Update: The more I use them, the better I like these pencils. I am having no difficulty getting 5 layers down and they blend well. I purchased a small set of Prismacolors just to see what the fuss was about and honestly find the differences between the Kalour and Prismacolors to be insignificant for a beginner like me. Also purchased the Starjoy Gold and found that while the pigments are vivid and they have a great range of hues, the cores are hard as a rock which I do not like - I am using them for outlines and sketching but really find them difficult to use. Alternatively, these Kalour pencils are a joy to use. At some point I will likely buy a larger set of them in a tin (best thing about the Starjoy is the tin they come in - love it!) FYI, apparently the Kalour pencils are made by Brunfuner and seem to be the same as the Brunfuner round oil based colored pencils. Apparently, all colored pencils contain oil and wax and are referred to by which they have more of, so not sure why the Kalour are listed as wax and the Brunfuner as oil. These same pencils are apparently also sold under the brand names Soucolor, Shuttle Art, Southsun, Womoxe and maybe more. Under the Brunfuner name, they get consistently good reviews and I can see why. May try some of the Brunfuner square colored pencils at some point as they are supposedly better than the round ones, but since they are the same hues as my current Kalour set, I will likely wait on that. May still try the Arrtx at some point, but concerned now that they may not be soft enough for me. Borrowed some Arteza and found them almost as hard as the Starjoy - ugh.
Orig Review: No broken cores on my set, except for some pencils I dropped myself. These are wax-based so I carefully heated the pencils I dropped (used method on youtube for prismacolors) and that melted the cores enough to repair the breaks and does not seem to have damaged anything. Cores are soft, which I like - makes color easier to lay down, but harder to get precise details, which is the case for all soft cores. They lay down and blend easily and have a very good range of colors. Color names and numbers are on the barrels - yay! A few colors (5 or so) look like duplicates of others to me, or nearly the same. Some of the barrel colors do not match the core colors, and some color names are not matched to traditional colors for that name, but I see that sort of weirdness in just about all color pencil sets these days. Fortunately there is a good swatch chart included (which was much appreciated - thanks!) and I did receive all colors on the swatch chart, plus blender, white acrylic pen and sharpener. I have had no issues sharpening. Not professional quality - from reviews appears these do not blend or layer as well as prismacolors or polychromos and are not lightfast - but these cost a fraction of those brands. I am no expert, but these seem quite good to me. I have heard the Arrtx set may be better than these (also wax based), but they cost more than 2x what these do, which seemed a lot to me - may be better to buy Prismacolors at that price point. I have also heard the Starjoy colored pencils may be superior to these - those are oil based, sell at a similar price point to these and also have a wide range of colors. I have ordered a set of the Starjoy pencils and a small set of Prismacolors to try out and, at some point, may try a small set of the Arrtx. FYI, these Kalour pencils are sold by several sellers under various brand names - check youtube reviews to avoid buying duplicate sets, lol. At the time of my purchase, these were the best reviewed wax-based pencils with a wide color range under $25.
| Manufacturer | KALOUR |
|---|---|
| Brand | KALOUR |
| Item Weight | 1.79 pounds |
| Product Dimensions | 7.87 x 4.13 x 4.13 inches |
| Item model number | KA-CPS120-TU |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Color | Multicolor |
| Pencil Lead Degree (Hardness) | soft |
| Material Type | paper tube |
| Number of Items | 120 |
| Size | 1 Count (Pack of 120) |
| Line Size | 3.3 Millimeters |
| Ink Color | White |
| Manufacturer Part Number | KA-CPS120-TU |
