Review on Magicfly Watercolor Pencils Set - 72 Professional Colored Pencils with Soft Lead, 2 Brushes & Pencil Sharpener - Drawing Supplies for Adults and Kids - Art Sketching and Coloring Books by Barbara Simmons

A few Christmases ago my family gave me several sets of smaller watercolor pencils and after a few uses I wanted more; great collection for more doodles, drawings and sketches. I read the reviews carefully before buying them and it took me about a week or two to decide if $16 for 72 pencils was worth it, especially since the reviews' balance sheet was pretty dubious as to whether they were any good or not. Well I took a chance and decided why not. As soon as they arrived I opened the package. Firstly, the jar turned out to be way better than I expected, it even hinges so I don't have to remove the lid completely and then set it down somewhere else where I'll likely bend. The second thing that struck me is that these pencils look bright, seem longer than some colored pencils, and look pretty well made. I pulled out the top tray and noticed that two of the pencils on the lower necks had broken lead tips. I sharpen them to see if the whole pencil is brittle now to make sure they are still in excellent condition and with watercolor pencils lead splinters are not lost; I will use them for drawing. I believe these tips were broken because they are longer than the space on the tray they are placed in, not to mention the box they were sent in (thin white cardboard box, just as thin as baking, my reason for 4/5 stars). but nothing else was affected. I checked the brushes and although their tips were a bit cheaply attached by curling them with pliers, they hold up well and the brushes' bristles look good for painting. I wanted to test how the pens held up, so I applied a page of color swatches to the squares, left part dry, and drew the other part with a wet brush. The top tray is the paper marked 1 while the bottom tray corresponds to the side marked 2 and they go sideways with only pins to the end where the brush is stored. All the colors were pigmented, vibrant and the slates are very strong but soft on the paper so the color settles well and as you can see in the photos the watercolor effect is very pleasing. According to the test, the colors don't look too similar from pen to pen unless you take a quick look. Overall I'm very happy with this set and how the pigments hold up in the water, as well as the quality of everything from the case to the pens themselves. The only solution needed is a better box so they have more padding, when placed in a mailer/envelope.