The Pen Addict 235/transcript

The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript
Episode:	235
Title:	Baby-Faced Assassin
Release Date:	December 14th, 2016
Hosts:	Brad Dowdy Myke Hurley
Guests:	Mike Dudek
Additional Information
Official page:	Episode 235
Audio File:	Audio Episode 235
Podcast page:	The Pen Addict 235
Length:	8989 min <br />1.483 h <br /> minutes
Previous Transcript	Next Transcript

Podcast Intro

Brad Dowdy: Hello, and welcome to episode number 235 of The Pen Addict podcast. I am Brad Dowdy, once again, playing role of host and once again, calling in favours of all my good friends to come and join me while Mr. Hurley is away. We have another Myke this week. I am joined by Myke Dudek from The Clicky Post and Dudek Modern Goods. Hello, Myke.

Myke Dudek: Hey, what's up, buddy? How you doing?

Brad Dowdy: Oh, I'm good. I'm good. Thanks for filling in on short notice here. You know, Mr. Hurley is a big shot now, so he can just do whatever he wants, apparently. But heaven forbid, I don't show up one day, right?

Myke Dudek: Yeah, he gets all this special treatment for moving or whatever he's doing, right? No, it's my pleasure, man. Thanks for inviting me to co-host with you.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, it's been too long. I didn't even look back at which episode it's been. You've been on a couple times, but it has been a while, so I'm glad to get you back on. And plus, after last week's Myke and Myke debacle, I can still stick with Myke, but I just have one to worry about this week.

Myke Dudek: Yeah, yeah. We'll keep it easy.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, so there's a few things we are going to cover today. I asked the Slackers and the Twitterers, you know, that I told them you were coming on and asked for questions for us. And we got a lot of questions about business, you know, you running your business at Dudek Modern Goods and me running Nock and the Panatic and stuff. So we're going to cover a lot of those topics. I also got a bunch of Kickstarter questions because you are really good at getting in and reviewing, you know, kind of what's new and hot on Kickstarter. So I kind of thought we'd start there. But I want to start with a pen that I have never seen before in my life that you just put on Instagram and you said you got it on Kickstarter. Yeah. And I about fell out of my chair. So tell me what this pen is. And I'm going to have this link in the show notes, but I'm going to let you do the description of it, but y'all can go check it out.

Kickstarter Pens

Myke Dudek: Oh, yeah, you bet, man. Yeah. So anyway, like totally Kickstarter seems to be in kind of a peak right now. Like, I don't know, with with pens, like it there's it seems like it goes in these ebbs and flows. But like right now, it just seems that like Kickstarter pens are like all over the place at, you know. So anyway, I don't know with Kickstarter. It's really interesting. Maybe before heading into what this pen is. I don't know, kind of thinking about like maybe maybe referencing a couple like another Kickstarter pen. And this is not definitely to like throw a throw a pen under the bus or anything like that. But I'm good. You let me. That's my gig. You don't have to do that. Just tell me to do it. And then we're good. Yeah, it's well, it's there. There are times and instances where, you know, hopefully the Kickstarter project works out. And there are times when it doesn't really work out super well, or maybe as it goes to plan, you know, you know, being a Kickstarter guy, like, right, sometimes delays can happen. Or, you know, unfortunately, with some of them, like they just sort of disappear, or they go completely dark forever. Well, this pen is is one of those. So I like just to preface, like, I just got this pen in the mail, about two weeks ago. And I but I backed the project in I think it was June of 2014. So we're talking, you know, Well, no, no, no, no, no, no, I see estimated deliveries. Oh, yeah. June 2014. Oh, that's true. This thing launched. So it might have been like January or something like that. Like, literally, literally crazy, right? So this pen is called the Na. It's like N a but the a has a little sort of circle over it. It's a Norwegian maker. And what it is, is it's this really wild, like bolt action is kind of what I would call it. But it's like a two sided bolt action. So it has in the middle, this little lever type thing that goes in the middle spring loaded on both sides and one side opens, you push it, it opens and it extends a Fisher space pen. And then the other side extends a stylus tip. So it's this kind of like back and forth, like analog digital, like, we all know what we think about stylus pens, right? Like, I mean, they're usually pretty, pretty much worthless. And I honestly, I don't really think that I'm going to probably use the stylus pen on this. But I just thought the design of it was so interesting that I'm like, yeah, I'll throw throw a couple bucks at it. But so anyway, so like, this pen, you know, I backed it probably literally, we're going on, you know, two over pushing three years, almost three years on this pen. And, you know, initially, things seem to be humming, things seem to be going good. The maker, though, like, you know, I don't know, again, this is where it's like, you don't really want to throw like Kickstarter projects necessarily under the bus. Because like, there's lots of lots of things that happen. And, you know, I'll call out the Apollo pen, you know, as another one that had a lot of hype and maybe a lot of excitement around it. And then things just really, really went south. Well, with this one, the creator of it, you know, things, he was kind of given some updates randomly, randomly, you know, things are okay, things are in production, you know, and then like, literally, it would go dark for like six months at a time. And so if you ever go look at the comments, it's usually not a very pretty place at that point, you know, but, you know, this guy, like, I have to give him some serious props and some serious credit. Because I mean, I don't think the project's not even that big. You know, I mean, it's like, from a Kickstarter pen standpoint, you know, 32,000 bucks was what he backed or what you know, what the pledges got to him.

Brad Dowdy: Right.

Myke Dudek: And, you know, three years later, if you're running into that type of delay, or that type of manufacturing issues, or shipping issues, or whatever it is, like, this would be something I would think very reasonably, somebody could just walk away from, you know,

Brad Dowdy: You know, you got, at some point, you're throwing operation shutdown on this thing.

Myke Dudek: Oh, yeah, yeah. And so like, I, like, this is one of those instances where I'm like, okay, like a year in two years in whatever I'm like, I will, I'm not really holding on, you know, I'm not losing sleep over this thing, coming to me or not. And so but sure enough, like, you know, the thing shows up literally in the mail. And I'm like, what the heck is this, you know, and then I pull it out. And I'm like, holy crap, like, the dude, like, he just went for it, you know, and I don't know if he had to put a bunch of his own money into it, or whatever. But it's just like, for all this, all the grief and the comments, and like, just, it could be so easy for someone just to bail on this. But, you know, I give the guy some serious props and commendation to just like, sticking through it, you know, nearly three years in. But anyway, yeah, super, super weird, super random. But I just thought it was such a clever design, that I knew, like, I just got to back one of these. And so are the springs exposed? Is that what I'm looking at in this picture? Yeah, so like, you can see inside, like the bolt mechanism. So there's these big long springs in there. And then inside are these like, brass tubes, you know, that hook into it. Yeah, it's pretty cool. Like, what I'll do is I'll, I'll, I'll try and commit to putting a video together for a review on the clicky post. Just just to kind of get get some more I, if you are in love with this pen, after seeing it, I would say, like, just go take a cold shower. Because like, there is a strong likelihood that this is not going to ever come into production. So anyway, it's just it's one of those weird oddities of Kickstarter that ended up sort of coming about.

Camera Straps

Brad Dowdy: But speaking of weird oddities, did you get that sweet camera strap for your notebook holder?

Myke Dudek: You know, I think I actually passed on the sweet camera strap.

Brad Dowdy: That is one thing I cannot pull off. I'm gonna go on record here and saying, I that's not a look I can pull off right now. It's not a very big notebook either. Let's just say no, no. So this was kind of impressive. I did check the most recent comments. And he says, we're done. Like everything shipped. Yeah, November 11. Book it the not pen is in the books, which I you know, I'm kind of glad I missed this one on when it launched because I probably would have backed it as well. It's just weird enough to merit throwing some money at it's kind of kind of crazy. So this next one, there's a couple current Kickstarters I want to talk about actually when I have three of them on here. First one is pretty straightforward and it's from someone who's run successful Kickstarter campaigns. And it's from someone who I have purchased pins before and that's in so and they have done some high tech C barrels, which I very much enjoy. I just got my last pledge in gosh, only a couple weeks ago from there when they ran in the summertime. And they turn right back around and have launched the I'm going to go with Puma.

Myke Dudek: Is that what we're thinking here? Probably as good a guess as mine.

Fountain Pen

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Yeah. So it's the super minimal titanium brass and aluminum fountain pen. And before I get your thoughts, I would like to say full disclosure. And so is a blog advertiser. He currently has an advertisement on my blog, the pen addict and is sponsoring a week later this month. So I just wanted to throw that out there as I believe I should. So anyway, tell me what you think about this pen.

Myke Dudek: I think it's well, they they did the Enso pen, I think is what it was called right for over the summer. And they they sent they were kind enough to send me one of the the pens for review earlier. So, you know, they do good work. You know, it seems like that it it was the quality of it was was good, I think. For me, from like a thoughts and look on this.

Myke Dudek: I think it's like super clean, you know, and they definitely are right. Like super minimal fountain pen.

Brad Dowdy: But but we did this four years ago.

Myke Dudek: Right. Yeah, that's right. That's what I'm kind of feeling is like, I think it's cool, you know, and it's I think it's a sleek looking pen. I think, you know, somebody would enjoy owning one like, but but is it is it anything like that hasn't already kind of already really been done before, you know?

Brad Dowdy: Right. So that's that's the me and you problem, right? That's what we look at this and we say, well, it looks exactly like the Nova or whatever, you know, five other pens that look like this. Yeah. Yeah. But there's always new customers coming to Kickstarter. It's not always, you know, the pen community or the pen addict community that's, you know, dropping money on a pen like this. And so one thing I will give him credit. And I think the gentleman's name is Carlo or Carlos. I can't remember how Enzo is the company name. But their pricing is really good. Oh, yeah. For what they offer, they always do. They always have a very fair pricing. And I even I went off of my usual all black or titanium and I actually went for the brass one of this. I did back this project. Oh, sweet, man. Yeah. I mean, 60 bucks or I think mine was 55, I think, for.

Myke Dudek: Yeah, they're 50. Like, I think right here they have this. Well, the super early bird is gone. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: So I did 55 early bird brass. I mean, a brass barrel fountain pen, that's a great price. Yeah, that's really good. And that's a style I like. Okay. It's not groundbreaking by any stretch. But we'll see what it see what it's like. And I'll, you know, try the brass one out.

Myke Dudek: So, yeah, it's it's going to be heavy. That's the thing is it's the brass looks like it's coming in over three ounces. So, I mean, that's going to be pretty weighty in the in the in the hand. Although I don't trying to see. I don't think it posts.

Brad Dowdy: I certainly I don't see how it came. I don't.

Myke Dudek: Yeah, I don't think it posts.

Brad Dowdy: The in design does not look like it would facilitate that. No, no.

Myke Dudek: Sometimes you can be surprised. Like, I don't know, like the way they design that, like it could stick on there. But yeah, I mean, it's it's a it's a clean looking pen.

Brad Dowdy: Like it's not like I want those brass one posted anyway.

Myke Dudek: No, no. One thing like with with kind of pen designs like this. And I think the the Nova folks like I don't know. And maybe this is like round. This will be like round three, four. And so, you know, but like doing a similar design like this, it seems like come out with the fountain pen version and then come back, you know, six months later and do the rollerball version, which, you know, is pretty cool. Like I kind of like when when companies, you know, find a design that works and then offer some different options in it, because I mean, personally, like I think a small pocketable like rollerball or ballpoint in this sort of style or design would be pretty sweet. Like personally.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, I'm with you there. And what's funny is his original designs are way more off the wall than this is what you and I would consider super traditional for like a Kickstarter metal Kickstarter fountain pen.

Myke Dudek: Yeah.

Bolt Action Pen

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So. All right. I'm going to blow your mind on this next one. I just got an email from a reader said, did you see this? And I said, nope. And oh, my God, what is this thing? So this is I'm going to go with rock spelled R-O-H-K.

Brad Dowdy: It's a bolt action pen, but it's unlike any bolt action pen you have ever seen in your life. If anything, it reminds me of the Tombow Air Press. It's in kind of a general shape and plastic barrel. But they go all out in the marketing of this pen as like very EDC with like, you know, it's got the right grip dimensions, you know, for when you need to stab someone in the neck kind of thing. But it's a short pen. Right. But they're going super tactical on this. And what do you think about this pen? It's kind of wild. And again, Captain, full disclosure over here. I am getting one of these from I reached out to them and said, this pen is insane. Dude, I need one. And he emailed me right away. He said, yeah, absolutely. I'll send you one to check out. So I'll definitely have more on this pen when I get it because it's that weird. If this works, it's pretty cool. Now, this pen, it's not exactly cheap. Like this is like just looking at it and looking at the Kickstarter pen market as a whole. Like you and I can kind of say fair price, cheap, overpriced. A lot of engineering obviously went in this. It seems expensive to me.

Myke Dudek: Yeah. Like when I look at this thing, it reminds me of like, I don't know. It kind of seems like 80s, like the 80s, like Russian, Russian Soviet sort of missile. Exactly. Yeah. Like it's pretty intense. It's like it would be like something that would be in like some either Chuck Norris or Steven Seagal or like Jean-Claude Van Damme movie. It's yeah, they definitely like don't. They pulled out all the stops with regard to kind of the marketing side of it.

Brad Dowdy: And let me let me share some of those highlights real quick because they're pretty amazing. Rim edge on end cap for quick grab from pocket. Thumb dish for confident hammer fist grip. Three millimeter wall thickness for unbeatable crush strength. So yeah, this is and this it doesn't stop. Like it literally does not stop. There's like 20 bullet points. You throw this. This is pretty much inspired bolt action mechanism. It's it does not stop. It's awesome.

Myke Dudek: It's pretty much like an action movie, like a blow up action movie, like put into a pen. So if that's your jam, this would be as well your jam.

Brad Dowdy: So I'm totally getting this though. It's because I'm shocked that it's awesome to be quite honest with you. Yeah. For that price, I'm going to be like stunned that it's like legitimately good. Mostly from the bolt. The bolt seems like the most interesting part to me. Like, is this really going to work?

Myke Dudek: Well, like part of me thought is it like, is it I mean, it's obviously probably molded, but like part of me almost thought like, is this thing like 3D printed? Like, you know, it kind of has that sort of feel to it. Like maybe these initial prototypes could be like it even has a little bit like in some of the close ups, a little bit of texture. So I don't know, man. Like it's some of the seeming. Yeah. Like it's it's pretty crazy. Like from a from a price standpoint, like you're saying, like, is it is it like cheap?

Myke Dudek: It's I mean, it's it's an it's Aussie, right? Australian Australian project. And so some of the early early bird kind of ones are limited ones are like 30 bucks, you know, 30 to $35. And so that's not bad. That's not bad.

Brad Dowdy: I guess I was looking at the full regular price. I think it's like 60 or maybe I was looking at a comp. Maybe I was looking at a combo meal.

Myke Dudek: Yeah, like it was like by five.

Brad Dowdy: So, OK, so, yeah, you can get 31. OK, that's more reasonable. I was thinking like 50 or 60. OK, like 30 bucks. OK, I'm down with that. You know, especially, you know, when you have things like reinforce runners for maximum impact strength. I think I think 20 bullet points. I think I was selling it short. There might be closer to 30. Yeah, it's just nonstop. So this is interesting.

Myke Dudek: Yeah, it's pretty cool. Like I give them like I think it's pretty sweet that they're, you know, they like go out with like an idea like this. Like this seems like one of those ideas. It's like, should we, you know, but like they just they're like we're going all in on this. So, yeah.

Brad Dowdy: This is one I want to support because it is so out there. It's not what you see all the time. Yeah. And this is one that if it does get like any kind of press at all and gets successful, you'll end up seeing it like on all the tactical shops. It'll like that market will just eat this up if it's if it's good. So hopefully it is. So I can't wait to try this. It's I kind of I was like, am I really on Kickstarter? Is this like the onion of Kickstarter? Like when I first saw this, but it's a real pen and it's kind of amazing. Yeah, it's awesome. All right. So this next one, I have some things to say about, which means I need to let you talk first. So we just got this tweeted to us like a couple hours ago. And I was telling you before the show, I was like, I keep adding things to the list. This was one of them because I was not aware of it. This is called the Everlast Notebook. Did you get a chance to look at this or were you familiar with it already?

Myke Dudek: You know, I hadn't I hadn't actually seen it before. No. Also, like when you sent it over to me, that was like the first.

Myke Dudek: Yeah. First time I'd run run across it. So.

Pilot Fiction

Brad Dowdy: Yes. So let me give you the background here. So the first thing I did was was watch the video, which was kind of interesting. Interesting dudes behind this. And the premise of this book is that the paper that's air quote paper is like this polyesterish type material. OK. Mm hmm. So you write on that paper with a pilot friction. Yep. That reaction does not allow that ink in the friction does not get into that paper, but it absorbs it enough to where you can run your hand over it and it doesn't smear it. And then to erase it, which is the Everlast part of this, you just get like a wet rag and wipe it off like you would a whiteboard. So it's a little stronger. I guess the ink on the page is more stronger than a whiteboard, but you can erase it with water. Then it also ties into their app. Right. So they have the Rocketbook app and it goes into like you can scan it and upload it like any other attempted iCloud notebook things, you know, cloud, you know, G drive, Dropbox, box, anything you want to upload these scans to you can through their app. So what are your what are your thoughts on this? Because I have many.

Myke Dudek: You know, I don't mind when people are, you know, clever about stuff, you know, and they are trying to do something interesting or something new.

Myke Dudek: Yeah, I don't know. Like I try and look. I don't know when I see this type of stuff. Like, I don't know. I try and look a little bit past like the actual practicality of the product and think like, okay, ultimately from a business decision, like what's the play here? You know, is it, is it the, is the notebook the thing or is eventually it's going to be like the app and then connectivity of the app to other platforms or other apps? You know, like, I mean, I don't know, like, it's really hard for me to really kind of put words around what I think about it. I think it's cool. You know, I don't like the idea that, you know, it works generally with like one kind

Brad Dowdy: of pen, you know, that's a huge, huge issue for me, but we'll talk about that. Yeah, go ahead. So first of all, $300,000 in like a few days is insane. Second of all, when I watched the video, they released a previous Kickstarter called the Wave Notebook, which I remember coming out. What I didn't remember at the time was that it too required the Pilot Fiction to use because they touted it as the world's first microwavable, erasable notebook.

Myke Dudek: Right.

Brad Dowdy: The notebook had nothing to do with that as we well know, right? It's the thermosensitive ink that the Pilot Fiction uses. So number one, I can't believe Pilot didn't have a conniption over that project. Yeah. Number two, you're buying into a project that's totally pimped in on a product that you have no control over. What if they change the formulation? What if they discontinue it? All these things. Like from a businessman's mind, it makes me, I would freak out, but I guess they don't care once they collect and deliver, right? From Kickstarter. Like, is it a long-term project? I don't know. Yeah. It's like, I wouldn't use this even if, I mean, app part, you know, cloud part, like totally discounting that, I would have no use for the notebook anyway. Like, I wouldn't, that's not something that appeals to me, but man, we're like almost up to 5,000 backers on this thing. It's kind of crazy. People are digging this and they, they dig the microwavable notebook, which was, I mean, that's this one. I can't claim this, but the last one seems like completely false advertising.

Myke Dudek: Well, cause then like my thought with, and I think I remember you and Myke talking about that microwavable one, particularly with the Pilot Friction, like what if you live on the East coast, you know, or the upper, I mean, I'm in the desert, so it doesn't get extremely cold here. But like the, the idea behind the Pilot Friction is that when the ink heats up, it goes away, but then when it gets cold, it could come back, you know? So it's like that idea of like, well, you leave it in your car, uh, you're going to have a full on notebook, you know, with, uh, with a bunch of words in it. Um, I don't know, like maybe can I, maybe like from a devil's advocate sort of standpoint with, with something like this, like the idea of it being maybe a short term type of thing. I don't know what, what maybe is the bothersome thing is that it's like trying to blend analog, like physically blend analog and digital together, you know? And kind of like you're saying like the short term nature of maybe if Pilot decides to discontinue the friction, like it's one of those things that like, okay, maybe in five years if the friction goes away, is this, you know, is this notebook that I paid, you know, 30 bucks for useless now? Right. Um, with, with like, I don't know, thinking about sort of the demographic of, of, uh, technology users and people that care about technology, like something like the iPhone or, you know, the newest iPad or, um, you know, the Apple watch or something like that. Like that's really technology that's designed to go away and, you know, within like a cycle, but because it's analog, is it like, well, that's annoying, you know, because I want it to be a, I want it to stay, you know, forever. I want to be able to use it forever. So I don't know. I don't know. It's, it's, it's interesting, but it's called the Everlast notebook. So it's clearly not going anywhere until the friction goes away.

Brad Dowdy: And then, you know, whatever. So these guys have made a mint off of a product that's not theirs, which is kind of fascinating. Yeah. Kind of fascinating to me. So, all right, one more and then we'll take a break and I need a drink. You know, this is different, you know, me getting into podcasts at seven o'clock at night at East coast time. So I don't know when this is going to get released, but we're actually recording this on Monday night. So if anything, any hot stationary news breaks later this week, we're not going to be able to cover it. But, um, this was the, the most emailed product and the most linked product. Myke, have you seen the Axie draw? Yeah. Did you get links and emails on this thing? Yep. I did see this. Yeah. This looks, I mean, I hate to say it. It looks legit, which it kind of creeps me out that this looks so good. Like I'm really impressed with this thing.

Myke Dudek: Yeah. It's like, I don't know. It's, it's pretty sweet. Like I think some of the application that the, so anyway, it's like, it's like, it's way like the back background of this, right. Is it's, is it's in essence like a desktop, uh, CNC for a pen, right. Or a fountain pen or, you know, so it's like you program in what, you know, you want it to draw or what you want it to say. And then based on, you know, the programming, it'll draw what you want. So it'll write, you know, it'll write out your addresses on your Christmas cards for you or whatever. Right. So there, there's applications of it that like, I think it's cool, you know? Um, I'm just, again, trying to see like the application of it for like the standard person. Right. Um, like what would be the benefit of using a tool like this to do say graphic art or, you know, something like that where rather than me just doing a print of a piece of artwork, I could do an original technically with, you know, this tool so I could program it within the computer. But some of the applications of like it drawing your label on your, you know, priority mail, like I am kind of like, you know, it's like a $500 label writer. Like, and that to me just doesn't seem like super practical, but, um, you know, if you wanted to do calligraphy or something like that, like, I mean, I could see some of those, like maybe more of a, in a professional or a commercial applications versus say like, you know, your normal kind of normal consumer. Like to me, I'm not sure if I would see it as like, as super practical, but it's neat. Like nonetheless. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. I definitely see it more as a commercial application for like, um, you know, the stationary shops who are like the invitation shops. Yep. Um, cause these invitations came out really nice. You can probably program the, you know, whatever you need and have them like the next day type of thing or very short turnaround. I imagine once you get the hang of this thing, um, I was impressed with the appeared softness of how it used a fountain pen. Like it kept it at a really low angle and seemed to be very tame with it where the, like the gel and rollerball pins are like very vertical and the fountain pen is, you know, at a, gosh, it's really low, like a 30 degree angle. Um, and the output seemed extraordinarily nice.

Myke Dudek: It looks like the, uh, the kind of little mechanism that holds the pen is like adjustable, you know, based on like, it's got a little knob that you can unscrew and then put your pen in and then, um, it looks like it's on like a swivel for you to be able to tighten, tighten it down. But I mean, it's, it's cool. Like, I'm not going to lie. This thing is, is super neat.

Brad Dowdy: And it was actually cheaper than I thought it would be. Yeah. You know, I thought it might be like twice as much, but I mean, it's $475, so it's not inexpensive, but like you see these, like when the, all the 3d printers came out, there were thousands of dollars.

Myke Dudek: Oh yeah. Yep. Well, the only thing though is, is if you're paying somebody to handwrite your Christmas cards for you, your holiday cards for you, uh, you may want to inquire whether they're using an AxiDrop, but actually, I don't know, maybe that doesn't matter. You know, that's a new business, right? If the output's the same, you know, and, uh, you know, we, we might even get into some of that, like both of us being, you know, manufacturers of production goods, uh, you know, automation sometimes, uh, if done well and mixed in well enough can actually be a way to kind of grow things or make things happen faster. But anyway.

Harry's

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. You know, you know, one company that is growing by leaps and bounds, Myke, that's Harry's. Are you familiar with Harry's? I am, man. Yeah. Harry's is great. This episode, believe it or not, of the pen attic is brought to you by Harry's the holiday seasons upon us. We all know how difficult gift shopping can be. Well, Harry's is here to make it a little bit easier. Sometimes the best gifts are the ones that are thoughtful and practical. And that's what Harry's is all about for this holiday season. Why not buy a loved one? A Harry set. I talk about them all the time. I've got them stacked up here. I give them away, give them to my parents, my in-laws. They love them. And the best part about them is to give one to someone, the sets just start at $15. The Winston set, it includes a chrome handle, which you can even have engraved for a little extra personal touch. And they believe so much in the quality of their razors that they guarantee their quality. They'll give you a full refund if you're not happy. The blades are smooth. They're comfortable. They last a wonderfully long time. The handles are really cool looking. There's some neat colors. I've used orange and blue and olive. They look great. They're great to hold. And it's a great value for the money. I mean, that's what got me into Harry's originally was, wow, this looks like a great price. And then on top of it, it's an even better product. I mean, it's a complete win-win. So go to harrys.com right now. Enter the code PENADDICT at checkout to get $5 off your order. Ground shipping for the holidays ends on December 16th. So act now. Go to harrys.com. That's H-A-R-R-Y-S.com. Use the code PENADDICT at $5 off your order. Thanks to Harry's for supporting this show and Relay FM. Mr. Dudek, your baby face, you don't have to shave like once a month, right? I mean, you are a young looking dude, if I must say so myself.

Myke Dudek: Well, thanks, buddy. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: Do you still get carded?

Myke Dudek: Man, all the time. I'm like, yeah. No, I, yeah, that's the thing is like I hang out with, it seems like lots of my, my friends are very bearded folks. And myself, I am definitely, I keep it clean shaven primarily due to the, the misses, you know? Yeah. She likes that. She likes it.

Wood Clenched Erasable

Brad Dowdy: You're a baby faced assassin. Yep. Yeah. So speaking of baby faced assassins, our good friend, Andy Wellfley of wood clenched and erasable fame just launched a new zine. He's calling it a companion to the erasable podcast. It's called Plumbago, which when he launched the, I just saw this this afternoon and I saw that name. I was like, why do I know that? What, what is Plumbago? And, you know, why does that register with me? Well, Andy has a good post about how that name came about and I won't spoil it. You'll read it. We'll have a link in the show notes to it. But I love this idea. He's put together a zine. I love zines. I was a huge into the music zine scene in the nineties. And, you know, Andy has done a really, really cool thing here. And it's got some articles and artwork for some of our favorite people like Caroline and Caitlin from CW Pencils and Harry Marks and, and, um, Anna Reiner and, uh, Toffer and Elaine and from Owl Inc. And just all kinds of people, you know, putting together this zine. And, uh, it's a really cool thing. And best of all is all the profits and all the proceeds are going to the Oakland Fire Department Relief Fund, which they just had that big, uh, huge ghost ship warehouse fire, um, in Oakland. And also to Girls to Women, which is a East Palo Alto based nonprofit empowering girls and young women. So $5 for the first issue. All the proceeds go to wonderful cherries charities. Um, this is like a complete no brainer for me. I've already ordered and, uh, you should too. So we'll have the link in the show notes. I thought that was cool.

Myke Dudek: That's super cool.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Yeah. So, um, you know, if we came up with our own zine, it would probably be called what's your favorite pen? Because that seems to be the question we always get, at least I do in my inbox. What pen are you using right now? What's your favorite pen? What's your favorite paper? Um, what are your top five? What are your top three? So I don't necessarily want to do like a specific hard top. What are your top five pens? But we got to ask this question a lot. You know, people want to know what our guests are using. So can you give me an example of kind of maybe two or three things that you're using recently? It doesn't necessarily even have to be a pen. It could be paper or something else. But what are, what are the things you've been, uh, really using a bunch recently?

Myke Dudek: Yeah, I found myself, let's see. I don't know. As far as care, as far as what I've been carrying a lot. Well, anytime I have like a metal barreled pen that, uh, takes like a, like a gel or a ballpoint or, you know, a G2 style or whatever. Um, it's always filled with like the Pentel Energel. Like always, every time. Like it's, it's my go-to kind of gel. Uh, I wish they kind of made a, uh, I don't know, a finer tip. But anyway, like one of the ones I've been carrying a lot recently is, um, my, actually kind of a local guy to me. Um, Chris, Chris Williams of it's, uh, I can never say the name right, but I think it's Adalia.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, I'm not going to help you out with that one. And, uh, I know, I knew he was going to say, he's a good guy.

Myke Dudek: He's a solid, solid guy. Really, really cool guy. Um, being close, we get to, we get to kind of cross paths every once in a while and just, just kind of shoot the crap, you know? But, um, he, uh, one, one, like a pen that I've been using a ton recently is he came out with a, uh, stainless steel model of his pen. Uh, so it's like, it's a little, like you don't get the smell of the brass, but you get the weight. You know, and so like just really slim, really, uh, just, just, just a solid, I don't know. I just, I love kind of everything about that pen. Um, just its simplicity, but yeah, with the Energel every time. Um, let's see some other ones that I've been using recently. Oddly enough, it's like, I've been using, um, pencils too. Like, like not, not a ton, but I do use sort of the wood case pencils from time to time. Um, and I've been breaking slowly into my stash of the, uh, Blackwing 211s that came out. Oh, yeah. Those like wood, you know, the cedar looking wood ones. Oh, yeah. I mean. Dude, one, okay. Sidebar on those, right? Like, it's crazy, man. I think, I, I think I bought like two or three boxes of them. So I got them just stashed. But then like, have you seen how the price on those has just gone nuts?

Brad Dowdy: Like, yes. So think about that. Every time you sharpen it, you're like peeling off a $2. I know. Seriously.

Myke Dudek: Every time I sharpen it, like, no, my, my, literally my wife came in to, and, uh, she was doing some calendaring stuff for something. And she's like, Hey, do you have a pencil I could borrow? And, uh, and I'm like, yeah, I have, you know, I have my pen, one of my pen holders right there, pencil holders. And she grabs a 211 and I give her this, like, you know, I give her this look like, Hey, you probably should bring that back. You know? It's like, no, I'm just kidding. So I'm like, you can have whatever you want. But, uh, literally. Yeah. So like seeing the dozens of those going for like a hundred dollars or something. That's crazy.

Brad Dowdy: Um, I have to start getting those little tile, uh, things that you put on to like track your lost devices in case your 211 doesn't come back. You can like hunt it down.

Myke Dudek: One of my kids just like hauls off and leaves with a box of them. And I'm like, that's coming out of your college fund right there.

Brad Dowdy: So are you saying you have more than one box? I don't know if you want to say this publicly. I know. Right. You'll get inundated. So Myke does not have more than one box.

Myke Dudek: You know, I just, I just sharpened the last one.

Brad Dowdy: So yeah, that's too bad. Too bad.

Myke Dudek: And then, uh, kind of on like a simpler, uh, I have my vanishing point, uh, with an architect from Dan Smith from the Nib Smith.

Brad Dowdy: Absolutely.

Myke Dudek: Uh, great, great grind. I love that. And then like from like a doodling standpoint, like when I just like doodle or draw, I usually use the paper mate flare, which is just a little felt tip, you know, but great for great for just kind of sketching and drawing up ideas.

Brad Dowdy: So that's, that's like a good all around setup. Like it's like one of each, you know, of course it isn't, but it's like good. Like I like to have one of each, you know, a fountain pen, a regular pen, a pencil, and then like a marker type pen. Like that's kind of a perfect setup for me. If I was carrying everything, um, I've been carrying, and I'm going to start getting hate mail on this cause I won't shut up, but it's the Aurora Optima. I love that pen. I'm using it for a show notes tonight. It's the red, uh, demonstrator one, which is really a clear demonstrator. It's just got red finial. So they call it the red demonstrator. It's synced up with the Waterman Mysterious Blue. And, uh, I, I'm loving that. I carry in my pocket almost daily the shown design 01, um, in aluminum, black aluminum. It's, um, really small pocketable pen. It's just the right weight. It posts, um, it thread posts to a really, really good length, good balance. Takes Fisher space pen refill. I use that, um, at knock pretty much religiously. That's kind of my go-to pocket pen.

Kickstarter

Myke Dudek: Did you see, uh, oh, sorry. No, no, go ahead. Side note with that. Did you see the, uh, adapter that Ian made?

Brad Dowdy: No, but I, for some reason I'm seeming like I ran across this.

Myke Dudek: You're gonna, you're probably gonna freak out. Okay. Yeah. Just prepare to freak out.

Brad Dowdy: So I think the only person that buys more Kickstarter stuff than you and I is, uh, our friend Brian Draghi, uh, Mr. SketchScape. And I think maybe, did he have a link from Ian or something? Yeah. Okay. So what is, do you, what is this again?

Myke Dudek: Ian, uh, like side note as well about that. Like that's a solid pen. Like one of my favorite, like small pocketable EDCs, like, can't get really much better than, than kind of something like that. But he, uh, he designed an adapter to go into his pens that is, so this is a Fisher space pen, but it's an adapter that takes a D one. Oh, that's right. Yeah. So you could throw in like those Charbo, you know, point fours or whatever that you're

Brad Dowdy: crazy about, you know, that like get a good day out of them for $3.

Myke Dudek: I know that's, I didn't say it was cost effective, but that's true.

Brad Dowdy: That's the first one I would put in there. You know it.

Myke Dudek: Yeah. But anyway, I interrupted you.

Brad Dowdy: No, that's, that's really cool. No, those are, those are right. Like I don't have too many fountain pens inked up right now. I have maybe like two or three if I'm not reviewing anything, but I'm, I'm using the Optima religiously. Um, the shown leaves the house with me, um, nearly every day and that's kind of it. And when I'm at my desk, I'm like you, I'm using a lot of pencils. I just got the, uh, the five 30 black wing, um, the volumes release. I use the 56 more, and then I probably use the 602 more than any of them. So, um, you know, when I'm at my desk, I tend to, tend to grab those pencils. So, so that's pretty cool. So one thing you didn't exactly mention that you're using is one of the things you're known for the most on your blog. And one of the reasons, um, you know, some of the hate laser beams coming from my eyeballs at you are for your, uh, wonderful roturing and vintage pilot collections. And I guess the question is, and this one's from Brandon, um, have you completed your shopping for these various roturings and pilots? Do you have more that you're trying to hunt down or are you kind of taking a break on all that stuff?

Myke Dudek: Uh, well, it's, you know, if you've ever looked into the price of vintage roturing and vintage pilots, a lot of times it's like, there's, there's some, there's some sticker shock there, but well, it's kind of your fault.

Brad Dowdy: I'm just going to lay it out there.

Myke Dudek: Well, you know, I don't know if we, if we track market trends and, you know, but there was a time when like, when roturing was, was, was kind of the hot, the hot topic on the blog. And like, I mean, I'm not going to take credit that they like doubled in price, you know, but, but Hey, you know, we all have to make, we all have to make an impact on the world somewhere, you know? And, uh, as far as the roturing goes, um, I wouldn't say that I'm like in, in probably collection mode on the roturing side of things. Cause I've, I've tried pretty much everything and I've owned at least probably one of everything at some given time. But what I have been doing is one of my favorite roturing pens is just their standard. Um, well discontinued now, but like they're, uh, the older ballpoints, the neural ballpoints, you know, they're think of like the current roturing 600 pencils in the, you know, that kind of that super classic style, but like it's a ballpoint. Okay.

Brad Dowdy: So it has a, it's a knock ballpoint, not a capped. Okay, cool. Yep. And they're, and they're knurled like the pencil.

Pen Preference

Myke Dudek: Totally. Yeah. And so they're one of my like absolute favorite, favorite, favorite pens. And so, um, not that I need more of them, but I'm always like on the hunt for a good deal on one. So maybe I'm like stockpiling for, you know, when the world ends and I'm never going to be without my roturing, but, um, if you, if like you, if, you know, obviously listen to this, if you want something like that, uh, but don't want to spend, you know, roturing kind of money, the, uh, the recommendation I would make is maybe to give the retro 51 hexomatic a try. Like they get, they pay some serious homage to, uh, the 600s in that pen. And, uh, it's, it's a, it, it feels great, you know, but it runs about the same price as like a roturing pencil, you know, 30 bucks. It's a good sort of alternate for that.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. And that's a flat out, cool, cool pen. And I believe the one I have you sent to me.

Myke Dudek: I think you're right.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. You're right. Thank you. That sits in, uh, this weird little walnut block I have in my desk, which we might talk about here in a minute. But before we do, I want to talk about our good friends at Squarespace, which I'm a Squarespace customer. Knock uses Squarespace. And I know you, Mr. Dudek, you're a Squarespace customer as well, right?

Myke Dudek: Yep. For both, uh, both my websites. Yep.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So they make it easy. I mean, to write a blog, to shop, um, and they're a sponsor of the show. So this episode is brought to you by Squarespace, the simplest way for anyone to create a beautiful landing page, website, or online store. Start building your website today at squarespace.com and an offer code Inc at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase. They have easy to use tools and templates. Squarespace helps you capture every detail of what drives you because if it's worth the effort, it's worth sharing with the world. You can build professional looking sites, regardless of skill level. I have no skills. My sites look kind of professional and that's all because of Squarespace makes it. So you'll be easily able to make your website look and feel exactly how you want using their state of the art technology to power your site and ensure security and stability. They're trusted by millions of people and some of the biggest brands in the world. Their site templates are stunning, all of which feature responsive design. So my sites look just as great on your desktop, laptop, or mobile device. And they're just getting started. So they're continuing to grow, always instituting new features. They currently have 24 seven support with live chat and email with teams located in New York, Dublin, Portland, always there to help you. They have a wonderful commerce platform. You can add a store, you can have a full on storefront like Myke and I do, you know, me with knock Myke with dudek modern goods, or you can drop a page into your blog like I do with the pen addict and just have a shop tied into their commerce platform like that. If you sign up for a year, you also get a free domain name allowing you to choose exactly what you want your site to be called. Squarespace plan started just $12 a month. Start a trial with no credit required and start building your website today by going to squarespace.com. When you decide to sign up for Squarespace, make sure to use the offer code Inc to get 10% off your first purchase to show your support for the pen act. Thank you to Squarespace for your support of this show and all of real FM. Big fan of Squarespace. All right. So let's hit. Everyone's going. Are you going to talk about your businesses yet? Because they actually really enjoy that talk, which surprises me. But I like talking about it. But we're not yet because I have a few more asked TPA questions that we got in from the listeners that I want to be sure to hit. So Julia asked, and this is, I put this here because it's kind of in relation to your conversation about collecting Rotarians pilots. Julia asked, do you have a system for keeping ink pens down to a certain number? What is your magic number? I've just this year gone beyond a number of pens. I can have inked at once. So I had to devise my own system. So what's kind of your magic number for inked fountain pens? Do you have one? And is there any rules that you live by?

Myke Dudek: There's not really any, any rules, I would say. It's just like when I get to a point where I start to like worry, it's like, I don't know, I hit this, I hit this like threshold of where it's like, okay, well, I have, you know, 10 pens inked up. I probably should do something about this. Um, and I, and like, admittedly, I put it off as long as I can. Like, I really, it's just like, it's not that difficult to clean fountain pens, but I just, it's just one of those things. It's like, I gotta do it, you know?

Brad Dowdy: But as soon as you clean it, you miss that ink you cleaned out or that nib you were using. Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Myke Dudek: So I, I don't know. I'd probably say I keep nowadays, you know, probably something like seven or eight inked at any given time, but I don't have like a system I'd say as far as like, you know, one in, one out, anything like that.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. I don't have a one in, one out system, but I do kind of have, I try to keep a max and I try to keep it at six because that's totally self-serving what a Brasstown fits. One of our NotCo cases fits six pens and I can fit like other pens in the pocket too. Like if I want to carry, you know, a felt tip pen or ballpoint or gel, I can throw that in there. When I start having pens outside of that case and like laying on my desk and then they get to be like too many, like only have six kind of fountain pen slots in that case. And then all of a sudden I have like three or four more on my desk. So like I'm up to that 10 number. That's, that's my panic level too. I'm like, this is too much. I'm never going to use all these. Let's start cleaning and kind of get this number back down. So I'm with you on the quantity. I can't ever have like 30 or 40 fountain pens. Oh, no way. I know some people do.

Myke Dudek: No way. Yeah, no way.

Brad Dowdy: So, um, the smaller, the better. I've tried to do three and that just doesn't work with the way, the things I enjoy writing. I also sometimes include the review pens I'm carrying like for months at a time, you know, I kind of give those a pass, right? They don't necessarily count in the six, but they just end up pushing other things out of my cases and then it gets to be a problem. So they kind of do so.

Myke Dudek: Well, you have to clean them still, you know, that's the thing. And so it's like, that's, I, it's for me, it's like, do I have to go clean this later? Like that's the kind of thing, you know? And so with, with the, yeah, definitely the pens that come through the, uh, uh, you know, reviews and stuff. Yeah. It kind of fits a little different. They may not be like my daily carry stuff that I do, but, um, yeah, yeah. I'm right there with you. Totally. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: So this next question is actually specifically for me, but I want your feedback on this. And there's someone out there that wants to know why do I hate red ink? Um, the reason why I hate red ink is because it reminds me of a guy named Joey Feldman who always used it in his artwork. Oh, wait, who was that? Oh, that question was from Joey. I read that wrong. Oh, sorry, Joey. I take all of that back. I take back everything I said about you. Now, I, I don't hate red ink. I rarely have a use for it because I like orange ink and there's not a lot of differentiation that I get, even though there's so many dark reds and things that I know Joey likes and things like that. Is there any ink that you have, Myke, that, you know, you know, it's like a thing like red and greens are mine that I know are things for people, but I rarely if ever use them. Do you have those colors?

Myke Dudek: I have, uh, yeah, I have a couple of greens and I, and I had a couple of reds and then a couple of like, like kind of weird oranges, you know, like, uh, I don't know. I'm thinking, I'm thinking of like Noodler's Apache Sunset, you know, which is just kind of like an interesting, but yeah, as far as like your normal everyday type of use, like, yeah, I, uh, nothing, not like, I don't, I'm definitely more of like a blue, like a bright blue or like a blue black kind of guy, you know?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. And, uh, I, I understand like the, the red thing. I mean, you can get some really killer bright reds. You can get some really dark, you know, interesting brownish reds that, you know, evoke like different feelings and different character on the paper. Um, it's just never been like a go-to thing. It's one of those where I always ink it up. I say, wow, this is really nice. And then I've dumped it before I've used a whole converter or piston of it. And it just, you know, one of those things.

Myke Dudek: I think you and I just have like some scarring from grade school, uh, lots of red ink all over our papers, you know?

Brad Dowdy: Mine's just, mine's just nightmares about Joey Feldman.

Brad Dowdy: All right. So this is a, this is a very interesting question from a very intervention, interesting, uh, individual, Mr. Tony WTF. That's how I like to refer to him. So he knows who he is. Um, what is the Dudek sanction method for positioning an idea doc opening in the back or opening in the front? So for those who don't know, Myke makes a product for us at knock. And we're going to talk about this later, um, called the idea doc, because we're huge index card fans. So we have a note card. We wanted something cool to put it on. And it's kind of a desk tool. Um, so Myke and myself and Jeff collaborated on what's called the idea doc. So the, okay, I'm going to sell myself out right here. The backside of the doc has a slot to keep your extra index cards while the front has a little slit on the top where you can post an index card up. I'll put a link in the show notes for anyone who hasn't seen it. Um, so what is your official positioning of the idea doc, Myke?

Myke Dudek: Uh, it would, from a practical standpoint, I could see why people could go different ways with it, but, uh, from the design and Dudek sanctioned position would be, uh, the slot or the card holder in the back. And the reason being is, uh, the front of it, which again, we're, we're kind of giving away our opinions here. The front of it has the, has the knock, uh, logo etched into the corner. And so if it's turned around, then you don't get to see that. So there's, there's kind of an intentionality of that. Um, but, uh, yeah, so that would be, it was designed originally to have the cards in the back.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So, but actually after, once people started getting them, they're like, I use it this way. I was like, no, that's pretty smart because you can get to the pin easier, you know? And I'm not going to lie on my desk. Mine lives sideways. So I just blew all that out of the water. It's because I get into the cards more than anything and the pin slot. And I don't usually have one, a card posted in the notch on the top, but I'm always reaching for the cards. So I just have it sideways. So I don't have to turn around to get them because I don't think I could not function with it backwards. Like I would not be able to sit at my desk with the idea doc cards facing me. Like that would not work. I would have to turn it around or apparently sideways works for me too, but well, if it

Myke Dudek: was, if it was just a card dispenser, you know, I could see, I could see that, you know, as far as it being just like a place to grab the cards. But then, uh, since it's meant to be like a card stand, um, you know, with the stand showing towards you seems to make the most sense, you know, as far as design.

Brad Dowdy: Yes. Yes. So Tony, you're doing it wrong.

Myke Dudek: Sorry, Tony.

Brad Dowdy: Actually, I don't, I don't know, uh, which way he goes. So he'll, whichever way, Tony.

Myke Dudek: Sorry.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Sorry. Sorry. All right. So this is a question I found interesting because I actually don't know where you're at even in this realm. So this was from Rez in the Slack room. He says, when it comes to one's first Urushi pen, what would you recommend? Nakaya, Danitrio, Carolina Pen Company, something else. Do you even own an Urushi pen?

Myke Dudek: I actually don't. Okay. That's what I was thinking. This is all you, man. So I'm, I'm in the same boat as far as, uh, as far as Rez.

Nakaya Pens

Brad Dowdy: So, so this is this, I mean, this really not to be unfair to these other companies, but there is to me no other choice than Nakaya. Um, it's, I've held all these, I've owned all these. Um, I'd actually don't own a Carolina pen or Urushi, but I've, I've seen them at, um, at shows. I haven't, even the Danitrio I have, there's something about the Nakaya that is different. Um, and I don't know, maybe it's the story. Maybe it's the, the, the romance of it that makes it different. Um, but it's different. It just is. Um, a lot of it is that nib too. The nibs are the best in the world. And the Urushi colors are unlike any other companies. The artists that make these pens are, I'll just, I mean, it's an unfair statement, but they're more talented. Like the, I see the finish of the pens and the artwork. It's, they're unparalleled. So you pay for that, right? So it's extraordinarily expensive. It's a pen company that goes up. I don't know, 20% in their prices and people don't blink, you know, it's that good. They're legitimately good. Um, I would start there. And if you can't afford one, wait and get it. Like, don't try to placate yourself by going lower. Do the Nakaya first and then figure out if you want to try something else. My opinion, take it or leave it. But I'm, uh, I, I'm definitely on board there.

Myke Dudek: So as someone who's not bought one yet, um, but has been, obviously it's been on the radar for a long time. You know, it's just a matter of, um, you know, I'm probably in the same, uh, same boat as Myke, you know, he's had, he's had, uh, or Hurley, right. He's had the, he's had the opportunity for how many years to buy his first Urushi pen, you know, and he hasn't yet. And so, but I would definitely say like, when I decide to take the plunge on it, my first would be, uh, kind of with that Nakaya brand. Yeah. And then potentially if it's, if it becomes something that I'm really fascinated and I want to look into other brands or makers, um, you know, and then obviously you have the funds to go buy, right. Right. You know, these other, these other makers and pens, like, you know, it would be sort of start, yeah. Start with where the precedent is set. Yeah. And then you can kind of move, uh, from there. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: Right. Right. Like it. Yeah. I couldn't have said it better. So yeah, I think that's perfect. All right. So let's talk business. But, uh, first I want to talk about one more wonderful sponsor of this show. And this is an extremely interesting business to me and one I've supported since they started. Uh, I became aware of them because they sponsored this. So they cost me money. This episode is brought to you by foot cardigan. So I have a few questions for you. Do you want to be known as the best gift giver in the whole wide world? Have you ever wished that the sock fairy would pay you a visit? Do you want your feet to be the envy of everyone? You know, do you want awesome socks delivered to your mailbox? If the answer to any of these is yes, then foot cardigan is here to make it happen. And I mean, I think the answer to all of those questions is yes, Myke. I mean, foot cardigan delivers fun socks every month, right to your doorstep. They ensure your feet never have to be seen out in public in plain white socks ever again. The best part? You don't have to choose what pair you get. Every month you get a surprise pair in the mail and surprises are the greatest. Starting at just $9 a month, foot cardigan socks are a fantastic holiday, birthday, or any day gift. Or you could just treat your own feet to a subscription. That's what I did. There's no shame in treating yourself. Foot cardigan has socks for men, women, and kids in a bunch of different styles. So if someone you know is more of a no-show kind of sock wearer, like me, maybe want a little luxury sock in your life, then foot cardigan's got your feet covered, quite literally. Go to footcardigan.com.now and get 10% off your order with the coupon code PIN. Once again, it's footcardigan.com. Promo code PIN at checkout for 10% off any subscription. Thanks so much to Foot Cardigan for their support of this show and Relive FM. Big fan of this type of service. I wouldn't say I'm a subscription junkie. I think there's probably too much now, but when someone does it right, it kind of fits your style and needs all in one, and it's a great price. My foot cardigan subscription was $9 a month for the no-show subscription. I'm like, that's pretty cool. I'll try this out for six months and see what we got. And I got 10% off by using the coupon code PIN. So there's that. So we didn't think of the business foot cardigan, but we thought of our own businesses, Myke. And we got a bunch of questions on that. So I'm going to kind of roll this up kind of in two parts. One, let's just talk about businessy business stuff. And then we'll talk about the more fun, how things get done stuff. So I don't want to short anyone who sent in questions. So I'm going to kind of say all of y'all's names now. So Paperlate, Jason, Claire, Written and Rice, Bellrill, The Lou, Theo Lou. All y'all sent in kind of related to work stuff questions. And so I'm going to kind of combine all of these questions and see what information we can pull out on Myke here. So both you and I, this is a question from Paperlate. It says, you and I make our living from PIN stuff. Do you think the resurgence in fountain pen popularity is a fad or the market is here to stay? Both Dudek's businesses and Nock have products outside of PIN stuff. So is this diversification intentional on your part? And does it safeguard you from ups and downs on the PIN market? So take that first part first. Do you think this is a resurgence or do you think it's here to stay?

Myke Dudek: Well, I think the I guess there's a specific. The question was about a resurgence in fountain pen popularity, which I feel is a bit on the specific side. I don't know. I think my thoughts around the idea of like fountain pens and analog and pencils, you know, stuff like that.

Brad Dowdy: I think it's fair to take this question as analog.

Myke Dudek: Yeah, I would agree. Yeah. I would say like fountain maybe isn't isn't isn't the only the only side of it. But like people actually kind of give a darn about what they're writing with or what they're writing on, you know, and why is that in today's market? And I feel that there's like we've been so overloaded by like digital screens and phones and, you know, always having to be connected from stuff like that. Like you kind of lose the idea of touch, you know, with things. And I mean, even though we have like touch screens and, you know, keyboards and stuff like that, it's like it's not the same. Like you over time, you start to not see your own hand. And I mean that by like writing, you know, like sort of if you're writing a check, which whoever does that anymore. Right. Like it's right. So, you know, it's like there's there's a there's a personal element of the analog side of it. That's like you being very connected to your thoughts, to I don't know. There's it's just like the tactile feel of it is something that's very, very personal. And I think that there's been a there's been a lack of that in the last, you know, say, 15, 15 to 20 years as computers, the Internet, you know, all that stuff. So I don't know to say it's a fad.

Myke Dudek: I don't know. Like I think it's like people are reaching for this because they're not finding it in the things that they're currently doing or the things that they're currently experiencing in their day to day. And so, I mean, is everybody on board with it? No, there's probably people that are like diehard, you know, pencils and pens should go away forever, you know. But like I don't know, like I don't foresee it really dying out. It might it might slow. But yeah, I see it. I see it analog probably being here to stay for sure. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. And I agree with that. And obviously we have, you know, bias towards that. You know, we obviously want it to stay. We're going to do what we can to make it stay. But the facts are that businesses in this analog market continue to grow. They keep opening. They keep expanding.

Brad Dowdy: You know, there's just more talk in general. There's more, you know, just content being created around analog things with analog tools. So I don't think it's a fad. It's also not a fast growth market. You know, it's but when the signs that you see, like I read an article a couple weeks ago where the Japanese stationary market like added on like a billion dollars in revenue over the past year from a already huge market. Like they're seeing growth in the market. You know, it's obviously not as big here in the States. But when you have businesses that were traditionally online opening brick and mortar stores, there's something to that. Like I think that's when you've gone beyond the fad stage and you're into the sustainability stage. Right. So I think it's always going to be a thing. I think it's going to continue to grow. It's never going to be, you know, the computer or the iPhone type of stuff. But it's great. People are very interested in the stuff more and more every day. And I don't think it's going anywhere. Not anytime soon. Probably not in our lifetimes. You know, until we're doing like full like holographic and completely like, you know, transporting like, you know, from the holodeck to somewhere else, then maybe it's gone. But I don't see that happening anytime soon. Yeah. So the second part of that question was our businesses, you and I, have products outside of pen stuff. So is this diversification intentional on your part? And does it safeguard you from ups and downs in the pen market? No, it's not diversification. It's not intentional. It's fun doing something we like. And it's so small. It doesn't safeguard us from anything. Our market's the pen market. And I don't know. How about you?

Myke Dudek: Yeah. Well, and I guess it's also how we look at what our products are. Like, while our products complement a pen, you know, a pen or stationary type of interest. Like, I don't know. From my side with the dudex stuff, it's like I look at it as almost more of like a lifestyle or a design type product. And I know that sounds kind of interesting because it's very functional on purpose. But it's like the idea that, you know, you could always have a, like, it's like I'm looking at it as more of an experience on the desk versus like what it serves sometimes at the same time. You know, I don't know. Like, so I don't think I've like, yeah, there's no intentional diversification there. For one, from the practicality of pen manufacturing, you know, that would be like, I guess I'm like not trying to read into that question at all. But like, right. If we're either we're making pen accessories or things that complement pens or we're making pens and like making pens is definitely definitely a bit more involved than say like making pen related stuff.

Brad Dowdy: So, but yeah, so Jason kind of takes this further, you know, the fad here to stay the popularity stuff.

Brad Dowdy: Do you look at it or think about it differently? Like, I guess this is probably more for me. Do I look at this differently as someone who is all in on this market for their livelihood?

Brad Dowdy: You know, when you put it that way, it's like kind of scary. But the funny thing is the person I am today is the person I've been my whole life. Like I've always been the stationary nerd and I've always been passionate about those things. And I've always been passionate about pens and paper. And now, you know, over the past many years, I found an outlet to talk about those things. Like, so the next progression was for me to do that for my job. Like, you know, it sounds silly that, you know, I had to go apply for my passport the other day. And the lady asked me, what do you do? I said, I'm self-employed. She said, can you be more specific?

Brad Dowdy: And that's a super hard question for me to answer, right? I can say, well, I'm a writer, a blogger, a podcaster, a manufacturer. It's like, but there's no one thing. But, you know, we talk about, you know, all these, you know, analog making a comeback. The fact is I wouldn't be fortunate enough to do what I do every day if I didn't have this digital world that allowed me to spread that word that I've always had in me. Like, so I don't fear being all in because I feel I'm doing what I'm supposed to do, like what I've always supposed to been doing with my life. So if for some reason that that craps out 10 years down the line, well, so be it. But I never I certainly don't have any fear of it because I feel like I'm getting to express me and just do it. And it feels right. So whether I am at the whims of a market, I don't really think of it that way, even though that's probably a super valid question. And I like I like that question a lot. Like that makes me really, really think that's a really good question. Like, are you all in on a fad? Like I, you know, I didn't set up a Beanie Baby marketplace. Right. So it's a little bit different. You know, I get to I get to put I get to put me into more things that I sell. You know, the pen addict is me. Knock is a piece of me. You know, I'm not reselling someone's L someone else's stuff, if that makes sense. And that's kind of like you are. I mean, you make the stuff you sell.

Myke Dudek: Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: So I thought that was a super, super interesting question. I appreciate that, Jason. And hopefully I will see you in L.A. in a couple of months.

Myke Dudek: Yeah, that was awesome. That was awesome.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So Claire wants to know. And see, I said I wasn't going to say everyone's name in case I forgot them. And I've said it every single question so far. Claire wants to know what difficulties and snags have you both faced as makers? Why don't you talk about that first?

Myke Dudek: Yeah. Well, definitely like, well, for one, Dudek Modern Goods, it kind of happened. I almost say it almost happened by accident. And I've always been kind of a tinkerer, somebody that makes things or likes to try and make things. And Dudek Modern Goods really spawned as just like from a need that I had for myself. You know, and like I decided to create my own solution and, you know, like on a whim, like as something I did on a weekend, you know, like let's create something for myself to use. And then, you know, now three and a half years later, it's turned into something much, much greater than I would have anticipated. You know, I, whilst Dudek Modern Goods and the Clicky Post are a big part of my, I would call it, you know, my career, my professional life.

Brad Dowdy: Oh, you know, you want to say brand.

Myke Dudek: My brand, you know, but I have a day job, you know, I work, you know, I have a sort of a normal job that I work as my job. In small business, sales and marketing software. And, you know, so it's like Dudek Modern Goods and the Clicky Post is something that I do as like I would consider my second job, you know, and it definitely has turned into that. And I don't say that as a like a negative thing, you know, it's a it's is it challenging? Oh, yeah, you bet it is, you know. And when I when I first started the blog in the business, you know, again, sort of by accident, I you know, my wife and I, we only had one kid. And now you're going to think we're crazy. But like, you know, three and a half years into it now we have three. So we have, you know, three little ones under the age of five that demand a lot of attention. And, you know, how do you balance all those things out, you know, and so as far as the challenges or the difficulties or the snags, my biggest ones have just been space and time. And, you know, trying to figure out how to how to how to manage all of those different hats that I have to wear, you know, as husband and dad and, you know, breadwinner and like also blogger and business owner, you know, and marketer and social media marketer and email writer, you know, like there's all those different things that sort of you wear. And so that's been the biggest thing, you know, is it's just being able to I don't know, it's it feels like I'm running pretty efficiently now, you know, but yeah, it's definitely just I would say for me, the hardest part has just been the production side of it and mixing that with kind of my day to day life and my responsibilities.

Brad Dowdy: That's a massive challenge. Like it's it's for real. And like when you start listing off all the extra things besides making the stuff, that's when I started giggling. It's like that that list was like five percent of it. It's so much stuff other than making of the stuff. That's that's like the biggest difficulty for me is just to not letting the small things slip. Right. And because you let too many of those slip and they just they catch up to you and they just bite you. And then then you have a bigger problem on your hands. That's kind of been the challenge for me.

Brad Dowdy: You know, aside from the whole the whole scaling thing, which is probably an entire podcast. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. You know, that's that's a challenge. I know you and I have talked about that for sure. But, yeah, it's not it's letting that the small things not forgetting those small things because they're important. They need to be done, too. And you can get yourself in a bind if you're not paying attention to like everything, which is a really, really hard thing to do when you're in your case, a one person operation. In our case, a two person operation, these are not large operations and there's lots of little things that, you know, can fall through the cracks and you just can't let that happen. So that's a tough, tough thing.

Brad Dowdy: So.

Sazerac Ink

Brad Dowdy: Well, this kind of leads into the next question. So this is from Blair. He is my Sazerac dealer.

Brad Dowdy: That ink is amazing. And he caused me all kinds of problems with that. So he says, I'd love to hear from you and Myke about how you think about distributing responsibility in your businesses relative to scale and revenue. Does added scale provide sufficient benefits relative to the loss of hands on control over each and every final project product? How did each of you come to the respective decisions for your businesses? Once you want you take that one, because it's probably a little different from you because you're a one man show.

Myke Dudek: Yeah, this this doesn't quite. Well, it doesn't this. There's like any time you're you're kind of as a as a small business, particularly when you're in the manufacturing realm. There is a sense of sort of control that you want over all your pieces because like that experience on the tail end of it. You know, every time I send out a piece, you know, with a handwritten note, just quick note saying thank you. You know, it's like that's you know, there's like a very personal connection to that piece because I made it, you know, for for that person. And I have a certain ideas or certain thoughts of how it should be. And, you know, every piece that goes through through me is quality controlled of would I be comfortable having this piece on my own desk? You know, is there something about it that either I didn't I didn't do or, you know, and there's pieces that that all like I'll start over, you know, because something just isn't right on it. Mm hmm. So as far as like I've I've had these thoughts about, well, in order for me to grow and scale, do that modern goods in the lieu of all the things that I've just listed. Right. And talked about before, like that would require me to branch out and probably to scale or to include like we we were talking about, you know, that automated, you know, priority mail mailer thing. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Is there is there a way that I could invest into some tools that would help with my scaling? You know, to where I'd still be hands on, but then also maintain the level of quality and integrity of the heritage kind of of the brand that I'm trying to do. You know, so it's it is it is tough, you know.

Myke Dudek: Anyway, for me, it's been a really, really hard decision for scaling. And I haven't quite perfected it yet, you know, just because I I'm it's like there's some sense of debilitation be behind the scaling aspect of it because there's so much that goes into it. You know, it's like it's almost like emotional. I mean, it's going to sound weird, but it's like there's an emotional aspect of passing responsibility onto somebody else.

Brad Dowdy: Right. Yeah, absolutely. And Jeff and I are going through this now. Like we were kind of like at a point where it was like scale or go home kind of situation. It wasn't quite that stark, but it was getting there. But we just kind of had to and we've been working on it for a couple of years and were never satisfied with various things. It could be the the quality could be the price. It could be a million different things.

Brad Dowdy: We finally found a good partner to work with and it's super stressful to have lost that hands on control. Like Blair's saying, it's. Lots more phone calls, lots more agitation. It's not more. It's not me and Jeff going. We can't sell enough. It's me going, oh, my God, you need to fix this yesterday. So it's different. The benefits have been worth it so far. We're very happy with the product. We're very happy with being able to go to retail.

Brad Dowdy: You know, so, yeah, the the benefits have been worth the loss of control. But Jeff and I wouldn't have it where we didn't have any control over the product. So no products. Kind of like you, Myke, like I couldn't send out a product unless I put my eyeballs on it first to know what the customer is getting. So even though some of our cases are being outsourced here in the U.S. to another manufacturer, they all get shipped right back to the shop. So Jeff and I can inspect them because we would flip out if something weird got out there that we didn't expect to to happen. So that would that would freak me out completely. Yeah. So that's that's totally a thing is I don't know that I'll ever be able to give up full hands on. That'll be a very, very difficult thing for me to ever give up. The I mean, there'll be if there's a point in time where I have to, then that's probably we're in pretty good shape. You know, yeah, totally. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So you mentioned this a minute ago about gear and Theo had a question about gear. So it says, what are the dudes recommendations for entry level equipment for someone getting started in woodworking? You know, what do you use? What do you use around the shop? What kind of stuff do you have?

Myke Dudek: Yeah, this is a this is kind of a tricky question because for one, it depends on what you're wanting to do. Like the just like how, you know, fountain pens and, you know, cool writing instruments or notebooks or whatever it is. Right. Like you can go down the rabbit hole of tools very, very quickly. And so it's always like, you know, you could always buy a new power tool. You can always figure out a way to justify one to either make the process more efficient or more clean or better. You know, I think from like a from like a pretty basic woodworking shop, you know, I don't know. Like if you're if you're doing woodworking, there's a good chance that you're going to need like maybe a decent little chop saw, you know, is sometimes they're called a miter saw, you know, to where you're able to cut angles and cut cut boards at length. You know, a good drill press, you know, is always kind of good. It just it really depends on on kind of what you're ultimately looking to make. Are you looking to make, you know, cutting boards or are you looking to make, you know, kitchen tables or carpentry or cabinetry or something like that? Like so it really just kind of kind of depends on on what you're what you're looking for. So, yeah, I don't know, like a good a good little saw or a drill press is always good to get your hands dirty, I guess. Yeah. Do you have a favorite piece of gear?

Brad Dowdy: Like you're like you're in the shop. You're like, yeah, yeah. Me and you, we've we've we've had some time together and, you know, we like to hang out and, you know, always love coming to talk to you. Like, you know, do you have a piece of gear like like that that you might talk to or might have a name for?

Myke Dudek: Oh, I cozy up to that drill press a lot, man. I tell you, like late into the night, me and the drill press. Yeah. So. Yeah. Yeah. Well, and that that was one that I made a pretty decent investment into. And I could always like upgrade that to be something even bigger, you know, but when you're making pen hole holders, you got to drill lots of holes. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So that's a big fan of the drill press. Yep. Yep. So what what are you doing your market marking with out there? Like just standard pencils, carpenter pencils, what kind of stuff?

Myke Dudek: You know, from a practicality standpoint, like I use the I use mechanical pencil and I use a Pentel sharp.

Brad Dowdy: OK. Yeah.

Myke Dudek: And it's the yep. It's the turquoise point oh seven. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: That would be the P207.

Myke Dudek: That would be the one. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: And all time, all time. I talk about Hall of Fame stationery. That's probably one that should be in it. It's the best. Yeah. It's the best durable. And they're like six bucks and they're amazing.

Myke Dudek: Oh, yeah. Well, I've tried to like from time to time, I've like pulled a pulled a Rotring 600 out there. And I'm just like, you know, it works in the wood shop. But like there's all the little nooks and crannies of the knurling. And, you know, and I'm just like this thing's going to get gummed up with sawdust and stuff. So it's like the sharps have just been my go to for years. And and they're just awesome. Yeah. Low like low costs. They're super durable. They look they look pretty vintage looking, too. So they kind of have this cool retro vibe.

Brad Dowdy: But yeah, those are the pencils. That was one of my first steal it from my dad's office supplies was was definitely the the Pentel sharps. And like they used to stock those back when stationary cabinets carried real stuff instead of this generic crap they carry these days. All right. So how have you been pulling any all nighters during this holiday season? What's the holiday season looking like for Dudek Modern Goods? Been busy?

Myke Dudek: Oh, man, it's been crazy. Yeah. So it's awesome. Yeah. Thanks to everybody. You know, if you're if you're listening and you place the holiday order or you've you've I guess ever placed an order. I really, really appreciate it. The the holidays tend to be really my craziest time. Probably close to like I'd say like 20 percent of all the pieces I make out of a year. Wow. Are ordered in the month of November. Usually like the last two to three weeks, you know, and so it's it's it's been crazy. Yeah. So it's like 15, 16 hour days, you know, trying to, you know, do my job job and then go home. And like tonight after I'm done with the podcast, buddy, I'm going to be out in the workshop getting stuff done.

Brad Dowdy: And so you need to get those little Dudek spun up.

Myke Dudek: And I'll give them a few more years and they will totally be my my little grunt labors. No, that's right. But no, it's it's been really, really good. And it's it's been just it's humbling. You know, anytime it's it's it's that busy, you know, because I just think like every time I'm doing a batch of pieces like this, these are people that are supporting my business. And it's just great. It's really, really great.

Brad Dowdy: It is awesome. What's what's been your hot sellers? What's what are you making the most of?

Stationer

Myke Dudek: Well, with like right now, there's kind of a couple newer ish pieces. Like I have the new one called the stationer, which is I love that piece. You know, it took me a little while to bring it to market, but it's the larger kind of a a five, a six size, you know, notebook stand. And then it's got pens in the front. So it's it's just it's it's a it's a slightly bigger desk piece, you know, but it just serves the purpose perfectly. Like and I actually have one of those on my own desk, you know, as far as just like that that design came about. And I'm like, yep, this is the one I need for my desk. It's going to fit the best. So that one and then the the series that allows you to have a little plant or succulent or cactus. Those have been fun, you know, going back to kind of one of the earlier questions about, you know, fountain pens specifically and like diversification. Like I would say that those pieces, the ones that are the planter ones are kind of my my crossover. They're kind of outside of, you know, a pen, a super pen nerd would would maybe appreciate something like that just as a piece of desk art on their on their own desk, but also a place to store, you know, their decent little pens and stuff.

Brad Dowdy: Exactly.

Myke Dudek: Exactly. But yeah, those ones are going pretty good. And then obviously some of the standard ones, you know, they they definitely come in and mixes.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Any big any big any big new plans for 2017? It's probably hard to think about that in the heat of the holiday season. But we put any thought into that yet.

Myke Dudek: Nothing. Nothing yet, man.

Brad Dowdy: Too busy. Too busy. Yeah. Yep. But what about the blog? Awesome.

Myke Dudek: With the clicky post, like it's, you know, for one, keeping up on it with all the things going on. I would say that very busy. Yeah. The the I would say from a from a priority standpoint, not not that the clicky post doesn't get my attention, but it's definitely as more responsibilities have come in. And it's become kind of maybe a release valve a little bit. You know, it's one of those places that like I try to post pretty consistently. The last couple of weeks, you have to bear with me with the 16 hour days, you know, out in the shop.

Brad Dowdy: Oh, my gosh.

Myke Dudek: It's like it's I try to post, you know, about every 10 days or so on average, which is which is a pretty good rhythm for me. I can I can fit that into my life and I enjoy doing it still. I enjoy the photography side of it. But yeah, so with the clicky post, just I want to I want to try and pursue some kind of different types of posts than I've really done before. You know, like ink, ink reviews and, you know, maybe featuring other kind of small business products and stuff that just sort of fit within kind of that realm of it's not exactly pens, but it's like pen related things. You know, so finding, you know, makers or craftspeople or small businesses that I can I can help showcase a little bit more. So, yeah, that's that's pretty much nothing. Nothing probably groundbreaking, I would say, but just keeping up on it. And thanks for all the people that come and read and visit.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And I know the small business stuff is a passion of yours. And I appreciate your support over all these years and your shoulder to cry on when when I need it. When I'm going, oh, my God, I can't do it. Yeah. Yeah. So you're awesome. So why don't you tell all of our listeners where they can find your awesomeness online?

Myke Dudek: Well, thanks, man. Yeah. And thanks for thanks for having me. Definitely.

Brad Dowdy: So absolutely. It's been too long. Like we're an hour and a half into this and we got it. I could probably pull another hour and a half out of my pocket like real quick.

Myke Dudek: Yeah. Yeah. For the sake of for the sake of Myke's sanity, I'm sure. Yes. Cut it short.

Brad Dowdy: Yes.

Myke Dudek: Um, no. So you can find me, obviously, the clickypost.com or the clickypost.com.

Brad Dowdy: Oh, Myke would love you for that.

Myke Dudek: Yep. So I did do that because of Myke. And dudekmoderngoods.com is my my shop. And then on Instagram is primarily where I am. Instagram and Twitter for the blog is at clickypost. And then on Instagram, I'm also at dudekmoderngoods.

Brad Dowdy: Awesome. Well, it's been wonderful having you, Myke. Um, it's been far too long, but you won't let it go this long next time. And, uh, I really appreciate you coming on.

Myke Dudek: Yeah, you bet, man. Thanks.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So thanks to our sponsors this week, Harry's Squarespace and Foot Cardigan. Uh, I'm Brad Dowdy. I write The Pen Addict. You can find me at penaddict.com. Also, thepenaddict.com. You can find, uh, my work over at notco.com, N-O-C-K-C-O. And I'm on Twitter at Dowdyism. So definitely hit me up there and we will see you next week. Uh, the other Myke will be back in the chair, I believe. But, uh, if not, I bet I could come up with a, uh, pretty good, uh, guest again on short notice. So until then say goodbye, Myke.

Myke Dudek: Goodbye, Myke. Goodbye.