Papier Platz x Eric Small Things Notebook Review

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter. And her latest book, The Atropine Tree, is now available!)

Can you ever have too many pocket notebooks? No, of course you can't. That was a trick question. I will always be excited by a pocket notebook, and this one is extra adorable.

The Papier Platz collaboration with Eric Small Things brings us this wee treasure. The highlight is the vinyl cover, which is a cheery shade of orange and decorated with images of pleasant things. There are other colors available: a bright blue, a navy blue, and a grey--each with unique illustrations on the cover. The cover itself is a standard sleeve-style book jacket, where the cardstock covers of the notebook insert slide into a folder pocket on each side. The vinyl adds that pop of decoration while protecting the notebook insert from the danger of everyday carry.

The notebook inside the cover, which comes with it, is a very decent pocket notebook. It's thicker than most, with 192 pages (96 sheets) of 4mm graph paper inside. It also has a built-in ribbon bookmark for keeping your place. It's well constructed, with a sturdy binding that should survive being carried around for the length of time it will take to get through all those pages.

There are some downsides to the notebook, though. First, you can't buy replacement inserts for the vinyl cover, so while the cover is removable, it isn't refillable. It's also not quite a standard size, so you can't substitute a refill from another brand. And that also leads to the second piece of bad news, which is that the paper isn't very fountain pen friendly. It does say that it is, but my experience with it involved some bleed-through.

I still think this is a good notebook--it's great for work, where I'm often not using fountain pens anyway, or for making quick notes when I'm out and about. The notebook costs $10.25 on JetPens, which is fair for the sturdy cover and generous serving of pages.

Papier Platz also have a wide variety of accessories like washi tapes, sticky notes, and stickers that go well with this notebook, if it needs friends. A lot of it is very cute, and much of it celebrates the joy of stationery, which we can all relate to.

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

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Papier Platz x Eric Small Things Notebook Back Cover
Posted on December 19, 2024 by Sarah Read and filed under Papier Platz, Eric Small Things, Notebook Reviews.

Zebra Sarasa Nano Vintage Color Set Review

Zebra Sarasa Nano Vintage Color Set Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

The Zebra Sarasa gel ink pens are well-known to anyone in this community, and it's for good reason. They feature vibrant colors, smooth flowing gel ink, and a nifty spring clip for attaching the pen to things. When I received a pack of Sarasa Nano pens, I was curious to find out what made them different than the standard Sarasa Clip version. While the Nano line is a bit more premium, they still use the same refills.

The Zebra Sarasa Nano line's main difference is the clever internal spring that provides a nice suspension for the refill to ride on while you write. In practice, this makes the pen feel like a smoother instrument when writing thanks to the small amount of give the spring affords when exerting pressure on the tip. Aside from this, the Nano also has a premium metal nose cone and a completely black body (unlike the transparent body of the Sarasa Clip).

Another key difference from the Sarasa Clip line is the tip size selection. For the Sarasa Nano Vintage Color set I have, you only have one choice: 0.38mm. There are some other Nano pens that have matching body colors and use a 0.3mm tip, but for all the pens with a black body, they all use a 0.38mm tip size. Compare this to the standard Sarasa Clip line, which offers options from 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.7, and a handful of 1.0mm tips.

Luckily, you can swap in any standard Sarasa refill in the Nano body if you want to use the fancy spring suspension system on larger tip size refills.

So, how does the Nano perform compared to other pens that don't include a shock absorber? It's a subtle difference, but it's definitely noticeable — especially if you are comparing with other 0.38mm pens at the same time. With any small tip size pen, it can feel like the refill is a bit scratchy given the tiny size. For me, I tend to be a bit heavy-handed, so this scratchy feeling is something I can agree with on typical small tip pens I use. With the Nano, it doesn't feel as scratchy or like I'm writing with a stiff nail.

If you press the tip of the refill against the page and apply pressure, you can see the refill retract slightly as the spring absorbs the resistance. When writing, it's extremely subtle to the point that you don't realize it's happening. I assume that this is by design — if you could actually feel the tip springing while you write, that would be incredibly distracting and would require you to alter your writing style a bit. The pressure is just right for normal writing.

Aside from the satin-finish metal nose cone and internal spring system, this is a standard Sarasa. The clip is largely the same — the only difference is the shape of the clip is a bit more petit compared to the standard Clip line.

The five colors that are included in the Vintage Colors Set (for $12.50) are Cassis Black (dark red), Green Black, Blue Black, Blue Gray, and Sepia Black. There is also a "Basic" color set that includes what I think to be the better color combination (pink, red, orange, blue, and black). The Vintage colors are all dark, but the blue black, green black, and sepia black are incredibly hard to tell apart. For me, the colors in this set do not excite me. But, for other people, this could be a great color combination that they love! That's the beauty of stationery.

The final difference I'll point out between the standard Sarasa Clip and the Nano is price. At JetPens, the standard Sarasa Clip is $1.75. The Nano, however, is $2.95. This is likely due to a variety of factors, such as the extra bits for the spring suspension, the metal nose cone, and the fact that (I believe) the Nano is a newer product. Still, when you remember that both pens use the same refills, it's a bit difficult for me to swallow the large price gap. I'm a huge fan of the Sarasa Clip body — I think they're really comfortable and work great. For me, the Nano body and shock absorber don't do much for me. For almost twice the price, it doesn't make sense. The shock absorbing body is novel, but I can also adjust my writing style to suite the standard Sarasa with little effort.

The Zebra Sarasa Nano is an interesting product, but I'm not sure it differentiates itself enough from the standard line to justify its existence. I'd love to hear other opinions about the Nano and how it works better for you than the standard Sarasa! For me, I'm happy to stick with my dozens of Sarasa Clips for the time being.

(JetPens 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!

Posted on December 18, 2024 by Jeff Abbott and filed under Zebra, Sarasa, Gel, Pen Reviews.