Quick answer: Shuttle Art sells volume art supplies where the count is honest and the ink is mortal. The 89-color alcohol markers ($37.99, 13,358 ratings) are October’s earner here ($5.69): card-maker approved, no streaks on cardstock — and dry-outs in two weeks to four months plus insane bleed-through quoted straight. The 120 gel pens, no duplicates ($21.99, 32,163-rating family) deliver the variety promise genuinely (evidence from the scrapeable parent listing, disclosed) with loose tips as the one-time fix. The 80 colored pencils ($9.99, 27,280 ratings) are the cheapest credible entry into the hobby, tin and sharpeners included. Buy the coloring book you own, not the color count.
The three-set lineup
The US feed runs over a thousand listings — markers, gel pens, pencils, crayons, clay. These three are October’s conversion earner, the no-duplicates variety play, and the budget pencil entry.
Shuttle Art 89-Color Alcohol Markers
October’s top commission here ($5.69): the dual-tip alcohol marker set over a 4.6/13,358 pool — broad chisel one end, fine point the other, plus a colorless blender and a bleed-proof sheet in the box. The pool’s ceiling is real: card-makers find them ‘just as good as the more expensive ones,’ colors blend nicely; an illustrator ranks them similar to the SoftTouch series with no streaking on cardstock; the heavy canvas zip bag or the easel-propped case earns its own praise; a Cosplay-grade verdict: juicy and vibrant without pressing hard. The honest floors, quoted below and recurring: ink life — multiple markers running dry within two weeks to four months of hobby use; wet behavior — caps that drip on first open, a swipe-on-scrap-paper ritual before each page; bleed-through — ‘insane’ on 98lb mixed-media paper, no double-sided drawing; and blending that several owners say just doesn’t happen. Ohuhu money buys blending; this money buys volume.
- just as good as pricier — the card-maker verdict, coloring and stenciling
- no streaks on cardstock — the illustrator’s SoftTouch comparison
- ink life: 2 wks-4 mo — the pool’s recurring honest floor
- swipe before you draw — the drip ritual, documented twice
Shuttle Art 120 Gel Pens, No Duplicates
The 120-color gel pen set, 4.6 over its 32,163-rating family pool at $21.99 — with an evidence disclosure up front: this listing’s review pages are bot-blocked to crawlers, so the quoted reviews come from the parent listing of the same product (same ‘120 Unique Colors, No Duplicates’ set, a 4.5/21,056 pool we scraped directly). What the parent pool documents: the no-duplicates promise holds — every color different, where other big sets pad the count with repeats; a genuinely good mix of brights, metallics, glitters and pastels; smooth ink on any paper; mandala-grade coloring that converted a colored-pencil loyalist. The honest floors, quoted below: glitter pens flow slower than the rest; the screw-on tips arrive loose on almost every pen (tighten once and forget); caps can run loose too; colors aren’t labeled on the barrel; the pens feel like cheap BICs — and gel ink runs out faster than ballpoint, which is the physics, not the brand.
- no duplicates, verified — every color different — the count is honest
- parent-pool evidence — bot-blocked listing, 21,056-pool parent, disclosed
- glitter flows slower — documented, the slowest finish of the 120
- loose tips & caps — tighten once on arrival — the known fix
Shuttle Art 80 Colored Pencils
The soft-core pencil set, 4.7 over 27,280 ratings at $9.99 with a 10% coupon — the least expensive credible entry into adult coloring. The pool’s craft: smooth, rich pigmentation; colors labeled in metallic silver you can actually read; a four-tray tin with sharpeners and pencil extenders included; a good collection of browns and skin tones so you don’t buy them separately. The comparison that anchors the value: one owner bought these to expand beyond a limited 24-color Polychromos set — unfair to compare budget to artist-grade, she says upfront, and then finds them satisfying for the range she needed. The service story worth quoting: a seller who reached out after a months-old complaint, past the return window, and offered multiple solutions — the update turned the review five-star. The honest notes: a few broken tips on arrival (you get sharpeners), the trays wobble until you glue cardstock under them, and they’re wax, not oil cores — they blend reasonably, not like Polychromos.
- $9.99 into the hobby — cheapest credible entry, coupon on top
- Polychromos companion — the budget-expands-artist-grade use case
- labeled, tin-boxed, 4 trays — readable silver names, sharpeners, extenders
- wax cores, honestly — blend reasonably — not oil-pencil behavior
Which Shuttle Art, which book
Markers, pens or pencils — match the tool to the paper and the patience.
The card-maker — 89 Markers ($37.99)
October’s $5.69: cardstock, stencils, no streaks — with the swipe-before-draw ritual and single-sided paper discipline.
The mandala colorer — 120 Gel Pens ($21.99)
No duplicates, glitter slower than the rest, tips tightened once — variety money buys.
The $9.99 beginner — 80 Pencils
Tin, trays, sharpeners, labeled colors: the cheapest credible entry, and the Polychromos expander.
Side by side
Prices, ratings and rating counts from the brand’s affiliate feed at time of writing.
| 89 Alcohol Markers | 120 Gel Pens | 80 Colored Pencils | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $37.99 | $21.99 | $9.99 (10% coupon) |
| Rating history | 4.6 · 13,358 | 4.6 · 32,163 (evidence: parent 4.5 · 21,056) | 4.7 · 27,280 |
| Best on | Cardstock, single-sided | Any paper, mandalas | Coloring books, wax blend |
| Documented floor | 2wk-4mo dry-out, bleed, no blend | Loose tips/caps, glitter slow | Wobbly trays, wax cores |
| October conversions | $5.69 | — | — |
Not the right pick if… you color on both sides of the page. The marker pool’s blunt warning: bleed-through ‘insane’ on 98lb mixed-media paper — no double-sided drawing, versus near-zero from some competitors. Use the included bleed-proof sheet, or dedicate cheap single-sided paper to this set.
Not the right pick if… you want months of marker juice. The recurring arc: multiple markers dry within two weeks for one owner; four months of use for another; 11 of 121 fine tips arriving dry; the colorless blender ‘fried out’ after a few blends. Volume, not longevity, is what $37.99 buys — an alcohol-refill trick (overnight soak) circulates in the pool as the workaround.
Not the right pick if… your art depends on seamless blending. Several owners state it flatly: they don’t blend at all — colors fade fast, bloom and oversaturate unless you find the speed-precision sweet spot. Ohuhu money buys blending; Shuttle Art money buys count. The card-makers who don’t need gradients are the happy ones.
Not the right pick if… you expect premium pen hardware. The gel pens write smoothly but feel like plastic BICs, tips and caps arrive loose (a one-time tightening fixes it), colors are unlabeled on the barrel, and gel physics runs the ink out faster than ballpoint. The variety is the product; the pen is the carrier.
What verified buyers say
Thirteen verified Amazon reviews, paraphrased and attributed — the card-maker, the illustrator, the QC counter, the fast-dry casualty, the overflow reporter, the Canson bleed-through warning, the variety seeker, the tip tightener, the mandala convert, the ink realist, the Polychromos expander, the post-window-service beneficiary, and the tray fixer.
The card-maker verdict. Loves these markers — work great, just as good as the more expensive ones. She does a lot of card making and uses them to color and stencil; colors blend nice. The sentence that sells the whole price tier.
The illustrator’s review. Illustration and adult coloring with alcohol markers for years; picked this set to complement others. Heavy canvas zip storage bag — perfect. Triangular body, broad end and pointed tip, caps with color number and name, most colors bright. Familiar with the SoftTouch series? These are very similar. Work great on cardstock and heavier paper, no streaking at all, and dry beautifully.
The honest four-star. Just picked up coloring; didn’t want to spend a fortune on Ohuhu — Shuttle Art is a good second option. Pretty colors, plenty of variety for blending. Docked stars: some pens came super dry on the fine point, one completely split and damaged — 11 dry, 1 damaged out of 121. ‘Not bad I suppose. You get what you pay for.’
The three-star disappointment. Super quality for the price, includes a bleed-proof sheet and a sketch book — thought that was pretty cool. But they’re already drying out really fast; the whole reason she bought these was to replace cheap dried-out markers. Assumed the price meant long-lasting. Really disappointed — the honest budget-marker arc.
The messy three-star. Great packaging, juicy markers — but on several the ink overflows the brush end and gets everywhere. And they don’t blend at all. Two floors in one review, both recurring in the pool: wetness and blend failure.
The paper warning. Good quality colors overall, but the bleed-through is insane: on Canson 98lb mixed-media paper versus her previous Soucolor markers with almost zero bleed, this set means she can’t draw on both sides of a page — ‘a shame and a waste of space.’ Be aware before you get this set: use the bleed-proof sheet, or dedicate single-sided paper.
The parent-listing variety review. He wanted a big range without repeats, and the 120 unique colors are the best part: a really good mix of brights, metallics, glitters and other finishes, easy to find something different for coloring, doodling and small projects. Most pens write smoothly with plenty of color and little pressure. The known caveat, his: a few pens need a little scribbling to get the ink flowing at first.
The honest parent-listing four-star. Surprisingly good set for the price; no color repeats, though some look very similar. Ink flows quickly for most pens; the glitter ones don’t flow as smoothly. Dries fast, minimal smudging. The complaints: the screw-on tips that hold the cartridge were loose on almost every pen; colors aren’t labeled; the pen itself feels cheap, like plastic BICs.
The convert review. A colored-pencil loyalist coming back to mandalas, told gel pens suit them. Since Shuttle makes such wonderful professional colored pencils, this was the place to start. Arrived in perfect condition, on time; the packaging sorts pens by shade and type (pastel, glitter, metallic) in four packets held by a stretchy cord. Seamless seller experience.
The smoothness review. Loves these gel pens: they write smooth and crisp, with a nice grip so the hand doesn’t tire during long coloring. The honest physics: the gel runs out faster than a regular pen. He wishes they lasted longer — ‘but they are gel pens and that’s what they do.’
The comparison review, done fairly. She knows it isn’t fair to compare budget pencils to professional artist-grade — but affordability matters. She owns an expensive 24-color Polychromos set and couldn’t justify expanding it for more purples and pinks, so she bought these 80. What she likes: ease of use, the range she needed, smooth application. The honest framing sits right in the title: budget pencils expanding an artist-grade core.
The service review, with update. After her initial review, the seller promptly reached out — even though the return window had closed months earlier — and offered multiple solutions. Courteous and proactive, a genuine commitment to satisfaction. For her, exceptional customer service matters as much as product quality; this update earned the five stars back.
The tinkerer’s review. The little trays wobble, but glue a piece of cardstock on the bottom and they don’t wobble or spill. Color spreads evenly, blends well, good variety of every color — and a good collection of browns and skin tones so you don’t have to buy them separately. The tin box makes it more decadent than average economy pencils. Reasonably priced. ‘Tell him Kimiko sent you.’
Three desks these were made for
The card-making bench
Stencils, cardstock, chisel-and-fine dual tips: gradient-free cards that mail well, wipes for the drips, bleed-proof sheet in the box.
The mandala evening
Glitters and metallics sorted by packet, smooth flowing ink, no duplicates among 120 — the meditative pages that eat pens gladly.
The $10 starter kit
Tin box, four trays, sharpeners, labeled silver names: the gift-proof entry into coloring that survives being someone’s first set.
FAQ
How do Shuttle Art alcohol markers compare to Ohuhu?
The pool frames it exactly this way: ‘didn’t want to spend a fortune on Ohuhu — Shuttle Art is a good second option.’ What you keep: vivid pigment, dual tips, no streaking on cardstock, a blender and bleed-proof sheet included. What you trade: the recurring reports of fast dry-out (two weeks to four months), tips that arrive dry (11 of 121 for one counter), and several owners’ flat verdict that blending doesn’t work. Card-makers love them; gradient artists pay Ohuhu money.
Do the gel pens really have no duplicate colors?
Yes — the specific promise holds in the parent pool: ‘every color is different,’ where other large sets pad the count with repeats; one buyer chose the set for exactly that. The near-caveat: some colors look very similar, the glitter finishes flow slower than the rest, and colors aren’t labeled on the barrels. Count honest, labeling absent.
Why does this page cite gel-pen reviews from a different listing?
Transparency: this listing’s Amazon review pages are protected against automated collection, so we could not pull its reviews directly. The quoted evidence comes from the parent listing of the same product — the same ‘120 Unique Colors (No Duplicates)’ gel pen set, whose 4.5-star/21,056-rating pool we scraped ourselves. Same pens, older listing, same family; we count that evidence once and label where it came from.
Are the colored pencils good for adult coloring books?
Yes, at their tier. The pool: smooth rich pigmentation, colors labeled in readable metallic silver, a tin with four trays, sharpeners, pencil extenders, good browns and skin tones included. One owner runs them alongside a 24-color Polychromos set as the budget range-expander. The honest ceilings: wax cores blend reasonably but not like oil pencils; a few tips arrive broken (sharpeners included); the trays wobble until you glue cardstock underneath.
What if markers arrive dry or a case arrives broken?
Two documented paths. DIY: the pool circulates an alcohol-refill trick — sit the marker overnight and it comes back. Seller: one pencil buyer’s months-old complaint, past the return window, got a proactive reach-out with multiple solutions, turning the review five-star; one marker buyer’s case arrived broken and she flagged the packaging for more protection. Test every tip on a swatch sheet on day one — the pool’s own habit — and use the return window for the DOA units.
How was this page put together?
We are an independent review site. Specs and prices come from the brand’s official affiliate feed at the time of writing; ratings are the public Amazon rating history of each listing (with the gel-pen evidence sourced from the scrapeable parent listing of the same product, disclosed above). Review summaries are paraphrased from verified Amazon customer reviews — the card-maker, the QC counter, the fast-dry casualty, the Canson bleed-through warning, the tip tightener and the mandala convert, every quotation attributed to the reviewer name shown and the month it was posted. If you buy through our links we may earn a commission; it does not change which reviews we quote or what they say.
