PILOT Color Eno 0.7mm Automatic Mechanical Pencil 8 Color Set

I purchased these to have an erasable alternative to color pens and preferred mechanical pencils to those that require sharpening. This was one of the few if not the only one available. I located a couple of individual mechanical pencils with limited color options. This was the only set I could find with the most color options available. It's nice that they come in a set and at an acceptable price. If some reason one is lost or breaks I don't see an option to replace just one of the 8 pens. They are inexpensive enough to buy an entire set when comparing the price to buying an individual mechanical pencil that it may not be a big concern. If it is important that a set contain matching pencils then buying a new set appears to be the only option. Another option is to purchase individual mechanical pencils in a more customized fashion with barrel colors to match. From what I've determined the cost would be considerably more expensive to purchase 8 individual pencils rather than this 8 pack (depending on the brand and the quality of the pencil).As of this review I've had them a little less than two weeks and started using them immediately to see if they would be a good fit for my habit of use. The pencil itself is typical of mechanical pencil quality in my experience. There has been no experience of jamming. On occasion I can be heavy handed and like any other mechanical pencil lead it can break but haven't had too much breakage. If you're heavy handed on any mechanical pencil there will be breakage but again no more than any other mechanical pencils I've used. The .7 lead size seems to hold up better. I've typically gotten .5 lead for finer lines now I prefer the .7 over the .5.As some reviewers have stated some of the colors are lighter than others. The yellow is the lightest and the text is difficult to read much like a highlighter near the near of life is light. I tend to favor the yellow for use as an erasable highlighter if needed. Just color over the text to highlight. The green lead seems to be the next lightest in my opinion more readable than the yellow but still light. The blues, purple and red are the darkest. The orange and pink are readable lighter than the three previously mentioned colors and darker than the yellow. They do erase easily at least in my application. I use them for making notes/highlights in Bibles. Any of the colors will show up in contrast to white pages. Writing on any colored pages other than white would be difficult to read.The packaging of the pencil is a very thin plastic with a light tacky seal. The packaging doesn't have a snap or is the plastic thick enough use to store the pens. when I opened the box I noted the plastic is so thin the pencils easily move around in the packaging. There was no damage and packing was sufficient just a note if this was of importance to some.Before purchasing it was important to determine availability and cost of replacement lead. Local office stores do not appear to carry replacement leads in store or online. Amazon seemed to be the only seller (through various retailers) offering this lead and it is the "ENO" same as the pens. The cost can be somewhat expensive compared to purchasing the same amount of standard lead for any mechanical pencil. It is less expensive to purchase the 8 color replacement set. If a particular color is used more frequently then this may be the better option than buying the entire site.All in all I'm satisfied with this pencil set. The most important is to have multiple colors with the ability to erase any mistakes. Not sure how anything written will hold up over time (i.e. 1, 2, 10 years) but that will have to come with time. Each pencil comes with only 2 pieces of lead in each so depending on your usage you may want to order additional right away.

I am a self described pen and pencil aficionado; this means that I have a sort of benign mental illness that causes in me an unusually durable inclination to purchase drawing and writing implements merely to enjoy opening the packaging, drawing a few lines with the implement, and then adding it to my collection. These mechanical pencils, however, make the grade and have been assigned 'actual daily use' status and now occupy their own spot in my pencil case. A few notes, perhaps helpful for those who share my strange obsession:1) The leads seem soft to me, so be gentle and don't advance the lead excessively2) Drawing is smooth and creamy - these handle more like an art pencil than a writing pencil3) Lines can smear - sometimes this is good (doodling/drawing), sometimes this is bad (handling notes often)4) For plastic, low cost, mechanical pencils with a modern design theme, these feel surprisingly solid in one's hands5) The yellow colored lead does not pretend to be practical by actually being Dark Goldenrod (which looks orange'ish to most people) ... its color is true, primary color, yellow, and therefore difficult to see on white paper6) Colors are vibrant, not half grey like some other colored leads appear to be7) Finding replacement leads isn't a matter of visiting the local convenience store; be aware that replacing leads will likely necessitate an Internet order of some kindPilot, a Japanese company, consistently does a fantastic job designing their writing implements and has a sharp eye for details. I've carried Pilot's V5 Hi-Techpoint pens ever since I first tried one in High School, and like those fine devices, these pencils don't disappoint. For less than $2/pencil, these can't be beat!