I recently picked up a set of these colored pencils "on a lark" to use as supplemental to my other, more expensive sets, and was pleasantly surprised - no, nearly shocked - at their quality and performance. It's not that they are better than the best Koh-i-noor or Prismacolor pencils (because they aren't), but the truth is that, for their price, they are very difficult to beat. But price alone is not the determinant factor here: if a colored pencil is cheap but performs poorly, then there is no point in picking it up. But what I quickly discovered with these Crayola pencils is that not only are they inexpensive (they break down to only about 20 cents per pencil, compared to anywhere from $1 to $4 per pencil for the more expensive brands), but they perform exceptionally well, to boot.
What do I mean by "perform exceptionally well?" Let me break it down to a short list so I can clearly present what I discovered with these pencils:
1. The pencils have a generally good laydown of color, with the caveat of the few colors that don't work well (true also of my most expensive colored pencils, I must say). Laydown is smooth and uniform, with bright, rich color.
2. The pencils sharpen very well, with ease of cutting through the wood casing and with the color lead core supporting a very fine point when desired.
3. The lead core seems generally resistant to breakage (a problem that can occur with most pencils, even the most expensive).
4. The pencils are physically light.
5. The set comes in 50 colors, which is a great size for lots of drawing without committing to large collection sizes.
Are these pencils as good as the best Swiss, French, and German colored pencils? No. But they are close, and actually much closer than one would ever think, given that these are marketed as kid's pencils. The price is right, the colors are great, and the performance is really good. How can you go wrong? Five stars for price, five stars for color selection, and four stars for performance. Crayola 50ct Long Colored Pencils
I purchased a 12 pack of Prismacolor pencils and then I purchased a 50 pack of these crayola. Not only is the lead in the Prismacolor longer lasting than the Crayola's, but you can also forget sharpening them. No matter how soft I tried to sharpen the Crayola's the lead kept breaking. It would take me 3 broken tips for every one decent tip. The lead is so brittle, that it breaks while sharpening like you wouldn't believe. I tested the strength by using one that had already been shapened, and made one light twist. Just one. It came out broken. I would lose over an inch and a half with each sharpen. Being that the Prismacolor's are twice the cost of the Crayola's-yet the Crayola's are shorter lasting, break-easily, and lay more lead per stroke-that makes the Prismacolor a far better buy. This doesn't even take into account the soft detail of the Prismicolor's. Unless you have a Crayola bumper-sticker on your car, own stock in Crayola, or just have a fetish for non-stop utensil sharpening, buy something else. Now, if you'll excuse me; I have a colored-pencil to sharpen and I only have 15 minutes to do it in...
This set is great! People here talk about how great this set is for young kids, but I am 15 and I think this set is wonderful! My friend uses them all the time, and the results she gets are wonderful. I doubt she could live without them!
No one can resist a pack of these babies for 8 dollars. Hell, even professional artists that use artist quality can't let these go for this awesome price even if they rarely use them.
It's just too much fun to gaze upon them on the shelves of Wal-Mart, but I have to say they look better on your bookshelf at home. Alright colors, not the best quality to lay down, but fun when your cousins come over for some art projects.
You can't get more color in a box than these pencils. I've used them to color anatomy coloring books, draw pictures, and do homework. The funnest part of getting these little gems in the mail, was having to sharpen each and every one. Yup, all 50 of 'em needed to be sharpened. - Pencils - Coloring - Colored Pencils - Crayola'
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