nanoblock Swiss Army Pen Knife

I have been a long time MacGyver fan, so needless to say, I am also a big fan of the Swiss Army Pen Knife ... Hahaha =) ... Here's a nanoblock replica of the Victorinox Spartan model that MacGyver uses most of the time =D

nanoblock Pad Review

Whenever you start a new nanoblock build, the first step usually requires you to layout a bunch of bricks in a specific way, then in the next step, you have to very carefully place bricks on top of it. Usually, this results in all the bricks you so carefully placed in the first step to move and get jumbled up again. Sounds familiar? 

Well, good news, Kawada has created a new tool to resolve this particular problem and it's called the nanoblock Pad.

On the back of the box above, you can see they printed a comic strip that clearly illustrates the frustration I described earlier. Below are photos of the nanoblock Pad itself.

nanoblock Pad closed

nanoblock Pad opened up

The entire nanoblock Pad is made of soft silicon. When you hold it up with your hands, it feels wobbly. The cover of the nanoblock Pad does not "lock" in any way when you close it, so you can forget about putting some bricks in there to bring it with you to build on the go. Actually, the cover serves no purpose at all. I would have preferred they just make a 40x40 silicon base plate. It would have allowed me to build bigger things and I can layout a few pieces side by side for even larger builds.

Anyway, aside from that issue, it does serve the purpose it was designed to do and works well. When you lay your bricks on the nanoblock Pad, it just rest on it a bit loosely. The studs on the nanoblock Pad does not actually grip the bricks tightly. This is a good thing, because it lets you easily lift up the stuff you built, as you can see in the photos below.

Conclusion

The nanoblock Pad works well for its intended purpose, but if you buy it thinking you can use it like a travel pack to nanoblock on the go, you will be disappointed. Also, I have to say, the nanoblock Pad is a dust magnet and being black in colour just makes it all the more obvious. 

That said, I would still recommend this product because there is no other alternative out there right now. 

You can get the nanoblock Pad on Amazon.

nanoblock Tweezers Review

Have you been building and taking apart nanoblock sets using just your fingers? Sometimes, you need to place a small piece at a cramped location and your fingers are too fat to fit. Taking apart nanoblock bricks can also be a real pain, especially if you have just cut your nails recently. 

Well, I bring good news. There is an official nanoblock tool made to take most of your pain away. nanoblock Tweezers (NB-019) is a solid steel tweezer designed specially for nanoblock use. I bought mine from Plamoya for about USD12.00.

It comes in a simple plastic bag packaging with instructions on the back showing you how to use the tool properly. As you can see below, it looks really solid. When you hold it in your hands, the substantial weight (25.3g) makes it feel really solid too. It is definitely very well made and I love the quality. 

What makes this tool special is the tip that was designed to properly hold onto the stud of a nanoblock brick. When I use it to grip a brick while applying reasonable force on the tweezer, it really holds onto the brick very tightly thanks to the perfect fit. 

Specially designed tip

It holds onto a brick securely

Personally, I still prefer to use my fingers when building because it is just a lot more convenient. It is only when you need to place a brick in some inaccessible location that the tweezer comes in handy. The tip of the tweezer is designed to fit in tight spaces as shown below.

Where this tool really shines is when you need to disassemble a nanoblock set. When you need to pull apart nanoblock bricks, having this tweezer makes it so much easier and faster. No more worries about damaging your nails. The best way to use this tool to pull bricks apart is to grip the end stud and pull straight up. 

Especially for the bigger bricks, grip the end stud
to pull it apart. 

I tried to use excessive strength to grip the tweezer to see if it might damage a brick, but the brick still looks fine, so you do not have to worry about damaging bricks.

Conclusion

If you plan to nanoblock a lot, especially if you take apart your nanoblock sets often, I would highly recommend getting this tweezer. It may be a bit expensive, but I believe it is worth the price for the kind of quality you are getting. 

You can get this nanoblock tweezer from Amazon and Plamoya.