BAZIC INSTINCT

A bunch more marker pickups from the weekend Chinatown stroll. 

BAZIC PERMANENT MARKER

This is a long marker, similar to the long version Marks-A-Lot. Bazic seems to be the brand found in most of the Chinatown Dollar stores I visited. Heavyweight black plastic construction, with screened on white label details. Bleed on the label screen creates some nice shadow effects. Chisel tip. Heavy black ink. Bazic may be prevalent in many dollar stores, but they do make good quality product at a budget price, and are quick to appropriate different marker silhouettes and styles based on other popular marker brands. 

B10 TEXTA

Got this from one large. messy, Chinatown dollar store. The place had all sorts of plastic pails collecting roof leak drips. Stock was overflowing everywhere. So I was a bit disappointed that I only got 2 markers from the place. Bullet point. Plastic wrap label. Not going to pop it open. Have a strong feeling that even though it is wrapped in plastic, and was sealed in a plastic clamshell with cardboard backing, that this thing will not have any ink in it. 

LEARNING DAYS

This is the other marker I got from the messy Chinatown dollar store. Came in a box set of assorted colors. The label has a smiling dancing cartoon marker on a green background with a bunch of stars on it. It makes good, thin, heavy black ink marks. Good times.

BAZIC PERMANENT MARKER

Could this be a bootleg of a Bazic dollar store marker ? Most Bazic markers I have in my collection are actually well constructed. This marker is made from a lighter plastic, that bends in a bit when I squeeze the barrel. The label is plastic wrap around, on that silver toned background, that I often see on cheap dollar store markers. Bullet point marker. Makes thin lines. Nice medium black ink quality. Bazic makes SO many different versions of marker, that maybe they bootlegged a bootleg marker, down to these cheap design details and construction.

OSB WHITEBOARD MARKER

A familiar dollar-store marker silhouette. Some nice design details on this. Features screened-on gloss plastic label, color blocking, and geometric pattern on the barrel. Chisel tip. REALLY faint ink quality to this marker. Appears light grey. Lines run smooth.  Whenever markers have different tints or shades of ink, I try to stock up on them to create good tone variance in my black marker illustration work. I will try to remember where I got this one from and pick up a bunch.

5 STAR GENERALS

5 STAR GENERALS  Shabaam Sahdeeq featuring Eminem, Skam, A-L (All Lyrics) & Kwest. Produced by DJ Spinna 1998 Rawkus Records.

More markers from Broadway stretch of Dollar stores.

Background image is Animal Husbandry by artist Sue Williams.

FIVE STAR SUPPLIES 

No frills dollar store marker. Plastic construction, white barrel, minimal labeling. Medium weight ink, a bit on the dark grey side. Makes nice smooth lines with no bleed. A rather nice marker.

STA PRO WASHABLE MARKERS

This came in a box of assorted color markers. Pretty much a bootleg Crayola. Same barrel and cap shape, same conical tip. Whereas Crayola markers give off a nice indigo black ink, this one gives a dark greyish/black ink.  Makes smooth lines, no bleed. 

DYNAMIC STAMP MARK

This came in a box of assorted color markers, called stampers. Same silhouette as a Crayola, with a nice musical note motif running up the side. The tip of this marker features a musical note. You’re just supposed to stamp down the image, not draw or write. The musical note doesn’t even look good when stamped. Not really a practical marker. It does make lines and is capable of writing, but the results are really wonky and unpredictable. 

E-CLIPS BOARDMARKER

What an ugly marker. Thin sticker paper label on blank plastic marker. Design and layout is all over the place on this one. Appearance aside, the ink is nice and dark, and the bullet tip makes clean lines with no bleed. 

FACILERUB DRY ERASE MARKER

This is another cheap looking dollar store marker. The words on the labeling bleed into each other, a poor quality screen job. Somewhat thin plastic construction that bends in a bit when you press on the barrel. Smells something fierce. Light ink quality common amongst dry erase markers. Not a beauty, but it works.

BAZIC SCENTED MARKERS

This is a bootleg version of the Sanford Mr.Sketch line of scented markers. Same marker silhouette, but different labeling and marking. Semi-gloss silver gray barrel, with Crayola-like wavy lines near the tip and ends. For some strange reason they chose the color black to smell like…SWEETCORN ? It does smell pretty good though. Somewhat weirdly appealing, like Jelly Belly popcorn flavor. Makes smooth black lines of average consistency and quality. 

EXTRA EXTRA

Bunch more markers from SF.

SUPER MON AMI - DIET ONE got me this one as well. First time I bought one of these was around 2005 in some older stationary shop in Gerrard Chinatown Toronto. This is the first time I have seen another Mon Ami product since. Great unique silhouette and cap for this marker/marker brand. Screened on label looks good. The SUPER lettering got a nice outline, drop shadow and gradient red to black fade. Style points. That lettering angles upwards and rides on top of this gold text box of sorts. Clean chisel tip, on the thin side, good for making precise lines. Average quality ink. No bleed. Low odor. A good marker.

HONGSHUI REUSE - This looks familiar. I have something similar that says RE-USE, but I’m pretty sure it isnt made by Hongshui. This is a twin tip bullet/chisel combo. Nice green silver color combo going on. It does look quite sleek, attractive design, and good for environment. But once you take off the cap, you know this is just a bootleg chinese marker and the fumes from this thing probably erode the greenhouse layer if cap is left off for any amount of time.

BAZIC 4x4 - I call this the 4x4 because I instantly recognized the shape and pattern and silhouette as copied from a BIC 4x4 marker that came out in the market around 2004 ish. I bought the OG Bic version from a Staples. The rubber grip on the side is supposed to emulate tire treads. For gripping the marker better. The larger overall size is supposed to give you an SUV feel. Like look out smaller markers, I got this SUV 4x4 marker and i’m gonna mark up a storm. So yeah, another Bazic bootleg. BOO to BOOtlegs. But I do like ‘em.

PARAMAXX DUAL POINT - A nice no frill twin tip. They call it a Dual-Point. Nice copy change. Better than average construction and detailing to cap and body. Works well. A good marker.

BAZACK TO BAZICS

More marker finds from SF.

BAZIC WASHABLE - Yeah Bazic is pretty much a bootleg marker brand. But they bootleg a wide variety of brands and silhouettes and shapes so at least you could say they are an ambitious lot. This is their version of the crayola multipack. It came in a box and as usual, I copped the box, took the black one out and tossed the rest of the colored ones in the bin. Exact same silhouette and stylings of Crayola. And they got this zigzag border instead of Crayola’s wavy line border, so they manage to bite Charlie Brown at the same time. Wow. Someone at Bazic did their homework. Wide stub conical nib and that off blue-ish tint of ink found in Crayolas is somewhat replicated. The nib is spot on, but the ink is on the greyer side, instead of that Crayola black-blue. Peep the rest of what these people are faking…um…making online BAZIC PRODUCTS

BAZIC WASHABLE MINI - Same as above, ‘cept it’s a snub.

FAMILY MAID - A no frills dollar store marker brand. From a company that specializes in making products for the dollar store shop. Common shape amongst lower quality marker brands. White hull, simple black lettering and logo. Pretty bad company name though. Doesn’t project the most aspirational connotation. If you are gonna call your company Family Maid though, at least make the labeling and graphics of your marker look like a French Maid outfit.

PERMANENT MARKER - Dollar store quality black marker. Plastic hull with sticker label. Designer kinda gets wild out with the layout a bit though. Which is good to see that he or she is flexing some design ideas on something that isn’t probably expected. Got this black wave, then this medieval type font, and where they intersect, you see the negative space inverse. Oh. Also the package it comes in has a picture of the S.S Enterprise flying through space.

BOARD MARKER - Same shape and silhouette as the marker above. Same sticker label. Just different label graphics. Bullet tip. Yeah it’s supposed to have light ink as it’s a dry erase, but it shouldn’t be this watery and runny. Good for drawing if you like these qualities though.

ROMEO…

…Y Julieta. Yeah, here’s the rest of the markers that are inside the cigar box waiting to be documented and drawn. All but the Snowman came from my friend DIET.

PERMANENT MARKER –Pretty minimal labeling. No branding. Just “Made in China” and “Permanent Marker” and a picture of a bullet tip on the side, even though it’s really a chisel tip.

GIANT MARKERS – I am a fan. Makes a nice POP ! sound when you take off the cap. Huge conical nib, that makes line thickness smaller than a normal Sharpie. Pictured on the marker are – Apples. Hearts. Stars. Palm Trees. Butterflies. Lips. Fish. And maybe a birthday cake with a candle.

QUALITY – Another no name brand marker. Layout and design looks similar to some other ones in my collection, but those are knockoffs as well. I wonder which marker it’s design is based on. Smells kinda nice. Not overpowering, just a hint of that dizzy inducing stuffs.

BAZIC DOUBLE TIP - The design is based on the Sharpie Twin – Tip, Bullet point on one end, chisel tip on the other. It’s a pretty good marker. Nice thick ink.

ELMERS PAINTERS – Medium bullet point paint marker. Nothing too crazy.

SNOWMAN – Dunno if this is actually made by the same company that makes the BIG Snowman. Though I suspect it is. The SNOWMAN font isn’t the same, but the French copy on the side is verbatim. I really like the BIG version, so when I saw this one, I was pretty excited. It’s one of my favorites in my collection.

BLACK EGGS – Is a skateboard wheel made by the good people @ Solitary Arts.

GET BIZZI

More dollar store finds.

PERMANENT MARKER – That’s all it says on the label. Looks like a big matchstick. Grooved indent on the lid for easy removal. Bullet point. Ink smells like I left a tangerine in my backpack and it went bad.

BAZIC - Pretty much a standard black marker with a BAZIC sticker slapped on it. I always find these things at liquidation centres. This one was completely dried out when I bought it. Whoever named this company must have been into early 90’s hip hop.

LANKE DOUBLE MARKER – Common Chinatown dollar store shape. Weak plastic construction, bullet tip. Label says to Fecap when not in use. When I bought this marker, I looked at the label, which made me hungry for a double, which I later went and bought.

BIZZI – Got this one at a liquidation centre where the old, OLD Loblaws use to be. Just your average black marker with a BIZZI sticker slapped on to it. I think this company was also into early 90’s hip hop.

PERMANENT MARKER – Another non-descript black marker that has no branding, and little copy. Made in China and says PERMANENT on the side. I like how the designer did the layout, linking the R and the A in PERMANENT, than doing this large floating M on top. Good quality plastic construction . A slight variation on the look of a Super Sharpie. I almost prefer this shape to the original.

TIANFU – Its like a Super Sharpie bootleg from the future. Stylized end bit, grooved cap, thicker proportions, sturdy construction. They even put a gradient on the force field of the word PERMANENT. Lot of production value for a bootleg. You go Tianfu !

I’D BUT THAT FOR A $

A bunch of different dollar store Jumbo markers.

TARTAN GIANT MARKER – I got this in a pound shop in Dalston on the way to eat lunch at Shanghai. The marker is really bad quality. Cheap construction, bad nib, bad ink. In contrast, Shanghai is a really good restaurant. A really nice tiled front booth seating area opens into a roomy white tablecloth back area. I love the crispy duck and lettuce wrap.

ENCORE JUMBO – Picked this up at one of the dollar stores on Parliament. Cheap plastic wrap labelling. Actually works quite well if a bit splotchy.

MARKER – Another Parliament street score, another no-name cheap quality marker. According to the label, “It is more developed and smells soft”. It looks similar to the Encore Jumbo, but is a fraction smaller, and doesn’t work a fraction as well. It dried out really quickly and the ink bled a lot.

BAZIC 10mm JUMBO – Bazic is a really good dollar store brand. All their products work quite well and this marker is no exception. Simple plastic construction with a wrap around sticker labeling. 10mm chisel tip, produces nice clean lines. On par with a lot of more expensive marker brands.

BAZIC 8mm JUMBO – Same as above, in an 8mm chisel tip. Apparently all the 10mm marker users found the line thickness 2mm too wide, so the company caved into consumer pressure to produce this 8mm version. Or vice versa.

SUPER JUMBO MARKER – Another Dalston pick up. I have three of these markers. Same silhouette, just with a different plastic wrap around label. They are all equally bad. After lunch at Shanghai, I cut through the plaza and picked up a cheese platter from Sainsbury’s on the way home.

BAZICS TRAINING

More dollar store finds.

INC PERMANENT - Nice shape, like a streamlined Super Sharpie. Bullet tip, the ink bleeds really bad though. Nice faint odor.

PERMANENT - Another no name marker. Chisel tip.Produces wonky uneven lines. A bad quality marker.

OFFICEWORKS - Plain average black marker. Does the job.

BAZIC BLACK - Based on the shape of the Sharpie Chisel. They have another one like this with similar coloring as the Sharpie Chisel, but this one is all black. Maybe they got a warning, so changed their design. Simple markings, grooved cap to make it easier to take on and off. The nib splits rather easily and doesn’t make smooth lines, although the ink is quite nice.

INKTANK - The gimmick on this thing is you are supposed to see how FULL or EMPTY your marker is because they have these little porthole circles down the barrel. It’s not like drving a car with gas though. It’s not like I will be drawing and notice that there is only a quarter tank of ink, then get all nervous and feel the need to go directly to the marker store to buy another one, or refill on ink. It’s a marker. If it goes dead, it’s not a big deal. I’ll just use another one. Apart from that stupid gimmick, the marker makes nice lines, the cap comes on and off smoothly, and the ink is good quality.