Scripto, once the premier producer of excellent, reliable writing instruments in the U.S.from 1930s to 1970s, no longer exits, having been acquired by a Japanese lighter company.  This red, translucent, mechanical pencil is approximately an inch shorter than other Scripto "lead pencils". Pencil is fully functional with a normal advance/retract mechanism done by eraser end rotation. Lead is ~1.2 mm. wide. In addition to the mechanical pencil, there is a container of 10 HB Scripto long leads. Reasonably priced and reasonable alternative offers welcome, let's deal.