The New Breed - Metallic FX
Written: Jan 18 '02 (Updated Nov 09 '04)
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Pros: Non-toxic, great supplement to the standard colors, low price.
Cons: No names for the colors, a little weaker than regular crayons.
The Bottom Line: If you flipped over regular Crayola crayons - you'll fall in love with these! Some minor imperfections, but overall a great way to add another dimension to your artwork!
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| Freak369's Full Review: Crayola 16ct Metallic Crayons |
If you were amused by regular crayons in the past – get ready for the next level of fun! Crayola took an awesome product and made it even better with their addition of the Metallic FX to the Crayola family. Sandwiched between the small 8 count and medium size 24 count of regular crayons – the Metallic FX series are sure to be a hit with anyone that loves to color. I’ll admit it, I bought these for myself. My kids aren’t that big into coloring books unless they are about space, the solar system or anatomy. When I saw the box of Metallic FX crayons at Target, I let out a series of oooh’s and ahhhh’s that seemed to embarrass my brood – they went searching for other aisles to roam leaving me with my new discovery.
Entertaining A Freak
I guess I could be considered a cheap date. For .99 cents I am easily amused, occupied for hours and giggling like a schoolgirl. Since my boys showed absolutely no interest in these – they were too ‘girlie’ for them – I was left to do the big product test on them before I set out to write the review.
One of the first things you will notice is that the paper wrappers on the crayons are a wash out gray color. That’s right – no cool colors just the same drab wrapper for each of them. And how do you keep this freak occupied for about three minutes? Hand her one of these crayons and ask her what color it is. There are no names on any of the crayons either. This makes it a little hard to try and pick them out so you might need to try several before you find one that suits your need.
The packaging is the same as most of the smaller Crayola sets, slide in box lid, no sharpener – the usual. One thing I did notice that was different about this set – the warning on the back. While it isn’t labeled as a warning but rather as information it is as follows, “Store in cool, dry place out of direct sunlight”. That got me to thinking – were these more sensitive to heat than the regular crayons?
Further reinforcing the belief that I am really in need of mental help, I did a few small experiments on these cool crayons. I set five metallic crayons next to five regular crayons in the sun for about twenty minutes. Now, we get about three hours of direct sunlight per day so I had to make sure that I had enough time for a few of these tests using different colors.
Why different colors? I’m glad you asked. It’s just like clothing, the darker the color, the more heat they attract. I started with the lighter colors [yellow, white and pink] from both sets and didn’t see too much of a difference. Both got a little tacky and were slightly soft to the touch, but overall they both had the same consistency. The next test was with the medium tones [blue and red]. For some odd reason the blue crayon from both sets seemed to heat up quicker and while it didn’t liquefy, it did get about 40% more tacky than the first batch. The final test involved the purple, brown and dark green shades. Since there is no black crayon in the metallic set, I didn’t want to use the black one from the regular set. The metallic crayons were affected the most in this test – the regular crayons were warm to the touch and tacky but the metallic ones were the most damaged. So – in the words of my oldest – the conclusion is that the metallic crayons are definitely more susceptible to heat than the regular ones.
As Cool As Cool Can Be!
You would think that this box of crayons was the greatest thing since sliced bread the way I am going on about them. I guess my kids were right when they said “It doesn’t take much to amuse her. In all aspects of the truth – these are simply awesome. They are the perfect way to add some snap to a drawing or even for doodling on envelopes or cards. Don’t think these are just for coloring books…
If you are a fan of the gel writer pens or any of the high prices markers that are designed for use on black paper – these will be a great addition to your art caddy. It might take a little while to get the right amount of pressure – but with a little practice you’ll be on your way to a whole new level of creativity.
After much doodling and drawing – they held up well. One of the major things that I noticed was that they required a little bit more pressure than the regular crayons in order to get the colors to be noticeable. I tried this on brown butcher paper, white butcher paper, black gel pad paper and loose leaf.
Colors, Colors, Colors…
As I said earlier, these crayons are not labeled. Maybe the people who dole out the names were on vacation or they ran out of odd titles to slap on them. In any event, here is my list of the colors you get in this pack. 3 shades of green, purple, magenta, rose, 2 shades of brown, teal, 3 shades of red, gray, blue, copper and orange. Don’t shoot me if you buy this 16 pack and the colors I have listed don’t match up exactly – I’m not a professional color labeler.
Overall there is a nice selection of colors and they do blend easily with each other and with the regular Crayola crayons. I suggest drawing the picture then using a paper towel to blend them – I tried this with my finger and ended up with little glitter sparkles all over my face and hands. Another thing you can do is draw a huge picture and take a paper grocery bag and place it over the drawing. Take a warm iron and go over the bag a few times. This will heat up the crayon and give the picture a cool effect. Don’t set the iron too high or you will end up with a big glob of melted wax. Remember, paper bag, not plastic.
Things To Know
So, I’ve given these cool crayons the test drive on various types of paper, with varying degrees of pressure and tried blending them a number of ways. All in all I have to give them a thumbs up but not without a few reservations. Smaller kids that are just getting the hang of using the regular sized crayons over the chunky or jumbo sized ones will more than likely hate these. You have to apply too much pressure to get the colors to darken which will result in them breaking like twigs. I even tried the scotch tape trick [apply a piece lengthwise before you use them] and I still ended up with three broken crayons. I can’t see how the amount of glitter in these would have any effect on the strength of them – maybe it’s one of the other ingredients that is making them a tad bit weaker.
The Metallic FX 24 pack is great to use to accent finished pictures or to kick it up a little but for day-to-day drawing – they probably won’t last very long. I didn’t experience any flaking from these crayons but I did manage to get glitter all over my hands after using them. If you want to preserve your childs masterpiece – you might want to hit it with a very light shot of aerosol hairspray and allow it to dry for about 10 minutes. This will keep the sparkles where they belong – on the paper.
As far as blending goes – if you use a regular crayon first then the metallic one you’ll get more of the metallic color as the focus. If you use the metallic first then a regular one the colors of both will be distorted. When you over lap the colors, have some scratch paper on hand to get the colors off the ends of the crayons tips or you’ll be dragging the colors onto other areas – and trust me – some of those color combinations are not all that appealing :]
Bottom Line
While there are a few minor drawbacks about this set, they are a great way to add a little perk to any drawing or creation. If used gently they will provide a few hours of fun but know that they won’t last forever. These are a little harder to clean up after than regular Crayola crayons so you might want to lay down some large sheets of paper under the coloring area – unless you like the small of Fantastik that is.
As always, thanks for the visit …
~^V^~ Freak ~^V^~
© 2004 Freak369
Other Crayola product reviews …
• Big MiniStampers • Doodle Pad • Watercolor Pencils • Art & Craft Brushes – 8 Count • Create-A-Kid • Collecting Keepsakes • Halloween Treat Pack • Halloween Boo Bucket • Washable Water Colors – 8 Color • Pencil Pouch • Crayola Crayons – 24 Count • Metallic Crayons • Superfine Markers – 5 Count • Gel FX Washable Markers • Tub of Fun • Crayola Sketch Pad • Point Tip Scissors • Sidewalk Chalk – Chicks & Eggs • Art & Craft Brushes – 4 Count • Twistables – 16 Count • Stack-N-Store Art Tower • Washable Water Colors – 24 Color • Sidewalk Chalk – Animal Assortment • Crayola Lap Desk • Click ‘Em On Washable Markers • Washable Markers – 16 Count • Alphabet & Number Pad • Blunt Tip Scissors • Spinning Desk Top Organizer • Crayola Online Store •
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): .99 cents
Type of Toy: Arts and Crafts
Age Range of Child: Whole Family
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