I was pleasantly surprised, or rather a little euphoric, to see this collection the other day.
Pencil sharpeners?
Well, that is a collection I wouldn't have expected to see in the feed of our small community of collectors.
More than a year ago, when the idea for this community was born, I assumed that Hivers would want to present all kinds of collections, from the most ordinary to the strangest. To help with ideas and inspiration, monthly themes have been created where we try to combine items that are popular and loved among collectors, such as this month's theme - postage stamps, with those that are here to bring fun, such as last month's theme - socks. However, I have to admit that pencil sharpeners wouldn't have crossed my mind, although I have a few. A really tiny collection, compared to the user who posted her collection the other day. Thank you, 
There were a few sharpeners that my son had some years ago, but I can't find those. They were more like little plastic toys that had a little container with blades to sharpen the pencils or colours. Who knows, maybe it was me who threw them away. 😅 If yes... then I can regret it now.
In my case, I decided to divide my huge collection into two parts. The sharpeners that actually work well and I use them, and those that are here just as decoration as their blades are already blunt.
Oh, surprise! I have just one sharpener at home from the first type. The others are in the classroom where I give the lessons 😅. This is a Staedtler sharpener, the brand I also use for pencils. The other sharpeners that proved to be good, with sharp blades are Maped. They are quite simple, the most simple design that exists for a pencil sharpener but they do magic for my pencils as I like them with a very sharp tip (I say this for writing, because in art, when graphite is used for drawing, I guess it is not necessary to have well-sharpened pencils. It depends on the technique and the effects you want to achieve).
All the rest, that don't sharpen the pencils perfectly are left to die from boredom.
The second section shows the sharpeners that are not used for their purpose already because of their blunt blades. And also, they are collectables. The brand is Play-me, produced in Valencia (Spain) in the 1970's. I have just three: a gramophone (Play-me, no 925), a lamp (Play-me, no 976) and a stove (Play-me, no 972).
They are of good quality, quite heavy and have many movable parts. Unfortunately, in the early 1980s, the company closed down, but some cheaper versions were still produced in Hong Kong.
I won't deny that I like all three, but I have one favourite. You would think it was the gramophone because of the music. But no, I like this stove the most, it has a little ash drawer and also a door that you can open to put firewood.
Stove in action, but not burning wood and cooking lunch this time. 😁
Apart from the stove, we can see the gramophone that Prince Hefromund uses when he wants to listen to some music.
We can actually move the turntable needle and imagine putting a vinyl record for the little hefrom.
As the third piece in this tiny collection, we see a vintage lamp that illuminates the room for the same prince. I admit that I could have turned on the lamp too in the room while I was taking the photos of these sharpeners because the sun was still half-hidden at that time, and I see the photos are not very bright. Or they are? Maybe my eyesight is not so sharp anymore 😂
This was an enjoyable journey for me, going from pencil sharpeners and their common use to times when these objects were produced, paying attention to such small details. Play-me had a variety of designs, from vehicles, furniture, items used in the home, photo cameras to musical instruments etc. Btw, I do have another one but not here in Spain. It was already an imitation, not an original Play-me... but it is a little piano so I guess I should bring it here next time I visit my parent's home.
And now the question... do you collect pencil sharpeners? 😅
