[FONT=Verdana]I wrote some short reviews in https://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1408237 and now I realize that once again I have a lot more pencils than two or three years ago. Many of them are in lower half of the quality scale and some of us won’t touch them even with protective gloves. But I think it’s interesting to compare the good, the bad & the ugly and some of these sets are perfectly suited for children – especially for those who want to buy a set with their very own pocket money. A Bruynzeel 45 colour set costs about as much as a Caran d’Ache Pablo or Faber-Castell Polychromos 12 set, and you can guess which one I’d choose if I was ten years old.

Mont Marte is an Australian company that makes its colour pencils in China. The four 36 colour sets I’ve gathered are barely usable. The ‘turtle’ set is the worst with pale colours and hard and dusty leads; the ‘bird’ set is the best. There seems to be a lot of variation between batches as all four are different in their colour range! The ‘bird’ set has only three blues, the Essential Colours set only four greens (plus a dark turquoise) and the latter also lacks white (it’s however the only MM set with named colours). The worst in these Chinese sets is the fact that they stink. In some sets the solvent smell is worse than turpentine and this alone is a good reason for not giving them to children, even though they are cheap, about 10 ~ 15 euros.

Mont Marte ‘bird’ 36 – http://cdn2.bigcommerce.com/server5300/640e1/products/5233/images/28886/mpn0003_mont_marte_colour_pencils_36_piece__04202__89006.1441009945.500.750.jpg?c=2

Mont Marte ‘butterfly’ 36 – http://g03.a.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1qWwcIVXXXXcXXFXXq6xXFXXX5/Free-ship-lapices-de-colors-montmarte-36-color-pencils-art-drawing-pencil-hand-drawing-pencils-metal.jpg

Mont Marte Watercolour ‘turtle’ 36 – [/FONT] [FONT=Verdana]http://www.lixartsupplies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/MM-watercolour.jpg [/FONT]
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Mont Marte Essential Colours 36 – http://www.montmarte.net/assets/Uploads/_resampled/PadWyI3MzgiLCIxMDAwIiwiRkZGRkZGIl0/MPN0096-V03-Essential-Pencils-36pce-F-web.jpg

These cheap sets (about 5 euros) also smell awful but the tins are perfect for storing open stock and cardboard-boxed pencils. I’m beginning to suspect that the smelliest sets might actually be illegal as the toy legislation of the European Union is quite strict.

A typical Chinese 36 set for Finnish-Baltic market – https://www.prisma.fi/wcsstore/PRISMA_StorefrontAssetStore/images/product/iso/6410411520778_kuva1.jpg

Back in early 1990s Bruynzeel Eurocolors, Designs and Design Aquarels were made by Stabilo – the hues were precisely the same as in high-end Stabilo Softcolors and the differences in lightfastness were minimal. In the late 90s B’zeel dropped the Design lines and began to make Aquarels, Color Expresses and Eurocolors in its own alchemistic cookery and the quality fell down. Probably one of the last sets with Eurocolor name on pencils was a 45 set with an illustration of non-abstract flowers on the lid. Sorry, could’t find a photo.

The merger with Sakura brought a change – B’zeels are now made in China and not bad at all. At first there was considerable variation between batches. The ‘Volkswagen’ 60 set included 44 ordinary colours (and 12 metallic colours, 2 graphite pencils, a sharpener and an eraser), and combining them with the ‘butterfly’ 45 set I actually found 58 different colours and thus only 31 duplicates! No difference in quality though. And what’s important is that the current Bruynzeel sets (as well as the Maped set below) don’t have the characteristic Chinese solvent stench.

Bruynzeel ‘butterfly’ 45 – http://cdn2.hizlial.com/TrendResim/07/6920/07.910.6920.019601t4.jpg

Bruynzeel ‘Volkswagen’ 60 – http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NAFywxo9UWU/VRkgiXHnXhI/AAAAAAAADRY/EZmlYto7Apw/s1600/IMG_0022.jpg

Bruynzeel ‘Volkswagen’ 60 inside – http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WZYP7DbJigY/VRlMZaESQCI/AAAAAAAADTY/ZxWPlLwt-IU/s1600/IMG_0026.jpg

These more recent ‘abstract’ and ‘mammals’ sets are identical under their lids. The leads are a bit on the hard side but glide on paper smoothly and pigment density is what I’d call average. The colour range is well-balanced offering 6 blues, 7 greens, 7 browns and Bruynzeel’s traditional warm / neutral / cool gray trio. Nothing is known about lightfastness but I wouldn’t expect much.

Bruynzeel ‘abstract’ 45 – https://davinciartistsupply.com/shop/images/138815_x.jpg

Bruynzeel ‘mammals’ 45 – http://shop.decohobby.de/images/product_images/popup_images/5012M45.jpg

Being relatively cheap, about 20 ~ 25 euros, the Bruynzeel 45 sets give good value for money and they suit very well for children.

There is also a ‘chameleon’ 45 set; the colour range is slightly different than in ‘abstract’ and ‘mammals’ sets [/FONT][FONT=Verdana][FONT=Verdana]as they don’t include the very light blue. Perhaps this set is a couple of years older –[/FONT] https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/61/c4/3a/61c43ad6116a12add7172c48a3c1f6a1.jpg

I wonder how the next generation looks – perhaps a sunflower field or a steam train?

The Bruynzeel Expression Colour may be targeted at students rather than children and beginners. The leads are slightly thicker and perhaps slightly softer than in ‘nameless’ 45 sets but the difference is minimal. The colour range is well balanced – six blues and six greens (including ultramarine and dark green not found in ‘nameless’ 45 sets) as well as six browns. The colours are numbered although the numbers oddly enough differ from B’zeel Design numbers. The set costs about as much as the ‘nameless’ 45 sets but with their wood-coloured shafts and colour numbers the Expression Colour pencils look more sophisticated!

Bruynzeel Expression Colour 36 – http://www.lastingmemorieslockerroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Bruynzeel-Expression-Colour-36.jpg

Bruynzeel Expression Colour 36 inside – http://www.kleishop.nl/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/bruynzeel-36-blik-verkleind.jpg

The Bruynzeel Expression Aquarel brand has more watery lid illustrations. Oddly enough the pencils look almost identical to Expression Colour – only the word Colour on the shaft has been replaced with Aquarel! I’d put a broad blue or white waistband in Aquarels or paint the whole shaft. Comparing my Colour 36 set with the Aquarel 36 set inside view photo below I count no less than 12 different colours, which means that there are altogether 48 colours – not bad! I’ve seen the Aquarels in photos only but I suppose they feel similar to their Colour sisters, although water-soluble pencils often don’t glide as smoothly on the paper as oil/wax-based non-solubles.

Bruynzeel Expression Aquarel sets – http://www.homecrafts.co.uk/prodimg/K945i_1_Zoom.jpg

Bruynzeel Expression Aquarel 36 inside – oh heck, I downloaded it just a couple of days ago and now I can’t find it anywhere! This is an upload from my own hard disk:

Then there is an almost nameless Bruynzeel – there is the word Essentials in the upper left corner! I bought a 24 cardboard box just for curiosity, and while the pencils aren’t bad, they give nothing to an experienced user. Well, the set was cheap.

Bruynzeel Essential 36 tin – http://www.bruynzeel.nl/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/pro-es-36felt.jpg

I didn’t expect much of the Maped Color’Peps cardboard box when I found it in our local bookstore but I was positively surprised. The leads are fairly thin but smooth, perhaps a little harder than Bruynzeels, and the pigments apparently come from the same Chinese factory as those of Bruynzeel – 38 colours are precisely the same. Mapeds however are triangular while Bruynzeel is content with the traditional hexagonal shafts.

Maped Color’Peps 48 – https://store.schoolspecialty.com/OA_HTML/xxssi_ibeGetWCCImage.jsp?docName=F2571841&Rendition=Large

The set includes four fluorescent colours and gold & silver as well as 42 ordinary pencils but the colour selection is slightly out of balance. There are eight greens (plus Fluo green) and luxuriously eight blues (plus Blue gray) but only four browns – the light ochre called Dune is very yellow – and two grays. So this set is perhaps more apt for drawing flowers and butterflies rather than dinosaurs and robots! (The Faber-Castell Goldfaber 48 set of 1990s also had only four browns but there were five grays.)

The colours are named but not numbered and some names are quite adventurous – Red kiss, Lovely pink, Marsh mallow (a light bluish violet), Bubble blue, Jungle green, Gaïa (a reddish brown). The flip side of the cardboard box gives information in no less than 24 languages: French (Maped is a French company), English, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Italian, German, Czech, Russian, Hungarian, Polish, Greek, Slovakian, Estonian, Maltese, Latvian, Lithuanian, Slovenian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Irish, Danish, Finnish and Swedish. (Norwegian, Icelandic, Breton, Catalonian, Scottish Gaelic, Basque, Turkish and some others are missing and Latin won’t hurt either… I suppose they have a different version for Asian market.) Nothing is said about lightfastness.

Maped Color’Peps 48 colour chart – http://g02.a.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1gcR2KXXXXXbzXVXXq6xXFXXXn/48pcs-set-MAPED-DIY-graffiti-Colored-Pencils-48Colors-Painting-Colour-Pencil-Children-S-school-Gift-Cute.jpg

The image below shows how the colours are divided on two plastic trays and how flimsy the trays are. Getting them out of the box without dropping anything is a difficult task. Otherwise the 15 ~ 25 euro set gives good value for money.

Maped Color’Peps 36 inside (I didn’t find a 48) – http://g03.a.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1P6fFKXXXXXXmXVXXq6xXFXXXK/36pcs-font-b-set-b-font-font-b-MAPED-b-font-DIY-graffiti-font-b-Colored.jpg

Stabilo is an old and respected pencilmaker from Nuremberg. Its Softcolor 80 colour brand from 1990s was very good and at that time it also made Bruynzeel’s pencils. Now its main business are felt-tip pens but their best pencil is Stabilo Aquacolor – the modern equivalent of late and lamented Bruynzeel Design Aquarel of 1990s, as 32 of 36 hues are exactly the same. The leads are soft although quite thin and the pigment density is at least average. The 36 colour range unfortunately lacks the light yellowish green and two very warm ochres Bruynzeel had and there is only one gray, but otherwise the range is well-balanced with 5 blues, 7 greens and 5 browns. Nothing is said or known about lightfastness and it’s probably wise not to expect too much. At about 15 ~ 20 euros the 36 set gives good value for money and I’d gladly give it to children.

In fact I’m tempted to suggest that the range should be expanded to 60 colours, as a 60 set would probably cost less than Faber-Castell Art Grip Aquarelle and Staedtler Karat Aquarell 60 sets and be a very strong contender. Perhaps in German… Sehr geehrte Frauen und Herren, ich möchte…

Stabilo Aquacolor 36 – http://www.stabilo.com/mediadir/pens/gallery/100/820.jpg

Stabilo Aquacolor 36 inside – https://www.stabilo.com/media/image/St_02807_1600_PR.jpg

These Bruynzeels, Mapeds and Stabilos are much better than Mort Marte and Derwent Academy sets. I put them in the lower middle class shelf beside Caran d’Ache’s Classicolor & Fancolor and Faber-Castell’s Colour Grip, Art Grip, Art Grip Aquarelle & Goldfaber. Classicolors and Goldfabers are out of production but you’ll never know what you can find in small rural shops or flea markets… The imaginary Stabilo Aquacolor 60 set might even deserve an upper middle class place along with Staedtler Karat Aquarell.

To be continued…

Heikki
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