The Pen Addict 101/transcript

The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript
Episode:	101
Title:	Lots of Brad's Face
Release Date:	April 8th, 2014
Hosts:	Brad Dowdy Myke Hurley
Guests:	No guests this episode
Additional Information
Official page:	Episode 101
Audio File:	Audio Episode 101
Podcast page:	The Pen Addict 101
Length:	4545 min <br />0.75 h <br /> minutes
Previous Transcript	Next Transcript

Myke Hurley: Hello and welcome to episode 101 of The Pen Addict podcast on 5x5. The Pen Addict is a weekly show where we discuss pens, paper, and the analogue tools that we love so dearly. My name is Myke Hurley and I am joined as I am every week by The Pen Addict himself, Mr. Brad Dowdy.

Brad Dowdy: What's going on, Myke?

Myke Hurley: Hey man, how you doing?

Brad Dowdy: Good.

Myke Hurley: Is it boring now?

Brad Dowdy: Huh?

Myke Hurley: Huh?

Brad Dowdy: What did you say?

Brad Dowdy: I was going to say, I didn't get a nickname this week. What's up with that?

Myke Hurley: No, is it boring now? No. I think you have a bit boring now. But I don't have the brain capacity anymore. Yep.

Brad Dowdy: That part of your brain has been shut off. Yep. No more nicknames.

Myke Hurley: Even if I wanted to, it's not possible because I've removed that part of brain functionality. It's just been burnt away.

Listener Feedback

Brad Dowdy: I think you were burnt away by all the feedback we got off last week's Epic Episode 100, huh?

Myke Hurley: It's probably the... Well, no. Not probably. It is the most feedback I've ever had for any episode of any show I've ever done. Are you serious? Bar none. It has been constant. All week, it has been constant. Like, I woke up after replying to a bunch of tweets before going to sleep on Tuesday night. I woke up to maybe 50. And that was before you had even started replying. Because, you know, I just want to say something. Listen, I haven't said this to Brad yet. I think about Brad when I'm replying to tweets. And I don't include him. Brad includes me. So every single person that I thanked, I then received another message from Brad later on in the day. So I would just be scrolling through just his face over and over again.

Brad Dowdy: Is that bad tweeting protocol?

Myke Hurley: I don't know. I don't know. Maybe, you know, sometimes you do it and it's... And I'm thankful for it if you answer a question. Because then I know I don't have to answer it. But just on this week alone, it didn't help me so much. Because it was just lots and lots of Brad's face.

Brad Dowdy: There's nothing wrong with that, is there?

Myke Hurley: If anything, it's probably made my week go a little bit better.

Brad Dowdy: Well, that's good. You know, it was really... I didn't know what to... I mean, I kind of knew what to expect in the general terms. But until, like, we wrapped recording and sent it out into the wild, you don't know what's going to happen. And then, you know, within, like, 30 minutes, you know, people are starting to pick up on it. And, you know, I watched a bunch of the tweets and everything roll in. And I just wanted to say how thankful I am to have the audience that we have. And to be able to do this every week and that these people out there are listening. And, you know, I'd love to point out specific people to say thank you. But that would be just impossible in the amount that we got. So I made an effort. And I know Myke did, too. Just I made sure that, you know, to thank everybody who sent us a tweet or an email or a message of any kind. You know, I just wanted to thank them individually for doing that. So that's why you got a lot of extra of my face in your feed this week.

Myke Hurley: I mean, I'm happy to take it this week because, you know, it was well worth it. And we spoke a lot last week about how the show is awesome because of the listeners and, like, how great you are. And this week you definitely showed, like, in the last week you've definitely shown us how amazing you are. And word has definitely spread about the show because in a strange turn of events, we had about a 50% increase in downloads than usual. Which is kind of strange because I don't know if you'd listened to the show before if you were going to get anything out of last week. Like, because I feel like it was pretty much just us talking about us. But if you're new to the pen addict, which you may well be, thank you so much. And we've definitely got some, after we've done the follow-up, we've got some really cool stuff today. So you'll get a feel for what the show tends to be like on a more weekly basis. Probably Brad will cry less this week, maybe a little bit. Like, he might still cry some, but probably a bit less.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, so two things on that. Number one, our friend Thomas Hall, he pretty much nailed it on this one. He said that, he said essentially that if Myke's girly drinks, you're now crying, boy. And I'm kind of upset about that because I now can't give you as much grief about that. Because now you have something to hang over my head, like I've been hanging over yours for all these years.

Brad Dowdy: And two, my parents sent me an email. They're listeners of the podcast. So, hey, Mom and Dad.

Myke Hurley: Oh, that's awesome. I know your parents listened.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, they do. They do. So they listened and said, oh, we were tearing up too. And it's you and Myke's friendship so awesome. And y'all just did a really good job and things like that. So it was nice to get a note from them on the show. But it was cool. Last week was awesome. So it was definitely kind of mind-blowing. I mean, the entries we've had for the contest. Did you have a number in mind? I didn't have a number in mind. So I'm good with what we're at now. But I think you kind of had some number, phantom number in your head, right?

Myke Hurley: I thought if we got 50.

Myke Hurley: There was honestly a big part of me at one point that was concerned if we'd have enough people filling to even give one gift away to everyone. Like, I was worried, like, oh, what are we going to do if we don't get five people that fill in the thing? I was concerned. I was like, oh, what if we only have a few? And then I was like, well, if we get 50, that's really good. I feel like we're 50. And I think 50 was my number that we spoke about, obviously, off the air.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, I can't remember if it was 50 or 100.

Myke Hurley: I was like, well, you know, I think if I forget 50, then I'll be happy because it means that we'll at least have enough that when we do, like, the random number drawing to allow us to give out, you know, the prizes, then it will be fair. Does that make sense? Yeah. There'll be enough people that...

Brad Dowdy: Like, there was a minimum.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, like, if we have 50 people, then it will... I don't know. To me, that just feels good rather than there being 20 people. So it's like a one in four chance of winning, and I feel like it needs to be a bit more than that.

Myke Hurley: So currently, as we stand right now, we have 477 responses, which is way more than I expected. Like, just the sheer percentage of people compared to the amount of downloads that we have every week. That percentage of people that have entered is insane, and it is increasing every single day. So there is still time, because you've still got just under a week, right?

Brad Dowdy: Right, yeah. We're going to finalize the prizes next Monday, so we can announce them on Tuesday's episode.

Myke Hurley: So the competition entry form is still in the document. If you listen to the show, just go check it out and try and fill in a few questions. As we said before, you know, we haven't got a sort of a strict limit on how many answers you need to give, how many need to be correct. Just give it a go and see how you do.

Brad Dowdy: Yep. And, you know, go back. If you somehow missed last week's episode, you still have time, so make sure you get back in there.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, you definitely do. You should definitely, definitely be going for this.

Giveaway Results

Brad Dowdy: But no, I knew it would be several hundred entries. I didn't know that we'd actually crack like 500 or so, but just doing the basic giveaways on my blog, I know there'd be enough. I know there'd at least be several hundred that would go in and fill out the form and, you know, try to win one of these awesome prize packages. And on top of that, we sold, what, like 113 t-shirts so far, something like that?

Myke Hurley: Again.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. I was worried we would sell 30.

Myke Hurley: I was like, oh, we have to sell 30. I really, really hope that we'll sell 30. And we sold 110, which is insane. So I've sold t-shirts once before, and I mentioned this. I used Teespring for the 70 decibels t-shirts. And we sold 93 in two weeks. And we sold 113 in one week. And again, you can go and buy the t-shirt. But at the point now, like we tried to sell them for, and not intending to make much money from them. But now, because we sold so many of them, it's profit, which is good, which helps me and Brad do this show. So there is now an added incentive. Like if you enjoy the show, it's a great way to now. Before it was just, we want to make a t-shirt for everybody. We feel like we've done that now. So if you enjoy the show and want to help support me and Brad, and also if you want to help try and fund Nakaya for Brad, go and buy a t-shirt. And that's at teespring.com slash penaddict.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, and you still have another week or so for that too. I think it expires like Monday night or maybe even Tuesday morning, something like that. A little under a week left to get that. I can't wait for people to get these in their hands. I can't wait to get mine. I'm pretty excited about this t-shirt thing, to be quite honest. So hopefully we'll see them out in the wild and we'll see some pictures. Maybe we'll have to have our own Flickr photo set or something.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, I was going to say I wanted to do that actually. It kind of sucks because so many people are going to have one before me. I remember the 70 Gecebels t-shirt. Maybe for like nearly two weeks, people were sending me pictures of them wearing them. I was like, it's my network. Where is my dude? Because obviously it takes longer to ship them to outside the US. And I think they give estimations of it all.

Brad Dowdy: I remember getting mine super quick. Once it closed, it was here like fast. So I still wear it all the time.

Myke Hurley: Teespring are actually really awesome. I've been super impressed with them and pleased with them on the times that I've used them. And this time too. If you are someone who wants to sell a t-shirt, just go for it because they're a great... It's a great way to not have to worry about it. Like we could have got t-shirts printed ourselves and all that sort of stuff. But this means that we don't have to worry about any of it. Like we don't have to get a stock and try and work out how many to make. That sort of thing.

Atlanta Pen Show

Brad Dowdy: Yep. Totally worth it. Totally worth it. Well, we got back to some normal topics this week, Myke. So we got the Atlanta Penn Show coming up.

Myke Hurley: Oh, I have one more piece of follow-up. Oh, yeah. Shelterwood.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So you've got to spend some more time?

Myke Hurley: Spent a week with it. And love them. Good. I love it. I'm really, really happy. It seems that after a bit of usage, they're staying open. Like you remember I mentioned originally that it wasn't staying open when I was writing in it? Yeah. It's doing that now. Okay. So for me, that was the only point that I didn't like has now been kind of cleared up. Because the idea of them not staying open when they're closed is not an issue for me. And it's proved not to be one. It's just my pen just clipped to the front. Or I've got my phone on it. Or it's still on my keyboard. Just like all other field notes. The paper is awesome. I love the covers. I've already had a couple of people. I was sitting in a meeting on Monday. This is the first day I had them in. Right. Oh, no. No, I hadn't. I hadn't in for a few days. Anyway. I was sitting in a meeting on Monday. And somebody's sitting next to me. And I'd said something in the meeting. And I put my notebook down because I had it in my hand. And they just. He. The guy literally picked it up and just looked at it. Like turned it over and then put it back down again. Because he was like. And I was like. Yes, made it wood. He was like. Oh. So there you go. That was. That was exactly. That was actually. It was. That. Was the guy that I was hoping to. And expecting to get that react. Kind of reaction from. He was the one who I've mentioned before. Had like. Commented on pens. In the office. Or. Had come over. He once came over to my desk. To ask. To see my pen. What was in my pencil case. Because he'd heard that I had like a big pen case. Or whatever.

Brad Dowdy: He's a. He's a hidden addict. A hidden addict. I think he might be. Secret addict in your office.

Myke Hurley: I think he might be.

Brad Dowdy: I don't have any of those. I don't have anyone in my office. I can commiserate with over pens. He doesn't. So that's why I do it over the internet.

Myke Hurley: Well see. He doesn't use anything fancy. But he's just interested in nice things. Yeah. He has a pebble. Okay. He has a Kickstarter edition pebble. So you know. He's just. He's. He's. I think he's kind of similar to me. In those sort of regards. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: He's tuned in a little bit.

Myke Hurley: Indeed.

Myke Hurley: So we have a new sponsor. Woohoo. Woohoo. We have a. An excellent sponsor. All of our sponsors are excellent. But this one is super excellent. And let me tell you who they are. They are. Pen Chalet. Now. Pen Chalet. Let me tell you about what. What Pen Chalet do. You can probably guess. Right. They sell. Beach. No. They don't. They sell pens. Obviously. Obviously. They're a pen. So. A pen. A pen. A website. We can go and buy all some stuff. Let me tell you about the type of things that they do. So. Pen. Pen Chalet. Sell. Authentic. Amazing. Rollables. Fountain pens. ballpoints, mechanical pencils, and so much more. I mean, I'm sure you've already gone to penshelle.com because after mentioning that, I mean, what more do you need to know? If they're penshelle.com and I'm calling them authentic and amazing pens, you know, they're going to be great. And so here's where it starts. Here's where it starts to get crazy, Brad. They have all of your favorite brands. They have Monteverde, Pelican, Pilot, Namiki, Sailor, Kaweco, and of course, an authorized dealer of all of them. They have so many more brands as well, but I went onto their website and was like, I'm going to pick these ones out because I know the pen addict audience are going to love to hear that pen chalet have these brands because they're the brands that we all use all the time. We talk about these brands every week. They have really fast and really reliable customer service and they run special discounts twice a month and they include closeout specials every two weeks. So they're always doing loads of great deals as well for stuff that they've got. They're adding new styles of pens. Every single month they've got new pens on there. You can go over to penchalet.com and check all of their new stuff that they've got. And as well as the brands that I mentioned earlier, pen chalet sells a bunch of limited edition pens and they also have all the pen accessories that you need like carrying cases, pen holders, refills, fountain pen converters, and so much more. They have free shipping on orders of $50 in the continental United States. And I mean, come on, pen addicts, you're all spending more than $50 every time you make a pen order, let's be honest. And they also have really reasonable shipping rates internationally as well. And as I said before, even when you're adding on shipping, once you've got the benefit of that conversion rate, you're kind of golden. Pen chalet has low prices on high quality pens and they offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee, which I love to see. Now this is where it gets even better for you. Go to penchalet.com. That's P-E-N-C-H-A-L-E-T.com. And you want to use the code penaddict. That's going to save you 10% off your order at penchalet. But even more than that, if you go to the website, you go to the page and you click the podcast link at the top of their website and right at the top it says radio slash podcast. And if you enter the password penaddict, not only will you get your 10% off when you go to buy something, you'll also be given a page of special offers and even more savings that you can get over at penchalet. Thank you so much to penchalet for sponsoring 5x5 and the penaddict podcast. Now this is that bit where I ask you guys to do something else. Now penchalet are a new sponsor. We think they're really cool. I love what they do. They have some great products. They have great service and I want them to sponsor the show again. So go and use them. If you've got a pen that you're looking for and they've got it, buy it with penchalet and you get 10% off, right? There's the deal. You get 10% off from free shipping if you're in the US. You get 10% off if you're outside as well. But you know, as I mentioned, you have to pay for shipping, but you get the exchange rate on your side.

Myke Hurley: So yeah, you're going to get your 10% off, but if you do that, then they're going to want to come back and sponsor us again. If loads of you guys go over there and use penaddict as the code. I don't ask for a lot of this sort of stuff, but these are the exact type of guys that we want to see sponsoring the penaddict all the time. So thank you so much to Penchalet. Go and support those guys

Brad Dowdy: because they're supporting us. Yeah, this is awesome. And I have a few things to mention. One, I've talked to them over email. I haven't ordered from them yet, but I will try to, like maybe I'll order something while we're on the show. But I've talked to them over email. The founders seem like really nice guys. I believe if I'm not mistaken, they're based out of Arizona, not too far from where our friend, Mr. Myke Dudek is. And I think he might've even met these guys. And he told me about them, you know, told me they seem like, you know, super good guys. And they've certainly put together a beautiful looking website and the brands that they have chosen are the best part about it. I think, you know, Pelican, Pilot, Namiki, Aurora, Conklin, all kinds of cool stuff. And you'll see a bunch of a bunch of my pen friends have been reviewing pens from them recently. I know Ed Jelly has and a few other, and Myke Dudek has, and a few other people have. But while you were doing the read, I think I found like one of the best deals on the site. And this one, this totally wasn't planned at all, but I did put in the code pen addict and radio podcast. And on that list came up the Pelican M205 that I love so much and you love so much. You know which one I'm talking about, Myke? Of course I do. $97.50.

Myke Hurley: No way.

Brad Dowdy: Way.

Myke Hurley: Really?

Brad Dowdy: So it's, yeah, they usually run about $130 from most other sites. Right now they're on sale for $97.50. They have the black one, which I have. Do you have the black one? Uh. I don't know. I have the black one. They have black, taupe, and white. Um, the M205 for $97.50. That's, um, a really good price. Like I said, it normally runs about $130. So, um.

Myke Hurley: Make sure you hit the view more special offers.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, and then if you get 10% off of that and free shipping, you're looking at, what, about $90. Um, to get that, get that pen off your wish list for such an awesome pen, that's a, that's a really good deal. So, I just stumbled across that while you were talking here. But, um, yeah, the site looks good. Um, they, they do a beautiful presentation job. The brands they carry are awesome. And, uh, I'm going to finish scrolling through here after the show and, uh, see if I can order something up.

Myke Hurley: $87.75.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah.

Myke Hurley: That's how much you get it for.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah.

Myke Hurley: That is a, that's a steal. Man. That's a steal. Hey, you guys.

Brad Dowdy: Go pen chalet. Yeah, I know, right?

Pelican Pens

Myke Hurley: Wow, that's, that's an incredible offer. I didn't notice the, uh, the Pelican in that list.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, I haven't gone through everything yet. But, um, that was something I noticed immediately. So, um, you guys go check that out and, um, and buy them all up. Sell them out.

Myke Hurley: Pilot Metropolitan $14.98. Right. Before a discount.

Brad Dowdy: So this week's pen blog of the week is more of a pencil blog of the week once again. And this time it's pencil revolution. My friend Johnny Gamber, um, I wanted to give a special shout out to him. He does an awesome job. It's one of the oldest, um, pencil pen analog tool review blogs that I know of. He started way back in 2005 and he's finally converted me over to the dark side into the, uh, the wooden pencil realm. And, um, it's a pretty fun place to be. Um, Johnny's does a great job, um, of reviewing and photographing and, and, um, talking about all the products that he uses. But, you know, he's in following him over the years on Twitter and on Instagram, you know, he's gotten me into, um, he gets his, he gets his, uh, kids really active into like the pencils and paper thing. And so I'm trying to learn from that and get my kids, you know, like he gives his daughters like some field notes and some pencils and that's kind of her, her fun thing to play with. And, you know, I've kind of, you know, picked up on that and give my kids, you know, the same kind of thing. So they know they have the special tools that daddy, daddy gets to use too. So I appreciate Johnny, you know, doing that and sharing that, um, with all of us. So, um, y'all probably already know about pencil revolution, but if not, you should definitely, um, add that to your, to your reading list. And he's also part of the, uh, the, the three musketeers of, of pencil dome who do the, uh, erasable podcast. So you can check out him on erasable too. So thanks Johnny. Our nemeses. Yes.

Myke Hurley: We'll always be basically a hundred in front of them. So unless they start doing one a day, then we're in trouble. Then we'll have to do two a day. That's right. That's right. Can't let them catch up. I don't want to do that. So please do one a day.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. They're doing a really good job. They just had episode three earlier this week. I listened to it. Um, they gave me a couple of shout outs. I appreciate that. And, um, yeah, definitely check them out. So, um, thank you Johnny for being awesome.

Brad Dowdy: All right. So you know what this weekend is, Myke?

Myke Hurley: Um, let me think of something. What is this weekend? What's going on in your neck of the woods? Nothing that I can really speak to.

Brad Dowdy: Nothing for you. Well, for me, it's Atlanta pen show weekend and that's always a big deal for me.

Myke Hurley: Um, well, I'm going away for the weekend, but that's not necessarily what people are looking to hear.

Brad Dowdy: So three, this will be my third. Yeah. This will be my third Atlanta pen show and usually starting about in January. I know it's coming up in April and I started getting anxious and, you know, start saving up the, uh, the secret, uh, the secret fund for, um, for my pen show exploits. And, you know, this year I is going to be, I don't know, I think better than ever because I'm finally getting, it takes a while to kind of get into the flow of what a pen show is like. I remember the first time I went in 2012, I was a deer in the headlights. I had no idea what to expect. Um, no idea necessarily how to handle myself, you know, how to deal with the vendors, how to, you know, purchase a fountain pen. That was the show where I purchased my, uh, black mat pilot vanishing point, my first, you know, kind of expensive fountain pen. And, you know, I'd had some Lamy safaris I think before then, but nothing else. So that was where I broke down and got, um, got that, um, vanishing point. So that was kind of my first experience. And I just, I remember, remember being like really nervous and just kind of running around the show, just like not really knowing what I was doing, not real comfortable talking with the vendors and not real comfortable handling, you know, the pens on, on the table, which they're more than happy to have you do. So, you know, by the time last year rolled around, I felt, okay, I kind of got that first experience out of the way. And now the second time I'm going to come with a shopping list and these are the things I'm going to look for. And, you know, I had a much better experience just because I was more experienced going to a pen show. You know, it is a little intimidating the first time. So the second time around, you know, I had an idea, a better idea. I picked up a few things on my shopping list and was really, really happy. You know, I met the Andersons that year, um, from Anderson Pens. And, you know, I talked to a bunch of other vendors and found out what they were doing. Um, I had some nib work done, which I had never done before, um, by Myke Masayama. So it was a real kind of, um, branching out experience last year. Now this year, as I'm, I'm getting ready, I find that I could almost go with no list, if that makes sense. Like I have a general idea, but not necessarily any like very, very specific pens that I want to pick up. Like last year I had some very specific pens I wanted to pick up and I think I maybe only got one on that list because the, the, the pen show, you just find different things. It's about exploring and trying new things and trying new brands and talking to people and, you know, maybe discovering something new. So I've got a general list, which I'll go over. And, but I think out of this list, you know, I might end up with one of the pens I have listed on here, maybe two, because I'm just going to kind of take it all in. Cause last year I went and I found some other things that were very cool. Like I found an Edison Pearl, which you don't normally run across. And that was just something I had to have. So, you know, that's what it's for discovering new things and, and finding new pens that kind of really fit your style and things like that. So one of the things I want to look for this year is a vintage pen with an ultra flexible nib. Sometimes they call them a wet noodle. I don't know if I'm going to go like super, super flex or just kind of like a medium flex, but more flexible than like a Falcon. What? Super flex. Super flex.

Brad Dowdy: But there's a couple of brands that are kind of known for that. Waterman makes a lot of, or made a lot of older pens with really flexible nibs and a brand called maybe Todd back in the day made some pens. So I'm going to check. There's usually a bunch of vintage pens outweigh modern pens by a large number at pen shows, I'd say. So I should have a lot of choices there. But I remember last year, like one of the things I wanted very much was a Parker 51. Do you remember that? Sure do. And I knew that I was going to come away with a Parker 51 just because there's so many available at a show like this. Well, I looked at dozens and dozens and dozens and none of them spoke to me. Like either the color wasn't right or the condition wasn't good enough. I had exactly the same.

Myke Hurley: Do you remember?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. I went for the exact same process that you did when I went to the London pen show.

Brad Dowdy: Yep, exactly. So I thought for sure I'd be able to find a good vintage Parker 51 and I came away with zero. So I'm saying that I'll have lots of options and lots of choices and I should be able to come away with something that I like. But maybe I don't. This pen's probably, I'd say, I'm kind of ballparking like $100, $150 for that pen. But I'm not dead set on coming away with one if I don't find one that I like. Kind of like I did with the Parker 51 last year. Like I had to have a 51 and I was disappointed that I didn't get one. But in the end, I mean, everything worked out fine. One of the pens I'm definitely going to come away with, and I don't know which model exactly yet, but Franklin Kristoff is, they're only about, they're in Raleigh, North Carolina, so they're only about eight hours. So they bring a bunch to this show. And they have, usually have like three huge tables of stuff. They've been coming out with a few new models. That smoke and ice pocket fountain pen I have, they made a larger model. I don't know the exact model number off the top of my head. I'm going to look at that one. And since the two smoke, I have the smoke and ice and fired ice model 40 pocket, I want to get one of the larger size. And both the ones I have have cursive italic nibs. I want to get one with a needle tip this time. So that's the one pen you can pretty much bank on me coming home with. It's something from Franklin Kristoff with one of, Myke Masuyama does their needle tips, their cursive italic nibs. And I want to come home with one of those. That's for sure. One I probably won't come home with, but it's kind of on my watch list, is the Stormtrooper vanishing point, the white barrel with the black trim. For some reason, I can't figure that out. Maybe a listener can help me figure it out. And I've actually emailed Brian Anderson about this, is this doesn't seem to be like a full release vanishing point. Like not everyone carries this one. Like the gunmetal one that they released last year, everyone carried that. It's like a normal stock line pen. This white one with the black trim, not everyone carries. Like Colt Pens has it, but it's at a premium to the regular line. So I don't know if this is some kind of special edition or what, but if I can find one for a reasonable price, I want to get that.

Pen Purchase Request

Myke Hurley: Dude, can I just stop you for one moment? Sure. And I'm sorry to do this, but would you be able to pick me up one of those Masiama Franken-Christophs if possible?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Well, let's look at, we will look at the site and I want to show you the new ones that they've come out with. And then we can pick one out for you and I'll get it for you.

Myke Hurley: That would be amazing.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So we will work on that.

Myke Hurley: I really want to get one. Like bad. Yeah. I just, I just really want one. And then, and this, yeah, I just haven't got around to it yet.

Brad Dowdy: Okay. Yeah. So we'll figure out the model and the nib and I would wager I should be able to get it at the, at the pen show. So let's do a little shopping.

Myke Hurley: Oh yeah.

Brad Dowdy: I like this. I like this, this across the ocean shopping spree that you're having.

New Vendors

Brad Dowdy: One of the new vendors that's going to be there this year. And I didn't realize it till last week, but Van S pens, which we talked about when I talked about the Ackerman inks, remember that like two weeks ago or maybe even last week, they're actually going to be at this show for the first time. They're based out of Arkansas. So they're going to make the drive over. And they tweeted out, you know, Hey, does anyone want us to bring anything from the store? I said, are you bringing Ackerman inks? And they said, we are, we're bringing about 75 bottles. You want us to hold any? So I picked out two colors that they're going to hold for me when I get there. So I'm excited to go talk to them when I get there and see what else they have. They're pretty much the only ones in the U S that carry Ackerman inks. So I expect those to go quickly. They said they're bringing about 75 bottles or so, and they're going to hold two of them for me. So I hope to pick those up on Saturday. One of the things that you got me thinking about was when we were talking about the Pelican M205 just a minute ago from Pen Chalet, and you actually bought a separate gold nib for yours because the 205 comes with a steel nib, but they're easily swappable, right? So you bought the 14 karat gold. Which nib did you get?

Myke Hurley: I'm going to say medium.

Brad Dowdy: Okay. Yeah. So you got a medium. So I'm thinking, I don't know what the availability is going to be, but I'd like to get a spare nib unit for my Pelicans just to have something like a stub or a curse vitalic nib. I don't know that that's going to be, the availability is going to be there. The, the benders who were there last year have the full stock of Pelican. They're not going to be there this year. So I don't know if anyone else will have all the spare nibs and stuff. So we'll see. That's kind of on my radar. I'd like to get something that I can swap in and out because I've, I've come to the realization on the pins that I really like. I end up having like what, like an extra nib for each of them. Like I'll have a extra fine, you know, nib and then I'll have something like a stub or an italic nib that I can swap in and out.

Myke Hurley: However, do you have a gold nib for your Pelican?

Brad Dowdy: I do. I do. Well, I have two pellet. I have three Pelicans. I have one M405 that actually came with the gold nib that I got ground down extra fine. And it works really, really well. And then I have the M205. And then I have that, the pinstripe one that we both have that Thomas Hall sent us. And both of those have steel nibs. So I have one gold nib and two steel nibs.

Myke Hurley: Okay.

Brad Dowdy: Do you have, do you have a question about it?

Myke Hurley: I was just going to ask because I was going to say, if you don't have a gold nib, then you have no idea what's about to happen to your life.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. They're pretty crazy.

Myke Hurley: I just love that pen so much. I keep using it now. Like, it's my pen. It's my pen. Like. Yep. Just, it's. Yeah. Another reason why you have to take advantage of that deal that we mentioned earlier. Yeah, really. You have to because, and I'm not just saying this because we mentioned it earlier. Like, I use that pen with the Fuyugaki ink every single day. And I just don't want to use anything else. Like, I was thinking today, like, I have not bought a new pen in a while. And that was part of the reason why I would like a Franken-Kristoff, especially with a Massey-Yam, because there'll be, like, two new things for me. But I realize I've not bought a new pen in a while. And it is because of this M205. Like, I just, it's perfect. There's nothing wrong with it.

Brad Dowdy: No. I'm glad you like it so much, actually. And, I mean, everyone who has one seems to love them. And it took me a while to get on that bandwagon, too. But once I did, it was pretty obvious how great of a pen that is. And that's just a really good deal. Not to totally pimp out pen chalet. People are going to think we're on the take or something. Well, I mean, they are paying us.

Myke Hurley: So, you know, this is kind of as much on the take as you can be, I guess. Yeah, yeah. I mean, they are a paid advertiser.

Brad Dowdy: But still, they didn't ask us to pimp that. They didn't. I just happened to stumble across it. And that's a really, really good deal. So, yeah. Check that out. Because you can get extra nibs. I'll have to go see if they have extra nibs. That's one thing I didn't look at. So, I will see if they have something like that if I don't find something at the pen show. And one thing I'm definitely doing is getting a couple pens nib grinds done. And I don't have as much as I normally do because I've got pretty much everything that I want in the proper condition that I want it. I think I am going to get my Sailor Black Luster. It's a Japanese medium nib. I think I might get that ground down a little bit. I can't help. I love how it writes and I'm kind of scared to do it. So, I'm kind of on the fence on that.

Myke Hurley: The Sailor brand. The branding is so...

Myke Hurley: It's such an unfortunate brand name, I think.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, I don't think about it, obviously, when I say it out loud until you remind me what I've just said or something like that. So, I appreciate that.

Brad Dowdy: I'm not as childish as you, Michael.

Myke Hurley: You're not. No.

Brad Dowdy: I'm more.

Myke Hurley: Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: So, I'm going to get on Myke Masayama's list because he's going to be there. One of the few pen shows he's attending this year now that he's moved to Los Angeles. And I wanted to get a nib done by Pendleton Brown. Who does a... Who is well known for his cursive italic nibs. So, I want to get one of those done. I know our friend Keegan from One Star Leather sent him a couple pens. And he raves about the work that Pendleton did for his pens. And I haven't had one done by him. So, I want to get that done. So, that's kind of my general list. I mean, I'm pretty sure what's going to happen is, you know... I might come home with one of these things. You know, like I said, the Franklin Kristoff plus the Ackerman ink, which is already pretty much on hold for me. And then I'm just going to wing it and see what I can find.

Brad Dowdy: You know, Brian Anderson always has some great... Brian and Lisa always have some great vintage pens plus all the new pens. The new modern pens. I want to see what sailors they bring.

Brad Dowdy: Now I can't say it without thinking about it.

Brad Dowdy: See what sailors they bring to the show. Hello, sailor. See?

Myke Hurley: This is what I'm talking about.

Brad Dowdy: I appreciate that, Myke.

Brad Dowdy: And, you know, like I've recommended to people who it's their first show or even, you know, tenth show. What you want to do when you get there is, number one, if you're getting nib work done, get on the list. And then, number two, walk around the entire show. Look at every table. Look at every pen without buying anything. Take it all in. Talk to people. See what they have. Because a lot of people have the same thing. You know, the prices are generally the same.

Brad Dowdy: But you want to take it all in first. Kind of get the lay of the land. And then kind of go into shopping mode and, you know, go back to those tables that you had seen before where they had a couple things that you were interested in. And, you know, talk to them and try out the pens and things like that. So it can be overwhelming if it's your first show. But all I can say is, you know, don't let it get to you. Everyone that I've ever dealt with vendor-wise has been more than happy to help and answer questions. Even what you might think is a stupid question, which I've had plenty over the years and still have plenty. They will absolutely help you out. I mean, that's what they do. So these people have way more experience than, you know, me and you put together. So, you know, rely on that experience and let them help you out. And they're more than happy to help. So it's a real friendly crew. I expect the show to be crowded on Saturday, which is good. So that keeps all these vendors coming back to it. And I could not be more excited. So I guess next week we'll see what I come home with, right?

Myke Hurley: I'm really excited. I love when you go to the pen shows. Because thinking about last year, how much the show changed and you changed after the last pen show. So, like looking at some of that stuff that you bought, that you came away with, those fountain pens and stuff, you know? That was like a big, some interesting stuff came out of that last year. And over the last year, the show has changed. It's been a huge transformation. Yeah. Like just a couple of the things that you bought and it spurred me on to go to my first pen show. Yeah, it's a really cool experience. I hope that people listen to this. And if you're in the Atlanta area, go. And I'm sure Brad will be around as well. And I put a link in. I know that you're looking at trying to meet up with people while you're there. Stuff like that.

Brad Dowdy: Yes. So I'm going to be there all day Saturday. Definitely reach out to me on the blog or on Twitter if you want to meet up. I've got several people I know are going to be there already. Jeff Bruckwicky, obviously, my not co-partner. He's going to come with me for part of the day.

Brad Dowdy: My other co-conspirator at the pen addict, Mr. Jeff Abbott, I know is going to be there. So we're going to hook up on Saturday. And several other people. I know Heath from Pen, Paper, Ink, Letter. He's going to be there on Saturday. All kinds of readers are going to be there on Saturday. And then the show ends at 5 o'clock on Saturday. And I just wanted to have a specific time if anyone wanted to have a pen addict meetup in the hotel bar. They have a pretty decent-sized seating area in there from 5 to 7 that night. Which I posted all this on the blog. From 5 to 7 that night, we'll just hang out in the bar and see what everyone bought. And just kind of chat and meet and greet and things like that. So just a real informal, non-official type of thing. So just if anyone wants to show up, they are more than welcome. I'm trying to get Brian and Lisa to show up there. But I need to remind them. They may have other plans. Because I know they do several meetings and go out with vendors and things like that during these shows. So we'll have to see if I can round them up for that. But I really look forward to it. It seems to get bigger and better every year. And I get more involved in it every year. I'm actually going to be sitting at the Southeastern Pen Collectors Club table. They asked me to come over and sit with them for an hour or two during the show. So I'm going to do that. And it's going to be cool. That's cool.

Myke Hurley: What are you going to do? Just sit there and look pretty?

Brad Dowdy: I have no idea. Yeah. I guess just sit there and say, hey.

Myke Hurley: Hey, buddy.

Brad Dowdy: Next year, you could be a son.

Brad Dowdy: It's like you remember the guy that he tweeted you? He said, hey, why don't you come to the pen show? He was actually looking for me. Do you remember that last week? Yeah.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. And then he kept asking me questions.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Hey, Tom. Tom listens to the show. Hey, Tom.

Myke Hurley: But next year.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So maybe next year, we'll get Myke to fly over. And we'll do a live pen addict podcast from the pen show.

Myke Hurley: Do you know what? I should probably. We should probably make that happen.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. One of these years.

Pen Sales

Myke Hurley: But next year, you could have your own table selling not co-products.

Brad Dowdy: You know? Yeah. We were supposed to this year. We just couldn't catch up enough inventory wise. So next year, we definitely plan on it.

Myke Hurley: Oh. I was. Maybe next week.

Myke Hurley: What? We were going to talk about Nock. But we'll save it for next week.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. We can save it until next week.

Myke Hurley: We'll probably have a little less follow up.

Brad Dowdy: Yep. Well, yeah.

Myke Hurley: So when is the show?

Brad Dowdy: It's Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, the 11th through 13th.

Myke Hurley: And what day are you going to be there?

Brad Dowdy: I'll be there all day Saturday from, I think it's open from 10 to 5. So I'll probably get there about 9.30. I'm having breakfast with one of our mutual friends that morning, Mr. Aaron Mankey.

Myke Hurley: Oh, awesome.

Brad Dowdy: So I've got lots going on on Saturday. So it's going to be a good day.

Show Budget

Myke Hurley: And do you have a budget? You don't have to tell me what it is, but do you have a budget this time?

Brad Dowdy: I guess so.

Brad Dowdy: I have a general budget, yes. I have an amount of money I'm taking.

Myke Hurley: But it's more money than I have to spend.

Brad Dowdy: No, I have an amount of money I'm taking in cash. And if I am overcome with lust, I will... For a sailor. Yeah. For a sailor, I will go higher. I don't see that happening, though. Based on last year's experience, I kind of have an idea. And based on the things that I'm looking for, you know, something would have to like... The only problem I foresee with me and my budget is there's a couple of pens by Visconti that are amazing that they've come out with that I've been really looking at. Well, I've shown you the Visconti Wall Street, I think, before. And I know that Andersons carry it, so we'll see. It's a very expensive pen. But I'm still holding out for that Nakaya, so I don't want to go too insane crazy on the budget. Because that's still... I wanted to get past this pen show before I bought the Nakaya, so we'll go from there.

Myke Hurley: Unless they have one there, of course.

Brad Dowdy: I've never seen one in the two years I've been, so...

Myke Hurley: If they do, do you think you might do it? How much are Nakayas?

Brad Dowdy: Absolutely. They start around... Like, the base ones are around 600. Between 6 and 7.

Myke Hurley: Okay, go buy some t-shirts.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. I doubt I would find the specific one that I would want there. With all the specific... The exact right color and the exact right nib size and the exact right furniture on it. So, I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to order whichever one I want.

Myke Hurley: If you're going to be going to the Atlanta Pen Show this week, or just in general, and you want to connect with Mr. Brad Dowdy on the internet, then you should go to penaddict.com. And you should also follow him on Twitter. He is at Dowdyism, D-O-W-D-Y-I-S-M. My name is Myke Hurley. I am at iMike, I-M-Y-K-E. I do a bunch of shows over at 5x5.tv. And talking about that, if you want to find the show notes for this week's episode of The Pen Addict, go to 5x5.tv slash penaddict slash 101. Thank you so much for listening to this week's episode of The Pen Addict. Thank you so much to Pen Chalet for sponsoring the show this week. Thank you all for being awesome, especially if you've bought a t-shirt and or entered the giveaway. If you haven't done either, then you should consider it. Until next week, say goodbye, Brad. Goodbye, Brad.