Review: 'Olba Hobbybox' - paper punch set

Review of Olba 25 piece paper punch set

This blog has its main focus on polymer clay, but today I'll be reviewing a tool for a different category - paper, though still within the theme of miniatures (You can use it for other paper crafts as well).

Let me know if any of you are interested in miniature flower making and I'll make sure to have a post up this weekend, going through the materials and tools I use.. (And a couple of flower tutorials at some point).

I bought this set back in April when I was attending a miniature fair here in Denmark. One of my "neighbours" at the fair had a bunch of paper punches (and other things), and when I saw this set I just had to have it. The manufacturer is a dutch company, click to visit their website.

On the website this set costs 86,75€ not including shipping. It's a lot of money, and if I hadn't had a stall at the fair (thereby some extra cash for new materials), I probably wouldn't have allowed myself to purchase it without further consideration. BUT, you can buy the pliers by themself (+ 2 punches), and you can buy the  rest of the punches in smaller sets. Unfortunately you're not able to pick out the punches individually as far as I'm aware - which is a downside if you only want a few of the patterns.

If it isn't already obvious, I got this set for 1:12 scale miniature flower making, paper punches are not an absolute must, but I very much recommend them, if this is something you want to make (You can buy cheap, awesome punches in various stores, so you don't need this particular set to start out with).
I've only made a few flowers, so I don't have a huge collection of punches - which is one of the reasons why I decided to buy this set. I thought it was really convenient to a lot of the tools needed, gathered in 1 practical plastic case, and at the same time get a nice variety of punches.

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Here's a closer look at the tools included;

you get the pliers (thumbs up for the mm measuring part) and 21 different punches. You get a sharp exacto-ish knife with extra blades and you get a very fine pointed pair of tweezers and scissors.

And as you might be able to see in the first picture (first picture in this post) there are actually built in ball tools on the pliers at the end of the handles. I still use my regular dotting/embossing tools but I think it's a cool detail.

I don't feel like saying a whole lot of things about this set because it is what it is - paper punches. You can definitely find just as great tools by other brands, which are most likely cheaper and can be bought seperately. This is the kind of thing you have to consider whether or not it'll be worth it for you to buy. However, I'm very happy about this purchase and I'm sure this set will last me a long time. I have used it for a couple of flower projects and I like it a lot. I think it's a good quality product and if you ask me, it's worth the money.