Tombow ABT Pro Full Review & Fieldtest

Hey Artnerds! Yall tried to warn me away, but I just had to try them anyway! Today we're taking a look at the Tombow ABT Pro Markers, and talking about why they are not a good fit for your studio! Stick around- this video includes the fieldtest!
Help support more art supply reviews:
Patreon: patreon.com/nattosoup
KoFi: ko-fi.com/nattosoup
Better Marker Alternatives:
Inexpensive, refillable, great brush- Blick Studio Brush Markers: tinyurl.com/yy2lk9a9
Cheap, not refillable, passable brush- Ohuhu Brush: tinyurl.com/y2zr37zt
Easy to blend, great for monochrome- Spectrum Noir Tri-Blend: tinyurl.com/y6qkputx
Art shown in the sketchbook flip:
Milo Art: tinyurl.com/y2ddg7sp
Milo Pro: tinyurl.com/y53qfzlg
Shuttle Art: tinyurl.com/y4l53gtq
Ohuhu Brush: tinyurl.com/y5dzadsh
Mentioned in this video:
Spectrum Noir TriBlend Monochrome Illustrations
Coral: tinyurl.com/y6qkputx (fieldtest)
Hydrangea
Tombow Mono Erasers
Tombow Fudenosuke Brushpens
Akashiya Sai Thin Line Brushpens: tinyurl.com/y4e6dk5a
Uni NanoDia Colored Leads: tinyurl.com/y5tqpdcq
Easy Blending Triads (tutorial): tinyurl.com/y4w9f5mh
Tombow ABT Pro Shownotes:
Full Transcript here: tinyurl.com/yy6qa2rw
Colors in this 5 piece set-
131, 133, 126, 177, 249
There are a variety of color sets as well as larger sets- sets are either 5 piece color themed sets, or 12 piece themed sets.
Michaels site has them openstock, for $5.99 each: tinyurl.com/yywwbgjp
Blick site: tinyurl.com/yxr5z35e
Tombow ABT Pro:
107 total colors, plus a blender
Brush and chisel tip
Not Refillable
10 color families- YG, Y, YR, R, RV, V, BV, B, BG, G
Tombow Site: tinyurl.com/y3x6oeeb
Can’t find mention of them (Tombow ABT Pro) on the Japanese Tombow site, but regular ABT is all over the place.
Tombow ABT Markers: www.tombowusa.com/markers/abt...
Tombow Site, Pack of 5: $29.99
Michaels Site: $26.99 tinyurl.com/y6q2ynsz
Blick site: $22.46: tinyurl.com/yxr5z35e
$22.99 on Amazon: amzn.to/36QxOJW
Brush and Chisel tip
Nylon brush tip- promises flexibility
Fast drying ink (alcohol)
Single ink reservoir so color should match on both ends
permanent
Packaging:
Plastic reusable packaging. Taped shut, tape was very difficult to see, difficult to remove.
The Markers:
Slick plastic caps, matte body Color name is screened on body. Very similar to the Tombow ABT markers (will compare in a bit)
Brush Tip
Chisel Tip: Chisel tip seems really nice, comparable to the tri chisel tip on old Prismacolors
Caps have a notch to prevent them from just rolling off the table
Compared to other alcohol markers on the market:
Prismacolor- Brush and bullet
Copic Ciao- Brush and Chisel
Copic Sketch- Brush and Chisel
Blick Studio- Brush and Chisel
Ohuhu Brush- Brush and Chisel
Kurecolor- Brush and bullet
Neopiko- brush and bullet
Tombow ABT Pro- Brush and chisel
When swatching and fieldtesting, I'm looking for:
Flexibility in the brush tip
Fiber brushtip fraying or going mushy with use
Streakiness, inability to keep up with my coloring
Fraying or degredation of the Mixed Media paper
Bleeding
Blendability
Compatibility with other blenders
Swatching AND Fieldtesting in the ol faithful- a Strathmore Mixed Media sketchbook.
Swatching:
Brush seems a little dry. Inks seem a little bleedy. The chisel is indeed a tri-tip
Inkflow in brush struggles to keep up with markmaking, and seems like it'd go dry fast. This leads to fraying, and this brush already seems prone to fraying.
Blending:
Inkflow in these definitely seems like they can't keep up. They blend ehhh ok. Not the best, not the worst.
Blender Compatibility Test
Rubbing Alcohol
Blick Studio
Artist Loft
Copic
Ohuhu
All solvents cause at least some reaction, with Copic and Ohuhu having the most
Ball blending test:
These things really are dry, especially P131! I have legit concerns about doing a whole illustration with these.
The color selection in this set of five is a bit weird- there's a mix of warm and cool-toned grays which makes some of the blending transitions iffy at best. I went with greens because I love greens and I thought they'd be a fun monochrome challenge, but this set is just kinda odd.
And these are really whiffy- not the strongest smelling alcohol markers I've ever reviewed, but if you're sensitive to strong smells, these are not for you.
Fieldtest
THE BRUSHES START DETERIORATING AND LEAVING GRIT ALL OVER THE PLACE
I do not like these, and don't recommend them. Honestly, I even prefer Spectrum Noir's bullet tipped Tri Blend markers. Plus side though- they're so dry, they don't bleed through
Music:
Kevin MacLeod:
Tranquility
Silver Blue Light
Meditation Impromptu 03
Inner Light
Dream Culture
Bathed in Light
#TombowABTPro #TombowABTProreview #alcoholmarkers

[@kerrytesta5697]

I have these markers too, and have noticed the same flaws, but also I love them for what they are good at. Since the ink flow is a lot slower than other markers, and they have such a fine tip, I'm able to color tiny areas without ink seeping outside the lines.They are bad for coloring large areas like you said, totally true, although it is slightly better if you tip the brush completely on its side. The other sets of 5 have the same quirky mix of warms and cools, and since there are only 5 colors, it makes it hard to use on their own without other markers. I grabbed the sets because I was interested in the particular colors that were in them, not to use as a stand alone. My final sentiment is that the colors are *amazing*. They are delicately vibrant and I love love love them. Plus, they have gorgeous purples! I am constantly grabbing P606, P636, and P679. Hope you continue to use the ones you have for small detailed areas, and also kinda hope Tombow works to improve the product too (Like, there are no labels on the ends and the caps and don't nest! D= ). Thanks for making all the reviews that you do =)

[@AnimeSpinCycle1392]

For some reason michaels products like alcohol markers have been dry when I purchased them. A few years ago I purchased spectrum noir markers from michales and not even a week later and nearly using the markers most of the two sets of markers dried out on me. So I returned them again and got new sets from the same store and behold same results. I don’t know why but it has been my luck to get dry markers from Michaels and I tried their artist loft markers and they dried out quick on me too and some weird growth was growing on the marker brush and chisel nib parts. It’s like Michaels is the home of dried markers and markers come to dry there

[@yuckyskunk2021]

ive bought straight-up rock-solid tubes of paint from michaels. n theyre paints they *should* be selling a lot of; liquitex basics. literally the whole entire giant tube was completely unusable. not even paint. iunno if its covid or what, but they rly need to make sure their art supplies r in perfect condition as a bare minimum of being a fucking art store. if u ever have someone pick up paints for u, from michaels, tell them to feel all the tubes n get the squishiest one. if they have any hard ones u can be an upstanding citizen n go take em to the front n be like, ur paint is broken here. then maybe theyll stock more.

[@Msboochie2]

I have a set of these. I have quite a few of the water based ABT’s, that I bought the carry case from Tombow to hold them. I thought if I get these they will fit in the case alongside the water based markers. It looked like they were identical to the water based markers except in the barrel color. But of course they don’t fit at all. I am glad I only bought one of these small sets, otherwise I will have to find another way to store them..

[@josephpaulkamekawa44]

hi Becca! what toner printer are you using now is it still the HP? great work! keep it up :)

[@Nattosoup]

Yes, it is! It's the HP Color Laser Jet Pro M254dw. I am generally pretty happy with it, but I will recommend against using knock off toner drums, as that's permanently messed up mine.

[@snowqueen_8958]

I'm tempted to get these when I have the money....I love alcohol based markers and have you checked out the pen and gear brush pens

[@Nattosoup]

I haven't! Would you recommend them?

[@snowqueen_8958]

@@Nattosoup yes they are good I got a set from Walmart that were originally 30 bucks down to twenty

[@Nattosoup]

@@seattlerain4809 Ooph, I'm sorry to hear that. How long ago did you order them? I know USPS is having difficulties- did they provide a tracking #?

[@rhythmblack3830]

Saw these in Micheal's for a $1 each and grabbed as many colors as I could.

[@miffy66613]

I just did too, I've never really been a big alcohol-based marker person but at a $1 might as well try em out lol

[@MadebyDawn23]

Hey Becca try crafterscompanion.com for Spectrum Nior Tri Blend Brush

[@vermis8344]

"It's like you're paying for the privilege to be miserable!" Haha! Too snarky? Grief, no. _Honest._ If it's flawed, it's flawed. It's the _maker's_ job to soft-soap me! I like the monochrome illustration you came up with here. Gives a feeling of sunlight through upper leaves, casting green on everything. I gotta keep watching if that's what you do with _bad_ markers.

[@Nattosoup]

Thank you, you're too kind! I had a lot of fun doing the narration for this one- they were juuuust bad enough that they bring out the snark in me, and I didn't feel too guilty gunning for Tombow, as they generally make great products and really should know better!

[@yuckyskunk2021]

​@@Nattosoup bruh copic chisels r the bees knees, also literally like, 4 distinct, super easy lines: full horizontal slide, half horizontal slide, vertical slide, edge/corner. theyre deeeeefinitely not cheap *or* subpar quality, n the more different brands i try the more i love my copics which tbh shouldnt even be possible to love any more than i did on day one lol. they also look sooooooo beautiful n feel borderline sexual. i barely even use the chisel but every now n then i use it on a small scratch sheet of xpress it, just to feel its powerful lusty allure. i mean u can literally *see* the quality in the nibs. one thing i do wanna use the chisel more for, is textural work, but ive developed my brush control a lot lately, n i dont even know if thats a valid use for the chisel. but i still like using it on scratch sheets just cuz it feels soooo goooooood. one thing i think they need to work on for water-based n india ink markers, like the pitt pens, is like... those rigid nibs r beautiful for beginners but u switch back over to ur copics n ur like... oh... oooh yeah, oh yeah thats nice.

[@staceyowen703]

I find them better with athermarkers😊😊😊😊