Fine Points of Design

 At first glance youd be forgiven for thinking it was just another toy rocket, but closer inspection reveals the name Toshiba, famous electronic giant from the early days of computing. The classic beige plastic hull is very reminiscent of the electronic devices of the seventies and this would appear to be from that period. It is in fact a desktop pencil sharpener and is something i've been after for some time.

 The unit is about 6 inches long and powered by a removable battery pack of 4 aa's slung beneath like a shuttle fuel tank. The whole thing has wonderfully classic rocket proportions and detail, a lot of thought has gone into the look and it doesnt come across as gimmicky and childish. In fact its hard to imagine what the intended audience may have been, as its quite a powerful little mechanism and still manages to chew a very fine point onto a pencil. The rear end sports a fan driven vacuum with small brushes picking up the bits after the draughtsman has finished erasing.

 The nose folds down seamlessly to allow a pencil to slide in and the canopy clips off to empty the shavings. In its classic creamy beige and red finish, a small sword emblem would not be out of place here!