfer was produced for over 50 years, with more than 10 million units the worlds most produced car, before it's production stopped. And the company started up the new design and better technology within the VW New Beetle. The old one looks a lot better, is a classic, has charme, but is a classic, with old fashioned technics.
The new motors are more powerfull, it needs less fuel, produces less environment pollution, the battery lasts longer, the lights need less electricity for a better enlightment, it has modern radio and cd-changer, navigation systems etc. All of which the old one did not have.
Or take the Avtomatice Kalashnikova 47.....
The Most Produced Machinegun of the world with more than one million units sold. And it is a classic since more than 60 years. It was produced so widely, that you can get one on the black market for less than 200 dollars including a few spare magazines.
The Airsoft-Version is costier.
Why else do you think it is the most seen gun in television, movies and news, famous in freedom-fighters, revoluzzers, videogames, terroristic groups etc....
Still, new Guns are produced all the time. Kar98K was replaced by G3. The G3 was cancelled to make way for the G36, and this will make way for the XM8, which will replace although the M4 and the M16.
Why?
To be more competitive. You can not sell the same product on and on, while the world changes all the time.
For example, and back to Pens....
Faber-Castell once had 32 different coloured leads in their repertoire, in 2 mm for clutch pencils / leadholders, because they were needed and requested by engineers, architects and designers.
They reduced it over the years, since the request got less, and in 2003 they stopped the procution completely. You can still, from time to time, find vintage packs on eBay, which go highly up in price.
Why did they stopp it, and why didn't the last three colours, blue red and green, have been famous enough to be continued? Because you need a certain amount so it is worth keeping the machines going.
If a machines starts up, warms up, gets running, starts using electricity in high amounts, needs a programm for production run, needs the materials... (and in the firt place, the machinery if not for free, it needs to be constructed, assembled etc... also.).... so, producing one lead would maybe cost 5.000 Dollars.
Produce 2 and you are at 2.600 dollars (a little more than half, since the machine needs to run longer), produce a million and you have?
Exactly. a refill lead for a mechanical pencil that is worth the production, since it can be offered to customers for a reasonable price and the same time getting money to the company.
Is the production number decreases to, let's say, less than one million units per year, or 10.000 per year, depending on the product ( for example, cars have a lower production number than pencil leads...), it is not possible for the company to keep producing the product and give it away for a reasonable price, the customer's would be willing to pay.
Edit: The coloured leads vanished from the market due to computer use. Since elctronic graphic tablets got better and better, less and less architects, engineers and designers used the classic instruments of creation, on paper, and started using machines, since it is easier to just plott the finished product out.
This is why the Schoellershammer G4 thick vanished from market, too, one of the worlds best reproduction canvasses.
Okay lot's a text, but maybe it explains, why some pieces vanish for eternity....
Let's hope for other good stuff in the future....
TheHOINK -
Date: Mon, Jan 28 2008 23:30:05
Wow....It's truly awesome to have someone like TheHOINK at UPSB
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Date: Mon, Jan 28 2008 23:38:04
dang that's a lot of typing
~don't quote such a long post~ -
Date: Mon, Jan 28 2008 23:53:40QUOTE (Skittles @ Jan 28 2008, 11:30 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Wow....It's truly awesome to have someone like TheHOINK at UPSB
Totally agreed.
I want to know how you know this though: 'that you can get one on the black market for less than 200 dollars including a few spare magazines. ' -
Date: Tue, Jan 29 2008 00:03:35
Since I am shooting air pressured rifles for 18 years and I am into the airsoft scene for 11 years, you get to know quite a lot of stuff about guns. And since I know people who have been in Desert Storm in First Irak War, play roleplaygames and collect movies like hell (more than 11.000 to date) I got quite some knowledge about weapons, role playing schemes and other diverse stuff....ahum! *cough*
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Date: Tue, Jan 29 2008 00:46:04QUOTE (TheHOINK @ Jan 28 2008, 07:23 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>3080 H-705
3080 H-707
Dr. Grip Ltd.
Dr. Grip Neon
Dr. Grip Center of Gravity
Dr. Grip Classic
Dr. Grip Antibacterial Shaker
Production of all of these was stopped even in America? -
Date: Tue, Jan 29 2008 00:52:56
i dont think so darkeh, since i always seem to find new ones when i go to staples, etc.
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Date: Tue, Jan 29 2008 00:54:42
But he said they will still be in stores for a few months
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Date: Tue, Jan 29 2008 01:01:21QUOTE (TheHOINK @ Jan 29 2008, 12:03 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Since I am shooting air pressured rifles for 18 years and I am into the airsoft scene for 11 years, you get to know quite a lot of stuff about guns. And since I know people who have been in Desert Storm in First Irak War, play roleplaygames and collect movies like hell (more than 11.000 to date) I got quite some knowledge about weapons, role playing schemes and other diverse stuff....ahum! *cough*
LOL!
Explanation accepted. -
Date: Tue, Jan 29 2008 01:35:54
Read carefully, fallen glory, ....
The ones sold now are the ones still in stock. Depending how many are still in stock, it can last an uncertain amount of time, maybe around a few years, like with the Pentel TH Series, which still can be found sometimes, although having been stopped in production in 2003.
The same time the coloured leads from Faber-Castell, which were discontinued in 2003 were sold off until the beginning of 2004.
A question of demand and stock. -
Date: Fri, Feb 8 2008 06:31:36QUOTE (Skittles @ Jan 29 2008, 10:30 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Wow....It's truly awesome to have someone like TheHOINK at UPSB
Very true..
HOINK for Mod?