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Fantastic artist grade pencils. I gave it 4 stars because the tin came dented. I like keeping my pencils in original packaging so I was upset when I saw the tin was damaged. I was also unhappy with amazon normal super fast delivery 1/2 days delivery this time took over a week to receive these pencils. I love the pencils highly pigmented colors beautiful shiny barrels that have a great feel and weight to them. Highly recommend as 5 stars sadly I gave them a 4 because the tin and slow delivery from amazon but otherwise beautiful Quality product from GermanyA lifelong Prismacolor fan, I finally had had enough with losing 75% of a lead which was hard to come by and pricey. A class teacher had these on the list and I was hoping for greater coverage...but I think I may be wanting oil pencils, so these are not at fault, they do just as pencils are expected to do. As colored pencils go, these are definitely a good go -to. Only Koh-i-noor has stronger coverage (and more lead, being woodless, to boot, but a limited number of color choices). I bought the 24 count and find myself in frequent need of a pink and a pale cyan . there is also no true purple/violet, just a dark magenta. I have found that outside of the two colors mentioned, I rarely go looking for others. I still use my backstock of prisma for these pastels, as my typical palette is big on heavy layering of muted tones. Everything I use with these looks amazing, though. And I love how many layers I can blend even on a cheap paper. And they hold up well when I use them with watercolor. no feathering, no wax bloom ever. Will include pictures soon.These are nice pencils. I wish it had purple in this set. I would up having to blend red and blue, not very successfully.I bought a set of 24 to try them out, and I've never gone back. An artist that I follow was doing a tutorial on creating a parrot with only 12 colors of polychromos, to show that you don't need to lay out a whole lot of cash to get started in colored pencils. I was totally hooked after following the tutorial and stunned at the results I could get after being so discouraged with prismacolors. I like using the polychromos on Arches hot press paper with a light hand. Someday, I'll add to my 24 colors but for now I get some pretty darn amazing results with my limited palette.I tried four different types of colored pencils before ordering these. But I kept hearing how great they are, so I had to try a small set.First, if you are coming from Prismacolor Premier pencils, these are superior. No doubt about it.But if, like me, you're coming from other oil-based sets, like those made in the Koh-I-Noor factory in the Czech Republic, you may wonder what the big deal is.From what I can tell, a key difference between these and Koh-I-Noor, Blick, and Utrecht colored pencils is the color variety. The first three really don't offer the difference in colors that you can get here, and even let many similar colors into their collections. This is disappointing. So I was pleased to hear that the Polychromos line has a nice color spread.Another difference is in the lightfastness. But if lightfastness is really that important to you, have a look at other expensive products too, because superior lightfastness can be achieved. To me, lightfastness is of practically zero importance until I have a paying project or family project that expects longevity. At that time I will just go out and buy the most lightfast set that fits my need, and the price premium will be already taken care of in my estimate or in my overall project considerations.Another thing to mention is the fit and finish. These are really nice-looking, nice-feeling pencils.The case has actually been pretty annoying to me. Why would I want it to open up vertically, on a hinge? The hinged lid finds a way to make itself unwanted pretty fast, because there's usually something in its way. Ditch the case and use another method of transporting these. I use a Nite Ize Gear Tie.Finally, this particular 24-color set contains a strange assortment of colors. No purple, excessive reds, and warm blue hues that I wouldn't have picked. The purple, not a big deal--blend it up. The blue hues though, well that's actually pretty annoying. I can't just blend up a nice light cool blue. But when I'm ready to dish out another $35 or so for some open-stock additions, this should make a nice set. I thought about buying a larger set, but a) some colors I want only come in the very large sets, and b) I don't like very large sets right now because I don't want to lug them around all the time, between home and office, home and vacation, etc. Also I like trying different types of pencils and find variety more fun.If you are really budget-conscious, and are not really an experienced colored pencil artist, and are wondering if the actual experience of using these is worth it vs. the generic Czech pencils like Blick or Koh-I-Noor or Utrecht (now owned by Blick) offers, I really suggest that you start out with a small set of these Polychromos or just order a large set of the Czech stuff first.If your expectations are that these will blow your mind and that you'll be in love from the moment they touch paper, prepare for some potential disappointment. They are just colored pencils, and while the Polychromos name does have that cool cachet, it's really got to match your personal circumstances and needs to be worth it.I'm including a small drawing...that could be done with just about any colored pencil set on the market. :-) But still, these are nice pencils, and you might like them.Good value. Excellent professional quality, pleasure to draw with. Fast postage.J'ai suivi un peu ce mouvement polychromos avec beaucoup d'enthousiasme après avoir entendu et lu des avis très positifs sur la qualité de ces crayons.J'ai du choisir avec bcp de difficultés entre les différents sets proposés par FC et j'ai choisi de commencer par le 24 crayons surtout pour une question de budget.Je ne suis pas déçue de la qualité des crayons le rendu ainsi que leur solidité n'est pas une légende, je confirme tout à fait les louanges faites sur ce point là. Le made in Germany fait encore de l'excellent travail.Je suis en revanche très déçue par la sélection des couleurs polychromos FB pour son set de 24 crayons. Je me suis procurée ce set afin de pouvoir dessiner tout simplement des personnages et des paysages, des choses réalistes en somme.Mais j'aurais dû regarder les nuances avant de me le procurer.Je n'ai pas trouvé dans ce set : l'indispensable crayon couleur chair (!)Des tons roses, incroyable pour 24 couleursDes nuances de vert type végétalBref des couleurs qui pourraient m'intéresserPour être plus concise j'ai trouvé que la sélection des couleurs pour ce set sont à mon avis sans grand intérêt et je suis désolé de le faire remarquer.Vous y trouverez un dépliant sur lequel vous pourrez voir l'ensemble des crayons polychromos fabriqués par FC et la plupart, très souvent les plus intéressants ne sont pas dans ce set de 24 couleurs.Je regrette cet achat et je conseille vivement aux intéressés de confectionner leur propre sélection de crayons polychromos en les achetant à l'unité.Au final je dois acheter d'autres nuances de beige rose vert bruns, même le crayon ivoire qui est nécessaire n'y est pas. Ce qui me coûtera une fortune supplémentaire.Je ne comprends pas ces choix de FC.J'ai reçu mes Polychromos, livraison ok, boite en bon état, mais j'ai un doute sur l'authenticité de mes crayons de couleur, car comme l'on peux le voir sur ma première photo, ils sont différents de ceux que j'avais acheté précédemment.C'est à dire que sur ceux la, il est écrit "made in germany" et non "germany" comme ça devrait être la cas de plus il n'y à pas le logo "SV".En regardant ma deuxième photo, l'on vois à quoi ressemble normalement un Polychromos Fabe- Castell !Je suis en cours de correspondance avec faber castell directement pour me renseigner avant toute reclamation... .Si Amazon ou quelqu'un à une explication merci d'avance....Réponse de Faber-Castell, il s'agit de leur nouveau visuel. donc RAS tout impeccableAbsolutely brilliant! So soft and blendable. Even with only 24 colours I’m able to get lovely, smooth skin tones. These also blend beautifully with the Caran d’ache luminance which I bought the 20 pack but wanted to extend my colour range without going bankrupt ?. The only problem is, I can see I’m going to run out of a few colours very quickly! The brown is already halfway down but that’s only because I’m using them a lot, no fault of the product. Deffo buy these whether you are experienced or just starting out like me. I don’t believe that you should buy cheap pencils to practice with-good materials can help to build the confidence of amateur artists like me as it’s easier to achieve the effects you want with quality products. Good paper is also important. Not too textured but also not too smooth.I knew these have a great reputation, but after taking the plunge and getting these, I can see why.You can develop proper layering with these oil-based pencils, unlike the smudginess of wax-based. There are no crumbs or breakages. I also love the detail that you can achieve with them.A set of 24 sounded a bit limiting, but I couldn't afford a bigger set. Fortunately, I was massively impressed by the well-selected choice of colours; there seems to be 'just the right colour' each time I pick one. I'm not feeling pressure to get more colours, because this set covers my needs.These are wonderful for portraits, landscapes, seascapes and animals. I haven't tried flowers with them yet, but there are some nice reds and yellows, so should be fine.Instead of trying to make do with cheaper pencils, I wish I'd gone ahead and gotten these straight away!
