Rebuilding - A Replacement Copic Marker Set

Publish Date: 
2/28/2018
Copics - Take Two | Tracy Marie Lewis | www.stuffnthingz.com

Ok folks, The two coloring mediums I re-supplied with early in January did not satisfy my need for color. They are great to work but twelve total colors was not enough. Hub hoped that they could replace Copics, what was he thinking? The net result: time to get back into Copics. 

How often does one get the chance to re-acquire something as expensive as a set of Copic markers? For most people it is never. Combining previous Copic buying experiences, and armed with the knowledge of what colors were used the most, it was time to go shopping. 

The Copic Sketch markers are a system that includes a one time purchase of the entire unit, but from there you replace the nibs and ink as needed. Unless your dog chews on a barrel and ruins it, the bulk of the price is in the barrel. The permanent nature of these markers led me be comfortable buying used for myself, family and friends without hesitation.

The absolute best price around for used markers is eBay. Because insurance had already paid for replacing them, the larger the used set was all the better (entire sets are very rare). Once the initial used set of Copics has been acquired, the next best price option is buying the markers from an on line store with a low free shipping minimum, allowing slowly completing the set (this is great for budgeting!). 

Here was my short list of must-haves:

1. Sketch markers only, no mixing the markers types. (Sketch markers are the only Copic style that come in all 358 colors, Caio come in 180, Original in 214 - Original has nine tip options including a superfine nib. I own 18 Original markers with superfine nib for detail coloring - these were recovered from our trailer collision.)

2. Blending sets - in a variety of colors, preferrably in all the basic colors including: sky blue, middle blue, red, pink, violet, leaf green, olive green, orange, yellow, ivory, cream, brown, warm gray, cool gray

3. Flourescents - are awesome for cards, being very vibrant, however, they are rarely part of a used set. Will likely have to buy new.

4. Metallics - a set of colors used together to simulate gold, old gold, silver, steel, brass and copper. Some colors are common, but a few will need to be bought new.

The goal was to find a used "crafter's" Sketch marker set, NOT a random mix of new Sketch markers without duplicates (these are very common on eBay). Not on the must-have list, but a strong preference is that this used set come in a case/cases. The goal was to pay less than $3.50 per pen. eBay has ALOT of new "random" sets, but the mixes in them weren't getting me close enough to the above four bullet must-have list.

Finally a promising used set came up, 110 markers in 2x 72 slot cases. 3 of the pens were duplicates, dropping the unique pens down to 107. It came with the following blending colors:

Greens - G20, 24, 29 and G40, 43, 46

Yellow - Y11, 13, 15, 17

Red R22, 24, 29, 35, 39

Pink - R81, 83, 85

Sky Blue - B01, 02, 04 and 21, 24, 29

Blue-Periwinkle B63, 66, 69

Grays - N2, 4, 6 and C1, 5  and W3 This was a perfect start for the greys including the existin superfine N5, N7, W5, C5, C7 I already have.

The set included some random colors. It did not have many lights. A few light blues for the sky: B0000, BG0000 will be required. The other lights are rarely used in my types of projects. My lowball offer was accepted! The two cases are $58 each, new on Amazon, but the used crafter market price is $20 each. Subtracting the duplicate markers and the value of the cases, the final price paid was $2.94 per unique marker, easily beating the goal price of $3.50 each.

Phase two included the purchase of 18 fill in the gaps new markers including the flourescents, blending trio fill-ins and a couple of sky colored lights in 000, price paid $5.24 each. 

There remains one final order to complete an ivory and cream blending set which are great to color "whites". Think, Ice Skates or Polar Bears etc. Also in this order will finish the 4th bullet - metals.

Up in my mom's attic, were two 36 slot cases as well as a spare large tote that matches a tote already reclaimed. These totes combined with the extra cases should allow storage of over 330 markers. 

Finally, here is the complete "starter" set, tailored to the four requirements listed above.

[16] G000, 02, 05, 09, 16, 19, 20, 24, 29, 29*, 40, 43, 46, 82, 94, 99*

[10] YG0000, 00, 03, 09, 11, 13, 17, 61, 63, 67

[10] Y00, 11, 13, 15, 17, 21, 28, 32, 35, 38

[10] YR01, 02, 04, 07*, 09, 20, 21, 23, 61, 65

[13] R11, 14, 20, 21, 22, 24, 29, 35, 39, 59*, 81, 83, 85

[7] RV000, 10, 17, 19, 21, 29, 32

[11] V000, 04, 06, 09, 12, 15, 17, 20, 25, 91, 93

[7] BV02, 04, 08, 11, 13, 20, 31

[9] BG000, 10, 13, 15, 45, 70, 72, 75, 78

[19] B0000, 000, 01, 02, 04, 21, 23, 24, 29, 32, 39, 39*, 60, 63, 66, 69, 91, 93, 95

[31] E000, 00, 02, 04, 07, 07* 08, 09*, 11, 13, 23, 27*, 31, 33, 35, 37, 37* 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 47, 50, 51, 53, 55*, 57*, 59*, 77*

[5] C1, 3, 5, 5*, 7*

[4] W1, 3, 5*, 7

[6] N0, 2, 4, 5*, 6, 7*

[8] Flourescents FRV1, FYR1, FY1, FYG1, FV2, FYG2, FBG2, FB2

[2] Misc 0 and 100*

168 total pens that will fit in the first tote. I created a video demoing many aspects of this article. Video length 19 min 23 sec.

New Copic Project - Chinese Lanterns | Tracy Marie Lewis | www.stuffnthingz.com
Supplies Used In This Project: 

Thanks for stopping by, please feel free to leave comments or questions, I am here to help!

~Tracy

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