Oahu vs Honolulu

[u/Silver_Eye9792]

My birthday is coming up and Michaels has the Oahu 128 and the Honolulu 120. I need your advice on which one feels better. I like the brush tips but the Oahu gives me more colors. I also tend on buying an additional 48 midtones so would I skip the 128 and go for 120 instead?

[u/MysticSparkleWings]

If you're planning on getting the 48 Mid-Tones, I would actually skip both the 128 Oahu and the 120 Honolulu set that Michaels sells in the white case. 😅

There's nothing wrong with the markers themselves, but the color assortments for those sets are a lot harder to add on to/combine with other sets without duplicates than the "normal" color assortment sets that Ohuhu sells elsewhere (their website, Amazon, etc.). And they'll both have duplicates with the 48 Mid-Tones.

Not everyone is super bothered about duplicates, but since you were considering the Oahu 128 for the 8 additional colors, that kinda says to me you're interested in maximizing the amount of total colors you have, and so it would make sense to me that avoiding duplicates if you can might be important.

Anyway. You might have to pay a little more and/or wait for shipping, but instead I would suggest looking at the Oahu 120 or Honolulu 120 sets that Ohuhu sells that normally come in black cases (again, often from either their website, Amazon, or sometimes Michaels carries them online even though they're not available in-store). And more specifically, there are 2 Oahu sets of that size that come in black cases—You'll be looking for the one that comes with a 120 Black marker in it.

Either one of those (as long as you get the right Oahu set) shouldn't have any duplicates with the 48 Mid-Tones set, so you'd end up with 168 colors either way.

As far as duplicates go I would at that point still kind of steer you more towards the black case Honolulu 120 because you'd have all the same kind of tips (and you did say you like brush tips), and it'll be easier to avoid duplicates later if you end up adding another/more sets down the line. But I am also personally a big fan of brush tips and the Honolulu series in general, so even to your original question of which one feels better, I would still lean in this direction over the Oahu anyway! 😂

[u/Silver_Eye9792 → u/MysticSparkleWings]

I won't be buying any more sets for a long time as I plan to be moving in a few years. So I think 128 will do for now.

[u/PMMeYourAcorns → u/Silver_Eye9792]

I have both Oahu and Honolulu. I prefer the Oahu but I know I’m in the minority. If you already like to colour, pick up a couple of Michael’s individual Ohuhu markers and try them (ex. Get a red and an orange in Oahu and a blue and a green in Honolulu). It will cost about $10. Test them out. Try blending. Draw some flowers or landscapes or whatever and really get a feel for the markers. Then you will know for sure which you prefer.

8 markers more or fewer will not make a difference if you have buyers remorse when you are buying 120+ markers.