NFP Design Block 6 Pen Box Review

I met the team from NFP Design at this year’s Washington D.C. Pen Show, and came away impressed. Not only are they great people who took the time to share their story with me, I have been in love with the products I came home with.

One of those products, the 2-pen Tile, was too cool to keep for myself, so I added it to the recent Raffle for St. Jude. It features beautiful traditional Turkish artwork on the exterior, and would be a stylish addition to any workspace.

The product I hung on to for my own desk, and for this review, is the awesomely Orange 6-pen Block. It does come in other great colors - such as Purple, Green, Yellow, Blue, and Grey - but Orange! I wasn’t going to pass this one up.

Given the architecture background of the founder of NFP, you can bet the technical aspects of the Block are completely dialed in and refined. The square shape of the Block 6 features slightly beveled edges and rounded corners. There are two notches on each side near the opening to assist with opening. Once open, the brass hinges allow for the lid to be open fully, and stay in place. The 6 interior slots are lined, and sturdy - not pliable to the touch - and fixed in place. The exterior finish is spotless.

When you see a collection of design decisions made this well, you can’t help but be impressed with the end result.

That’s where I am with the Block 6. It’s as impressive to use as it is to look at. And priced fairly, too. This model is around $73 given the current conversion rates of the Turkish Lira to the US Dollar, and, even with another $40-ish dollars for shipping, puts it in a good spot. There is also a Block 11 model (around $91) available if you need more storage. Why not both?

Pen shows offer a great opportunity to meet new makers from around the world, especially shows as large and well-attended as Washington D.C.. I’m fortunate to be able to make these trips, and love sharing stories about the people I meet. Huge thanks to NFP Design for their time, and for sending me home with some great products.

(NFP Design provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

---

Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!

Sonic Utlim Sma Sta Canvas Bag in Bag Review

(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)

Up for review is the Sonic Utlim Sma Sta Canvas Bag in Bag in Ivory. It is a zipper pouch that doubles as a stand for your accessories.

When closed, the Utlim measures about 7.5” wide by 7” tall and 2.25” deep (19 cm x 17.5cm x 6xm). The back of the case, which houses a pair of magnets, is fairly stiff. It is primarily canvas with a “leather accent stripe”, though I could not tell if it was real leather or not.

Some potential uses for the Utlim: stationery and phone, cables, plugs/chargers or toiletries.

It looks a little strange from the back.

It is a bit of an odd shape as it isn’t exactly rectangular since the sides kind of bulge out - I’m not sure if it’s the design or the zipper or what. The base isn’t very wide, so it doesn’t stand up very well when zipped; in fact, it worked better upside down, probably because the top is 0.25” wider.

Unzipping the Utlim from the front, where there is some elastic on the front and a zipper on the other side.

After you unzip the front, you need to push the back side down so the magnets stick together, forming a stand/mini pouch, then you have to turn it around to use it. I found that kind of weird

This is a front view of an unzipped Utlim with the magnets engaged on the back.

Insert earworm: “Turn around….”

I was able to fit a Traveler’s Company passport size cover & inserts, a couple rolls of washi tape, and a glue stick in the main compartment, as well as some washi tape samples and a couple of pens in the elastic. I was also able to fit two rolls of washi tape in the zippered pouch.

This particular Utlim is marketed as an A6 case, and I was successfully able to fit an A6 Hobonichi (with cover), along with the above accessories.

A6 Hobonichi A6 with my iPhone 13 Pro in the pouch.

I was able to zip up the Utlim with the phone in the pocket with minimal issue, but the phone ends up in the upper portion of the pouch, making it top heavy.

You can also put your phone in portrait mode, giving you a little more room for items you want handy.

Side profile of the Utlim with the phone in the stand. As you can see, the angle is pretty vertical.

If you want your phone to be more angled back, you can separate the magnets, but whatever you’re carrying in the main pouch or the flap itself, will likely get in the way.

The 2” bottom also means that you can’t really fit anything wider than that in the lower part of the pouch. I was able to fit a small bottle of vitamins (phone was removed) but I wasn’t able to fit two Hobonichis. The vitamins made the pouch bulge forward a bit as expected when I zipped it up.

Even though the Utlim tag suggests a possible use as a toiletry bag, I did not try to get it wet or dirty, so I don’t know if the canvas would stand up to the inevitable moisture and stains.

It doesn’t hold a lot and anything I’d put in the “stand” portion would likely fall out as soon as I zipped it closed.

Here it is inside my Bellroy Tokyo Tote that I use as a journaling bag (along with a regular size Traveler’s Notebook, an A5 PLOTTER pouch, a binder of clear stamps, some ink pads, vial holders and washi tape.)

That said, it does its job of holding various products in a zippered pouch that converts into a stand. It could be handy for someone who needs a little organizer pouch in their backpack/tote and isn’t looking for something with a lot of capacity. And the stand is a neat feature, as long as you don’t need to store anything in that space.

The Sonic Utlim Sma Sta A6 Canvas Bag sells for $35 on JetPens and is also available in Gray. There is also a standing pen case that is also available in the two colors for $25.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

PLOTTER Grain Leather Pen Case Review

I picked up the PLOTTER Grain Leather Pen Case at the Chicago Pen Show earlier this Spring. Did you know they made pen cases? I didn’t, until I was standing in front of their table in May. So, what’s a person in my situation to do? Buy one, of course!

Yes, it was a spur of the moment decision. I mean, have you handled one of these yet? They are so soft. And the color I chose, this Natural leather, is not available on the website. FOMO much?

I’ve spent ample time with this case since then, primarily on my desk. That is a telling factor, because I don’t think this design is good enough for every day portable carry. Let me break it down.

First off, the positive: this case feels amazing. The leather is thin and soft, while providing enough protection. The finishing around the seams, pocket, zipper, and magnet are perfect. To no ones surprise, it is extremely well made.

Functionality is where this case falls off, and I have an opinion as to why. I use a lot of fountain pens, and this case is not designed for these larger pens. PLOTTER also does not sell any fountain pens, so given that, maybe it is perfectly designed for what they sell. If I was loading this case with two of their ballpoints and two of their mechanical pencils - with some extra leads and erasers in the pocket - maybe I would have had a better time with it.

The fact remains that I use a lot of different pens and pencils, and this case is not a good fit for most of them.

Watch those clips!

The pen slots are too narrow, and too close together. The flap to cover the pens is too short. Pen clips touch when you roll it closed. When closed, the pens sit on each other awkwardly, giving it that poorly wrapped burrito vibe. And this is before I attempt to put anything into the zip pocket, which only exacerbates the situation.

I want it to be good. For highly-specific setups, it can be. For more random use, especially with fountain pens, it is not good enough.

A proper setup, with narrower pens and clips turned inward. The zip pouch holds more than you think.

Will PLOTTER run out version two of this product? I kind of hope not, because I would like to see a complete rework, not an iteration of this one. I don’t think it can get there from here.

If you are interested in carrying your narrower pens and pencils (maybe it is my Spoke Design case?) then I do think you will enjoy it. Even at $85, it is more than fairly priced for what it is, and is available in three different color options - Brown, Gray, and Navy - to boot. Just be very sure it fits your needs before making the purchase.

(I purchased this product from PLOTTER at the 2023 Chicago Pen Show at a discount.)

---

Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!