As a follow up to my previous post, I will do a review, so as to not write off the qualities this pencil has (if any) due to an unfortunate manufacturing defect.
The POP bazic is a line of products manufactured by Popular. They offer cheap, affordable but questionable quality stationery. Not surprisingly, the MMP1587 is no different. For $2.50 for a pair (I gave the other one to my colleague. Hopefully it works well), I would expect some decent quality checks to detect any manufacturing defects. However, immediately I realized there were 2 defects on the same pencil. I would tell you more about them but I would like to save it for later.
The MPP1587 is not supposed to be an economic line, despite its cheap price. How can I tell? There is evidence of it having many features that resembles a higher-end mechanical pencil. Let me show you this with some specification.
Specifications and features:
Length: 14.1 cm
Balance point: about 6.2 cm from tip
Lead advance mechanism: Ratchet (push top)
Rubber Grip
3mm non-retractable metal sleeve
Metal clip
Lead hardness indicator above rubber grip (HB, B, 2B, 3B)
Twist out eraser
Materials: plastic body, tip including sleeve is made of metal
One thing I liked about this pencil is that it is front heavy. It is comfortable to write with. The sleeve is not retractable making it unsafe to stick it into your pocket anywhere that a protruding tip would cause damage, pain and injury. The lead advancing mechanism is made out of metal which is another sign it is not an economic range pencil, however, the mechanism does not seem very sturdy. It did not work when I got it. If you read the previous post, it was due to the retainer, but furthermore, the mechanism is faulty. I had to dismantle and reassemble it, pressing a plastic part together to make sure it grips the mechanism tighter. I don’t know how long what I did would last, but so far it had worked quite well for the 2 days I have been
working with it. This led me to the conclusion that the mechanism might not be very good. 10 clicks give about 8.5mm of lead. For me, 1 click gives just a little than enough lead to start writing with and 2 clicks gives too much.
Next, I dislike the rubber grip. It is practically useless. As Dave (davesmechanicalpencil.blogspot.com) would put it, why do they even try? My personal take on this is that if you want to do something, do it properly. And this would sum up what this pencil is about, overpromising and under delivering, as you would see why later. I wondered why they included a rubber grip that is more slippery than a plastic grip. They could have just include some grooves on the plastic body and do away with the rubber grip. Not only it saves them the trouble to fit each pencil with the rubber grip, it also saves them the cost used to make the
rubber grip.
The lead indicator is alright if you ask me - just a simple plastic ring that clicks into position. Simple, easy and fuss free, as compared to other more complicated ones. However, here lies the other defect I found. The lead indicator’s sticker, which has the hardness grades printed on it, is misaligned. I had to peel it off and stick it back on again to make the grade display correctly.
The metal clip is simple, but it is somewhat flimsy and some of you who prefer clips with a tight grip would mind. Personally, I find it alright and useable. It is not slanted, hence unsightly like some other mechanical pencils I possess.
Lastly, the twist-out eraser is not a rip off. It really does move up and down when you twist the eraser cap. Some of you that have read Dave’s blog would come across some that are a rip off as only the plastic covering moves when you twist the eraser mechanism. This is not the case with the MPP1587. I have to give the designer some credit to use a black eraser, as it is more stylish. However, like I said, this pencil overpromises and under delivers. I was so excited about the twist out eraser, but I was disappointed with the quality of the eraser. It smudges pencil markings instead of erasing them. Furthermore, it leaves behind a faint blank marking, probably from the black eraser dye. I tried to erase the black markings with a Pentel eraser, but it doesn't come off. Again, probably they saw that other higher-end mechanical pencils have the
feature, therefore they want it. Instead of so many features, I would prefer that they drop some of these features that they would obviously do a bad job with and focus on quality control and making sure their fundamental features work well.
In conclusion, as usual, who would I recommend the MPP1587 to:
1) Not many. I would rather you get something cheaper with lesser functions that performs better, or get something more expensive but worth your time.
2) Those who are on a budget and want their mechanical pencils to have as many functions as possible, not giving a hoot if the functions really work well at all. Just to be clear, the functions do work, but not up to my satisfaction.
3) Anyone who is really good at tinkering. Perhaps change the eraser, swap the grip, do something to the lead indicator to include more grades. I don't know. Some people I know are really good as such things.
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