Faber-Castell Polychromos Artists Color Pencils - Tin of 120 Colors - Premium Quality Artist Pencils

These are by far the best pencil on the market but you also pay a premium price for them. Of all the 20 set of pencils I own these are by far my favorites and are leaps and bounds above the others. The color lays down smoothly and evenly. They also blend nicely. The pencil leads are strong and I have experienced no breakage. I dont now how Faber does it - making a strong pencil lead that lays down smoothly, easily and evenly. Since the leads are strong they will last longer. The Prismas are a soft lead and thus you us more of the pencil when coloring so they wont last as long as the Fabers. Also the color name is one the Faber pencils which is a big plus in my book. They come in a nice tin box and there is padding between the layers which is a nice touch. If you love to color, I would suggest saving your money for this set because you will not be disappointed with them. You will just need to recover from spending so much on color pencils.

I finally bought a set of Polychromos colored pencils, and they are lovely. They lay down color so soft and smooth, they are a pleasure to color with. My only complaint if you can call it that, is that they require a lot of sharpening as they are so soft and the point wears down quickly

The reason I can only give this product 4 stars is because the tin case they came in arrived quite dented. I was very disappointed in the condition of the case, and since the cardboard box they shipped them in was not damaged at all, its safe to assume that the damage happened before shipping. However, I feel I shouldnt gripe too much, given that these are fairly less expensive than Ive seen from other carriers, who sell them for almost $200 without free shipping (thank goodness for Prime). Despite the cosmetic issues with the case, all of the pencils did arrive in tact, no significant damage to the pre-sharpened points (a few have small chips at the points but its not a big deal to me). For me, its the pencils themselves that really matter, so I can deal with the less-than-pristine case. As for a review of their performance, these are excellent pencils. I have been eyeing them for some time now and I just had to have all of the colors in one go. The leads on these are extremely durable, and they blend wonderfully. I am upgrading from Prismacolors, and these pencils are everything I expected and much more. I do wish there was a slightly larger range with their colors, but this is a very minor complaint. Overall, Im thrilled with my purchase.

This set is the best colored pencils ever produced. Let me explain the big reasons why, from where Im coming from. I have been a hardcore Prismacolor fan from 2001 onward, and their quality has gone extremely downhill. Originally Prismas were made by Sanford which then became bought out by Rubbermaid-Newell. Their products are now consistently off-center (making sharpening hell- you repetitively lose segments of leads which can then only be used by fingertip and friction action), the leads are brittle, they only take 4-6 layers with extreme pressure which makes their colors harder if not nigh-impossible to blend smoothly (and the colorless blender is a joke- picks up colors, etc), and the wax bloom is *ridiculous*, which- if youre sharing your work online- makes decent scanning somewhat troublesome despite excellent DPI. (Thats a whole other side topic.) I just got this set of Polychromos for Christmas as a gift, and Im not looking back at Prisma. Polychromos (Lets call em FC for short after the company name) are awesome. Theres a really insignificant amount of bloom, but its an oil base so this really isnt an issue. The laydown is even more buttery than Prisma. They are softer due to the oil-base, and the colors are very rich. Quirks I discovered were the names. Im coming from a Prisma background so to me, Pompeian Red is Salmon, and Mauve is actually their very rich purple hue- which to my former mindset is usually that pale pink/lavender mixup color. So the names will take some getting used to since theyre more in line with painterly names such as Pthalo Blue, Hookers Green, etc. So that at least will benefit you if you come from a painting experience. (I do also so its at least semifamiliar, but still something to get used to). It says something when I have six of the same colored pencil by Prisma and theyre all in various states of use/disrepair/broken- and the money behind that does add up. Its frustrating to say the very least, and although that company accommodated my needs by fixing the issue every time (which was often!!) I had flawed items that were interfering with my professional work, honestly just go for the FCs- theyre a lot higher quality, plus the leads are bonded and securely centered as well as 3.8mm thick- thicker than say, Crayola (*gag*) colored pencil, so youre getting more product for the money and less wood (which, lets face it: is just a disposable casing). Same amount as per Prismas, but with much less breakage/sharpening issues. To clarify: Someone called Geri B. in the Q&A says that FC dont glue their polychromos pencils. From their own website: SV Bonding is a process of gluing the full length of the lead to the wood casing of the pencil. This strengthens the lead and prevents breakage which allows for better sharpening, and produces a fine point. SV Bonding is a Faber-Castell trademark. Theyre 45c more expensive per pencil than Prismacolors (1.74 vs 1.29 as of this writing) on dickblick.com for replenishment. But considering on average Ive lost at least 5 5mm-long leads per pencil (yep: terrible!), that translates to something like a half inch or more lost. One pencil is 7 inches brand new and sharpened, ie almost 178mm. After breakage, youre paying $1.29 for 153 mm (or less than 158 depending on number of breaks), and youre losing 18c per pencil. Some are outright unusable and splinter. Polychromos are the same length. .009c vs .003c; less than a penny either way, but those pennies do definitely add up- and the bottom line even after doing the numbers for the heck of it is- that youre losing product and money every time a Prismacolor pencil busts or fails to perform. Im totally not a penny pincher. Im providing this as a breakdown moneywise for the innately curious. And people should NOT have to pay for items to break repeatedly. Prisma tried to address this issue by making pastel-like colored pencil sticks with no lead, as long rectangles- this didnt fix the issue as theyre too unwieldy for detailed use; thats a side rant. PROS: -FC are not too much more expensive per pencil than Prismas (buy 10 of each; spend only $4.50 more for world-class quality) -Outstanding laydown -Oil vs wax-based: better blending -VIVID colors, yet not overwhelmingly bad -Traditional style naming conventions as a throwback to the formal pigmentation for artistic references -More realistic results (google up some of the prisma vs polychromos showdowns on Youtube- the video with the grapes painting is what Im referencing here in particular) CONS: -Havent seen any yet, will update this review if I do

I’d say these are amazing there easily up there in the best pencils you can get next to Holbein and caran dache luminance

I am a Prismacolor girl but thought I would like to try these out as everyone raves about them. They are not my cup of tea but they ARE good pencils. They just are different than Prismacolors(which i love). For this reason I gave these pencils a 5 star rating. They are excellent pencils and I see why some people love them. They just are way different than what I love in prismas. So for the money and for the creaminess of prismacolor I will be sticking to prismas. If you are currently using prismas and are wondering about getting these then I would recommend but understand they are not similar to prismas. Prismas are in a league of their own.

These Faber-Castell are excellent pencils, after using the cheap Scholar Prism color pencils which I also wrote a review on, there is no comparison. I absolutely love these, theyre smooth and loaded with color pigment. I cannot get over the difference, there pricey but if you enjoy art work, sketching , drawing or coloring you will love these. Dont waste your $$ on the cheaper ones. Im very happy with these, just wish I had bought them in the first place.

I have tried an assortment of artist and student level colored pencils, markers, and other instruments for mandalas and other intricate adult coloring. These are by far my favorite. Prismacolor is most popular but I like these better. I like the wider selection of colors, and there is more control when shading so you can achieve the level of richness you want with more shading - and not have waxy build up on the paper. Or you can shade more lightly and the color is more evenly distributed, and looks more natural. They are a bit firmer than prismacolor, so they can hold a point longer for those little intricate spaces. If you love mandalas and other intricate designs, this would be my best recommendation!

Im newish to pencils, but Ive learned quickly that each brand/line has different uses and techniques to provide various benefits. These pencils dont play nice and are not so forgiving. Therefore, Im being forced to improve my skills and follow the rules, unlike ones such as Prisma. This is not at all bad; its just a learning curve, and caving to the proper way to use them to get the intended results. They are great; everything positive said about them is spot on; I love the color intensity, lay-down, reliability, durability, and feel. What sucks a*-? The TINY GOLD foil-unreadable; I ruined them by using my white Posca to make the numbers viewable; TOO SAD!! My poor, beautiful pencils are ugly now:( UPDATE: I now use these WAY MORE OFTEN than Prismacolor by FAR! They blend, layer, and create BEAUTIFUL COLORS!!!!! I have so much love for for polychromos!!!

When I first picked up one of the colored pencils and tried to lay down some color, I was not impressed these beautiful pencils. But recently I was working on a drawing and decided to try it out again. The color laid down just beautifully and had a premium feel and quality. I like these better than the Prismacolor pencils! I bought some open stock of Prismacolor pencils. The Polychromos are beautiful and make a wonderful addition to your arsenal of drawing supplies. You just have to do it when youre at ease and not rushed .. and let it fly across your canvas!