wy_kid_wrangler04 Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 SOOOO frustrating. The leads keep falling out. The last box or two of last years stock is all like this and its so frustrating because the kids nicely get working on their work and their lead falls out. :glare: Is it just us?? I don't remember this happening through the year :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NavyWifeandMommy Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 i have had the same problem as well. i figured it was maybe the pencil sharpener and have gone thru a handful of those and my pencils still do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plain jane Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Oh no! Don't say this. :scared: I overbought on pencils during a Staples sale 3 years ago and have not had to buy a single pack since. :o Sadly, my supply is dwindling down to the last 3 packs so I'm forced to have to buy some this year. I hope they're not all junk. :001_huh: Have you tried a few different brands? Or maybe it's that one shipment that got banged around a lot? :confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5LittleMonkeys Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 This is why I recently banned all regular pencils from my house. I gathered up every single one I could find and threw them away. I've even offered the dc .25 for each regular pencil they find and bring to me. :tongue_smilie: We have switched over to mechanical pencils. I go ahead and spring for the more expensive ones that I can replace leads and erasers. I love them...no more stopping to sharpen, searching for those stupid little eraser things that fit on the end, and no more little stubs lying around everywhere.:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetbasil Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 This is why I recently banned all regular pencils from my house. I gathered up every single one I could find and threw them away. I've even offered the dc .25 for each regular pencil they find and bring to me. :tongue_smilie: We have switched over to mechanical pencils. I go ahead and spring for the more expensive ones that I can replace leads and erasers. I love them...no more stopping to sharpen, searching for those stupid little eraser things that fit on the end, and no more little stubs lying around everywhere.:D Would you recommend some brands of mechanical pencils? I'm considering the switch too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrogMom5 Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 I bought pencils 2 yrs. ago and the lead falls out of them too. It's so frustrating! :glare: I told the kids to stop trying to use them, when the lead falls out, throw them away. We had this problem with more than one brand so I've switched to mechanical pencils. It's seems more wasteful using the mechanical ones but, at least my kids can get through a lesson. If any of you find a good brand of pencils this year, please let me know. Thanks. Denise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetbasil Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 (edited) If any of you find a good brand of pencils this year, please let me know.Thanks. Denise I always have good luck with Staedtler Cadet pencils. I order them from Dick Blick. Edited July 17, 2011 by sweetbasil gave wrong name! sorry! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wy_kid_wrangler04 Posted July 13, 2011 Author Share Posted July 13, 2011 Have you tried a few different brands? Or maybe it's that one shipment that got banged around a lot? :confused: To be honest I am not sure where I got them all from, or if they came from the same place or what. I know when we went out of town to Wal-Mart (its a 1 1/2 hour drive) they had them on sale so I bought a bunch there. Then when we went to Office Max, or Staples (one of the two- its in the same city as walmart) that same day they had them on sale so ofcourse I had to buy them there also :lol:. I also know I bought a ton from Pamida when they had them on sale (and those of you from ultra small rural areas know what Pamida is :D) So the were from one of those 3 stores if that helps ;) I am considering mechanical pencils as well now. So frustrating. UGH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saraha Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 I totally thought I was losing my mind, or that I forgot how to use a pencil all of the sudden! I am sorry you all had this problem too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orthodox6 Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 I have yet to locate a brand of #2 pencil for which the leads do not fall out, and/or for which the leads do not break as a result of sharpening the pencil. :mad: Price does not always correlate to quality. Mechanical pencils, however, have their own problems. For some, the lead simply falls out of the barrel, even when one scrupulously employs the correct size of lead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myra Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 My pet peeve is pencil erasers that don't erase! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GWOB Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 To be honest I am not sure where I got them all from, or if they came from the same place or what. I know when we went out of town to Wal-Mart (its a 1 1/2 hour drive) they had them on sale so I bought a bunch there. Then when we went to Office Max, or Staples (one of the two- its in the same city as walmart) that same day they had them on sale so ofcourse I had to buy them there also :lol:. I also know I bought a ton from Pamida when they had them on sale (and those of you from ultra small rural areas know what Pamida is :D) So the were from one of those 3 stores if that helps ;) I am considering mechanical pencils as well now. So frustrating. UGH I know what Pamida is! I'm going there today! Anyway, I have noticed the same thing with pencils. You have to make sure you get pencils that were made in the USA. The made in China ones are terrible. I've had pretty good luck with the Ticonderoga brand. (Just ignore me. I just looked on my box of Ticonderoga pencils and they are made in China:tongue_smilie:) But as a general rule, the ones made in USA work better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GWOB Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 My pet peeve is pencil erasers that don't erase! :iagree: I bought my kids a pack of Smencils for Christmas. It seemed like a cool stocking stuffer. Those things have the worst, WORST erasers! They leave pink blotches all over the paper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quad Shot Academy Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 I found out that if you drop a pencil on the hard wood the lead inside shatters. We throw out pencils if the tip breaks off twice and we haven't had an ongoing problem since. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orthodox6 Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 My pet peeve is pencil erasers that don't erase! Have you tried those "click erasers"? That may be a brand name, it also may have become a generic term (as with "Kleenex"). They are not the "pink crumbly" substance, but the white whatever. (I'm failing with specific language this morning!) At any rate, the white type always have worked well for us. (Nor am I thinking of what used to be called a "gum eraser".) . . . :confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5LittleMonkeys Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Would you recommend some brands of mechanical pencils? I'm considering the switch too. My favorite is Paper Mate Clear Point 0.7mm. These have a twist up eraser and a click bar on the side to extend the lead. Here they are. This set comes with extra leads and erasers. When you get additional lead and erasers make sure you get the Paper Mate brand because I have had problems when I get a different brand even though it says it's the same size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starr Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 We like the black warrior pencils. I find them on line and at school time at Walgreens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ann Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 I thought it was just me! I also found that the pencil sharpener kept eating them also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoundAbout Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 I But as a general rule, the ones made in USA work better. Yes, I am very picky now and will only buy made in the USA pencils. I think my last box of Ticonderoga was made in USA but I could be wrong, they seem to work ok for us though. I definitely no longer buy cheaper brands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moxie Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Watch the Ticonderoga! The last box I bought was total JUNK! Everytime we tried to sharpen them the point would break in the sharpener. I'm switching to Black Warrior this year and crossing my fingers. I think my kids press to hard for mechanical pencils. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcjlkplus3 Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 I like the Ticonderoga ones. We got them at Costco. The lead doesn't break randomly and they erase awesome. I love the sharpness of mechanical pencils, but I hate the children using them for school. Eraser tops don't fit on them and its a pain to refill them and it seems you often have to throw lead away because you get to those little pieces that won't stay in the pencil anymore. We have tried MANY types of mechanical pencils - that is what dh prefers to draw with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura in STL Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 We have had this problem with some of the cute, holiday pencils that we got at Walmart. I used to get those to put in Valentines or as Halloween treats, but I stopped because they were so bad. Now I get the kids decorative pencils from our local teacher store, and they are much better. Of course, they are more expensive since you buy them as singles. We also use the plain number twos with no problem, but I have a big box that i've had for years. I hope I'll be able to find good ones when I need to replace them. I also find the electric sharpener works better on pencils. When the kids use their little manual sharpeners the leads seem to fall out more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali in OR Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 The Mirado Black Warrior pencils (I think made by Papermate) are great. The erasers are real pink pearl erasers, not that stiff stuff that doesn't really erase. The pencils are usually not part of the cheap back-to-school deals, but I don't really care. I stock up on them at Office Max when they have their 20% off everything you can put in this bag sales. I throw away any of the cheap pencils the kids get on holidays--not worth having in the house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twoxcell Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 We haven,t had an issue with leads falling out, and I buy my pencils from Walmart. I did have problems with pencils sharpening unevenly, but that was because of my sharpener. My dh got me an awesome sharpener on clearance at Staples. I hated using mechanical pencils in college because they write finer and the leads break too easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Yes, and I'm starting to hate it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oraetstudia Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 The Ticonderogas we got at Costco have had the lead falling out problem. I was wondering if it was just my kids. Plus the erasers seem to break off really, really easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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