From L-R: Office Depot, Staedtler 'Mars Lumograph 100', Palomino 'Blackwing', Rhodia & Ticonderoga 'Tri-Conderoga' pencils {click on image to enlarge}.
The little Office Depot pencil is one I found (laying forlorn, on a sidewalk) while on vacation in northern California, and the Staedtler is one I used in university. Interesting fact about Staedtler (and to tie this into fountain pens)---they only started producing premium fountain pens about three years ago. I haven't purchased one yet, but I've tried them out and they are beautifully-crafted writing instruments... and yes, they do utilize fine wood (plum and maple) in some of their models (check out their official website here). The orange Rhodia pencil is made of black Linden wood which, I think, gives it a very cool look. The Tri-Conderoga is a brand-new purchase, made in honour of National Pencil Day. It's touted by Dixon as "the world’s most comfortable pencil with a unique triangular shape, thicker diameter and velvety soft-touch finish." (and yes, it /is/ very nice to hold).
The Blackwing pencil deserves a paragraph of its own :) The one shown in my photo isn't one of the original ones made by the Eberhard Faber Company, USA (discontinued in 1998, after being manufactured for >60 years) but one made in Japan by the California Cedar company. There's an entire website devoted to this beloved pencil here , which you can peruse. It was a favourite of many famous authors (Steinbeck, Nabokov, et al), composers and animators (link ), and it pops up in films and TV shows with some regularity (link ).
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