Posts filed under Kuru Toga

Uni Kuru Toga Dive Mechanical Pencil Review

My review of the Uni Kuru Toga Dive has been a long time in the making. Why?

I was hoping they would be more widely available by the time I posted this.
After several months, I’m still not sure what to make of it.

Jacob, from Fudefan and the Tokyo Inklings Podcast, surprised me with the Dive earlier this year, as he happened to catch them at the right time during their very tiny launch window. While monitoring the launch online, it appears that several Japanese retailers received their store displays and inventory, put the pencils out for sale on February 16th, then POOF! They were all snapped up, and have yet to be available again.

What makes the Dive so special that there was a mad rush to buy them, and a continued 4-5x markup of them on the secondary market?

For starters, the Kuru Toga mechanism is one of the few technological advances we have seen in mechanical pencils in decades. Designed to rotate the lead as you write so you always have a sharp, consistent point on the graphite, it offers something no other mechanical pencil manufacturer can. And it works. This is no marketing gimmick, or mindless innovation.

With that under the hood, Uni turned it up to 11 with the rest of the design:

Adjustable length auto-advance lead mechanism? Check.

A cap, with a clip? Check.

A magnetic snap-cap, at that? Check.

No-knock writing when uncapping? Check.

Wait, what did I just say? When you uncap the pencil the graphite is “clicked” forward to your preset writing length based on your auto-advance setting. This means if you have a habit of holding the knock and pressing in the lead when done (to avoid breakage, for example,) when you uncap the pencil the lead resets back to the exposed position. Uncap, and write, no matter the status you left the Dive when previously using.

It’s difficult to explain, but it is due to how the cap, and cap magnet, are designed. You aren’t forcing a click every time you cap an uncap the pencil either. If you cap the pencil with the graphite exposed, it doesn’t come out any longer than where you left it previously. But, if the lead is retracted when storing (capping) the pencil, the next time you uncap it, the lead is ready to write without having to press the knock. In short, the Kuru Toga Dive can be used as a complete no-knock mechanical pencil.

There is a knock on the back of the pencil for you luddites out there, but like how the original Kuru Toga broke us from the habit of rotating the pencil in your hand, the Dive is asking you to never use a knock again.

That’s not the only thing the Dive is asking of you. It is also asking you to spend $50 on a plastic-barrel mechanical pencil. While the metallic blue finish on the Dive is beautiful, don’t let that confuse you into thinking there is aluminum underneath the admittedly cool exterior. The list of high-quality mechanical pencils you can buy for a fraction of that price is too long to list here, even Uni’s own upgraded Kuru Toga models.

But I get it. I get the price, and I get the ask. $50 seems right to me with the litany of design elements and engineering in a single package. And-don’t hate me for this-I think an aluminum barrel Dive in the $80-$100 range would be the sweet spot for what Uni has created here.

One detail I haven’t discussed yet is how the Dive feels when writing. It’s good, but I’ll stop there. My biggest hangup is the grip diameter, where at 10.7 mm is much wider than other standard grip sections like the Rotring 600, which checks in at 8.1 mm. That’s not the only oversized part of the pencil-the entire thing is gigantic. Posting the cap, while designed to fit properly, turns the pencil into a plank. I only use it unposted. Due to its size, the Dive may be better suited for an 0.7 mm default lead size, if not 0.9 mm.

In the end, the Uni Kuru Toga Dive is another step up in mechanical pencil technology. I’m just not sure it is a step forward. There is no arguing that it got off to a hot start, in part due to great marketing by Uni, plus the scarcity effect. But is it sustainable? That’s the bigger question I have. I like it. It makes me smile. It’s also $50, and asks me to hold a baton while writing with a needle. I’m glad I have one, but I’ll pick up a more classically designed mechanical pencil-even another Kuru Toga-if I plan on doing real work with graphite in hand.

Posted on June 6, 2022 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Uni, Kuru Toga, Mechanical Pencil, Pencil Reviews.

Uni Alpha Gel Switch Mechanical Pencil Review

The Uni Alpha Gel Switch Mechanical Pencil asks one of my favorite reviewer questions: Why? In this specific scenario, the “why” is why would you want both a standard pencil mechanism and a Kuru Toga pencil mechanism in the same barrel, with a toggle to switch between the two?

The short answer to the question is “I have no freaking clue!” But let’s explore the Alpha Gel Switch a little deeper, shall we?

First off, this is a fantastic looking mechanical pencil. I’d expect nothing less from Uni. The Alpha Gel is a classic in its own right, taking Uni’s traditional writing experience and adding one of the softest, most cushioned, writing grips on the market. That type of feel isn’t for everyone as it does add to the diameter of the grip, even accounting for the added squishiness. It is a popular and well-loved feature across several of their product lines.

The Kuru Toga is even more loved and more respected, as it changed mechanical pencil technology when it launched. For those unfamiliar, the Kuru Toga uses a mechanism inside the barrel to slightly rotate the lead every time you pick it up from the page. This allows your pencil tip to wear evenly and write consistent-width lines. My review from 12 (!) years ago shows a test where I didn’t rotate the pencil in my hand for an entire page to see if the technology actually worked. Spoiler alert: It did.

And it continues to do so to this day. I think it has made writing with mechanical pencils better, and sent the competition scrambling for something new they could compete with.

That said, you may not need what Uni is selling you in the Kuru Toga. From a note-taking and writing perspective, it’s great. But what if you are an artist or designer and need different line widths, edges, and shading density? Then the Kuru Toga isn’t going to fit your needs as well as a traditional mechanical pencil.

Notes on my writing sample: I used the Alpha Gel Switch with four different grip types. From top to bottom: Kuru Toga setting with fixed grip, Hold setting with fixed grip, Kuru Toga setting rotating the pencil in my hand, Hold setting rotating the pencil in my hand. As you might guess, if I work the graphite into an angle using the Hold setting and then switch to the Kuru Toga setting, it will take a couple of lines to normalize the shape of the lead again. This begs the overarching question of this entire product - why?

What if you could have both? The lead rotation of the Kuru Toga and the fixed writing of a traditional pencil are both available in the Uni Alpha Gel Switch. The issue I’m having is that I haven’t discovered the use case for that combination yet.

For starters, if the Alpha Gel grip is the big selling point, you can already buy it in a standard Kuru Toga model, as well as a standard mechanical pencil model. If you need the lead rotation of the Kuru Toga without the Alpha Gel grip there are dozens of options out there, too. What is the use case for both systems in one pencil? The student artist is all I can think of, and that is even a stretch. To me, it feels like this:

Despite the fact I cannot figure out the perfect use case for why this pencil exists, I do know one thing about me and what I look for in products: I’d buy the Uni Alpha Gel Switch again 10 out of 10 times. I just don’t know what I am going to use it for.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Posted on August 23, 2021 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Uni, Alpha Gel, Kuru Toga, Mechanical Pencil, Pencil Reviews.

Uni Kuru Toga Roulette Mechanical Pencil Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

It's been a while since we gave the Kuru Toga some love around here, but that's going to change with the Roulette. This pencil has been around for quite some time, but it can be easy to overlook given the sheer number of mechanical pencil options that exist today. What sets the Roulette apart from the regular Kuru Toga, you ask? Knurling.

As opposed to the all-plastic construction of the regular Kuru Toga, the Roulette has a metal section with knurled grip. It's a nice feature, and definitely improves the writing experience of the pencil. At just a few bucks more than the regular Kuru Toga, it's a great upgrade. The knurled grip adds a lot of stability when holding the pencil, and the cool metal feels better in the hand compared to the plastic grip of the regular Kuru Toga.

Underneath the metal exterior is the namesake of this pencil — the lead rotation mechanism that made the Kuru Toga famous. As you write, the lead rotates a millimeter every time you lift the lead off the paper. This ingenious design means you are always writing with perfectly rounded lead instead of ending up with sharp angled edges. With most pencils, you're probably used to rotating the pencil a bit once one side of the lead gets too dull. That creates a sharp contrast to the small edge that the fresh lead creates. With the Kuru Toga mechanism, you can enjoy a consistent line width since it's constantly rotating as you write.

This feature isn't a gimmick, either. It works flawlessly. The only case in which this lead rotation action doesn't work well is if you're making long, continuous strokes with the pencil instead of writing. It's not a good drafting pencil, but it's great for writing notes, doing math homework, and keeping handy around the house.

Even though the knurled metal grip adds a touch of class to this pencil, there were some compromises made in order to keep the price low. Aside from the grip, the rest of the pencil is made of plastic and painted to mimic metal. They actually did a great job with this effect, as it can be difficult to pick out the plastic bits, but it's really obvious once you pick it up and start handling it. Even though this is a compromise, they've executed it very well, and it also keeps the cost down so the pencil is very accessible.

The clip on the pencil is removable and is very strong. Once you clip this pencil to something, it's not going to come loose on accident. As with most mechanical pencils, there's also a tiny eraser under the click cap, which is also where you can add more lead.

Speaking of lead, this pencil is only available in the 0.5mm variety, which is a bit disappointing. I'd love to see some 0.3mm and 0.7mm options as well. You can find those sizes in the regular model of Kuru Toga, so I'm a bit perplexed by the omission in this premium line. Aside from the silver featured here, you can also pick up a gun metallic variant.

As an added bonus, the grip section features a small round window that shows the internal lead rotation mechanism as it rotates round and round. If you hold the pencil just right, you can see the rotation as you write.

I've always been a big fan of the Kuru Toga because of how well it works. What sounds like a gimmick is actually a great feature that Uni executed perfectly. The addition of the metal knurled grip is fantastic, drawing comparisons to much more expensive pencils and improving the grip dramatically. At just under $12, these pencils are affordable and provide an excellent value. Definitely worth having one in your arsenal!

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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