I am using these as an adult for coloring and paid about $8 USD for this set of 24 Staedtler colored pencils. You can ignore most of my upcoming points if this is for a child to use. I am not a fan of these colored pencils. Their finish is good, the wood material is solid, and they have very high break resistance. However, the most important part of the pencil, the lead, is extremely lacking when it comes to performance and comfort of use. For reference, I will be using a cheap 24 set of Crayola [owned by Hallmark] colored pencils manufactured in Brazil that you would find in any general store (I snagged a box at the local wally world) for about $3.50 USD in the United States in July of 2024 for comparison. The build quality of the Crayola is far inferior. The wood is brittle, the lead is not glued the entire length, and many of the pencils are not even perfectly straight with some of them being slightly bowed. However, the actual lead is superior. The Staedtler pencils, though very break resistant, seems to be glued the entire length to resist shattering, and are all perfectly straight, just are not nice to use. Comparatively, the Crayolas seem to be slightly more pigmented (the colors are stronger), and very importantly, a decent amount more soft. The leads in the Staedtler pencils are very hard and tough (likely due to their formulation offering extra break resistance), so it takes an unbelievable amount of force to get good vibrant and opaque color from them. The Staedtlers do put their material down more consistently compared to the cheap Crayolas however, but the laydown is lighter, requiring more layers or much harder pressure to get the same shade of any color. For adult casual coloring use, avoid these. Your fingers will thank you. Go look for other colored pencils that have soft leads. I recommend considering slightly higher end options around $15-20 for a pack of 24, the extra premium options are usually $2 or more each pencil as of July 2024, those have super concentrated pigments and soft leads, so the colors are extremely vibrant and consistent. For kids, these are pretty good. It will survive more abuse compared to most other budget-friendly-leaning options with less lead breakage. Plus, its generally better quality in every other metric that would be relevant to a child.
