So what is it about the Blackwing that inspires such passion? Why Would Anyone Pay $40US for a Blackwing? This time, reviews were excellent, and the 602 is enjoying a revival. In response, they went back to the drawing board and released the Palomino Blackwing 602, true to the features of the original. Their version featured California incense-cedar, premium Japanese graphite and the rectangular eraser, but reviews were mixed.

In 2010, when the original trademark had expired, CalCedars company released their own Palomino Blackwing, as a tribute. Notably, the people paying these exorbitant prices were avid users, not collectors.įor several years, Blackwing 602s appeared lost to the pencil connoisseurs of the world. The company decided to sell out the remaining stock, and the Blackwing 602 was officially discontinued in 1998.īut, as sometimes happens, the dwindling supply turned these pencils into almost mythical objects, reportedly fetching as much as $40 US for a single pencil on Ebay. In 1994, disaster struck when the machine that produced the unique rectangular ferrule and eraser system broke down. Sondheim’s impulse turned out to be prescient. Disaster and Discontinuation: The end of the Blackwing 602? Stephen Sondheim thought that the Blackwing might be discontinued or become obsolete, and so reportedly bought enough pencils in the 1960s to last the remainder of his career. Music producer Quincy Jones reportedly always had a Blackwing 602 on him to make changes to music scores. Chuck Jones refused to use any other pencil in his works right up to his death in 2002. Ollie Johnston, who created Bambi and Thumper among others, kept his very first Blackwing taped to his studio window as a prized possession. When Nabokov adapted Lolita into a screenplay for Stanley Kubrick in the 1960s, he wrote out thousands of index cards with a Blackwing pencil for “rubbing out and writing anew the scenes I had imagined in the morning.” And Truman Capote was reputed to have his nightstand fully stocked fresh boxes of the 602 in case of need.Ĭartoonists and animators also favoured the pencils. They are called Blackwings and they really glide over the paper.' Of course, it costs three times as much too but it is Black and it is soft but doesn’t break off. Steinbeck said in an interview, “I have found a new kind of pencil - the best I have ever had. Then he would sharpen them all and begin the process over again. He would write with one until it began to dull, then place it in an identical empty pot and take another until he had worked through all 24. John Steinbeck, Quincy Jones, Sondheim & Bernstein, Nabokov, animator Shamus Culhane (of Disney’s Snow White), and cartoonist Chuck Jones all famously favoured these pencils.Īccording to his son, John Steinbeck’s ritual was to begin every writing session by sharpening 24 Blackwing pencils and placing them in a pot. The original Blackwing 602, with its distinctive rectangular eraser, was introduced by the Eberhard Faber Pencil Company in 1934, aimed at artists, writers, and musicians for everyday use, and it quickly became a favourite of many famous artists of the day. The Original Blackwing 602: Favourite of artists and writers

Palamino blackwind pencils