Reddit mentions of Mitsubishi Pencil pencil office pencil 9000 hardness HB K9000HB

International shipping rates is why.

I mean, I was in New Zealand a few months ago, and I saw General's Pencils sets in a major bookstore chain there. Take one item which is listed at 13.99 NZD, or about 9 bucks USD. The same item in the US is under 5.00 on Amazon, and not much more in a retail location. So I certainly wasn't going to buy any of those there...but, European art supplies were much cheaper there than what I was used to paying in the US. I splurged on Staedtler pencils and French gouache while I was there, lol.

I have used Japanese forwarding services, they do the job well. But...using Tenso's calculator for shipping+handling on the item (finding out the exact weight per box), and the listed price on Amazon JP....technically the Amazon US seller is cheaper (about 8 bucks and free shipping, vs 10-11 depending on exchange fluctuations. Some banks in the US charge foreign transaction fees, too.). Markups at JetPens aren't too much worse (1.05/pencil, so 12.60 for 12 of them). Kinokuniya, a Japanese bookstore may sell these, and I remember a slightly similar pencil (9800) being about 1.00 a pencil.

My Holy Trinity: Mitsubishi Pencil 9000 HB Two Point Sharpener Mono Eraser

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They have the Mitsubishi Pencil 9850 HB, which has an eraser on it, but I would suggest using a pencil without an eraser since erasing can be a time waster. I found it really motivating that what I write is final, but I also prefer a separate eraser anyways and without an eraser on the pencil I don't risk smudging the lead with an inferior pencil eraser. (although the Mitsubishi pencils are alright)