BLACK. METAL.

Whole slew of metal-base markers to add to the collection, courtesy of DIET - HTK.

BEROL LIQUID TIP 1100

Love this. Great stubby shape. SOLID one-piece metal construction. Side labeling screened on. Simple BLACK/WHITE color markings. Sparse details, Just says Berol.LIQUID TIP wordmark, ALL SURFACE MARKER with permanent ink, in a black box, and 1100, product code on side. Classic Berol Liquid Tip grooved black marker cap. Chisel tip. This thing is DOA, but still retains that strong hint of metal-marker aroma that takes me back to grade school.

EBERHARD FABER DESIGN MARKER 229-LF

Another great metal marker from Eberhard Faber. Solid one-piece metal construction. BLACK/WHITE colorblocking on side. Nice DESIGN wordmark. other than that, all other details are quite subtle. Small pt text, with cutouts towards tip leave room to indicate COLOR CODE and COLOR. Pointed nib. DOA. Also still retains that strong hint of metal-marker aroma. Made in USA. A true design classic and drafting table staple.

MARSH 88-HF

Marsh is a company with great history. Really happy to have this in the collection. Super heavy-duty metal barrel construction.  Bold MARSH stencil wordmark in RED, with black accent lettering, labeling details, and model NO# details. Bullet tip. Ink runs nice and thick, dark black ink. Good coverage. Top notch marker. 

RUSTOLEUM AMERICAN ACCENTS PAINT PEN

A heritage brand. Made in USA. Heavyweight metal construction. Sticker marker label has satin finish. Not the most attractive label design. “Decorative Paint Pen” appears all wispy on the side, the Rusto wordmarks appear small and un-prominent. I guess this marker is supposed to appeal to the home improvement sector. Chisel tip. Makes dark black ink lines. Good consistency. I guess I just would like it to look a bit more “old style”

POTTERY BARN TOUCH UP

This thing is lean and mean. Solid metal construction. Black text on white backing. This thing contains a chemical known in the State of California to cause Cancer and Birth Defects.  Wish I read that bit before giving it the inhale test. Well, it smells a whole lot of strong. Pretty cool that Pottery Barn makes their own touch-up paint marker. The cancer/birth defect thing…not so cool. 

BLACKY PACKAGES

Took the long way back home for Christmas along Lakeshore Road. Hit up a bunch of dollar stores along the way to look for new markers. The cluster of discount shops and convenience stores around Long Branch turned up the most finds. One spot used to be a Biway. Biway and Bargain Harolds were dope back in the day.

GOODWILL SUPER SUPERSTAR

Another example of a Super Sharpie bootleg. I have so many of these things, and just when I think i’ve seen every play on words, another one turns up.  Goodwill double superlative Super Superstar Marcador…Listening to Ghostface Nutmeg while I write this description…This marker was made for the spanish dollar store market. Features spanish label descriptions and a bootleg wordmark SUPER SUPERSTAR. Hard nib, ink bleeds like crazy, surprisingly faint odor.  Good dark markings. A great bootleg to add to the roster.

PERMANENT MARKER 

I picked up this little no-frills number at this convenience store in a strip mall at the corner of Dundas and Winston Churchill. This is the same strip mall where I tried Kentucky Fried Chicken for the first time back in the 80’s, when their fries tasted like cardboard, had plastic Colonel Sanders coin banks for sale, and their original recipe was actually still banging ! The convenience store had the OG Street Fighter which I used to play with greasy fingers. I think this marker is a hold-over from those days. Sun faded exterior, still in cellophane wrapping. Bilingual label. Not gonna pop it open to test it out. Nice marker.

HAIJIAV TOKENS PEN

Another pseudo-Super Sharpie bootleg. I have another one like this, but the label says HAIJIAN. Plastic labelling, Made in China, from a company that may or may not be called Fluency. Bullet tip nib, minimal bleed upon application, nice medium tone of black ink. Medium alcohol odor. A better than average performance dollar store marker.

INC 2 IN 1 DRY ERASE MARKER

This is a new school marker from INC, flashy twin tip with BLACK marker on one end and RED on the other. Shiny metallic labelling with a BLACK into RED halftone pattern . Solid plastic construction. Conical tip, similar to Crayola. Faint greyish ink quality. Medium alcohol smell. Made in China. Style over substance on this marker. Not the best product.

MARVY UCHIDA DECOFABRIC 

This is an older model Deco marker from Marvy Uchida, who put out the Decocolor metal jacket series. Still in cellophane packaging. Paint marker to apply on fabrics. Fine 3mm tip. Not gonna bust the nib on this by testing it out. Prolly should have grabbed a backup so I could test one and archive the other. 

PAINTY MARKERS

These things pretty much follow the same standard. Metal jacket construction w/ ball bearing inside.

PLATINUM PAINT MARKER -

SAKURA PAINT MARKER - The best out of this bunch. Slightly thicker body, with nicer labelling and design. Heavier weighted ball bearing inside. I’m bis towards Sakura, with good reason.

DECOCOLOR - I have had tons of these pass through my hands, but not so much recently. I think they discontinued them a while ago from Michaels. Nice classic paint marker.

SIMBALION PAINTY MARKER - Plastic jacket constuction. Minus points for that. But best before date stamped on the base. Plus points for that.

#1 COMPETITION IS NONE

In my opinion uniPOSCA is the best brand for water based paint markers. Their entire range of colors, sizes and nib variety are quality product. ZIG would be my second choice for water based paint markers. I have used both brands extensively, so was upset to see that both brands were discontinued in Canada.

I can still get these products from London, but it’s a bit inconvenient.

All the art shops in Canada now stock Sharpie Paint, which are not even close in quality or variety to either uniPOSCA or ZIG.

uniPOSCA MEDIUM CHISEL –

ZIG POSTERMAN JUMBO CHISEL–

ZIG POSTERMAN WET WIPE –

ZIG POSTERMAN –