STAEDTLER 157 SB12 Ergosoft Triangular Colouring Pencils - Assorted Colours (Pack of 12 Pencils)

I can't begin to say how impressed I am with these pencils. I never knew such coloured pencils existed. I'm so used to cheap naff pencils, generally in floppy plastic cases so that they all move around and fall out easily. When I read the reviews of these, I was sold, and hoped I wouldn't be disappointed. Well, they have exceeded expectations. What a fantastic design of the case (and why on earth has it taken me until I'm 30 to see a company use such simple but effective initiative?). It beats even pencil tins, because once opened, the flap opens up to become a stand. This makes the pencils readily available, no more scrambling around trying to find the right colour, and when closed, the case closes securely - something that tins still don't provide. The pencils are soft and beautifully true to the colour on the coating. Very vibrant. They colour in very smoothly and easily, and also evenly. My experience of coloured pencils has always been scratchy colouring-in straight after sharpening, ending with shiny, blunt and hard going colouring as the pencil wore down. Not so with these, no matter if they're sharp or on the blunt side, they still colour effortlessly. I assume it's the soft lead that enables this. I always associated pencils with hard work, but these are a dream to work with. I was a little sceptical over the triangular shape; I thought it might be a tad painful over prolonged periods, but they're very comfortable to use. As you can see, I'm in raptures over these. The colours available are great, so glad I went for the 24 set and not the 12. The only little niggles I have are these: there is no light shade of pink, which may or may not be a bit problematic if you want to colour white people. There is a tanned kind of colour that might suffice. Not a problem for me as I'm not using them as children might, but using them for work. That said, the range of each colour is very good.I can't comment on whether they break or not as I haven't put them through their paces in terms of travel... though they got to me through the post and none of them are broken. As the pencils get worn down and shorter, I wonder if they will rattle around in the compartment a bit. I hope then that the anti-break technology will be proven at this point!I have sharpened one straight out of the box. The triangular shape made my (round) pencil sharpener leave little indentations on the coating. I notice that they've arrived from factory having been sharpened on each side of the triangle. I don't have the time or patience to sharpen these with a knife, so I will settle with the indentations. A small price to pay for such quality pencils. Staedtler have come up trumps.

I bought these pencils for my other half who likes to wind down and relax by colouring in her adult Art Therapy colouring in books, if you haven't seen them the pictures are very detailed and intricate compared to children's books, the fine detail means you have to concentrate more to colour in the image accurately, this is supposed to help you relax, and I'm reliably informed that it works.Back to the pencils. She has tried various coloured pencils, often the leads were too hard, or they break. I saw these and thought she would enjoy them, and I was right she loves them!These are the things that impressed her the most:Firstly, the pencils are triangular in shape so the are more comfortable to hold compared to the round ones.The colours are bright and vibrant, some nice reds and blues.The leads have a white anti-break coating which reinforces it and prevents it from breaking, this would be ideal for children who tend drop their pencils more frequently, so far none of the leads have broke while colouring.The actual leads are quite soft, colouring in is even, and it enables you shade effectively, the harder you press the darker the colour, this isn't usually the case with cheaper coloured pencils.And finally, the plastic case is great, you can stand it up and gives you easy access to the pencils, no need to put them in a pencil case or tip them out on the table.Overall, these are quite expensive for coloured pencils, but the quality is superb which means they are going to last a long time, so 5 Stars.

We purchased these in 2013 for our eldest. Now in use by our third child. They are brilliant. Robust - don’t break when dropped and the tips don’t do that annoying snapping when sharpening.They are twice the price they were 10 years ago but I’m sure they’ll go on sale and when they do, they are well worth it

Has good grip, feels nice; good grip, has space for name and unlike regular pencils due to the material it is coated in when you write your name it does not wear/smudge away even in ballpoint pen. Has a nice colour range and feels excellent and colours well, easy to sharpen, doesn't snap easily but does not keep a point either but this is needed so it colours well as ones with stronger lead doesn't feels nice and easy to colour. Definitely feels good quality and expensive. The case is very useful for preventing damage to the pencil as keeping it in a pencil case would mean it would become blunt due to other items damaging lead and it has a useful stand and is very durable and does not crack, dent or break and the ABS(Anti Break System) does definitely work. Unfortunately these were stolen and I have not got them back since and will be buying these again when I can as it is expensive but worth price for premium quality.

I've taken up Adult Colouring in my retirement. These pencils are brilliant because they have soft leads and also a good range of colours.

These are our favourite pencils! Used by myself, my two daughters and occasionally my son, these type of pencils are a firm favourite and are lovely to colour with. They really are soft on the paper so you can be gentle and get some good effects. The triangular shape is perfect - especially for one of my daughters who uses a triangular grip on her normal lead pencils so can hold these properly without difficulty. We often get packs of these pencils for birthday party presents etc and they are well received too. I love how the box is sturdy and protects the pencils properly so that they last through repeated resharpening, and also how the box can be flexed backwards so that it becomes a stand to display the choice of colours available. Would definitely recommend these (putting aside the debate over whether it's better to colour in pencil or pen!), no matter what type of colouring you are doing on paper or in colouring books these are a delight to use. Thank you.