The Grip 500 and Grip 350 Mechanical Pencils by Yasutomo/Niji

Not All Mechanical Pencils Are Created Equal

Top: Grip 350 with the tip extended, Bottom: Grip 500 with the tip extended

When I was in grade school in the late 1980's, mechanical pencils were all the rage.  All of the convenience of a pen, but erasable.  No need to sharpen them, no dealing with dull points when you were trying to draw fine lines or fuss with them becoming too short to use.

During this fad era my mother happened to be taking drafting courses in community college and this meant that we wound up at the little drafting supply shop at the college from time to time.  For her coursework she purchased a red Niji Grip 500 pencil.  It was one of the most beautiful and elegant things I had ever seen.  The pencil was named for the textured rubber sleeve situated where you would grasp the pencil.  Nowadays this is a pretty standard feature on mechanical pencils and pens, but back then this was the first time I or anyone I knew had ever seen such a thing.  The rubber comfort grip wasn't the defining feature, though.  The whole conical tip section was chromed metal making it extremely durable, but not content to stop there, the engineers designed it so the tip would retract all the way into the pencil shaft like a turtle head pulling into its shell.  This way you could put it in a bag or even your pocket and be reasonably safe from the tip puncturing something, or from getting bent or damaged.  

Top: A Grip 350 with the tip retracted, Bottom: A Grip 500 with the tip retracted

Pulling the chrome cap off of the "plunge" would give you access to the eraser.  The eraser was so narrow it would get used up very quickly, which is why it was designed to be replaced.  The eraser needed to be pulled out to load new "lead" rods.  The eraser was held in with a metal clasp.  At the end of the clasp was a little rod the same diameter as the lead which could be used to push out bits of lead which were too short to be advanced by the mechanism. 

My mother was understandably protective of her Niji Grip pencil and would not let me use it unsupervised.  It was quite expensive and she needed it for her drafting work.  Needless to say though, I wanted one very badly.  Each time I would go to the community college shop with her I would ogle them but the supply was dwindling.  I didn't have a lot of ways to earn money, but I saved what I could hoping that I could buy one before they were all gone.  One day the Grip 500's disappeared from the shelf, but the clerk assured me that they were getting new ones in.  The next time I came with my money at the ready, they had replaced the Grip 500's with the Grip 350's.  It was a very similar design with a retractable tip, however it functioned very differently.

With the Grip 500, a long push on the "plunge" would extend the tip and lock it in place.  Shorter pushes of the plunge would then advance the "lead".  To retract the tip you would press in on the end of the clip.

With the Grip 350, a hard push on the plunge would extend the tip and lock it in place.  Short gentle pushes on the plunge would then advance the lead.  To retract you would press the plunge down hard and then let up.

The double-spring mechanism on the Grip 350 is particularly elegant.  It allows soft presses of the plunge to advance the lead and hard presses to retract the tip.

There were other differences as well.  The grip on the 350 was longer, and the eraser clasp no longer included a rod for clearing the tip.  It was also significantly harder to push the plunger down.

Some History

Many innovative technologies like the Niji retractable mechanical pencils seem like they're going to revolutionize their field, but for one reason or other the field regresses instead.  Why these never became mainstream is beyond me.

Yasutomo corporation was acquired by American KUSA Corporation in 2019, but KUSA still maintains it as an independent brand.

I reached out to KUSA via their Yasutomo "Contact Us" web page both to express my interest in bringing back Niji retractable mechanical pencils, and to ask about some history.  

The former president of Yasutomo, Daniel Egusa, provided a little history of the company, the Grip 500/350 pencils, and what led to their discontinuation.  It's quoted here with permission:

"Back in the 1970s, the US consumer had very few mechanical pencils available to choose from.  Most of us were using wooden pencils back then and we all carried an eraser separately because the eraser on the pencil would wear out.  And of course we would have to access a pencil sharpener of some type to keep the lead pointed.

Pentel introduced their line of mechanical pencils here in the USA in the late 1960s. Since they were one of the first foreign manufacturers to export MPs, they were able to penetrate the US office supply market ahead of the other Japanese manufacturers.  Along with their pencils and pens, they also brought in the lead refills needed to replenish the MPs.  US consumers began to see the benefits of having one mechanical pencil and just continued to feed it with refills rather than having to purchase a box of wooden pencils.  Consumers in Japan were already enjoying the benefits of MPs ahead of the US.

Yasutomo started importing MPs from Mitsubishi Pencil under the Demi brand in the early 70s since the demand for MPs started growing here.  However, sales were not impressive mostly due to the strong presence of Pentel and it stayed this way until the early 1980s.

Around 1982, Yasutomo was introduced to the GRIP500 pencil by our NIJI supplier in Japan. This product was revolutionary at that time and different from what Pentel MPs had to offer.  First, it was ergonomically designed with a built-in Rubber Grip for comfort which amazed consumers. Two, the pencil tip was retractable which was really important.  Almost all other MPs being sold here had tips that were NOT retractable so these MPs would often put holes in shirt pockets.  The GRIP500 tip retracted into the barrel to eliminate this problem.  These two important product features became critical design prerequisites in products supplied by most writing instrument manufacturers to this day. 

The GRIP350 came out a few years later with essentially the same features as the GRIP500 except with the GRIP350, one would depress the cap on the top to extend/retract the tip whereas the GRIP500 utilized the clip.  However, many consumers preferred having the pencil retract from the top which was the traditional way of using a retractable writing instrument.

Eventually our bread and butter customers, the independent office supply and stationery stores, could not compete with the superstores that emerged like Office Depot, Staples, and OfficeMax in the late 1980s and early 1990s.  As the independents closed their doors, we lost our primary writing instrument customer base. Our MP sales went into decline and eventually we discontinued the sales of these products. because we could not compete with the deep pockets of the big brands as they also flooded distribution in the US mass market along with the less expensive alternatives coming in from other developing countries.

However, Yasutomo definitely made an impact with the sales of GRIP350/500 products in the MP  marketplace here in the US.  Our products became the model other manufacturers would try to duplicate. There are now many inexpensive knock-offs available and retail continues to change with on-line sales putting pressure on the superstores who are now struggling.  However, the rule never changes and that is if you provide products with quality that provides features and benefits creating value, the opportunity to gain acceptance in the US market remains. This fact is substantiated by loyal customers who still either use or keep requesting products we introduced  back in 1982."

Daniel Egusa,

Former President of Yasutomo Corporation

Alternatives

When I first set out to write this article it was because I had FINALLY managed to buy a Grip 350 pencil on Ebay for a reasonable price and reunite it with the NOS Grip 500 I bought ten years ago.  Every time I go into an art supply store I look for evidence that retractable mechanical pencils have caught on or become mainstream, and I'm almost constantly disappointed.  In his statement, Daniel Egusa referred to imitators copying the designs, but I had personally never seen anything like the Niji Grip pencils.  Since beginning this article and having some interaction with Yasutomo, my eyes have been opened a bit and I've since found several similar pencils which I'll talk about a little below.

As for the prospect of a future "reissue" of the Niji Grip pencils, the news is somewhat mixed.  On the disappointing side, the mold for the Grip 500 has broken and would be prohibitively expensive to replace and Yasutomo politely but firmly responded that they have no intention of ever bringing them back.  However it seems that the molds for the Grip 350 may still be in use today.  I received some samples from a Yasutomo sister company, Penac.  These "Double Knock" pencils are nearly identical to the Grip 350.  The tip guard on the end is chromed plastic rather than clear plastic, and the pocket clip is a different shape, but the design is so similar that the parts are directly interchangeable.  These seem to still be in production, but I couldn't actually find a supplier willing to sell them.

Top: Vintage Niji/Yasutomo Grip 350, Bottom: Modern Penac "Double-Knock"

Top: Niji Grip 350 with the tip extended. Bottom: Penac "Double Knock" with the tip extended. Notice the tip shape is identical.

Top: Penac "Double Knock" partly disassembled.  Bottom: Yasutomo Grip 350 partly disassembled.  Notice the mechanism is identical.

As for knock-offs, the Alvin Draft-Tec Retrac seems to be something of an imitation of features of both the Grip 500 and the Grip 350.  Unlike Penac, Alvin doesn't seem to be affiliated with American Kusa Corp or it's parent, Kotobuki.

Top: Vintage Grip 350, Middle: Penac "Double Knock", Bottom: Alvin Draft-tec Retrac

Top: Vintage Grip 350, Middle: Penac "Double Knock", Bottom: Alvin Draft-tec Retrac

Alvin Draft-tec Retrac partially disassembled

As you can see from the images above, the overall shape of the Alvin "Retrac" is directly based on the original Grip 350. The smaller grip area and tip shape more closely resemble the Grip 500. The mechanism seems to be a direct copy of the Grip 350 - it even uses the same sized springs and same sized cap and eraser.  While this is clearly a knockoff, and I suspect not an authorized one, the Alvin "Retrac" is fairly easy to find for sale as of this writing and considerably cheaper than trying to buy a vintage Niji pencil from Ebay or some other secondary seller.

In my quest for information about these, I also stumbled across a list of several other retractable mechanical pencils which, while I've never come across any of them in an actual store, demonstrates what Daniel Egusa said about there being a lot of imitators.  Many of the pencils on this list completely lack the style and sophistication of the Niji pencils in my opinion, even if they do technically share functionality.  Some of some of them get close, like the "Tomato Hidden Nib" which is still for sale, others are just as obscure and difficult to source as the Niji Grip pencils.  

To wrap things up, if you're really digging the idea of a retractable mechanical pencil and want something in the vein of the Grip 500, but would rather not truck with knock-offs, you may want to look into the rOtring 800.  It's visually and functionally very similar to the Grip 500, but all-metal and uses a distinctly original mechanism that's more of an homage to the Grip 500 than an imitation of it.  The tip is extended and retracted by twisting grip at the back of the pencil.

rOtring 800 with the tip retracted

rOtring 800 with the tip extended - notice how similar it is to the Grip 500 tip

The rOtring 800 mechanism is very different from the Grip 500, though still seems to have been inspired by it.

Notice how the mechanism for the rOtring is almost completely different from the Grip 500.  The eraser holder has a similar shape but totally different design - even the tip clearing rod is mounted differently.

The rOtring carries a pretty premium price tag at $40 (on Amazon as of this writing), but I've seen vintage Grip 500 priced almost as high on Ebay, and you may find the all-metal construction worth the extra cost.