9 pc Pure Komachi Block Set

I have had these knives for two and a half years now and they still provide good service. After about a year, however, they were in real need of sharpening -- don't think they will stay sharp forever. The good news is they can be sharpened without special worries -- I use this sharpener B007Y15LD4 but any standard one should do the trick. There are no sharpening instructions with the knives, nor is there any on the company's website. I sent an e-mail to customer service and got a noncommittal answer. They said the straight-edged knives could be sharpened normally but recommended I buy their sharpener. They also said the serrated blades should be sharpened professionally. I didn't feel the cost and quality of the knives justified the expense of professional sharpening so I just use the serrated blade groove of the sharpener listed above, and that works OK. I really like them and give them five stars for the price -- note the "for the price" caveat, which is important. My wife doesn't care for them and would probably give them three stars. She thinks we should have spent more on a good European set like Henckels. I disagree. I like the colors and think the knives are great for non-professionals, they just will need some sharpening on a regular basis after a while. . However, the colors also have one major drawback for households with little kids. These are the same colors used on plastic kids' toys, and our 2.5 year old son thinks they must be great to play with. We have to pay special attention to keeping them away from him. If they were black and boring, he would probably be less interested. The colors have not come off even after a lot of washing with the scoury side of kitchen sponges -- except the little green paring knife, from which the colors scratched badly on the side of the knife during what I thought was normal washing as we had washed earlier. Perhaps I got hold of a sponge with a steel wool scouring side? Not sure what was different, but once and only once, the color came off badly from one of the knives.