I am not really a big pencil guy as I noted in my recent review of a discontinued rOtring 600 pencil, but I do find them pretty fascinating. I'm often drawn to buy them because of their design and how they'll feel when you write with them. Maybe I'm just a big weirdo about that as I buy them and don't tend to get the use out of them I think I will. Either way, I'm happy about it.
In putting through a recent order from Cult Pens, I decided to drop in a Lamy Logo mechanical pencil for good measure to give it a go as I think they were clearing out this matte black version that is discontinued. I think I paid around $6 for it when all was said and done which I thought was a pretty good deal.
The Logos only come in a 0.5mm which is not really my sweet spot when it comes to lead sizes. I'm more of a 0.7mm guy and even a 0.9mm when I'm working out in my shop. Depending on the pencil, a 0.5mm does pretty well, but in the Logo, not so much I'm afraid.
The lead inside this thing dances around a lot. I'm not sure if it is the mechanism that is moving or if the lead just doesn't sit very securely? All I know is it is driving me crazy and makes it hard to write because I'm focusing on how insecure the lead is.
To get to some of the meat and potatoes of the review, there are some major design issues with this pencil that I knew going into it, but turned a blind eye for the sake of sharing a review with my wonderful readers. Your support is worth every last penny I promise, and I'll willingly take one for the team. Remember the Tornado Snapper? That pen still gives me nightmares...
There are a few key things that a mechanical pencil usually has: lead, eraser, ability to refill the lead from the knock (unless it is a lead holder).
Let's see how the Logo holds up to this standard:
- Lead - Check.
- Eraser- none
- Refill from knock - nope...
There is no eraser on this thing to be found, which, I suppose isn't overly ridiculous. Half the time the eraser that comes on a mechanical pencil is one the size of a really small Tylenol that holds up for erasing about three words anyways. But still, there isn't one and that is just kind of weird. If you prepare to take the Logo for a Scantron test, make sure to bring another eraser with you.
Also fairly standard in mechanical pencils (not 2mm lead holders) is the refill from the knock where you remove the eraser and pop in a few polymer leads. Not on this thing. Oh no, not at all. To refill the lead you have to unscrew the tip mechanism wherein you will find a little plastic tube. From that tube you remove a little cap which exposes the lead storage area. I'm not saying it isn't super inconvenient, but it is just strange and not really intuitive. I could easily see about 8 out of 10 people breaking their pencil trying to figure out how to refill it.
The tip of the pencil actually retracts when you push the lead all the way in which is neat. It is so you can put your pencil in your bag and not bend the metal tip section.
It looks pretty cool which is primarily why I bought one. The Logo has a metal barrel with some nice grip to it. Lamy really does matte black pretty well and I don't know if they've made a pen/pencil in that finish that I didn't like.
Based on my review I'll let you decide how you think I enjoyed this pencil... (or guess if it will see the light of day again)