1 X 20 Apsara Extra Dark School Wooden Pencil Hb Black + 2 Sharpener + 2 Erasers Lot

Excellent price for two packs of really good pencils. Plus, you get a sharpener and eraser in the box. Great for traveling. These are nice, dark and smooth HB/No. 2 pencils. They don't say either designation anywhere (just Extra Dark), but that's what they are. Well made—would buy again.

I think they are better than the Blackwing 602. Hell, they'd be a bargain at twice the price. If you could distribute them at a reasonable time, and get a contract with a large chain like Michales, hell you could get rich. The are darker and smoother than Blackwing. They go farther between sharpenings, the erasers are artist quality, and the little manual sharpeners are as good as I've seen... LOVE em. I'm glad I ordered two sets. I have teacher friends that need all the help they can get with kids who don't have any supplies. They come out of their own pocket for the kids. Highly recommend these writing instruments to any serious artist or writer who uses paper and pencil. Any company who puts that much care into the manufacturing of their product, deserves my patronage. Any day and time.

If the Hindustan Pencil Company could improve their quality control, these would be serious contenders in the world of pencils.I really like the core on these. They write smooth and very dark, without being really soft, which is an excellent quality for a pencil to have. There's real potential in that. I would say compared to the 'usual' American #2, they are more of a #1 or B grade pencil, or a Japanese HB. The wood doesn't appear to be cedar, but it's a respectable substitute. Unfortunately, many of the leads in my boxes were severely off-center, and in the two pencils I used I experienced multiple breakages of the lead down within the pencil regardless of which kind of sharpener I used, which implies there are lead breakages in manufacture. The lacquer, while an attractive design (though a copy of Staedtler), is sloppily applied.I can echo the comments of other posters about the included sharpener and eraser - they're quite good. I much prefer a long point sharpener, and while it's made of chintzy plastic, the sharpeners work very well. That implies consistent tolerances in the sharpener body and a very sharp blade. The eraser works well.These would be my pencil of choice for reasonably priced pencils or student pencils (not everyone wants or needs to spend the money for Blackwings, Hi-Unis, Mars Lumographs, etc) but until they improve QC, I would still recommend the Mitsubishi 9850 for a little more.

I am very pleased with these pencils. The lead is dark and smooth. They sharpen to a point easily. They are a pleasure to write with. I didn't see any lead grade listed anywhere, but I would say it writes like a 2B pencil. I haven't used the included eraser, but it looks a lot like one of those "Hi-polymer" erasers you can get just about anywhere. The sharpener that is included works very well. I've been able to sharpen these pencils to a nice, long point every time. Definitely worth the price and waiting for them to ship from India. I will be purchasing more Apsara pencils in the future.

I expected the lead to be much darker. It did sharpen well and I think I need to give them more time. They feel very nice when sketching

It's hard to beat these pencils for everyday writing. They are long-lasting and they come with two long-point sharpeners and two erasers. Public mathematics tells me these are <$0.30 each when you include the sharpeners and erasers and they last as long as the lovely Mitsu-bishi 9850. Also I love the face these Aspara pencils have "for good handwriting" printed on them. Inspiring. My handwriting has improved 39%.

Look guys, there may be better pencils out there but there are no better deals than this for, actually, GREAT pencils. Smooth and dark, they don't wear fast and they are a pleasure for every day use. I wish they would make one with an eraser tip - maybe they do and I haven't seen it. But just in case, you get a ton of pencils (two boxes of 10) plus one sharpener and one eraser per box. They ship from India so be prepared to wait.

Bad quality