Sharpie

Sharpie is a line of permanent marker pens in the United States and the United Kingdom that are manufactured by Newell Brands. Once produced by the company Sanford, Newell Brands took over the Sharpie and Sanford lines in 1999.^[1]

Sharpie markers are made with many tips. The most common and popular is the Fine tip. Other tips include Micro Point, Ultra Fine Point, Extra Fine Point, Brush Tip, Chisel Tip, Magnum Tip and Retractable Tip. There have been 124 fine point colors, and 91 ultra fine point colors made ever since 1964. Some colors are discontinued, others are considered "core" or widely available, and others have a different formulation that makes them different from other colors. The currently known packs that have a different formulation are Metallics, Neons, and Touch-Ups.^[2][3]

Over the years, some of the colors have had their ink color changed in production for unknown reasons, making them very inconsistent.^[4]

Sharpie's Motto is "We are THE BOLD ORIGINAL, genuine article, and cultural icon of Permanent Markers."^[5]

Colors range across the spectrum including neon and metallics as well. The hex code is an approximate for the actual color.

In 1964 Sanford introduced the original permanent marker in only one color and in one tip size, fine point. This marker can write on multiple surfaces such as glass, wood, and paper.^[5]

The Classic pack is the first pack to include other colors besides the original Black marker. These colors also only came out in fine point when this pack was originally introduced.

The Vibrant pack was released in 2001 after the Classic group. This pack of Sharpies introduced four new colors, Berry, Aqua, Turquoise, and Lime. In 2002, Tangerine and Magenta were added.

This group of markers must always be stored cap side down for best results, this helps the ink to keep running smoothly and to work the way that it should. The first metallic marker introduced to the Sharpie market was Silver in 2002. For the 2011 Olympics, Gold and Bronze (originally Copper) metallic markers entered the market. Lastly, during the 2018 holiday season, Emerald, Ruby, and Sapphire metallic markers were released.

This is a limited edition set that was released in 2003. Plum, Burgundy, Marigold, and Olive have been discontinued. Plum and Burgundy were re-released for a limited time, until being discontinued again.^[8]

2004 brought pastels to market, all can be found in ultra fine and fine points.

Three touch up markers were introduced to market, but they were shortly discontinued after they were released.

This set of Sharpies were released in 2006 in both ultra fine and fine groups. Only Slate Grey is still in production.

This set of Sharpies was released in 2006. All colors are still available except for Kiwi and Almond, which have been discontinued. Both fine and ultra fine sets were released as well.

2007 brought five new colors to market, all of which are now discontinued.

This group of Sharpies brings 5 new colors to the year 2008, but all were discontinued in 2010. Earl Grey was re-released for a short period of time in a specialty box.^[8]

This group of markers was released in 2009, with Surf being the only marker to still be made today. Coconut and Flamingo were re-released for a short time in 2015 then discontinued again.

2011 brought to market 80's Glam. This is the longest running set still in production, with both ultra fine and fine point sets made. The top five colors listed were released exclusively to the 80's Glam collection but were then included among other newer groups.

Five neon colors were introduced in 2013. They are a new concept that glows under a fluorescent light.

This limited-edition set was released in 2015, all are still made in ultra fine and fine sets.

This new set was released in 2016. Though the set claims that the new colors are a "limited edition", all colors are still in production.

This set dropped ten new colors in 2017. All colors are still in production today.

2021 brought fourteen brand new Sharpie colors in both ultra fine and fine sets.

In 2022, we were introduced to the Portrait Colors, a group of 12 skin tone-colored markers. The colors, as of 2024, only came in fine point sets.

This is the latest set to be released. While none are considered new, Vibrant Purple and Dusty Pink (both formerly mystery colors from 2021) had their names changed to Bright Purple and Dusty Rose respectively in this set.

• Sharpie's website