It was one of those items we bought when we had a store credit, and didn't know what else to purchase.  One of those "well that might be useful someday" items that you buy, toss into a drawer, and assume you won't touch too often.

Well, in fact, I have come to really like this product, and find myself using it quite a bit.  I'm talking about the 36 Count Bic Mark-It Set.  What a joy, to have these incredible useful markers, in so many colors!

When looking at the package, you might be fooled into thinking it's a 12 pack.  That's because you're seeing only the top layer of markers.  In fact, the re-usable plastic case opens like a book, revealing three sets of 12 markers each.  But not just any 12 markers.  In fact, you receive three different collections of markers, which are also sold separately.  The collections are "Classic", "Earthly Expressions" and "Paradise Pastels".

How about those colors:

The Classics include all of your standards: dark red, black, dark blue, and forest green. 

The Earthly Expressions contain colors in the pink/purple arena, called berry, plumtastic and rose.  Yellows and oranges are in there, too, with names such as harvest, adobe, honey, and moonstone.  Finally, there are grays, greens and blues, with names such as meadow, forever, misty, stone and midnight.  These colors are all bright, vibrant, and easily visible against many backgrounds.  They are excellent for when you really need the color to show up across a distance.  Great for presentations, signs, and posters. 

The Paradise Pastels are in a completely different arena from either of the other collections.  These are the very light-toned, soft-hued colors.  They're great for crafts, and for children's coloring projects.  Any place that a light, soft, soothing color is wanted, when it doesn't have to be seen clearly from 20 feet away.  These colors include shades in the pink, beige, yellow, green, purple, and blue families.  With soft-sounding names like petal, flamingo, margarita, lime, tranquil, ocean, Polynesian, and cloud nine.

My Uses:

These markers are sold in fine point, and ultra fine.  My set is fine.  It's not ideal for writing in normal-sized penmanship, but then again, these aren't pens.   They're fine for writing large letters on posters, creating name tags, scrapbooking, and marking CD's.  I also use them to label electronics (i.e., two music players that look exactly the same), and to write my name on things like lunch bags, coffee cups, and other things that might otherwise ‘walk away' from my office.  The vast array of colors comes in handy when labeling gift boxes, and greeting card envelops.  No matter what color the wrapping paper or envelop I can always find a color in this collection that will show up.

These markers are called "permanent" but they are not water resistant.  This means that yes, the markings last a long time, but no, they are definitely not "permanent".  If the object gets wet, the markings will fade rather quickly.  Even on objects that never get wet, the markings do fade over time.  I'm not sure why they're allowed to be called "permanent" - sounds like false advertising to me, but I'm not a lawyer, so what do I know?

I will say that these markers are well-made, long-lasting, and comfortable to use.  They feel nice and sturdy, and their caps snap into place tightly.  Speaking of the caps, they each come with a pocket-clip.  Most of mine are broken off.  But that is not the fault of shoddy construction, just my silly habit of constantly playing with the clips until they jump off, in protest.

There is a soft rubber grip, towards the bottom of each maker that makes a comfortable resting spot for your fingers. 

The markers do not dry out, even if the clip is left off for a couple hours.  I've had my set for a year now, and all of the colors are still as clear and vibrant as the day I got them. 

There are only a couple problems with these markers.  Some of them, especially the darker colors, can bleed through thin paper.  I always make sure I have a pad or something, underneath the paper, to protect my writing surface "just in case".  And, the odor can be strong and unpleasant.  Other than these two minor complaints, I really like this set, and consider it a great way to have used up my $20 store credit. 

Recommended: Yes