Poppin was kind enough to send a few samples this way.
Their pencils and erasers form a nice duo. (They also sent some ballpoints, but we won’t speak of those.)
The pencil is round and has black dyed wood and black finish with an integrated (black) eraser without metal ferrule. The lettering and trim are silver, and they list for $3 a dozen. The erasers are three for $2. Rather remarkable for the price. I know this pencil will appeal to a lot of people because black dyed pencils are a regular topic in the blog inbox.
The lead is dark and rich, yet scratchy and gritty. Almost right, yet problematic.
The block eraser is reasonable:
The black eraser mainly smears:
Poppin uses custom packaging. Air pockets:
Cardboard box:
Internal box divider:
At first, I couldn’t tell how they sold (or intended to sell) their product. My reading of their website suggests they love corporate accounts, but also sell directly.
I used one pencil and one eraser – I’ll send the other eleven pencils and two erasers via Canada Post to the first commenter who mentions that they would like to receive them.