Review on Pre-Sharpened Ticonderoga #2 Pencils With Soft Lead, Yellow Barrel, Box Of 12 by Naomi Snyder

The Dixon Ticonderoga Wood Cased Black Core #2 HB pencil is the one I look for when I buy pencils for myself and for my kids. I do a lot of note-writing and sketching in conjunction with my job, and this pencil feels good to write with, has exactly the softness of graphite that I prefer, and it even smells good. My son mentioned the smell. I had gotten him the Economy Dixon pencils for school, and he says those ones smell like paint.One reason why I chose to write this review, was to compare the Ticonderoga with the Economy line. Aside from the smell, the Ticonderoga graphite is a little bit softer than the Economy, and the eraser is about 3mm longer. The pencil shafts of the two are nearly identical in length.I recently purchased the Charles Leonard Multi-Hole Pencil Sharpener (#89508) and set about testing it with these two lines of pencils. Both sharpened effortlessly, but I noticed that, while the diameter of the Ticonderoga pencil corresponds exactly to the size of the "Standard" setting on the sharpener, I had trouble inserting the Economy pencil with that setting. Adjusting the setting up to the next size was necessary. Having the opening of the pencil sharpener closely match the diameter of the pencil barrel is key to easily keeping the pencil in the right position for sharpening.I have read complaints about both the Ticonderoga and the Economy pencils being difficult to sharpen. A "one-size fits all" pencil sharpener may actually be the problem. Also, sometimes a particular lot of pencils may get through quality control that has the graphite core off-center. That is a pencil that may make you swear. Many of those novelty pencils that your kids get in birthday party goodie bags may make you swear when you try to sharpen them. I have had perhaps one or two Dixon pencils of both lines that had this problem. But never a whole box. If you buy a box of Dixon pencils and it was a bad lot, I recommend that you contact Prang to see if they would give you a coupon for a free box.