Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I can't compare these to other higher quality pencil sets, this is about all I've ever used as they are the standard in the industry. Of course they do not come without flaws, #1 and most widely known is the breakage issue, the lead basically falls out if you sharpen them too much and before you know it your 7.5" pencil is 2" and you can no longer get a grip on it. There is a message under the FAQ section on the prismacolor website stating "If the core slides out of the pencil this generally means the core was not properly glued to the wood and returning the pencil would be advisable" Well heads up, returning them will not fix the problem, they all have this issue. I was aware of this problem before I bought them but I knew these pencils color so well it wasn't worth risking losing money trying a different brand, so I decided to manage. Well turns out there IS in fact a solution. The next day I went to my local art store and talked to a very knowledgeable employee who is owed a well earned pay raise for fixing this problem, she recommended a pencil sharpener made specifically for soft lead made by 'pro art'. I admit I did not have much confidence this would solve the problem but sure enough I got home and sharpened every dull pencil with no breakage. Best part is it only cost me $2.50. This is the pro art soft sharpener (picture below). Part # is above the bar code on the back & reads 'PRO 3083'. This is a MUST HAVE if you plan to purchase these as a regular sharpener just won't 'cut it' (haha get it?) 2nd gripe I have is with the organization, the flimsy plastic holders that hold the pencils slide the pencils out of order and make a mess. Of course I bought this for the pencils, not the container, but I did find, for me personally -and you may have a better idea- the best way to organize them was to simply rubber band the shades together. I separated the different colors (blue, green, red etc) then put black/white/silver/gold separate, gray tones separate and then skin tones (pinks and tans) separate since I frequently use those 2 sets in conjunction with one another. So far it's worked out very well. If you aren't mobile and have a work desk of course it would make more sense to have some kind of fixed holder. As far as the pencils themselves, they wear very fast but they color and blend very well and that makes it worth the cost if you're serious about your work. They are waxy so they slide on the paper very naturally, I press down hard and they hold up pretty well without ripping through the paper. I used to love art growing up but the past 10 years my life has been work and problems and I got away from my one true talent. I hope if you're dreams are to become an artist you follow them, I regret not following mine but I'm trying to relearn all I lost. 4.5 stars!