Sunday, January 17, 2010

Product Review: Cropper Hopper



I wrote a review for another blog in November, and never heard from them, so I figure I'll post it here for you.

Cropper Hopper 10 Drawer Rolling Organizer

This is a great way to store and compartmentalize little, lightweight things. A scrapbooker, a jewelry designer, a quilter, an office worker or a student would all be able to keep his / her things organized. I bought this on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving when lots of things go on sale, and many people in the long line had this organizer in their carts. One lady said she was going to assign each group of students in her classroom their own color-coded drawers. It could be useful to keep by the door for each household members' keys, signed permission slips, or mail. You could purchase drawer organizers, like those used for utensils, to separate out smaller items.

It does require some assembly, but it is not difficult. The directions, with five steps, are easy to understand, and have clear pictures. Everything you need is included, with some extras. The box says you need a hammer, but I'm not sure what it is for, maybe snapping in the casters. I didn't have any difficulty just pushing them in. The only other equipment I used was a screwdriver to tighten the screws behind the drawer knobs. The box did not call for a screwdriver. You could add other drawer pulls (not enclosed) to personalize your cart. The dimensions are 37 1/2" H x 13 " W x 15 1/4 " D.





The drawers are nice size, about 10" W x 14 1/2" W x 2 1/2" D, with plenty of room for a ream of paper and other supplies. There are ten drawers, with room at the top for additional things. I plan to use stickers to label the drawers. Hopefully this will help me put things back where they belong. The drawers are not enclosed, so they will collect dust. I plan on covering my organizer up when not in use. To open the drawer, either lock the wheels or hold on to the cart. There are no locks to keep the drawer in the cart, so it is possible to pull too hard and have your supplies spill out onto the floor and the other drawers. The drawers only open from the front.



It is lightweight aluminum, and plastic, not industrial strength. To test it, I put a ream of paper in the top drawer. The picture shows the top drawer pulling away from the rail, but not slipped off. It felt like the drawer was straining to open, and when I closed it and opened it again, it slipped off the rail, so it was resting awkwardly on the second drawer. Even though there is room for a ream of paper and other supplies, I would recommend storing things that are lighter. I will keep my beads and other small items in containers before putting them in the drawer.

The average retail price seems to be around $70. I haven't compared this with other products, but I think you should be able to find something sturdier for that price. The Black Friday price was $24.99, which makes it a good value for me.

Pros

Pretty colors, color coded supplies.

Lots of drawers to compartmentalize stuff in a small convenient space.

Can be moved around a room with casters. Two of the four casters have locks.

The drawers are removable, so supplies are portable.

Cons

The drawers will fall off the rail when loaded with heavy items.

Some assembly required.

The drawers are not covered, so you could get some dust in your storage. This also makes it hard to move over thresholds and to different floors, depending on the contents, in case something spills out of the drawers, so it is best for a designated craft room.

The drawers do not have stops in the back, so you have to be careful to not open them too far, so your contents aren't all spilled over the floor, and into other drawers.

Since I wrote this post, I loaded it with my supplies. I'm loving being able to organize my stuff and finding it easily. I thought 10 drawers is a lot of space, but I apparently have lots of supplies. Pins and needles, 2 drawers of ribbons, beads, scissors and rotary cutters, markers, small templates. I have one WIP in there, but I'm not sure I'll use it for that - most of my UFOs tend to be bigger than will fit in there. I haven't gotten a chance to label the drawers yet, I was waiting to make sure I was sure about my loading choices. I have a tendency to not lock the wheels, and I had a box of unopened pins that fell all over the floor as a result. I was planning on also doing a review on the sewing table as well, and I will do that here later.

1 comment:

Allie said...

I really like the colors - but I'd need something a LOT sturdier. Thanks for the review!