Faber Castell pencil age?

[Dragoon]

Hello all!
I'm not sure if this is the proper forum to ask...

I just purchased off eBay an older, used (barely!) set of Albrecht Durer watercolor pencils. They are in a 72 pencil tin. I've tried checking the website, and googling, but it seems this set is no longer made. It was an estate sale, so I cannot ask the original owner the age of the pencils.
I know they don't go 'bad', but I am just curious about how long ago Faber stopped making the 72 pencil tin size?

Thanks in advance for any information you can give me about my new prize!
Cheers,
D.

[Diane Cutter]

Sounds like you need to email Faber-Castell and ask. I tried googling, too, and couldn't find anything. Congratulations on your fine acquisition.

Diane

[Hemingway]

Hi D.,

I own a set of 120 FC Albrecht Dürer, wich I purchased about 6 years ago. In those days the set with 72 pencils was available, too. But I dont know, when Faber stopped producing it.

My 6 year old FC's are as fresh as new, they seem not to loose quality much over the years.

Cheers,

[Lyta]

I don't know why they're not making that set size anymore; maybe they don't want to produce another size of plastic inlets for the tins, or they hope that people will jump for the full set instead...

Anyway, if you want to know the age of your pencils, there should be a production code on each one. For the new ones it's something like "A8" where "8" means 2008 and "A" denotes the first month (January). The letters then run up B, C, D etc., so you have to count the months. "I" is skipped, so December would be "M". The old ones have three digit numbers on them, for example "309". You have to read that backwards: "09" means 90 (for 1990), and the "3" means they're from the third quarter of that year. (I hope I remembered all that correctly! :wink2: ) The set as a whole will of course be a few months younger than the youngest pencil you'll find in it.

I hope that helps you a bit! Anyway, have fun with your pencils, they're absolutely lovely. :heart:

[Dragoon]

Why thank you, you lovely clever people!

Yes, all the pencils are stamped 169, 269 or 369. So 1996 it is! :clap:
Now to try them out!
Cheers,
D.

[hooters612]

Faber Castell keeps their colours and working ability. As mine are 120 set collected one at a time over a 10 years span. Now that is staying power. Because at the time Faber Castell were not being shipped to Canada. So they were very very hard to get. Enjoy them as they have great colours.

[semilin]

Maybe they think 72set and 60set are overlapped?

[ManedWolf]

The 60 colour set entered production in 2002 and the 48 and 72 colour sets became extinct. It's a pity; the 48 colour set included useful accessories, among them a sharpener.

Lyta, you figured the codes out quite right!
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/23-Apr-2010/151084-%21PAW.JPG
Heikki

PS. I have one labeled '378' and the stub is still in perfect condition.

[Lyta]

Sets of 48 can be cool, especially if they come in two layers in the tin. Very compact and handy.

Heikki, you're giving me undue credit, I probably got the info from one of your posts in the first place... :wink2: