Growing up in my public school district, kids with Dixon Ticonderoga pencils were always the ones other kids would ask to borrow from. Everyone knew they had the best erasers, and the green ferrule and lettering were always a dead giveaway even from across a classroom.

While I still enjoy writing with a classic schoolbus-yellow Ticonderoga from time to time, my preferred choice these days is the black edition. They're everything I love about the yellow ones, except sleeker and more grown-up.

If the Palomino Blackwing (which goes for $20+ per dozen) is the Bentley of pencils, the black Ticonderoga is the Buick. A pack of 24 goes for just $5 as an Amazon add-on item.