Strokes Art 36 Piece Artist Grade Premium Quality Colored Pencil Set Assorted Colors, 7 Inches Long, Sharpened, 4.0 Smooth Lead

Box was beat up and creased on both ends, as if someone used it for a Frisbee. Padded mailing envelope it was sent in was fine, as was the other item in my order, so the damage probably didn't occur during shipping.Inside, I found 11 pencils that were broken off below the wood casing. 2 other pencil tips were broken off but not as badly. All the broken tips were inside the box, so probably the damage was caused after the manufacturing process.As I colored a swatch in my record book, (approximately 1/2" wide x 1" long), and on the mini address labels, (approximately 1/2" x 1/2"), 2 more leads snapped off below the wood casing. That's 13 damaged pencils out of 36, or 36.11%. Way too high for a product that the seller describes as "premium" and "high quality".Some of the pencils had a darker streak on each side, indicating that the center of the lead is lower than the outer sides. I assume this is a problem at the manufacturing level. The white pencil had thin red streaks in one side of the lead.What definitely is a problem, in my opinion, is the fact that the pencils are sharpened to a very long end, (it's flat, not an actual point), about 3/4" out from the wood casing. In my experience, anything with a long point like that is going to snap easily and often. There's also the amount of lead that gets wasted when something is sharpened that way. Usually, I gently color the long points down until I can resharpen them to a more regular point. But I shouldn't have to do so.Now for the postive stuff: The colors are nice, but no names stamped on them. The back of the box shows a photo of all of the pencils with the names, instead of a computer generated swatch. All you have to do is match the barrel colors. I recommend doing this on a really clear sunny day. I matched them this morning, and it was a little cloudy. I'm going to have to do it over.The pencils color nicely, very little scritching noise or dragging feel. Having the thicker leads (4.0 mm vs. the usual 3.3 mm) is a plus. Really, though, I can't equate them with Derwents or the Prismacolor Premiers. And definitely not my beloved Hero oil-based pencils (a/k/a Mu Hero, or Guanghui).The cost breaks down as follows: $7.92 + 8% sales tax (63 cents) = $8.55 ÷ 36 pencils = 23.76 cents each.As an example, my Hero brand pencils are a box of 168 pencils. The price was $22.99 + 8% sales tax of $1.84 = $24.83 ÷ 168 = 14.78 cents each.I'll put them in the community property box that my 5 grandchildren and vistors share at my house. Eventually someone will want them enough to keep them, raggedy box and all. (Thanks to the late, great Joe Tex and "Skinny Legs" for the "raggedy" line.)

I use my colored pencils for adult coloring books. I am not a trained artist but I enjoy using color to express my creativity. I am always on the lookout for new coloring tools to try and you could say i have an obsession with finding the perfect color pencil. What I have found over time is that different tools are the best for specific circumstances, including the type of paper, the type of image, the amount of time I want to spend, and the pallet desired. I have pencils from the inexpensive Michaels store brand, Artist's Loft, to the expensive Faber Castell Polychromos and almost 2 dozen other sets in between.These pencils have a really thick core, when sharpened they hold the point well. The barrel is round and a bit larger than your average pencil. Each barrel is colored to match the core some are more accurate than other but not too bad, There is only the name Strokes on the pencil barrel but the box lists the color names, although it is in a random order and you may need to guess with similar colors. I took a black Sharpie and wrote the name on the pencil, except for the black pencil. The box is thin cardboard so i have them in a pencil case for protection.Coverage is smooth and without streaks, especially on smoother paper. The color laid down is bright and can be solid with sufficient pressure or translucent with light pressure. The pencils blend nicely with other pencils in the set though the white pencils is less than fabulous for blending. I like the color selection except for the blues. There are only 3 and the two darker blues are almost identical. The reds on the other hand are varied and very vivid. There are many greens, which makes these good for foliage.Overall I like the pencils. I deducted a star because of the inadequate selection of blues and the white pencil not being a good blender.I have attached a test swatch page, on a paper that has some tooth, and a couple images colored with the pencils, they are from The Mindfulness Coloring Book Vol. 2 by Emma Farrons, which has very smooth paper.

I have been collecting colored pencils for several years, and I color every chance I get. I have many sets from the very most expensive wax and oil pencils to some medium grade wax and oils. Lately, I have been trying to try some of the less expensive, smaller sets, that I have overlooked, because I didn't think they were worth the bother. And, I have been more than pleasantly surprised. These pencils are wonderfully smooth and blend great. They have a nice thick lead, and come in some great colors, for only having 36. They aren't quite as vibrant as Prismacolors, but other than that, they are very good and for the price, excellent!! They are wax based, so you can use a blender pencil or gamsol to blend further. When they arrived a couple of the tips were slightly broken, but they were packed well, and they sharpened with ease, using a good manual sharpener.

Just received these, wanted a cheaper set of colored pencils for adult coloring books since I seem to be flying through my Prismacolors. I can't believe how thick these leads are, 4mm, comparably priced pencils usually have a 3.3mm lead size. Build quality is superb, lacquer on the pencils is very thick and smooth. Only complaint is that the color name is not on the pencil although the colors are shown on the back of the box. For such a superbly made pencil its a small disappointment that the box they come in is so cheaply made, but what the heck, it saved them some money in the manufacturing process and the savings are passed on to customers like me, win-win. The laydown of the color is great, very vibrant colors and very smooth, blendability is just a small fraction less than my Prismacolors. I will definitely be buying these again. I bought this set on my own with no discount from the manufacturer.