I'd have loved this to have been shorter and more to the point. Taking 14:11 minutes to put pencil to paper is way too long of a stretch. Also, I was expecting a detailed review within a 30 min timeframe to include more experimentation. We have the shade comparison with regular graphite pencils here, but how well do they blend with regular pencils? Do they blend with charcoal? Can you layer them under/over regular graphite or charcoal? Can they be shaved and 'painted' with a brush? Are they water soluble? Can they be easily erased? All these things would have been more than welcome (and frankly, expected) in a review this long! Regardless, thank you for your time and effort.

Thank you so much for all your pencil reviews!!!! I really appreciate it!!!!

the new thing in this set of pencils is the 2B & 4B which have be adjusted to have the carbon add, they are a great set of pencils.

Bought these when they were released. These pencils are amazing. You reviews are AWESOME

Great one Rix! Thank you!

I love these pencils. They are different from their graphite set which I also have. Very black. Also very difficult to put down over the graphite so there is a consideration. I try to carefully preserve the area I need to be very dark until I am absolutely sure that I want to use the carbon. Erasing can also be difficult. All in all though, despite those issues they are very nice and provide that punch that makes all the difference to your values. I really like the matte effect. Thanks for the video and try not to sweat the nasty people. By the way, I just got over bronchitis too. It was not fun. I sympathize.

Thanks for cool review!! I was not aware of the carbon version. I use classics and they are best

Like the audience sounds. Not everyone attracts an audience. Great review. Bravo. I just ordered these, look Foreward to using them. Thanks

Great review and has answered a lot of the questions I had. Firstly whether the new Black Lumograph was the same as the now discontinued Carbon added 7, 8 and 9B within the Classic blue Lumograph range - It is!. (They have now reverted back to all graphite). I am also pleased to see the consistency of the B grading against its graphite and world class stablemate - the Mitsubishi. I had wondered if this new range would be a strange and wholey different animal viewed side by side, but no, it has all the benefits of extended range and lack of glare, but is not out of place against conventional graphite.

While watching this video, I started singing, 'we are stardust, we are golden, we are million year old carbon"

Thank you for an awesome review!

There is a person in everyone's lives that's a know it all. I bet that person who gave you a hard time about graphite verses carbon never drew a quality picture or portrait, either way in my experience they are just full of hot air that likes to listen to themselves. I for one just discovered carbon blend and absolutely LOVE them they are like drawing with a ultimate perfect pencils of pencils. You can get the soft look with blending and I fond I have better control of this medium plus I get the velvety darkness without a lot of pressure. I am hoping to find a bigger set plus a place I can buy them individually since I tend to use some more than others. I will be checking my local art store. but I found somethings are cheaper on line in bulk. Thank you for taking the time to do this comparison, it was very helpful and confirmed to me that I am on the right track. I have the lumagraph pencils and they are so much better than I thought they would be.

I wonder if you'd talk about or do a video regarding smudging and erasing the Mars Lumograph pencils that contain carbon. How do these differences affect your art, if at all? I've heard artists say that the carbon containing pencils, being harder to smudge (shading) and erase (highlights), are what they don't like about them.

Very good review sir !

Hi Rix, and thank you for such a timely review. You probably know this by now, but I was told that the reason for the bar code is so that Art stores don't have to put labels on individual pencils....People hate those labels, including me. It messes up my Helix..and,....... I'm assuming another reason is that they can raise the price, also without removing labels.

Did your Mars Lumograph 100 graphite pencils come unsharpened like the mars lumograph black?

I think this would be fun for U to review, the BIC Evolution & the BIC Xtra Fun Pencils.

finally... ive waiting to have this video... the new black staedtler.. got 2b and 4b.. cant find any store where can I find 6b and 8b

Im 4 years late for this video, but i just wanted to say that the guy is humble when he has to explain a smarta$$ that in drawing pencils we have carbon graphite charcol and propably others that im not aware of and as artist we identify this tools like this.

Rix: Master Artist and Master of self-control. Don’t sweat the small stuff. You’re spot on about the softer 6/8B pencils becoming stubs faster. BTW, what sharpener are you using? It gives a nice point; I use a razor to get long, keen points. Anyway...keep your excellent videos coming. Thanks.

Excellent review

when you say you write as well as draw, what exactly would you be writing....stories, notes...? just wondering why you would use pencils to write and not pens. just curious, and i love your vids!

good stuff !!

Am interested in the sharpener you use. Could you do a video on them?

Hope you are feeling thanks for the information between a graphite in the carbon not an artist but like to draw probably going to pick me up a set of Mars 🐢🐢👍

So they are practically the same as the regular Mars Lumo? I couldn't see a difference between the 8b Lumo and the 8b Black!

What I'm wondering about the addition of carbon, is does the pencil retain its graphite look, or does it start to look more like a charcoal pencil? I like the look of graphite, but also find that the shine can be annoying. Graphite never gets that deep black, it stays more in that silvery range, but that's a quality I like. I'm not sure I would like that intense, velvety black look to simply alleviate the sheen. Can't a fixative help to dull the graphite? By the way, I share your disdain for the printed barcodes. It's difficult to avoid on pencils, but I won't even buy a paintbrush that has one printed on it. There's nothing wrong with wanting beautiful materials.

I like barcodes on pencils. Am I strange?

After using the Mars lumograph pencil is that they don't smudge/blend as much as graphite and charcoal pencils . That prevents you from getting a smooth cover/coat on the paper as the white paper can be seen through it , I would not recommend for realism (for skin) . But you could buy the 6b and 8b in open stalk (singularly) to shade the hair as it is darker then the 8b graphite pencils , hope you found my comment usefull Please like and reply (that would mean a lot to me) Just kidding😅🤣😁😁😄

SOLD! I am buying a set today.

That sharpener has to be really good my kum masterpiece keeps breaking the 8b black

Hai sir.. please tel me how to enlarge a4 size to a2 size drawing

This pencil is the best

Probably the reason they don't give you two each of the darker pencils is exactly what you said: they wear out faster. If they gave you two of those, you wouldn't buy a new set as frequently! ☺

Can you give measurements of the tin please?

Love your videos. Great job. I understand it's easier with having the grade on all sides of the pencil. But its not that hard to pick up a pencil or roll it to see what grade it is. Lazy people these days lol

those are great pencils .... I got them :D

That's strange, my set was pre-sharpened.

Before you started your video, I thought it would be great to have a set of these pencils, I mean the Staedler, but sadly I'm asking why don't they make 2X 6B and 2X 8B instead of the 2B and 4B We normally use the darkest much quicker, except that they don't wanna lose money this way.. Thank you again for your video and interesting demo.

In my set there are 1hb12b14b 16b17b18b are there.....no 2set of 2b and 4b as mentioned on box .....what is this .....I am shocked .......?.

Great review. I use these super pencils a lot. Loved your funny dig at that idiot who made the idiotic comment. He must be running for cover now. 😃😁

I bought a 2B and it was horrendous. The graphite isn't even close to the Mars blues, or anything you'd find at a dollar store, or if you opted for using dirt from the ground. 3/10. They look cool though.

Your right. People are just idiots. They always want to complain about somthimg or think they are right and smarter than u. But they don't realize when they say things how stupid they actually look or sound. U don't have to explain graphite or carbon pencils cause people like u and me and others actually know the difference. The people or person who said that don't know what they are talking about there not an artist or if they are they are a very bad artist lol

100B is pitch black.

Take no notice of that guy giving you grief about carbon. He probably wanted to prove to the world how much more intelligent he is than everyone else, unfortunately it's had the opposite effect because he's totally wrong. www.differencebetween.net/science/chemistry-science/difference-between-graphite-and-carbon/

Hey man, those are not called pencils they're called wood sticks with carbon inserts, just kidding

You should not comment about things , you don't know about..