Uni Kuru Toga Advance Mechanical Pencil Review

The Uni Kuru Toga Advance is a nice mechanical pencil. There's no point denying it. If you aren't sure what makes a Kuru Toga so special, where have you been?

They use a special rotating mechanism inside the pencil. Each time pressure is put on the point, so each time you lift and place it back on the paper the lead is rotated by a small amount. The original model is good and I have a couple that I'll be reviewing later.

The issue really is that it was designed for writing non-cursive script. You need to lift and drop the lead 40 times for a full revolution of the lead. The advanced model has a rotating mechanism that rotates twice as fast. So 20 times for a full rotation. I can honestly say this makes a huge difference.

I went with a special edition orange colour. It looks so great. The small holes allow you to see into the mechanism - I mean if you want a good look just unscrew the end. The holes also act to enhance grip on the pencil when in use.

It's worth stating that this pen outer is all metal. The black tip is metal and the orange barrel and eraser cap are metal as well. A lot of the internal gubbins are actually plastic. That's cool though because this isn't a hugely expensive pencil.

The tip retracts to make it pocket safe or drop it on the floor and the end might not get bent safe. The pocket clip is decent but it's <£20 decent if you get me?

The worst thing about this pencil is common to a lot of Uni stuff... the eraser is really rubbish - it barely sits in the barrel at the top. But... you're not using the built-in eraser, are you? Look at how tiny the thing is.

Something else that bugs me... one lead Uni? Really? Platinum gave me 3 with a pencil that was pretty much the same price. It's lucky I've got hundreds of the things :)

My message on this one is that the advance engine gubbins is much better for a cursive script - you really need a faster rotation rate to stop getting those annoying flat spots on the end of your lead. The standard version does rotate but not so you'd notice if you are writing.

It's available in a range of cool colours at Cult Pens and is priced at £16.50.

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