Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I purchased two of these Pentel Graph Gear 1000 (PG1019G) in 0.9mm because I used the Pentel Kerry in 0.5 and 0.7 mm for 25 years with no problems. I liked the 0.9 mm so much I bought a third one in 2014. The first one failed in April of 2015. The main structural member turns out to be a plastic tube and it is threaded to mate with the conical metal nose piece. The plastic tube sheared at this threaded joint. I replaced this one and hoped the others would last. The second one (probably the one I bought second so it would be four years old) failed at exactly the same place. The choice of a plastic tube instead of a metal one saved them a few pennies but lost me as a 30 plus year customer. My older Pentel Kerry models (which I would have bought in a second if they made it in 0.9 mm) lasted me 20 plus years of much harder use than these Graph Gear 1000 models. I buy a quality pencil not just because it lasts longer, for the pleasure of using a well engineered tool every day. These are no better than the $1.19 ones I can buy in bulk.. I am going to try to find an all metal one that might last 20 plus years versus 2 to 4. But it won't be a Pentel. I am happy to spend 2 to 3 times for a quality pencil. It was a mistake to save 40 cents and ruin the design by substituting a plastic sleeve for a a metal one for the main structural piece. Edward Deming would not approve. I wish Pentel sold replacement plastic sleeves, I think there would be a market for them just keeping their Graph Gears running. For what it is worth, mine were yellow sleeves, I don't know it all of their colored plastics have the same mechanical properties, perhaps yellow is a weaker plastic or perhaps it ages faster. Should have used aluminum.