Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I own most of the pencils produced, from Holbein and Lumenence to Colleen, Sudee Stile and Deli (Polychromos look-a-likes) and most of those in between. These pencils are by far the best budget pencil out there, not just because of the low price, but because of the way they perform. The pack I received didn't have any duplicate colors. The down side of this purchase was the shipping. I purchased directly from Amazon and they shipped by putting it in an oversized bubble mailer. The package is not taped closed so all the pencils had exited the box by the time they got to me. None were damaged but dang, no one wants that. If the flaps on the box had been taped or the mailer folded over more snugly that wouldn't have happened. I suggest buying these at a store if this is a huge problem for you. I highly recommend these for anyone just getting into coloring books and even the more seasoned colorist too. They would complement Polychromos, Lyra Polycolor, and Marco Renoir pencils nicely. Pro: Hard pencil that holds a point extremely well, but doesn't require a lot of pressure to get color on the paper. They allow for a few layers and will blend well enough (key to blending is light layers, no hard edge). Beautiful colors. Con: You cannot get as many layers as the more expensive pencils like Lyra, Prismacolor, Polychromos.... There aren't enough dark versions of colors and not many greys at all. One pencil was not marked with a name. I believe that was just a fluke though and figuring it out wasn't much of a chore. I chose this illustration, from Zemlja Snova, to test these pencils. For the record, some areas have 6-7 layers, and I never did experience any bloom. Also, the black really does a nice job of darkening colors without making them dull or muddy. I haven't been getting good light lately and so my photo doesn't do the finished work justice- some color loss and gradient isn't as strong. However, I think you can see the shading and blending fairly well.