Chances are that the pencils you use/used in class were whatever they happened to sell in the store where you were buying the rest of your school supplies. But were you doing yourself a horrible disservice by opting for a default pencil? To find out, we rounded up the generic store-brand pencils from Staples ($1.89 with free in-store pickup), Office Depot ($1.49 with free in-store pickup), and Office Max ($1.49 with free in-store pickup) and pitted them against "The World's Best Pencil:" the Ticonderoga ($2.99 with free in-store pickup, a low by $10).

How did the no-frills lead stack up? Is buying the slightly more expensive pencil worth it in the long run, or are you just throwing money away on a brand name? Find out the answers to these — and many other questions you never thought of asking — in our latest video production!