1998 Crayola Color Slicks: A Shiny Little Late-90s Surprise

Some Crayola boxes feel like a simple product test. Others immediately turn into a tiny research rabbit hole.

My 1998 Crayola Color Slicks 24-count box definitely fell into the second category. 🖍️✨

A Box That Looked Like a Simple Comparison

When I started filming this video, my plan was pretty straightforward: compare the 1998 Color Slicks 24-pack to a standard Crayola 24-pack from around the same time.

I had a 1997 standard 24-count box ready to use as the comparison. Nice and simple, right?

Not quite.

Once I started looking closely at the color names, I realized this Color Slicks set was doing something very different. Instead of the familiar Crayola names many of us grew up with, this box used much more literal color descriptions: names like Blue Green, Blue Violet, Yellow Orange, and other straightforward combinations.

That instantly made the set more interesting.

The Color Names Were the Real Story

The most fascinating thing about this box is how literal the crayon names are.

A regular Crayola 24-count box usually has color names that feel familiar, nostalgic, and sometimes even a little poetic: colors like Macaroni and Cheese, Burnt Sienna, Scarlet, Goldenrod, and Apricot.

But this Color Slicks box feels more direct and art forward. The names describe what the colors are instead of giving them a more traditional Crayola personality.

That does not make them boring. In fact, it makes the box feel like its own little color system.

Instead of asking, “Why doesn’t this match a standard 24-pack?” the better question became:

Why did this specialty box use such literal names?

Color Slicks Had Their Own Personality

Color Slicks feel very late-90s in the best way.

The box, the concept, and the crayon finish all have that shiny, slightly experimental energy Crayola specialty products often had during this era. These were not just standard crayons in a different package. The whole set felt like it was trying to offer a different coloring experience.

And honestly? It worked.

The crayons colored very well. They were smooth, rich, and much more satisfying than I expected from a vintage specialty set. Sometimes older crayons can be dry, faint, or a little stubborn, but these still had plenty of life left in them.

Literal Names, Beautiful Color

After filming the box details, I laid out all 24 colors and swatched each one.

This is always one of my favorite parts of testing vintage crayons because it gives the product a chance to speak for itself. Packaging is wonderful, but the swatches show what the crayons can actually do.

And these Color Slicks delivered.

The full swatch chart made the literal naming style even more noticeable. Seeing colors labeled in a straightforward way — like Blue Green or Yellow Orange — next to smooth, vivid swatches made the set feel almost educational. It reminded me of color theory language: primary colors, secondary colors, and the in-between shades that help explain how colors relate to each other.

That gives the box a different personality from a standard Crayola box. It feels less like a collection of familiar crayon “characters” and more like a shiny little study in color relationships.

Why This Box Matters

The 1998 Color Slicks box is a great example of why I want Crayolona to document more than just the most famous Crayola products.

Not every item is a major milestone. Not every box changed the history of coloring. But specialty sets like this help show how Crayola experimented with color, texture, naming, and presentation over time.

This box is especially interesting because the names are so practical and descriptive. That choice says something about the product. It makes Color Slicks feel separate from the everyday 24-count box, even though the number of crayons is the same.

It is a small detail, but small details are often where the history lives.

Final Thoughts

I went into this video expecting a simple comparison between a specialty box and a standard 24-pack.

Instead, I found a shiny late-90s set with smooth color payoff, a surprisingly literal naming style, and another reminder that Crayola history is often hiding in the details.

The 1998 Crayola Color Slicks 24-count box turned out to be more than a fun vintage test. It became a little snapshot of Crayola’s experimental side — colorful, direct, slightly unexpected, and absolutely worth documenting.

Documenting the history, nostalgia & wonder of Crayola, one item at a time.