The Pen Addict 262/transcript

The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript
Episode:	262
Title:	Why Do I Have a Hulk Fist?
Release Date:	June 21st, 2017
Hosts:	Brad Dowdy Myke Hurley
Guests:	No guests this episode
Additional Information
Official page:	Episode 262
Audio File:	Audio Episode 262
Podcast page:	The Pen Addict 262
Length:	6767 min <br />1.117 h <br /> minutes
Previous Transcript	Next Transcript

Myke Hurley: From RelayFM, this is The Pen Addict, episode 262. Today's show is brought to you by Pen Chalet and Blue Apron. My name is Myke Hurley and I am joined by the man big in Japan, Mr. Brad Dowdy.

Brad Dowdy: How cool was that?

Myke Hurley: What are we talking about here?

KWZ Inks

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So, I had this opportunity that came to me, I don't know, a couple of months ago. Actually, sooner than, more recent than you would think to get published in a magazine. But I had an opportunity to be, have a small little feature in a Japanese stationery magazine. The store is called Shumibun, I believe. And they do a magazine, a quarterly magazine. And friend of the show and friend of mine and friend of the community, Bruce Eamon, who is on Twitter at ThinkOnPaperCo. He is big in Japan himself. He's the one who we've shared before where he's done stationery podcasts in Japan. He's fluent in Japanese. He grew up, you know, in that area. And traveled around and traveled around and is over and back over in Japan, you know, several times a year. And he's big into the stationery industry over there. So, he has a lot of contacts. And this magazine asked him, he's like, hey, we want to do an article on you being Bruce about why he loves Japanese stationery. And he's like, you know, I've got this friend that's really into Japanese stationery. And according to Bruce, they were like, really? There's people in the US that are into Japanese stationery? They were like, really? They were like, kind of dumbfounded. That how big of a thing Japanese stationery is. At least the way he was wording it and the way they were talking to him, I thought it was interesting that they were like, kind of shocked. So, they ended up putting together an article with four not native Japanese Japanese pen fans. And that's what ended up publishing in the article. And I didn't know when it was going to come out, but I have the full spread of my page that we'll link in the show notes. And it's got me, Bruce, and then two other people from the article. So, we have the full two-page spread on there that you can download and check it out. It's really neat. They asked for, you know, just kind of what I was into. I'll have to actually pull up and see what the text was. But they asked for some pictures of my Japanese pens. So, there's some of my photographs that I've taken of my sailors. You know, Sailor King of Pens and the Sailor Pro Gear and the Sailor Pink Love. And then the Pilot Custom Heritage 912 that had the Mackie artwork on. And then a sample of my writing with the Platinum 3776 niece. And then they just kind of said, you know, where I'm from, what I enjoy, my favorite pens, things like that. So, I'll have to post the translation on the pen addict of the information that I put out there. But Bruce is on the left-hand side of the page. I'm on the right-hand side of the page. And then there's two others on there as well. And actually, Conrad, who's in there, when you pull up this article and see it, that's Conrad from KWZ Inc. So, he's big in Japan as well. So, he has a whole different article just on the KWZ Inks.

Myke Hurley: Let's see where the KWZ comes from now. Yes, yes.

Brad Dowdy: So, that is Conrad Zorowski from Poland. And that is Mr. KWZ Inks. So, he's in there as well. It was just a really neat opportunity. And Bruce was funny. He's like, they asked me for this and they need it in like three days. Like, they need it now because they're getting ready to go to Publisher and they want to do this. I'm like, no problem. I can make this happen because this is a cool opportunity I didn't want to pass up.

Myke Hurley: My favorite thing when I saw the image is like my thought of you showing off the pens that you have. You're like, I see. I know what I'm talking about. I got, look at all these bung box pens I have.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. And they were, they actually came back to Bruce. They were like, wow. And they were like, he's really into it, right? And so, it was just kind of funny hearing Bruce translate their thoughts of number one, people like this exist. And number two, wow, that's some pretty cool stuff. So, it was just fun. And, you know, I had a good time doing it. And Bruce was a saint for asking me and, you know, corralling all the information on a very, very tight turnaround schedule. So, I'm glad to see that it came to pass and it looks fantastic. So, yeah, very cool. That's really awesome. That's really, really great. I need to get a hard copy of it. So, I'm going to have to work on that.

Myke Hurley: Oh, man. I was just spending a few moments like looking around and trying to work out how to get a copy. And it does not seem easy. I did find like, it was funny. It was when I was like looking at it and I found like a sample of a digital version, which I was just clicking around. And when I got to like the reader page, you have to click backwards, right? Right. It just broke my brain for a second. Like, you start on page one and go left.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, the arrow points to the left.

Brad Dowdy: I was like, oh, yeah, now I get it. Yeah. Silly me. So, I want to do more. Bruce is like, it came out great. Now, your next step is to make a trip to Japan.

Myke Hurley: So, we'll have to effort that one day. One day. I would love if we could go together. Oh, wouldn't that be incredible? Yeah. That would be really, really awesome if we could do that one day. One day. That's like grand plan level three or something.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Yeah. That's like the 10-year anniversary.

Myke Hurley: Oh, wouldn't that be amazing?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah.

Myke Hurley: Even five years. I mean, we passed that, right? Well, yeah. We passed that. So, 10 years. I mean, five years was a walk in the park. So, we can get to 10. Right. We can get to 10. No problem. Talk about a walk in the park.

Brad Dowdy: So, our good friends at Lamy have apparently decided that the Black Amber is doing so well, the Lamy 2000 Special Edition, that they're actually reverse course and are allowing retailers to discount it now. How much of a trash fire is this at this point?

Myke Hurley: At this point, I feel like I'm kind of grabbing the popcorn on watching a car crash. Like, that's how it feels right now. It's just like, well, let's see how this one plays out, right? Like, it's just like a slow motion moving accident that's occurring. Not that Lamy are in trouble, but just watching this unfold has been so inevitable, but yet they couldn't really seem to understand it.

Brad Dowdy: So, do you have your popcorn handy?

Myke Hurley: Oh, I sure do.

Brad Dowdy: Lamy is redoing their distributor process. I don't know what that entails, but the U.S. distributor is no longer the U.S. distributor, and I think this is happening worldwide. So, something's going on, and I don't know what. So, they're changing distributor. Well, yeah, but I don't know what that means. Are they bringing it all back in-house? Are they hiring someone else? But all I know is the U.S. distributor is no longer the U.S. distributor of Lamy. So, and it's not just them, right? It's a worldwide thing that's happening with many distributors, or no longer distributors, and no one knows what that means. No one knows what's going on with Lamy. Lamy, they're just so weird right now. It's kind of unfathomable. They're just doing just, every week it's something weird. Lamy's done a weird thing, and it's been like this for, what, at least a year now, if not a little bit more, where they're just continuing to be weird, and I just don't, it's certainly not the end of it. You know, when you have a big worldwide distributor change, something's up, I would think, but I don't, what's up, I don't know. That part, I don't know, but we'll see. But yeah, if you ever, if you ever wanted the Lamy 2000 Black Amber, you can now get it at a pretty large discount. So what is that? That's like 40% off, maybe? Something like that. Something like that. And, you know, I know the Goulais had been pushing for them to discount it. They were never able to get Lamy to agree to a discount, so they said, fine, we'll do it ourselves. We'll just give away a Lamy 2000 standard pin with this pin, because we can't move, we can't sell it. So, you know, Lamy's now allowed for that discount, but, you know, it just goes back to the decision-making process in the beginning. Like, having such a special pin and failing so miserably on the design of it, it kind of stinks, because this could have been a massive win for them, and it's just now going down as a huge failure.

Myke Hurley: The idea of them changing their distributor thing isn't necessarily a bad idea, right? Like, it's just interesting. Like, I think when we're talking about this, it's like, oh, here's a thing that is happening, which will have ramifications of some kind to one of the largest pen brands. Like, it could be a good thing. Like, for all we know, a lot of the weirdness that we've been seeing is coming because of the U.S. distributor in some way, right? Like, we don't, you know, I don't know how much I know about that, right?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, and I don't know any more than I've said, you know, so I don't know any more than that. So, yeah, who knows? Who knows? But it's just, you know, just wait until tomorrow, and it'll be something else. So, it'll be, this is a great topic to bring up the wiki right now, because you can thread these Lamy business discussions in the Pen Addict Wiki, which we'll provide the link for in the show notes and at the end of this blog, at the end of this podcast. Yes, I didn't, I didn't write this podcast. I'm talking, so it's not a blog. It was fun to watch you go through that little moment there, though. Well, somehow I caught it, and I'm really not sure how, because I don't catch a lot of things.

Edison Nibs

Myke Hurley: We have some new products today to talk about. The first of them is, I saw this on Twitter, that Edison are making their own flex nibs now.

Brad Dowdy: Well, they're having their own flex nibs made for them. Sure, sure. Okay. Yes. Yes. Which is the same as Franklin Kristoff. So, I believe these are the same Jowo nibs. And it's a very cool option. It's taken a long time for this to come to fruition. I think it's a very good choice. You've seen a lot of nib grinders, maybe not some of the main ones that we know, but some that are a little bit more risky and wanted to take a chance, will cut notches in the sides of nibs to give added flex. And it's now become essentially a stock item for Jowo to offer these up to their biggest customers like Edison, Franklin Kristoff, where they're etched with their brand logos on them. And they look very cool. I know Aziza just did a video. She's got the Franklin Kristoff one. And I say that there's no difference in the nibs, right? It's the same base nib. And what are they? Like $150, $160 for a 14 karat gold nib? I think that's pretty fair. You know, I'll probably try to pick up one of these nibs just to play around with because I have so many Edison and Franklin Kristoff pins. I just swap nibs in and out of those regularly anyway. It's something I enjoy doing. So having an option. Okay, so they're $115 at Franklin Kristoff. I haven't looked at the Edison, so I don't know how much they are. But they look great. So I am definitely into getting one of these nibs.

Myke Hurley: But Edison's are $125.

Brad Dowdy: Okay, so yeah. There they go. So right about the same price. So even better than I thought. Like I would have paid $150 for them. Like I didn't think that would be a bad idea. But I like it better for $115.

Myke Hurley: It's just a fun option to have, right? And the Edison nibs look good, right? Like as always. Their logo looks really great on a nib.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So this is something that I'm glad to see out there now. That, you know, seeing that little bit. It's not going to give you some kind of wet noodle flex. But it's going to be a really cool writing experience. Different than what you're used to. And, you know, you don't have to go all the way up to something like the, what Aurora did with their Flex nib. Until their Flex nibs become, you know, sold as a standalone product. Which I think they will next year. You know, you can get something similar for, you know, in the $100, $150 range. That'll be pretty cool. So I'm very excited about these. I think it's a great job.

Brad Dowdy: I'm going to go Jowo, Yovo, Yowo to do this. Because I don't know really how to pronounce it. And I hate saying it. So it's very cool. I like it. Going to get one of these soon. Did they come in black yet? I haven't looked. That'd be sweet.

Myke Hurley: I don't think so. I don't think so. I can check them. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: So hashtag YOLO. We will get a Flex nib soon.

Myke Hurley: Is that the reason? They have two-tone all-gold and rhodium plated. Okay. Thank you for doing my job. So yes, is the answer to your question. Today's show is brought to you by our friends over at the Penn Chalet. They have all of your favorite brands and all of your favorite writing items available with great prices. This is what Penn Chalet are all about. Fast and reliable customer service. They're always running discounts. And they have new styles of pens that they're adding to the site every single month. And also every single month you will find a bunch of closeout specials. You'll find discounts. There's always stuff going on over at Penn Chalet. They don't just sell the things that you need to get your writing done. They also sell the things that you want to put your writing stuff in. Carrying cases and pen holders. As well as refills, fountain pen converters and so much more. They sell internationally with great shipping rates. And they offer free shipping on orders of over $50 in the U.S. They have low prices and high quality pens with a 100% satisfaction guarantee. Go to PennChalet.com. That's P-E-N-C-H-A-L-E-T.com. And click the podcast link at the top of the website. You'll want to enter the password PennAddict. Where it prompts you to get this week's special offer. And also to get the 10% code that you want to save on anything at the Penn Chalet. So once you go there and you get that little code. You can put it in no matter what you buy. And you'll be able to get 10% off whatever you buy. But this week's special offer is an Aurora style collection. Roll the ball pen in blue. Which is an incredible 60% off. Before the 10% coupon that you can add on top as well. So this is a just sublime deal on a great looking rollerball.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, I don't have a rollerball from Aurora. And looking at this. The tip on this is actually a felt tip. So that actually makes it more interesting to me. Oh.

Myke Hurley: Like the Sharpie pen.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, like the Sharpie pen. Cross makes one like this. A few companies. Parker makes one like this. With this type of tip. And this type of refill. And Montblanc. So if it uses that type of refill. I'm very interested in it. As opposed to a traditional rollerball. I want to look at this a little bit more. Because that's a cool looking pen. And a nice looking barrel for that type of tip. Can I talk about one or two other pens in this list today? Am I allowed to? I think so.

Myke Hurley: I think you're allowed to.

Brad Dowdy: So number one. I've mentioned this before. The Lamy Pure ballpoint is awesome. It's an awesome deal. It's like over half off with our price. I love Lamy's ballpoint pens. And then I saw a pen down here that I didn't know existed. And I have no way we're going to buy this pen ever. But I didn't even know it was a thing. The Visconti London Fog Rollerball. That's one of the most beautiful pens Visconti has ever made. And the fountain pen. I had no clue it came in a rollerball. I have no intention in spending $400 on a rollerball pen. But that thing is awesome. I had no concept that this even existed. So there's Ron again bringing out the wild pens. In here for the pen addict. So very cool. Thank you Ron. And I'm going to check out this Aurora style a little bit more. And read up on this refill.

Myke Hurley: Thanks to Penn Chalet for the support of the pen addict and Relay FM.

Brad Dowdy: All right. So I got a bunch of new stuff in this past week. Myke. And it turns out it was all pencils. So yeah.

Myke Hurley: I'm not sure how I feel about this. Will it get too much control of the show? So I know.

Brad Dowdy: I know. I know. Those pencil people are amazing Myke. I know. Pencil people are awesome. And I actually have a story why here in just a minute. So but before I get to that. Let's talk about all three of my subscriptions landed within about five days. So we're going to have a conversation about this. So the Blackwing Volumes 73 came out. It's a Lake Tahoe version. It is absolutely stunning. This is now the second best style that they have done. The blue is so bright. And it has like raised topography on the exterior. So you feel the texture of the lines on the pen barrel. A pencil barrel. And it's just a stunner. It's beautiful to look at. This is really great looking.

Myke Hurley: That Palomino. They're doing such a good job with these Blackwings. Like they. Yes. They really. This has been one of the better special editions. Like just for consistency. It's almost like Field Notes levels of great wildness. Right. Like. Right. They come up with really interesting things that tie back to a theme really well. for I think pretty much every single one of their releases so far. Very impressive.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. And it is. And the quality turns out amazingly. This one has the soft core in it which is not my favorite core. They use four different cores for their volume series. I believe. I think they are up to four now. They even created one just for this. Not this particular one. But in previous editions. The extra hard. Extra firm one. But. I'm going to use the heck out of this pencil. Just because it's so beautiful. And I'll just have to sharpen it more. Because I generally don't go for the softer cores. But my God. Is this a pretty pencil. I don't. I don't know what to say. I'm just kind of taken aback by the whole thing. When you actually take it out of the box. Sharpen it up and use it. It's like. Wow. You can't stop looking at it. It's very very cool. So. I'm very happy. With this one. The last one. The jade one. Was probably my least favorite. They came back strong. With this model here. You know. You can't win them all. But. You know. You're not going to get a perfect one. Every quarter. That fits you and your style. But. This is what you're paying for. To be like. Really surprised. And really taken aback. By. Something that they created. And they did a fantastic job here. The next one was. The Baron Fig Archer Prismatic pencils. They made a. Come in on the same day. As the. As the Black Wings. At least. Like a day. A day before. Or something like that. They.

Brad Dowdy: Came correct. From the snakes and ladders. Failure. In this batch of pencils. So. I. I was tentative. To sharpen it up. And use it. And when I did. I was like. Okay. They got the. They got the core right. Okay. It's their standard. It's their standard. HB core. It's firm. It's not gritty. It's not soft. Everything. All the cores look centered. From what I could tell. The. Three colors. Of the barrels. Look really really nice.

Myke Hurley: It looks real great. In the box.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah.

Myke Hurley: Yeah.

Baron Fig Subscription

Brad Dowdy: And. I'm not going to use them. Okay. It's time for Baron Fig. To step up their pencil subscription. Because when I. When I get them in. Next to these. Black wings. There's no way. I would ever use. These.

Myke Hurley: Can you explain that? Like what. What. What is it that. That makes them poorer?

Brad Dowdy: It's the same core. Every release. It's the same feel. And. It's the same style. So. It's a really good pencil. Like. But there's options. Right. I subscribe to three pencil boxes. I. I would rather. Have the Baron Fig. Squire subscription. Than the Archer subscription. That was my choice. In the beginning. I was going to pick one. To subscribe. And I was like. I'm into pencils now. Let me try the. Archer subscription. Well. I think I'm going to switch it over. To the Squire subscription. I think you're getting more bang for your buck. From what they're doing. With the Squire lineup. Than getting. The same. The same. Archer. Every time. With a different. You know. Paint job. And. And that's fine. You know. How is that different. From what. Blackwing's doing. Well. Like I said earlier. Black. Blackwing. Uses. Four different cores. You're going to. You have. Three of their standard cores. There. And then they created one. Just for this. So right now. I'm just. I'm just. Not getting. Enough. I'm just. In the. In the. In the. Archer. Despite it being. A really good pencil. Like this is good pencil. I have no complaints about this pencil. Like I did the snakes and ladders. The snakes and ladders. I did not like. But I think that was a technical. Issue. On the manufacturing side. Nothing that Baron Fig. Necessarily did. This one came out perfect. But when I have. Ten pencils laid out to use. It's going to be way down. That ten. List. That I pick up. Does that make sense?

Myke Hurley: Makes perfect sense. It's like it's real nice. But. It doesn't have. Something that sets it apart.

Brad Dowdy: Right. So like for example. And this is specific to me. One of the ways. I kind of rank pencils. Is. Do I give these pencils. To my kids for school. That's where these Baron Fig's. Archers are going. Right. They're not getting my. Blackwing 73's. But I'll give them a dozen. Prismatics. Because I'm not going to miss. Having them. That's what you want. With a product. You want to. If you don't have it any longer. You want the sense. That you now miss this product. Right. That means it was a really good product. It really fit your style. So I think. When this subscription expires. I'm going to switch over to the Squire. Because I've really. Enjoy. On that note.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. I would like to just. Provide an update to the listeners. That a deal has been arranged. Between me and you. For your M90.

Brad Dowdy: Oh yeah. We're going to talk about that later. Okay. We have a. We have a topic. Yeah. So stop yelling at Myke. And. And I did get all your emails. And Myke and I did strike a deal. We made a deal. And I said I was. And I'm going to give you the green Squire too. Right. I think that was. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: Put a little sweetener on that deal. I think.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Yeah. So. That's that pencil. Great pencil. No problem with it whatsoever. Cool looking. Great style. I'm just going to choose. Other pencils before it. Some of them are coming from the CW Pencils Japan box. So this was box number two of their subscription.

Myke Hurley: This is a whole different thing. To the last two that we were just talking about.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. This is a curated set. Right. This is not. We're making. We're getting something manufactured. And selling it to you. This is a curated set. With a theme. And this one was Japan. So you know. I'm going to adore it. And. I did. Like. It's pretty amazing. Because. They. Do things. Like. They are able to get a hold of things. That they don't even necessarily sell. In the shop. Like. There's this one pencil. From the Tajima Construction Company. That looks like it's made by Tombow. And. They have this neat little story. About how. Tajima. Contracts out Tombow. To make a harder grade. You know. Contracts out to use their 2H. And 4H. Cores. Because. Of the. Construction usage in the field. And the drafting. They want the. The harder. Cores. For their. Personal use. And so. Like. They're able to get these. So that came in the box. That's like. Really. Really neat. And then they did. A camel pencil. Which is one. That I like. It's a. It's a Japanese brand. But it's. Like. You know. Do you remember the movie Helvetica? This is just. It's the Helvetica pencil. It's white. Round barrel. With just Helvetica stamped on it. And the integrated eraser. That camel does. And then they have. A jumbo pencil. From a Japanese store. Called Gekoso. It's an 8B. Super soft. Super wide. And heavy pencil. That you just get from their store. You know. This is really cool. It's completely different than. Blackwing. And Baron Fig. What they do. It's a curated set. And there's just all kinds of things in there. Then they. They included. You know. Pencil guards. And. Matching. Little. Tape stickers. You use for your notebook. And then they throw in. Like a. A fun pencil. It's called Handy Jenkins. And it's basically. This is the best one.

Myke Hurley: I can't believe you've left it until this long.

Brad Dowdy: To talk about this pencil. I was saving it. Because I was like. Why do I. Why do I have a Hulk fist on. On this pencil eraser. I was like. This is awesome. But the story is. This is. Japan's version of rock, paper, scissors. I mean. It's just. Very cool. To. Open up a package. Read all these stories. And I didn't even cover everything. I mean. There's. There's another pencil. Another eraser. You know. A Tombow mono eraser. Which is amazing. But. It's just cool. This. I love. I love getting. These varying styles. And with pencils. They're so cheap. You can do this kind of stuff. Right. That's why I don't mind. Subscribing to. All the pencil things. Because in general. They're cheap. You know. I've spent. More on a single fountain pen. Than all my pencil subscription. Costs. Combined. For all time. You know. It's just. It's. It's cool. And. I really enjoy writing. With some of these pencils. And then discovering. Oh. This construction pencil. In 2H. Designed. And painted by Tombow. Is really exceptional. So. It's a fun thing. To do. And. I like it. So. Very good pencil week. Here. At the pen addict. Estates. So. Yeah. It was. It was kind of interesting. And so. On that note. I was browsing around. Kickstarter. For what we're going to. Talk about. The next topic. But I wanted to bring this one in. Because it's pencil related. There's a sharpener. On there. Called. Hovel. And. I'll let you. Check out the link. And. And look at it. And I was. I was browsing. I was just doing my. Browsing through Kickstarter. And this came up as. You know. What do they call it? Like. Projects for you. You know. Where they. Basically match things. You've backed. And present you. You know. Like. Targeted advertising. And this one came up. So. I was like. I watched the video. And I was like. Okay. This is pretty cool. It's a crazy expensive. Sharpener. And it's just designed. To be like a blade sharpener. Where you. Kind of sharpen it. Like a knife. And it's like a. A shim. Or. What do they call that thing? No idea. Where you. Yeah. It's a thing. I'm not a. I'm not a. No.

Myke Hurley: I know. I've used them. But I don't know what they're called.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So anyway. It looked really cool. And I backed it. And I tweeted it out. And then. A friend of the show. And RSVP. Podcaster. Les. Said. Hey. I saw you back that. Did you see our discussion. In the erasable. Facebook group. And I was like. No. I didn't. And. I went over there. Scattered it out. And they were talking about how. Not that this is not. Original. But the concept. And idea of it. Has been done. Many times over. And actually. You can get. The basic. Type of. Oh. It's a planer. I think is the word. I'm looking for. You can get these little. Handheld planers. On Amazon. For like. Eight bucks. Ten bucks. That'll do the same thing. That this. That the hipster sharpener. Here does. And I thought it looked really cool. But I was like. Wow. When you. When I looked at all the. The conversation around it. And saw that it wasn't really different. Than what I could get for like. Six or eight bucks. I unbacked it. So. It was cool to get that. It was cool to get that. Instant feedback. On Twitter. And. You know. Save myself. Sixty bucks. For something that I could. I could get. For much cheaper.

Myke Hurley: I haven't read the whole conversation around this. But like. The next thing that we're about to talk about. Is another thing from CW&T. So. I'll just ask the question of. What makes this sharpener different. To the pen type A.

Brad Dowdy: Because. I have. A personal relationship. With. The pen type A. It's more personal to me. The hovel. It's just the thing. Yeah. But it wasn't before you backed it. Right.

Brad Dowdy: I mean. I was involved. In. The conversations around it. During the process. I guess.

Myke Hurley: All right. Well then. That's a. That's a bad example. I'm trying to think of something else. But like. Anything that is. Containing a refill. For example. Right. Which is. Yes. Made of titanium. And sold for a hundred dollars. Yes. Why is that different. To this.

Brad Dowdy: I guess. Because you. Buying the story. Of what they're making more. And this one. Looks like it's been. Made before. And just. Kind of seems. Kind of like a basic thing. That's amped up. Even though. I guess. I mean. I'm not disagreeing. With the fact. That a lot of pens. Are just amped up. You know. Copper and brass. You know. Refill holders. You know. So. I guess. I just wasn't. Fascinated enough. With the product. To keep it coming. To me. You know. It's just one thing. It's something. I backed on a whim. Seeing it. Getting targeted to me. And I was like. Oh. This is cool. I like pencils. I like pencils. This looks like a cool sharpener.

Myke Hurley: I totally get that. Like. That you were not. You know. Whatever. Like. It isn't speaking to you. But. I don't know. There's just something about that argument. Like. Because again. I haven't read the whole thing. But if that is all the argument is. Like. Oh. You can get something for cheaper on Amazon. I think it breaks down a lot of these. Kickstarters. To be honest.

Brad Dowdy: Oh. I don't disagree with that. And it's. I guess it's just that I didn't have enough.

Brad Dowdy: Need. Or fascination with it to say. Okay. Yeah. This is no big deal. Really. You were looking for something original. But this isn't an original idea. But yeah.

Myke Hurley: That's a good way to put it. The fact that this isn't an original idea. Like. Invalidates the idea of this existing. Like. Correct. I agree. The reason that this is here. And costs like 50 pounds. Is because it's made of brass. Right. And. Like. It looks like it's made well. And it looks like these guys put a lot of thought into it. I mean. On the account that it doesn't seem. You know. Like. I know. Me and you are very. Can be very hard on Kickstarter stuff. If we don't like the idea. Or if we think it's a scam. But like. That doesn't look like that's the case for either of these. It's just. Not at all. Iterative design. But I don't think the fact that it is an iterative design. Invalidates it as a project that should be successful. Because. Me and you. Back numerous Kickstarters a year. Which are just iterative designs. But we like them. Yes. That's all I wanted to say.

Brad Dowdy: That's completely fair. And a valid argument. And I like how you said that. I agree with you.

Myke Hurley: I mean. Because we're moving on to the next thing. Right. Yeah. Right.

Brad Dowdy: Because you're going to call me out on this one. It's like. But I know I am. I am the. I am the. Pen type A and B. Like. Lover. I know I'm the fan boy. Of this pen. And I'm on a. I'm in a small. The list of people who also love this pen. Along with me is very very short. Because most people do not. And I get it. Really?

Myke Hurley: I mean. It does very well. Like. No. No. No. No.

Brad Dowdy: But like. In our community. Like the high tech C isn't as. I love the high tech C more than most people. And then. Right. Therefore. I love this pen more than most people. Because of it. You know. So. So.

CW&T Titanium Pen Type B

Myke Hurley: So. CW and T are back. And they have. A pen called the titanium pen type B. Now. The reason that they are doing this. Is. Not the average reason. That a Kickstarter campaign is created. So. It looks like Kickstarter has approached. A selection of people. Of creators. That have had success. In the past. To create a new campaign. Called Kickstarter gold. With the idea being. That they are going out to these existing. Successful projects. And asking them to remix. The project in some way. And do a new campaign with it. And the. With the idea of being like. I think it's like. You may have missed out on this in the past. To be a part of this project. So. We're doing it again. I think that might be. You know. Why. Where this is coming from. Like the. The line is. You know. And you can take home a piece of. Of Kickstarter gold. Which I like. This is a. This is an interesting project. So. They're going out to a lot of like. Really successful. Creators. And they're asking them. To redo something. That they've done in the past. But with a twist. And so. The twist. Of this one. Is that the pen type B. Is now. Available in titanium.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So the last one. Was in brass. Which is. One of my favorite pens. That's been made. But it's funny. I. They kept this one. Close to the vest. And. And I talked to Sewey. About it. From CW&T. And he says. Like. I couldn't say anything. Until. You know. It was ready to go. So. There was no advance. Yep. Because this wasn't just them. They had to get everyone. To launch together. It was like. 40 something projects. I think. When I went and looked at it. 40 or 50. So it was basically. Top secret. On all these. People. But he sent me an email. The minute it launched. He's like. Hey. This is out. And I wanted you to be. You know. To know about it first. And get in there. So I backed it. When I think I was. I don't know. One of the. Fourth or fifth backer. Or something on it. And I was like. Oh. This is amazing. Because I love the pen. And it was nice of him. To do that. And give me a. Give me a heads up. But I. Think it's kind of funny. That. They were. Picked. For the gold project. Because the pen type. A was a massive cluster. Right. I mean. You remember all that. Right. Yeah. I mean. It was a huge. I mean. They delivered. In the end. And now. Like. Production's perfect on it. But it was a. Massively.

Brad Dowdy: Late. And. Tough. Kickstarter project. For many. Many reasons. If you're not. Familiar. With the pen type. A. And you know. Want to spend. You know. 20 minutes. Reading some articles. About it. Just go search for it. And there was so. Much. Going on. And so much drama. Around that project. It was insane. So. Yeah. But anyway. I am. I'm all over this. I mean. This is. This is like. Perfection. In a. In a project for me. So. Yeah. It's a remix. It's a remix. Of a sharpener. So. I'm buying this. But I'm keeping my backing. On this one.

Myke Hurley: They're also doing. In this campaign. Made in America. Pen type A. A discounted rate. And it seems like. That made in America. Is newish. The way that it's referenced. In the campaign.

Brad Dowdy: They did the pen type B. In the US. Once they had all the. Issues with the A. Originally. From China. They ended up. Making them. In the US. Like somewhere. Like in New Hampshire. Right. Somewhere up in the northeast. So I think all their pens. Are US made now. Don't hold me to that. Because I've been verified.

Myke Hurley: They're probably calling it out. Because like. If you heard about the pen type A. You may be aware. Of the problems. But now then. Yeah. Those problems don't exist. Because they make them in America. And they're offering them. At a cheaper price here. Which is. Which is. Which is good. I guess. If you wanted to grab. One of those as well.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Well the pen type A. Is just a very highly specific. Use case. Like I would never recommend. That pen for. Unless you're like. Need that ruler. Case for. Useful reasons. Because you can't. Pocket carry it. Like the pen type B. Which is why I like it so much.

Myke Hurley: So that's the difference. In case you're wondering. The pen type A. Comes with an architect scale. And like a cube. Sheath. The pen comes in a cube sheath. While the B. Is just. The sheath is just. It's just a tube.

Brad Dowdy: There's nothing crazy to it. But. But they both go. When you open it.

Myke Hurley: As they should. I mean that's what you'd want. Well otherwise. Why else are you buying it?

Brad Dowdy: That's what my $140. Is going to though.

Myke Hurley: Well I mean. Silly as that sounds. Like that is the mark. Of the pen. Of it being well crafted. Right? Yes. Yeah. Yeah. It making that. Sound is what. Exactly what you're looking for.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. It's essentially the. The validity. To their proof of concept. Right? Mm-hmm. I mean that's. That validates their. Their design. And you know. That's a feature. So. Yeah. Cool. I'm looking forward to this one. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: Obviously. I mean. It's nice. As I said. Like. It is very beautiful. When it's closed. I just don't like it. When it's not. You know. It's just. I mean. I've been over this a million times. It's just not my personal tastes. Absolutely. Absolutely. It's just a remix. Just a remix. But this was by design though. Kickstarter were looking for this.

Brad Dowdy: That's what they.

Myke Hurley: Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: Explicitly asked people to do. Yeah. But hey. You know. Like. To your point. Every pen's a remix. Every pen case is a remix. Right? Yeah. There's some new. Innovative stuff. But yeah. To your point. I think is valid. All right. As we record today.

Field Notes

Myke Hurley: Which is. The 21st of June. We're expecting. Field notes. New field notes. To arrive. After we're done recording. If it happens during the show. We'll mention it. As we get the email. With the announcement. But I just wanted to round out. The new product section. By referring to the fact. That we haven't seen them yet.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. And I like that you called that. The new product section. Because we've been doing that a lot. And I like talking about the new products. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: I don't know if people are noticing this. Like that we're like. No.

Brad Dowdy: That's cool.

Myke Hurley: But we're doing a lot of work on that. I think.

Brad Dowdy: Well. They're going to notice it. Because we have a new header. A new header section here. Called community. Community. And. Yeah. So. In the past. And we've mentioned it recently. We've done. You know. The blog of the week. And you know. Wanting to. You know. Make sure we mention. You know. Other cool things in the community. That everyone should go check out. Everyone who's a listener. Would enjoy reading. Or listening. To. You know. Other things going on. And. I noticed there was a lot of community news this week. So. I wanted to point out a few things. Number one. We have some anniversaries. Some blog-aversaries. If you will. Is that a word you hate Myke? I imagine that's on the list of hated words. Like.

Myke Hurley: I have never heard that word before. And I would prefer it. If I didn't hear it again.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. It's a. It's. It's not a good word. But. It happens. So. The London Parchment. One of my favorite blogs. Turns two. So. Priya does wonderful work. Over there. If you're not reading the London Parchment. She gets very regularly linked. In my. Ink link section. Because she just. Does a wonderful job. So. She did kind of a two year recap. On what she's done. And she's. I know I've linked to her in the past. When she's. She's very creative. And makes her own. You know. Wedding invitations. And Christmas cards. And her handwriting is phenomenal. Beautiful handwriting. And I just love. The tools that she uses. And the. Things that she carries. She does a wonderful job. Over at the London Parchment. So. You should. Be reading. Her blog. If you aren't already. And congratulations. On two years Priya. It's very. Very well done. It's not an easy thing to do. And. You're done it. And. Keep going. Let's get. A lot more years in there. And then I just happened to see. And I. I almost missed this. And I would have. Kicked myself. But. The well appointed desk. Turns seven. Myke. How amazing is that? Look at that. So our good friend Anna. We didn't even get her on the show for. To discuss the seventh anniversary. Of the well appointed desk.

Myke Hurley: Anna has her specific. Episodes now. You know. We have the. We have our honor seasons. They come. Three times a year.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So. You know. Maybe we need to have. An annual. Every year. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: We can add another. I'm more than happy to add another one in.

Brad Dowdy: So congratulations to Anna. On seven wonderful years. It's. Anna's one of the absolute best.

Myke Hurley: Like. Without a shadow of a doubt. Everything that she does. And if for some. Insane reason. You have not yet. Gone to subscribe. And pay attention to the well appointed desk. And you should. Be. Rectifying that. Almost immediately.

Brad Dowdy: Yes. Yes. Please. Please. Take care of that. Post haste. And. Congratulations. Anna. On seven awesome years. It's. It's amazing. To think back to. You know. When I was first started talking to Anna. All these years ago. And. Where we're at now. And. It's kind of cool to reminisce. So. I mean. You're married now. Get her on. So. Yeah. That's true. I gained a wife. Pretty big deal. That's kind of a big deal. Not.

Myke Hurley: For new listeners. Not really married. Just a. Long joke.

Brad Dowdy: No. No. Long running joke. Anna's husband. Is on this podcast. And it's. He's not British. On the. Newbie. Side of the ledger. She didn't even tell me she was doing this. I had to find it. Through. Ulterior. Paths. But. My good friend. Tanya. And. Friend of the community. Known as. Merber Draws. Is now blogging. And. If there's anyone I could pick to. Start up a blog. That. I know would be awesome. It would be Tanya. She does. Wonderful. Wonderful stuff. She has awesome pens. Amazing handwriting. Amazing sense of humor. I. I just think she's the best. And. She. Is out there. At. MerberDraws.com. And. You should all go add that to your feed readers. Or. Your. Your blog. Lists. Of reading.

Myke Hurley: She has such an incredible collection. Right. That. I'm really pleased that she's now starting to show it.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So. I know this is going to be good. Like. You can just book it. Right. And. I mean. This is. This is. This is a lock. So. We'll. We'll be talking about this more. Now that Tanya is getting out there more. And. And putting some of her work out there. And it's fantastic. And. Just. Keep it up Tanya. And. Well done. Congratulations on getting it started. And the last one. I think we might have mentioned before. But. It's a site. That I keep saying. I need to go work on. Myself. Because. This is always an idea that I had. That. I would enjoy doing. But my friend Michael. Who. Helps me out at the Chicago Penn Show. He has a site called. Carry.fm. And we might have talked about it. When we've talked about. EDC type stuff. And. You know. Where you can go. And you can build like. Like what you're carrying it. And like you can build a profile. And say. Here's the things I carry. Like I have. My Notco Lanier. With this type of. Paper. And. These pens in it. And you know. Oh. I can attach. You know. The Retro 51. To my profile. And I can link someone to my profile. And say. Here's all the things I like. You know. It's got. Pens. And inks. And notebooks. And it's got great articles. And all these different collections of things. So it's a way to kind of build. And organize. The things you have. And you can personalize it. And you can put your own. Kind of collections together. I think it's just a really. Really cool thing. For this community. And the way we. Kind of carry things. You know. We all have backpacks. That we like. Or bags. And then. You know. What pens. And paper. Do we carry with those things. So it's very cool. Michael's done. A bang up job. Setting this up. So you should all go over to carry.fm. And I need to work on my collection. Michael's been on my. On my case. And I keep. Because I keep telling him. I want to do it. I need to build a collection. Brad. You need to build your collection. I'm like. Okay. I'm going to do it. So I haven't do it. I haven't done it yet. But it's really. Really cool. And. Best of luck. To Michael. With this. I tried it out in the beta. And now it's out in the public. So. Anyone can get on there. And add products. And build their own collection. So. Very cool. I think that's something. You would probably like too Myke.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. I'm going to check it out.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. All right. So we got.

Brad Dowdy: While you're reading this next sponsor. There's one thing I want to add. Before we get into Ask TPA. And I think it's going to be a good thing. So. Why don't you. Why don't you feed me. Real quick. While I go. Go do some work.

Myke Hurley: I do my best. Today's show is brought to you by Blue Apron. The number one fresh ingredient. And recipe delivery service. In the United States. They set the highest quality standards. For their community. Of over 150 local farms. Fisheries. And ranchers. Across the country. Blue Apron delivers seasonal recipes. With fresh high quality ingredients. To allow you to make delicious home cooked meals. In 40 minutes or less. Those ingredients. They're all pre-portioned. So Blue Apron just ship you. Exactly what you need. They ship you the exact amount. Of each ingredient. This reduces food waste. And also just make sure that it's easier for you. To follow their step-by-step recipes. Because you have everything you need. Already laid out in front of you. Believe it or not. Blue Apron meals. Cost you less than $10 per meal. You can choose from a variety of new recipes. Every week. Or let Blue Apron's culinary team surprise you. Upcoming recipes. Include spiced zucchini enchiladas. A creamy lime and tomato rice. Or maybe even peach honey glazed chicken. With mashed sweet potatoes. Collard greens. And Thai basil. All. Blue Apron's freshness guarantee. Promises that every ingredient in your delivery. Arise ready to cook. Or they'll make it right. Blue Apron's mission. Is to make incredible home cooking. Accessible to everyone. They deliver to 99% of the continental US. There's no weekly commitment. You only get those deliveries. When you want them. You can check out this week's menu. And get three meals for free. With your first purchase. Including free shipping. By going to blueapron.com. Slash penaddict. You're going to love how good it feels and tastes. To create incredible home cooked meals. With Blue Apron. So. Go to blueapron.com. Slash penaddict. And we thank Blue Apron for their support. Blue Apron. A better way to cook.

Inkology Challenge

Brad Dowdy: So we talked about it last week. The inkology celebrity challenge. From Anderson Pins. That I was part of. And I said we'll talk about it. Completely when it's over. So I kept telling myself. Go put it in the show notes. Go put it in the show notes. And I kept forgetting. So now it's in the show notes. And we're going to talk about it. How's that sound?

Myke Hurley: Okay. Yeah. I want to. And I've looked at it. And I don't think I picked this one for you.

Brad Dowdy: Mm-hmm.

Myke Hurley: Mm-hmm. Did I? I don't think I did.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So just to recap. Sailor Storia inks are mixable. And Anderson Pins did this killer contest. Where they sent eight of us ink samples. And said mix your own ink. Come up with a name. And then we're going to challenge them all against each other. In like a bracket style format.

Brad Dowdy: And so that's a lot of pressure. Like I knew who the competition was. And you know Aziza being in it for one. I thought well I'm dead already. And then Anna and Myke. And Steven and Eric. And everybody. I was like wow. I've got no shot at this. So. Turns out you didn't. It turns out I was right. I lost in the first round by a wide margin. However you did lose to the winner. Right. So like what chance did you have I guess. Right. Right. So you know Eric Roscoe won with his Cirque de la Mer. It's a very pretty aqua green. If I was voting. And I'm not just saying. If I had to vote on all the eight ink colors. Just pick one right now. And I'm not just saying this because he's in the chat room. I would have picked Madison's night balloon. Because I like that blue. So what I wanted to talk about. Was. The theories I had going into this. And why I did what I did. So I clearly overthought it. Right. So. I got all the ink samples in. And I got the kids together with me. Because hey this is just going to be cool. And the kids will love this. And look at on these. You know. Look at these colors. See what we can mix up. I thought this was a perfect project for me and the kids. So we sat there. Got all the ink colors out. Got the little pipettes to drip the ink. And I just got like a pad of paper. That I could throw things down on. And mix them up. And see. How they turned out. Just as a starter. You know. Okay. This definitely isn't going to work. Okay. This has a chance. Of being something. And narrowed it down that way. So I got down to like kind of three mixes. That I like. And my whole. Idea. The way I did this. Was. I thought everyone was going to do bright inks. Because of the way the Storia inks were. Yellow was. Very easable. Easily mixable with the green. You could make some bright stuff. And it looked really really good. And I thought well. I think a lot of people are going to do bright. So I'm going to see if I can come up with something darkish. That I like.

Brad Dowdy: So I found this. What ended up being called. Hoodoo Voodoo. It was a very purpley. Gray. Blue. Kind of. You know. Color. Like a smoky purple. And it just seemed like a good voodoo color. So that's how I came up with the name of it. And I loved how it came out on the page. I honestly. You know. I'm. You know. I'm going to not be fair here. I don't think the colors. That they mixed up themselves. Came out really as cool as this color is. I was really happy with it. I also really didn't think it would win. Because I thought the bright colors were going to win. And it turns out they did. But I still wanted it to be different. I didn't want just another. Another bright color. But. I really like how this one came out. And the thing is. I had a killer orange. That I thought would have been perfect for this. And I didn't submit it. Because I thought it would be too obvious. So. The thing was. You know. We had to be generic enough. So people wouldn't vote on who made the ink. Right. So that was one of the very strong rules. And I thought me making an orange. Would be too obvious. Anna did a pink. And I was like. Well. And knowing the rules like I did. I was like. Anna didn't do the pink. Because everyone would assume she did pink. Well. She did. So I didn't submit the orange. And I was talking to Myke. And Myke's like. Yeah. I had an orange too. But I did submit it. Because I thought you were going to submit it. So it was just kind of a funny thing. About it. And. I don't know. I think Myke's color is the best. If I was voting. Definitely better than mine. I like Myke's. Aziz's. And Eric's. And then. Brian Anderson and I. Actually came pretty close. I was a little bit worried there. When I saw them.

Brad Dowdy: That they weren't going to be different enough. So. And then my third ink. That I almost submitted. Was kind of a version of. Lisa Anderson's clown car. With a little bit more green in it. It almost looked like an alt gold groon. So. Anyway. I fell in love with the hoodoo voodoo. On the page. It had a lot of character. It was nice. I. I. I think. I thought the name did it justice. And. I don't know. I might mix some. Some of my own. To. To. To use. But this was. This was fun as heck. I. I would love to do this again. I had a blast. Looking at all the votes. And the results. And reading all the comments. And. Yeah. I just thought it was fun. It was. It was really good. Even though I got knocked out on the first round. That's okay. But. Totally. Totally cool to do. Really liked it.

Myke Hurley: I really enjoy you trying to get yourself out of your horrific loss. I love it. I love it. Like. Oh. Well. You know. This happened. And this happened. Doubt it.

Brad Dowdy: You need to just own up. No. No. I did. I submitted the ink I thought was the best. And I'm really happy with my ink.

Myke Hurley: I love your gray ink. How about that? Does that make you feel bad?

Brad Dowdy: It came. It. It came out really good. I want to ink it up. And then try it in some pens. And do some things. The other thing that was cool about this. Was Sailor's story as ink names. They allowed for some really cool names. Because they had all the. You know. They were very simple. Like Lion. And. You know. You know. Balloon. So you could come up with some. Some really fun names. Like Myke did. So I was going to call. The second name for my. My submitted ink was Clown in the Woods. Which I thought was a pretty tight name as well. But I went with Hoodoo Voodoo.

Myke Hurley: That's creepy. I wouldn't want to use that ink. Exactly. That scared me Brad. I want to see a clown in the woods. That's like a top number one fear for me. I guess.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. It's a scary ink. That's why. That's why I made it. And I thought Clown in the Woods would be a great name.

Myke Hurley: Oof.

Brad Dowdy: Give me the heebie-jeebies. All right. On to some ass TBA. This one's for you Michael. And is this from our. One of our favorite listeners. Mr. Doug Beal. Or is this a different Doug? That's Doug. That's Doug Beal. Yeah. I figured. Because it's related to the Apple Pencil. So he wants to know. How do the vinyl wraps change the feel of the Apple Pencil? Because we talked about this in the past couple of weeks about the custom skins. I guess last week. He says he's finding them a little slick. But you don't think that's the case?

Myke Hurley: No. I mean. I find the.

Myke Hurley: I assume that he's talking that he finds the Apple Pencil a little slick. That was how I read the question. But it could be either way. Right? So it's like he's wondering if the vinyl wraps will help. And I think that they do. I have vinyl wraps from Dbrand. And from Slick Wraps. I have one from each of them. They both make Apple Pencil skins. And I think that they're really good. I mean. You know. One. I really like the fact that you can change to the design. I'm excited about that. Right? That's fun. Because you can add some fun stuff. But really. I do find. It's a vinyl sticker. Right? Like it has. It has. With it. An inherent ability to make things more tacky. And because of that. I feel at least it adds a little bit more grip. To the Apple Pencils. I find. I'm really happy with it. And any Apple Pencil I would buy in the future. I would get a wrap for it. Or a sticker.

Brad Dowdy: I'm telling you. You need to make that hot sample that you showed off last week. I have more grand plans. That would be a thing. I have some grand plans now. Are you going to cause shipping problems for me again?

Myke Hurley: I wouldn't know.

Brad Dowdy: Alright. I'll let you off the hook.

Myke Hurley: Marcus wants. I don't think we're ever going to do to you again what we did to you last week. So we had this sticker that we had made. Which was to go on Apple's AirPods case. And it made the AirPods case look like dental floss. But it was RelayFM branded. So we've been working on this for a little bit with our designer Frank. And he actually had them all printed. And he brought them to me in London when I saw him recently. And then we took them over to San Jose. And we gave them away to people that we were meeting. And then we had a bunch left. And we decided that we would sell them on our store. And we announced them. And we sold out completely. And it was not a small number. Within like 90 minutes. Which we were not expecting. And therefore created an issue over at NOC headquarters. Where the incredible and lovely and amazing beautiful Brad and Jeff. Had to ship out literally hundreds of these stickers. And so I just want to extend my most sincere thanks to the NotCo crew. For being so incredible.

Brad Dowdy: No problem. It wasn't that bad. Okay good. So we're used to it. And everything's shipped now. So you know if you ordered the dental floss sticker. Which is amazing by the way. That's one of the coolest things I've ever seen. It was fantastic.

Myke Hurley: Yeah and in case anybody asks. As it stands right now. We don't have any plans to do this again. We might do some stuff. We're trying to do some more limited edition things. Than just having standard stock of stuff now.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Yeah so I sent Myke and Steven. My reorder of envelopes. Because they blew out our stock of envelopes. Knowing you know. Not knowing this was coming. We weren't able to prepare accordingly. But luckily Uline has a warehouse in town. So we can get this stuff quick. Thank you Uline. Yeah thanks Uline. All right. Moving on. Marcus wants to know. What do you think about inkless pens? Myke do you even own an inkless pen?

Myke Hurley: No. Why would I?

Brad Dowdy: Do you even know what it is?

Myke Hurley: I mean yeah I've seen them.

Brad Dowdy: I'm just curious. Okay.

Myke Hurley: We've spoken about them in the past. Can you think of an example. That I can put in the show notes. For people that don't know.

Pinaferina Pens

Brad Dowdy: The Pinaferina. Made the wood based one. That's the most popular one. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: That's the one that we have 100% spoken about on this show. Yeah. I tell you my problem with this. I think it's taking 50% of the fun away.

Myke Hurley: Right? Like. Like how so? Half of the fun of the founding pen is choosing a cool ink.

Brad Dowdy: Right? Well. It's essentially a pencil.

Brad Dowdy: Exactly. It's not a pen. I don't know why they call them inkless pens. They're essentially. I guess because they don't want to market it as a pencil. But it's a pencil or a pen that never runs out of ink. Never gets dull. Because it's basically you're writing with a rock on the end of it. A modified rock is the way I put it. But I don't see any use for these unless they make some small ones. Like pocketable ones that I've seen. That might be good like in a car or a backpack. It's like a very in case of emergency thing. Because you know it's never going to fail. But it's never something that gives you an enjoyable writing experience. Because it ends up being too light. Or too awkward. Or too round. They've just never been good enough for me to use anything more than just a fun thing. Like they're cool for about a minute. And then I never want to touch it again. So you know. I like the idea of a mini portable one. Which I've seen. I can't think of the name of who makes them. But they make one you know about the size of a Fisher Space Pen that I've seen. So it's. That would be cool. Like an emergency backup pen. But for any kind of daily use. I would never use this. Because it's not enjoyable enough to use.

Brad Dowdy: Alright. Steven wants to know. Have you had a chance to try the Wingsong 698? I'm seeing these pop up more and more. People seem to prefer it over Twisby. What are your thoughts? So I've seen these at some pen shows. And I just want to say Wingsong a lot. Is the only reason why this is really in the show notes. Or else I would have deleted it. But Wingsong is a great pen name. And on that alone. You should buy it. Because everybody Wingsong tonight. And buy the Twisby Eco as well. Because it's the same pen. So this is what companies like Wingsong do. They. You know.

Brad Dowdy: Knock off.

Brad Dowdy: Popular designs. So it's essentially. The made up Twisby Eco. I don't know what to say about this. I. Okay.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. It's a thing. You know. Chinese pens are cool. They're good. When they're. Dead copies. Of pens. I tend not to buy them. Just out of principle. But if Wingsong made. Their own. Pen. That was. Their own kind of unique design. I'd be interested in something like that. But I don't know why I would buy. This. As opposed to an Eco. Other than. It's probably. What. Super cheap. Yeah. I. I don't know what to say about this Myke. You know.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. I mean. I put it in. Because I've never heard of it. And I went to the fountain pen network. And looked at it. And it just looked. To me. What I expected. Was just. A relatively cheap looking. Knock off. For Twisby Eco.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah.

Myke Hurley: It's perfectly fine.

Brad Dowdy: You know. You know. I. I have no problems with it. You know. I. I. I wish. It wasn't like. So. Co-exacting. In the design. Just like. Who is it that makes the. The Lamy. Jin Hao. Makes the. All the Lamy. Safari.

Brad Dowdy: Knock off type pens. You know. They're fine. They. They are what they are. You're not going to get. The. The best of. The. The time in engineering. That went into. Twisby's or Lamy's. But. You know. They're. They're fine. I have no problem with those pens. Whatever. It's just. Something to have fun with. You know. A lot of people will buy. Chinese pens to play with the nibs. I think that's a great idea. You know. If you want to. Do some nib modification. You know. On the cheap. And still have a pen. To play around with. You can get these for a few bucks each. I think it's cool. Something to put your sparkly inks in. So you're not worried about. Ruining. You know. Your Twisby Eco. I think that's cool. So.

Myke Hurley: That's a good use case.

Brad Dowdy: I'm for them in general. I just don't see a big need. You know. Personally. All right. So Theo. This is back to your M90. Question. And I wanted to bring this up. Because Theo. Knows me well enough. That he asked this question. And this was the exact conversation. I had with myself in my head. So I wanted to put this out there. So. He's talking about last week's show. When we were talking about the Pilot M90. He said.

Brad Dowdy: Before yesterday's podcast went live. I was having a little discussion. In the slack room. That you and Myke. Ended up touching on a bit. So I wanted to get your thoughts. You see. I too have a Pilot M90. It's my favorite pen. Design perfection. I love everything about it. Except that it has. Like yours. A medium nib. The medium nib writes great. But it's just a little wide for my taste. And not as well suited to my writing style. So I posed the question. Should I get the nib ground? Grind or no grind. The pen won't be sold. In my lifetime. Short of a family crisis. I absolutely love it. It's so close to perfection. But for the nib. I use my pens. And will continue to use this one regardless. My only hesitation. Is altering something. That is relatively rare. And flawless. On its own. So I guess the question for you is. If you had not found the fine M90. Would you have had your medium M90 ground? I went through this exact. Thought process. Theo. And I've always been of the belief. That I will buy. Any pen. That I like. Regardless of the nib. Because I can have the nib modified.

Brad Dowdy: Except the M90. I could not touch. That nib. Because I thought it would ruin. The aesthetic. Of that pen. And I think it's the same. For the Murex. So I was resigned. To the fact. That my M90. Had a medium nib. And that's what it was going to be. Because I was so worried. It would change. The cleanliness. Of the lines. And the design. By getting it modified.

Myke Hurley: I would be scared. That it gets. Something bad happens to it. Right? Yeah. There's nothing you can do.

Brad Dowdy: I've never felt that way. About any other pen. That I couldn't get it worked on. And be completely fine with it.

Myke Hurley: Because worse comes to worse. You could just buy a new nib. Right? You just.

Brad Dowdy: You just start over. Like you know. You salt the earth. You can buy a new nib. Right. So I'm not sure. That's the answer. You wanted to hear Theo. But. I couldn't do it. I. I absolutely. Would not have ground. The medium nib. On my M90. For fear. That it would change. The look of the pen. And like you. That. Like Theo says. It's completely flawless. And I felt. Like. I've never had that feeling. About another pen before. That I couldn't. Modify it somehow. And this one. I couldn't do it. There was no way. I sat there. And thought about this. So much. And I. I was not. I was just resigned. To the fact that. I'm glad I have an M90. And it's a medium. And I'm just going to be happy. With that. Because I really wanted the pen. So. I had that. Had those same thoughts Theo. And. That was. That was what I decided. So I just lucked into the fine. Now I can. You know. Now I don't have to worry. About it anymore. But I would not have ground. My medium M90. No way. So.

Myke Hurley: There you have it. I think that's the right. You know. And he's saying. Maybe not what you wanted to hear. That's what you should hear. Like you shouldn't. I'm sure we'll hear from people that have. And like. Cool. Like it went well for you. I just. I agree with you. You just don't touch it. Like just don't touch it. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: I mean. Besides like the Pilot Murex. And those other integrated nibs. I would never say that about any pen. I'd just say go for it. But these are different. You know. These are different. So.

Myke Hurley: We were going on a one way trip. Right.

Myke Hurley: If. This is not something that you can come back from. Because you can't. You can't easily get. Replacement parts. Right. Right.

Mayu Pen

Brad Dowdy: And.

Myke Hurley: That's my big thing about it. So. Yeah. I mean. Well this is partly why I. Jump at the chance to get another one. And. Do you know what. Like. If it came up. Where I could buy a third. I'd probably do that as well. Like. I never want to be without this pen. Because it's the best pen. Ever. Ever. On the planet. And. The idea of me not having one. Is. Very upsetting to me. So. I will always jump at the chance. To pick up another one. Yeah. So. Start an M90 collection. Like my Retro 51 collection. But. The. The trick is. They all look exactly the same.

Brad Dowdy: Well. The. The next thing you need to do. Is. Is get an original. Uh. Mayu. It's been in my mind.

Myke Hurley: I mean. I always look for him. Right. And. Yeah. And one day. I think. I will. I mean. I will probably go for the Mayu. Uh. Mayu. Ever. Murex. For me. I think. Um. One day.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. All right. We didn't get the email. So. Email did not come. I just checked. So. We'll. Uh. We'll wait till next week. Or if Myke calls me back. To. Uh. To do a B side. But. Uh. Yeah. We'll. We'll have plenty. We'll have the. The show notes. We'll start early. For. Next week's podcast.

Myke Hurley: You bet. If you want to send in questions. For the show. You can tweet with the hashtag. Ask TPA. Or if you're a part of the. Penelope Slack. Uh. You can just send them to Brad. How does that work in the Slack? Do people just send them to you?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Just put it in the podcast channel. And. Uh. Make sure you tag my name. So. I get a little notice that they're in there. Then I save them off from there.

Myke Hurley: Um. You can find our reddit. At reddit.com. Slash r. Slash penaddict. There's a great community there. Um. And there's another fantastic community. Over at stationery.wiki. Um. You can find Brad online. At penaddict.com. He is. At dowdyism. On Twitter. D-O-D-O-W-D-Y-I-S-M. And he is penaddict. On Instagram. Um. I am. At imike. I-M-Y-K-E. The show notes for this week. Are at relay.fm. Slash penaddict. Slash 262. And I would like to thank our sponsors. One more time. Penchelet. I am Blue Apron. For helping support the show. But most of all. As always. My sincerest thanks. Of all of the thanks that I give. Goes to you the listener. For tuning in every week. Because we really couldn't do it without you. So. Until next time. Say goodbye Brad. Goodbye Brad.