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I’ve never seen the black box before. It’s interesting how they phased in the Microtomic name, seemingly phasing out Van Dyke only to see it re-emerge as a standalone model in a Mongol-style box in the 60s or 70s.
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I have always wondered why the Blackwing wasn’t given similar packaging (unless of course it did, and I just haven’t come across it yet.) The Van Dyke was their high-quality artist pencil which goes back to at least 1904: that’s when they went from being painted grey to yellow. Just as there was a version of the Mongol before 1900, I think the same is likely true of the Van Dyke. A previous theory I had was that the Van Dyke was the evolution of the Polygrade line, but it turns out they overlap.
I don’t have any written proof of the reasoning behind ending the Van Dyke line, but applying common sense I suppose it had something to do with modernizing the brand and putting their proprietary “microtomic” refining process in the forefront.
PS: It seems that “Microtomic” goes all the way back to 1923!
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