For years, the go-to sketching pencil among American doodlers has been the SANFORD Col-Erase—especially the red one. I’ve used it myself for ages. But lately, trying to import it privately has become ridiculously expensive due to shipping costs.
Why is the red Col-Erase so popular? It goes back to the animation industry, where artists used red and blue pencils on training paper to indicate movable parts. The fact that these colors were erasable made them incredibly useful.
Now, you’d think the eraser attached to the Col-Erase would be convenient—but it’s practically useless. It doesn’t erase cleanly at all. In fact, it smudges the paper and makes things worse.
When my stock ran out, I switched to Mitsubishi Uni’s “Art Erase Color” pencils. These are also erasable and, as expected from Mitsubishi, they’re smooth and easy to draw with. But I just couldn’t get used to the thick, round barrel. Mitsubishi used to sell a pencil literally called “Erasable Red Pencil,” but sadly, it’s been discontinued.
So I went on a hunt for something closer to the Col-Erase and finally discovered BAMBOLA’s erasable red pencil. First off, the price is amazing—just ¥599 for a dozen on Amazon (as of August 23, 2025), which comes out to about ¥50 per pencil. Even if you bulk order Col-Erase by the thousand, it’s still not this cheap.
And here’s the kicker: the eraser actually works. It erases cleanly. That might sound like a basic expectation, but for those of us who’ve lived with the Col-Erase’s useless eraser for years, it’s honestly a revelation.
The only minor drawback is that the barrel seems to be made of plastic. But it sharpens smoothly, so it’s not really a problem in practice.
All in all, I’m thrilled to have found an affordable, erasable red pencil that actually works.
