> Well recently a company called Palomino is trading on the name:

The photo shows one of these sharpened, and as someone pointed out,
these are hexagonal.

> Writing or sketching with them was BLISS, not like the hard graphite
> crap in pencils today.

Hard graphite is not modern crap.  Graphite has come in different levels
of hardness for many decades.

> Just wondering if anyone else remembers these wonderful old tools.

Remember them?  I sold them at my grandfather's art and office supply
store.  Those that aren't advertising give away pencils are marked with
their hardness.  Most common hardness is No. 2, followed by No. 2 1/2
(some companies call this one No. 2 A).  I used to get the No.4 pencils
for writing and taking notes because they don't smudge.

You can find what the numbers mean on the Ticonderoga site at:

http://www.dixonticonderoga.com/

Ticonderoga is one of the premium pencils on the market, always has 
been.

Round pencils are still available, too.  They are frequently found in
advertising freebies (easier to put the logo on a round).  The one in 
front
of me right now is a freebie from the Society of California Archivists 
that
I picked up at the California Archives Crawl last year.  Good pencil, 
good
graphite.  They just aren't difficult to find.

You really like fatter pencils?  Try Koh-I-Noor Triogrph pencils:

http:/
/kohinoorusa.com/products/pencils/graphite/trio/index.php

They're not round, but triangular, and very comfortable.  The triangular
cross section is a good deal more ergonomic than a simple round.

Trying to find the optimal hardness or softness for your use?  Look at
the Koh-I-Noor Toison D'Or offered in 20 degrees from 10H to 8B offered
in 20 degrees from 10H to 8B:

http://koh
inoorusa.com/products/pencils/graphite/index.html

Koh-I-Noor has always made premier grade graphite pencils, especially
for artists and draftsmen.

Like Eberhard?  Eberhard was acquired by Staedtler in 1978, and 
Staedtler
is still in business, manufacturing and selling premium grade pencils,
though only the hexagonal sort.  I bought a Staedtler drawing pencil  
for
sketching when I was in Australia back in '06, and it's a fine pencil.

Paying $40 to $50 each for a vintage pencil just for use is, well,
ridiculous.  Office supply use pencils may have gone to inferior
quality, but artists still demand quality.  There's no advantage to
buying a 30 year old collector pencil when brand new pencils of the
same quality are easily available.

Mike in Sacto