The Pen Addict 312/transcript

The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript
Episode:	312
Title:	Squidgy Marshmallow
Release Date:	June 13th, 2018
Hosts:	Brad Dowdy Myke Hurley
Guests:	No guests this episode
Additional Information
Official page:	Episode 312
Audio File:	Audio Episode 312
Podcast page:	The Pen Addict 312
Length:	6363 min <br />1.05 h <br /> minutes
Previous Transcript	Next Transcript

Myke Hurley: From RelayFM, this is episode 312 of The Pen Addict podcast. My name is Myke Hurley and I am joined by Brad Dowdy. Hi Brad. Hi Myke Hurley, is this Myke with a Y? M-Y-K-E. You want to say it with me? M-Y-K-E. That is the correct spelling of Myke. Ben, I'm talking about myself, right? If you spelt my name with an I, you would be wrong. So, I just want to point out and follow up to last week's episode, because she thought you'd mention it at every point that you could, that you were spelling it wrong. M-Y-K-E is the right way to spell this name. Thank you very much.

Madison: So, special shout out to Myke, M-I-K-E, Madison, for helping me out last week.

Myke Hurley: Yep, Myke was amazing. I have no beef with him. I only have beef with you.

Myke Hurley: As it should be. I feel like Myke Madison was trying to move away from that, but you wouldn't let him. It was great. It was a really interesting episode.

Madison: Do you understand how hard it is for me to talk about Myke without having to delineate those somehow? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, that is not an easy thing.

Myke Hurley: You can just say Myke with a Y. That's all it needed to be. Not like the guy who spells his name wrong, you know? You know, it's easy. People just call me Myke with a Y. You could have just called me Hurley. I think you've done that in the past. That would have worked as well.

Madison: Yeah, I have done that in the past, and that's a little awkward for some reason.

Myke Hurley: I think you would just test him to see if I was listening. I always listen.

Madison: Actually, I wasn't. That didn't cross my mind at all, but it kept bothering me every time I say it because I wasn't prepared to say it, so it would catch me off guard every time. So, I always felt I had to make some stupid comment about it. It was probably annoying, especially to you by the end of it, but I'll live.

Guest Names

Myke Hurley: I had two notes on this. One, it's probably just inadvisable to have guests with the same name as one of us, you know? Like, I feel like the amount of issues that that can cause is significant, especially because I really enjoyed listening to the episode. I love being a listener of this show, but every time you were talking and you asked Myke a question, it set off an alarm bell in my brain every single time because my brain was telling me, you can't answer this right now. And that happened every single time you said his name. Something would just, like, trigger in my head, and it was very weird for me to listen.

Madison: I could see that. I don't guess I've ever thought of it that way, but yeah, I could see how you would think, like, you're in the show, but you're actually not and having to switch around like that. Yeah, that's kind of funny, but hey, I mean, you know, whatever we did last week fell a little bit short compared to what you did last week. You didn't just go to WWDC, which you do every year for, you know, all your shows, all your podcasts, you know, see all your friends, you know, it's a big deal, big event for you every week. And this one was a little bit bigger than normal. And I want you to tell the tale of what happened to you on this trip.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, there was a couple of things that was going on in my kind of big week at WWDC. One was we knew we were doing a live show. We had, like, 500 people in a wonderful theater called the Hammer Theater, and we were doing a few things with that, and I was part of the live show, and it was amazing. And it went perfectly. It was, you know, there are very few things, I said this before already, but there are very few things kind of in my creative life where I finish them, and I'm like, yep, that was perfect. You know, like, there's nothing I would change. And our live show was definitely that for me. Like, it went wonderfully. It was amazing to meet people afterwards. It was perfect. I met a couple of Pan addict listeners. The Pan addict listeners, they get around. Like, they're always there, and I love it. They do. They're always where I don't expect them to be, which is always funny. That's true. To me. But the big unexpected thing is during the keynotes, so Apple has an announcement. I think everybody probably knows this, right? But, like, Apple do these keynotes. They do a couple a year where they show off a bunch of products and stuff, and WWDC is usually where they show off software that's coming for the rest of the year. And they do it for all of their major platforms. And one of them was for the Apple Watch. And one of the new features they were adding to the Apple Watch was podcast playback support. So there's going to be an Apple Podcasts app on the Apple Watch. And while they were doing the demo, they're kind of demoing the features and showing them off. And the show that they chose to feature whilst demoing it was one of my shows called Connected, the actual show that we were doing the live show for, which made for some nice live show moments. So, yeah, I was sitting in a hotel room screaming and then crying because I achieved a professional achievement that was a dream that I thought was there would be absolutely no way I would be able to conquer. You know, if you love Apple the way that I do and the way that many people do and you're in some kind of creative field, the ability to have yourself being chosen. Because, like, none of these things are accidental. It's not like they just were scrolling through a random list and, like, Connected was there. They specifically chose to feature it. And there are some incredible pictures. One of them I'm going to put in the show notes a link to a tweet of mine. And there's a picture there, which is Tim Cook standing in front of the Connected logo, which was a Getty image. And that Getty image was purchased by a lot of news organizations. So it kept popping up in really weird and wonderful places like NBC and Sky and stuff like that. So big week. It was a very big week.

Madison: Yeah. Big week. And I wanted you to talk about this. I know this is the Pen Addict show, but this is a mic show. And this is a Relay FM show. And this is a show with a story. And you're part of that story. And when you do great things, I want to make sure that everyone knows how awesome you are and how big of a deal this was. And I'm getting little chills here listening to you talk about it. And, yeah, that image with Tim Cook standing in front of the picture, that's the one I wanted in the show notes. I couldn't find it right offhand. But it was crazy. Like, I can't imagine, like, your feeling when that just popped up on the screen because, like, part of your job, you're sitting there, okay, we're going to watch this keynote speech. And then, bam, that comes up. I can't imagine what it was like to be in that room.

Myke Hurley: Like, there is a section of the keynote that occurred after it, which I have literally no memory of. Like, I know it happened, but I don't remember it. Like, I couldn't focus anymore. It was frigging incredible and so wild. And, yeah, I achieved a life goal that something that you can't buy, you know, there's no way into that other than happening to you. So, it was kind of amazing.

Madison: Well, congratulations. Thank you. I wanted to be sure to say that to you. Very kind. Now, did you write this down in your Hobonichi?

Myke Hurley: No, because, well, actually, yes, because I kind of cheated. I don't take my journal when I travel. Right. When I travel, a lot of my usual things go out of the window. Like, I don't do any time tracking for any work that I do, which is a big part of my general work, like my productivity. And I don't take my journal with me because there's so many things going on. And I'm out of my usual habits and flow. I just know I wouldn't do it. But when I got home, my good thing, I wrote down the stuff that had happened during WWDC week on kind of like the first day back to the journal. But I'm still doing it every single day or every weekday. Every weekday when I'm home, I am continuing to complete my journal. And if you've listened to Cortex, I'm also completing my daily active questions as well, which is like a separate part of the journal. I think I explained on this show, right? Like, it's a set of seven questions that I give myself a numbered score for every day. Right. Yeah, I'm still doing both of those things.

Madison: So you asked in the show, Doc, how I'm doing. I mean, I'm not doing well as far as like a daily thing goes. But I'm doing well in the fact that it doesn't weigh on me either. That's good. Which in the past, it has totally weighed on me. Like, I have to use this Techo every day. The day says 25 on it. And today is the 25. And I need to put something on the 25 page. And that used to totally weigh on me. Now, I just have the bigger space of the cousin. And I use some days for that exact day where I want to do the thing. And some days I use it for nothing. And some days I go back a couple weeks, find a blank page to draw something out or do something random. So it's good in the fact that it's not weighing on me. But it's bad in the fact that I don't use it like perfectly like every day. And I'm okay with that. Like, I've come to grips with that's how I'm going to do it. I haven't found, I haven't picked up anything else that's a replacement for what I need that for. Which is good, if that makes sense. It's like, I don't now have like a pocket notebook that I keep like daily tasks and notes and journal stuff in. I still use my cousin for that. So, yeah, in that aspect, like I'm totally good with it. So, you know, it's not, I don't use it perfectly. And I'm okay with that. And getting to that point is part of the importance for me.

Myke Hurley: I think that as long as you're keeping it up to a level which you are comfortable with, I think that is more than perfectly acceptable, right? Like if you sat here today and you're like, oh, man, I'm doing it, but I'm not doing it as much as I want. Like, that's not good. But to be able to say like, yeah, okay, I'm not doing it every day, but I am recording and writing in my journal to the level that I want to. Like that's kind of perfect, to be honest. Like that's, to a point, that's kind of what I'm doing too, right? Like I don't fill mine in every day, but I am doing it to a level that I want to.

Madison: What I don't understand is why one product is different than the other, but I think it comes down to size. I don't know why that smaller Techo size just really weighed on me just as far as like the importance of covering each day and then the larger cousin size doesn't. So, that's the only thing I can pin that down. Maybe, I don't know. Maybe.

Myke Hurley: Sometimes it can be daunting, right? To have like a specific structure or whatever and to be a little bit, and I think the cousin seems more free flowing in that regard, I guess.

Madison: Yep, yep. I don't, I feel like I can waste space in a healthy manner, if that makes sense, where I felt with the Techo being smaller, every ink spot was important. Right, right, right. It doesn't have to be. It doesn't have to be in this larger format. So, I don't know. It's a weird thing, but I'm still totally happy with it. But we had a change in our personal pen show schedule, Myke, with NotCo. I just came back from Raleigh, you know, last week when you were gone. I did the Raleigh pen show, and Myke and I recapped it on the show, Myke with an I. See what I did there? Mm-hmm. That's good. And so, while we were at the show, Jeff starts getting in touch with me, and he talked about, you know, if he had any free time this summer, were there any shows he should go to? I was like, well, I can't go to St. Louis, you should think about that. So, he worked out his schedule. So, Jeff, Bruckwicky, will be hitting up the St. Louis pen show with a knock booth. So, it's going to be Jeff's first solo show. It's going to be awesome. Can you trust him? I can trust him implicitly. Good. I don't know if our customers can trust him. There you go. There you go.

Myke Hurley: This is what I'm looking for.

Madison: I love you, Jeff. You know, no, he's going to be fun. He's going to have this on lock. You know, he asked me to help him pack for the show, and after that, that's all he needs.

Myke Hurley: It is going to be, I would expect it will be the most entertaining the knock booth has ever been. That would be my expectation.

Madison: Since I gave up the table earlier this year, like I had reserved it, you know, when, before I totally finalized my schedule for this year. And I had to, we had like a good, you know, inside the main room wall table, you know, kind of a, yeah, where basically I picked out the table. So, we gave that up. And so, when I contacted them saying, hey, do you have anything now? You know, Jeff can make it to the show. We have like a outside hallway table, like one of the last, like squeeze us in the corner type of thing. So, you'll have to come find us in St. Louis. But I think it'll be worth your while to come check us out if you're attending that show. It looks like it's going to be a pretty big show. So, one of the questions in Slack, our friend Brian asked, you know, what do you think about this show? Is it going to be worthwhile going? Like, he's a pen maker. So, is it worth it for other small makers to go to this show? What do you think it's going to be like? I mean, in the fact, I mean, the answer is none of us know. But I can say how much work the promoters have put into it. I can look at the exhibitors list, which rivals any pen show I've ever been to, including DC. I mean, I'll put the link in the show notes to just who's going to be there at the show. And it's all kinds of people you would expect, all kinds of people I've never heard of. It looks like a lot of small custom makers there, Brian. So, I would think just even for that aspect, it's good. The only thing we don't know is can they pull a local crowd? Like, we know they have the vendors. We know they have the table space. We know they have the size. We know they have the hotel. The only thing we don't know and we won't be able to answer after the fact is can they pull a local crowd? Based on what they've put together so far, I don't see why not. The hotel's booked out. We had to book Jeff, you know, down the street a little bit. They had to get a second hotel to help out with the overflow. So, they're doing everything right from the vendor exhibitor side. So, now we just wait and see. Does the crowd come? So, we'll know after the show how that goes. So, we can't answer that ahead of time. But I know everything looks great from a vendor's perspective. If you're planning on going to the show, you're going to see anyone and everyone that you can imagine seeing. So, I think it's going to be pretty good. I certainly have high hopes for it. And I hope it does well because it's kind of a good centrally located, good time frame show. So, yeah. I wish Jeff all the best. I wish everyone behind the St. Louis show all the best. And we'll recap that after Jeff gets back. We'll have to pick his brain and see how it goes.

Myke Hurley: I would like that very much, actually, if we could have Jeff on the show to talk about it.

Madison: Yeah, that would be fun, actually. We'll plan on doing that.

Myke Hurley: We'll plan on for a long time. So, you should see if he's up for it and the schedule permits. I would love to have him on to talk about what it was like to do without you.

Madison: Okay, cool. Yeah. We'll see that if we can swing that. I know he's heading out of town shortly thereafter. So, we'll see if we can get him on in time to do a St. Louis pen show recap. Because I think everyone would be interested in, number one, hearing from Jeff because he's Jeff. And number two, hearing how St. Louis is because it's a new show. Is it?

Myke Hurley: This is the very first?

Madison: Very first.

Myke Hurley: Very first. Like, there wasn't anything before this?

Madison: Correct. Oof. Yeah, that's big. From the ground up. Yep. I mean, look. Did you look at the exhibitors list? It's solid. It's insane.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, I don't know how they've managed to do it. Like, it's solid. Hard work. Solid. Yeah. I mean, yes, of course. But, like, convincing, like, Anderson Pence and Kenro, like, that, you know, that must be difficult stuff, right? Like, that's not, that can't be easy to convince large, like, mainstays to give your show a try. So, I bet it's going to be real. I bet it's going to be a real interesting crowd.

Show Size Comparison

Madison: Oh, so, Chewy did ask, like, what's a size comparison? Listen, this has more tables than Raleigh, which we were just at. Raleigh was, like, 70 tables. I don't know how many Chicago is. I'm guessing it's probably around a Chicago-sized show, just from the vendor list and table sizes. Maybe bigger. I don't know. So, it's not small. Put it that way.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, I mean, drum goals are going to be there, too. Yep. I mean, it ain't no joke down in St. Louis. So, I recommend people go, if anything, just to see Jeff. Jeff.

Video Games

Madison: Yeah. That should be, that's worth your price of admission. Yep. Just go hang out with Jeff and, you know, bring him some water and french fries when you see him. He will be very much appreciated.

Madison: Speaking of new shows, Myke, I've been kind of beating around the bush on a new project I'm going to take on here. And it's not, like, a complete secret, but I haven't been totally obvious and obnoxious about it. But I am starting a Twitch channel, which, if you've entered any of my giveaways, you saw me teasing the Pen Addict Twitch channel. And the main question, I would imagine, is why? Why do you want to do that? And I've been watching Twitch for probably the past year and getting used to the platform and seeing what's available out there. And also having thoughts of how can I do more to help people in the stationary world. You know, I talked recently about doing an office hours thing, you know, booking, like, an hour, you know, or two hours, you know, a couple times a week to have people and talk to them directly. And I figured, well, why not just set a place and time where I can be there live and you can come talk and basically ask me anything. And I figured Twitch is kind of the place where I want to do it, not just for the stationary part of, you know, the Pen Addict. But, you know, I also like playing video games. So I'm going to do some gaming on there, too. But I think what I'm going to try to do, it's a little bit different. It's not what Twitch is normally built for, but it's grown their non-gaming channels, whether it's in they have a directory called IRL, which isn't where I'll plan on being. But there's a directory called Creative where a lot of people are doing drawing and artwork and things like that. So my plan is to have a twice weekly show, maybe around two hours, two days a week to where I focus on a topic. And we're going to reach way back and kind of start from scratch. Like, you know, I'm going to do an entire show on gel-link pens, right? I'm going to do, you know, multi-pens, mechanical pencils, regular pencils, you know, work our way up to fountain pens. So I'll do a little bit of educational content, talking about those types of things. And then I'll do a lot of chat integration content. So, you know, asking me questions, rolling with what the chat wants to talk about, things like that. You know, I see that happening, you know, twice a week during the weekday mornings or afternoons, Eastern time. And then nights and weekends, you know, I'll pop in for some games. When I started doing the pen addict as a business, it no longer became my hobby. Well, I kind of picked up video games as that hobby replacement. And I figured I could jump on and play video games. And you can ask me pen questions too, or you can ask me video game questions. So it's just another way to put myself out there, to share with the community, give back to the community, and have fun while doing it. And those are my focuses in my career now is have fun and help people. And this seems like a great place to do it.

Myke Hurley: I obviously agree. I basically did the exact same thing recently.

Myke Hurley: So, yeah. It's funny.

Madison: We came upon this independently, which is hilarious.

Myke Hurley: But it's something that, I don't know. There are these shifts every now and then. And, like, Twitch has kind of started to really push itself into some new and interesting places. So the tools that they have and the things that they make available to people that want to stream, that's getting better and better. And then the way that they allow, the way that they give tools for people to make money on Twitch as well is getting more interesting. So this is why a lot of people are moving towards it. So you should go to twitch.tv slash penaddict and twitch.tv slash playing for fun FM. Yes.

Madison: And maybe eventually we'll do something together. I hope so.

Myke Hurley: Imagine that. Yeah.

Madison: We definitely will, actually. I mean, we'll play video games together. Yeah. It's funny. I don't do these things quickly or randomly. Like, I've been planning this for about a year. And then over the past two or three months, my plan became more solid. And that's when I first mentioned it to Myke. And he's like, by the way, this channel just launched, Playing for Fun FM. I'm like, sweet. That'll be fun. So you and Tiff are just wonderful on the Playing for Fun podcast and on the Twitch broadcast. So one thing I didn't mention is when I'm going to start this. I'm hoping to finish my setup late next week. So about a week and a half from now. But just keep an eye out. I mean, if you follow me at all, you'll know when I go live. So, you know, you'll have it figured out. But I'm shooting for about a week and a half from now. I'm still waiting for a couple parts to come in for my setup. And then we'll be good to go. And we'll figure this out together. So I look forward to it.

Fountain Pens

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Madison: Myke, may I tempt you with the Platinum 3776 Kumpu fountain pen?

Myke Hurley: We're here again, aren't we? I feel like this happens every few months. Myke gets tempted by a Platinum 3776. And he ends up not buying it.

Madison: I am with you. So, like, that's the thing, right? So, Platinum releases all these pens. I rave about them. They're awesome. And, like, last year, I got one of them. But I love every single one of them. But I can't buy all of them at the same time. I also want more from Platinum. Even though the 3776 is their mainline model. It's like, I'm waiting for them to do something with a different barrel style. And I feel bad saying that because, do you ever hear me complain about the Sailor Pro Gear? And it's the same stupid thing. Even though I think they're a completely different feel of pen. Which is why. I think the 3776 is a lightweight pen. And I don't want all my pens to feel that way. But this is... Every one they come out with, I say, is the best one they've done. This is the best one they've done, Myke. And it's called Kumpu.

Myke Hurley: Hmm.

Madison: Hmm. Do you know what that means, Myke? I did look this up. I have no idea. Beforehand. It means balmy breeze. I mean, we could have gone with the Platinum 3776 balmy breeze fountain pen. I mean, that would totally be in, right?

Myke Hurley: I like balmy breeze. But I guess it isn't for us, though, is it? You know, they haven't named this for mine and your purposes. They've named it for...

Madison: Yes. So it fits in the... This is a seasonal series. So this is the seasons around Mount Fuji. Unbeknownst to me, I bought the first one. The one Platinum I bought last year was the Shungyo. The red one. Which is definitely my favorite. I still like the Shungyu better than the Kumpu. But it's really, really kind of amazing. And I love what they've done with the colors and the swirls. I don't know. I love the stinking pen. But again, it's like, I'm not gonna probably buy it. Probably. It's like, I don't know what to do. It's like, I can't buy everything, right? There's too many things. I can't buy all the things.

Myke Hurley: Can we assume that they're halfway through then? This series?

Madison: So this is number two of this series. Yeah. But they've interspersed. They kept the Lake series going, intermixed with this. They dropped the Nice series.

Myke Hurley: Mm-hmm.

Madison: You know, before this, they, you know, they, I guess it was the Oshino, the last one, the all clear one. That was part of the Lake series. I think they're kind of overlapping these things. The one thing, they did two things different on this one than they did with like some of the Nice series ones where I complained that if you're gonna make a limited edition, at least etch some number on the thing. Don't just give me a card that says it's a limited edition. Then sell all the ones without the card that aren't limited edition ones. I thought that was a terrible idea. So this one will at least be engraved on the, I don't know if it's on the cap band or on the top of the barrel. They usually sometimes do it in the acrylic on the top of the barrel. So the second thing they did, I noticed when I was looking at this release on pen chalet, and I guess this comes out next month in July sometimes, they're allowing the UEF nib to be ordered for this pen. And I kind of glanced back. I didn't see that UEF was- What do you mean like allowed? It's never been an option, not allowed. In US? It's never been an option. No, no, no. It's never been an option for their limited series pens. It's always been a core edition pen where you could get the UEF nib. This is the first one I've seen in the limited edition range with the UEF nib, which a lot of people like that nib because it's really, really crazy fine. I mean, it's definitely not for everyone. But I thought that was interesting because usually with the limited editions, they stick to the more popular nib sizes, right? Just for purposes.

Madison: They want to be able to sell through these pens and not have a bunch of UEFs left over. So I thought that was an interesting choice. But I don't know. It's like a lot of the pens. They do so many so often so well. You got to pick and choose. Pick and choose what you like. But I mean, I'm not going to lie. My eyes popped out when I saw this. It looks fantastic. What do you think?

Myke Hurley: I mean, I still don't own one. So I've done what I did for the last two. I put my name down at the pen chalet pre-order. Yeah. And when the email comes through to tell me that it's available for me to buy, I'll make my decision then. Yeah. But I mean, I will say that like each one of these 3776s that's come out, I like more than the one before it. Right. Right. So I loved the pink one. Then I really loved the purple one. And now I really love this blue one. And one of the reasons I really love it is because it's doing something that platinum seems seldom to do, which is to actually make some change more than color. As far as we know, like, can you feel those ridges or are they like inside the barrel?

Madison: In these last ones, you can feel everything. Right. Like some are more extreme than others. Like the Nis Lilas was very sharp to the touch where the Shunggyu was more tempered, if you will, but you could still feel it.

Myke Hurley: Yeah.

Madison: So I'm assuming you have the texture on the outside of the barrel in some places. But it doesn't look like complete like laser etched faceting on there. So it's probably pretty comfortable, I'm guessing, but I don't know yet.

Myke Hurley: I was honestly hoping more that it was going to be a case of that there was a texture to it as opposed to that wasn't. Yeah. You know, like I was hoping that you would be able to feel it like, because that is more intriguing to me. Honestly.

Madison: I mean, I don't think you can feel like it's not like the swirl pattern. I think the swirl pattern is just like the color throughout. But I think there is like some type of barrel shape.

Myke Hurley: Some kind of like, what do they call it? What is that called? Not ratcheting. What is it called? Fast faceting. Yeah. Look, I love this pen. I think it looks amazing. It's obviously clearly a demonstrator, which is even more interesting. And the fact that it's based on a mountain tells me I could maybe do some weird ink stuff. Maybe use some kind of gray ink or something. Who knows? So this is going to stay. I'm going to keep my eye open for when the email comes through. And if I'm feeling particularly flush on the day that it arrives in my inbox, then I might go for it.

Madison: Yeah. I'll wait and see what it looks like in DC. I probably still won't buy one then. I really like my red Shunggyu. I mean, I really, really like that pen. It's going to be hard to beat that one for me. And I feel like now I need to buy pens that are going to beat the one I already like. And this one is great as it looks. I don't think it's going to beat that one for me. So I would never choose to use it over the red Shunggyu. So we'll see. It looks great. I mean, I love it. I love that Platinum's doing this. But man, can't buy them all.

Myke Hurley: I mean, we have a question about these nibs later on in the show. But I wanted to ask you real quick. We can get into a little bit more detail later. If I buy this pen, the option that I would probably go for is soft medium. Do you think that that is the right choice for me? Yeah, probably so.

Madison: Yeah, because I don't think I'm going to like fine. No, no, no. I was going to say, if anything, broad.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, they don't have that as an option. Okay. It's soft medium, fine, or ultra extra fine. Oh, yeah. Should I get the ultra extra fine? What do you think? Hell no.

Madison: So here's a funny anecdote. So I was talking to Brian Anderson of Anderson Pens fame at the Raleigh Pen Show. And I was asking him how the new Chicago store was going. He was telling me it's going great. And he said, here's a funny thing. So we have a platinum display, a sample display pen set up. So they have all the platinum nibs available as testers. So they get a lot of kind of non-fountain pen people staying at the hotel where the store is. And he says they'll come in and they gravitate to the things you can test, right? Like you see a pen display. You can test all these pens out and try all these different nibs. He said, I've sold more ultra extra fine nibs to people who have no idea about fountain pens than you could imagine. And he's like, people just gravitate towards that nib, even though it's like an extremely difficult nib to write with.

Myke Hurley: I think I understand it. Because it's like...

Madison: Yeah, if you've not used a fountain pen before, yeah.

Myke Hurley: It's probably going to give you more of a feeling of consistency of a line that like a needlepoint is going to give you, right? But if you're used to fountain pens, it can be a little bit trickier. I find it because it doesn't give me what I'm looking for, right? Like I'm looking for a different feeling and an ultra extra fine for me wouldn't give me the fountain pen feeling that I'm looking for, which is like soft and bouncy and tons of ink and like just gliding across the page. And like an ultra extra fine is just straight up not going to do that for me. Yep. But I understand why like if you're not used to fountain pens, you might go for that. But also just the idea of people buying an ultra extra fine platinum as their first pen is a hilarious notion to me.

Madison: It is pretty funny. Yeah, that's just such a tough nib to use. And you've got to be committed to that.

Myke Hurley: I'm going to be in Chicago in October.

Myke Hurley: Nice. We're doing a mini tour before heading over to Toronto, right? So we're actually... I should work on that probably. Yeah. I mean, you know, at some point we need to plan that. We know what we're doing, but there's just a few little elements that we need to finish off. Yes. Yes. Travel related. But yeah, because I'm going to be in the States, we decided we're going to do a couple of shows. We do a Chicago show and a New York show for Connected and Upgrade. And tickets are sorted out, by the way, which is why I'm not even going to put the links in the show notes to sort out. And I'm hoping that I can go visit the new Anderson Penn Chicago show while I'm in town. That'd be fantastic. It's on my list of things to do.

Estabrook FJ Ballpoint

Madison: Super cool. Super cool. All right. So this next link I wanted to put in as it refers to the Estabrook FJ Ballpoint review that I did on the blog a few weeks back where it had the Shapeways 3D design refill apparatus. What is the word I'm looking for? It's basically a molded refill to fit a proprietary old school refill so you can get a new refill into an old pen. So I knew that my friend Les at Comfortable Shoes Studio had a clip also from Shapeways that was built to fit on certain pens. I don't know if it's just the Baron Fig Squire pens. That's what she was testing it on. I don't know if it fits other pens. So I'd asked her about it. I was like, you talked about doing this review of this clip that you got. She said, yeah. She hadn't put it up yet. She had all kinds of problems with working with him to get this done. And she finally put the review up this week. So she sent it over to me. And I was reading the review. And I'm going through and I'm like, holy crap, this thing is ugly. This is like the ugliest thing. And I was like, okay, but, you know, it solves a problem. It's a pen. I mean, it's a clip for a pen that doesn't have one. And I see that. And I'm like, okay, whatever. Then I get down and, you know, she's talking about it. And then I get down to the part where she's essentially like, okay, holy hell, this thing is ugly. And I just started dying laughing. And it was pretty hilarious because as good of an idea this is, do you see yourself ever putting something like this on one of your pens that needs a clip?

Myke Hurley: Heck no. Like, all right. So I need to try and explain this to people so they can understand what we're talking about here. So this is a, it is a clip which has a kind of ring around it. And the ring has got some holes in it. So it will allow some flex. And it is 3D printed in, well, at least the one that is being shown here is what looks like a kind of cheap version plastic, right? Like a very simple plastic.

Madison: Same as what the ballpoint adapter was that I used. It's like this cheap plastic resiny material.

Myke Hurley: But because it is 3D printed cheaply by design, so it can be worth a couple of dollars to buy, it has that kind of 3D printed look to it where everything is kind of a little bit texturized in a way that is probably not intended. Right? Like it's a little bobbly, I guess. And it has clearly been extruded from a machine. And so this clip could be made out of slightly different material at a higher production value and look better.

Myke Hurley: But then it wouldn't be worth it, I think, for you to buy it. It would be too expensive.

Madison: Right.

Myke Hurley: Exactly. I mean, and they sell, like they have a professional version on Shapeways, which is like three times the price, which I'm sure would look a little bit better. But ultimately still what you're getting is this huge clip, plastic clip with a big cuff that goes all the way around so it can stretch around the pen. I mean, quite frankly, for me, like I understand why you might want something like this. But personally, I would prefer to not use a pen than to put something like this on the pen. I think it kind of ruins a lot of what I like about a pen, like the way it looks. Yes. You know, this was my whole feeling about the Mark 1, the Studio Neat Mark 1.

Myke Hurley: Every time they added any kind of clip design to that pen, it ruined it, in my opinion. Like any time that they were trying to like, can we add a clip to this? Would it work? Would it not work? It didn't work because the pen's beauty was its simplicity. And adding a clip to it is almost like adding, and this is in the post that you mentioned, right?

Madison: That it's like a wart. Yeah, it's a third nipple, right? I mean, it's just not supposed to be there. So two things, and one you just covered. It goes against the original design of the pen. Like you're breaking up the original design. Like the Baron Fig Squire is sleek and minimal. And then you tack this on there. But secondly, I'm also glad that this is happening. I'm glad this exists. And that's why I wanted to put this in here. Because it can get better. Like eventually maybe we'll have something that works well.

Myke Hurley: If it's good for you, like if you're fine with that, like this is great. Like if what you're looking for is a clip and you don't care about how the clip looks because you just need it, it's awesome that a product like this exists. But like this is just a very different use case scenario than anything I would be in.

Madison: Yeah, but also like you said, you're not buying the pen in the first place if the clip is like the number one or two most important thing in your purchasing decision.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, that's the other part of it, which is kind of interesting, right? Which is like if you would care enough that you would buy this to put on a pen, why do you own the pen without the clip in the first place? You know, that's like a funny thing to me, right? Where it's like clearly, clearly clips are very important to you. It's interesting to me that like then you would buy a pen without a clip on it.

Madison: Yeah. So I think this post is worth a read. Les talks about the difficulties she had getting this ordered as well.

Myke Hurley: I love it. It's a very, very well written post. And it's very funny too. I like it.

Madison: Yeah. Yeah. So it's a really good post. And like I want to see more of this stuff. And it's going to be bad for a while. But, you know, maybe we get to a point where there are uses. Like the refill adapter looks terrible as well. But you don't have to look at it because it's on the inside of the pen. It's perfect for that. Yeah. So I like seeing this innovation, even though this one's kind of trash right now. Maybe, you know, maybe we'll have other use cases come out of this. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the new Paris Skyline Retro 51 Gold Spot exclusive is a work of art. What do you think about this pen?

Myke Hurley: I feel about this pen like you feel about the platinum we were talking about earlier. Where like, so this is one of the, I think it's like the annual Gold Spot limited edition that they do. There's like 537. Yeah. Skyline. Yeah.

Retro 51 Paris Skyline

Madison: So they did New York Skyline. Now this is Paris Skyline.

Myke Hurley: It is a beautiful Retro 51. It glows in the dark. I always love that kind of stuff and those details. It has a French bulldog on the finial. It's beautiful. It's not for me, but I really appreciate the design of it. I think it's a wonderful looking pen. It's not one that I'm going to buy, but I wanted to mention it because I know that there are going to be many people listening to this show. It's just right up their alley, right? Because it is a great looking pen. And it's just like, again, I own so many of these now. I pick and choose. I'm like the weirdest collector in the world, right? Like I collect something. I don't think so. Or at least by general standards of being a collector of something in that like my collection is based purely upon my own tastes, which is kind of a funny thing. But I like it a lot. I think it's really nice looking, but it's not going to enter my drawer of Retro 51s.

Madison: Yeah, I looked at the image. I'm like, oh, man, that is super cool. They did a great job. And like the end, like I'm not going to buy it. Like I have too many, like I'm not getting burnt out on Retro 51s, but I pose the question to you and to others out there. Or are there products that you do get burnt out on because you just see the churn and the hype train and the constant product and bombardments? And I say this as a massive fan.

Myke Hurley: I think it's possible. I'm a fan. But the reason that I am not burned out on Retro 51 and I think that the industry as a whole is not is because they keep making incredible pens. Like if they made stuff at the pace that they're making it at and they were missing, you know, they were a bunch of misses. Because that's not like say, for example, that they decided that the Kiss thing was such a success for them. They were just good. All they were going to make now was every single month or every three weeks they were going to do some other hair metal band. I think that that might eventually like people would get tired of that. But there's so much variety in the design that it feels almost impossible, right? Because if you want to get a Kiss pen, you can get that. If you want to get one with the solar system on it, you can get that. If you want to get one with a Paris Scalding, you want to get one that looks like a cigar. You want to get one that looks like a baseball. Like they have so many different designs that the burnout feels less likely for me because you appeal to more people over a longer period of time.

Madison: Yep. Yep. So, yeah, I'm with you. I was like, and I buy like a quarter of what you buy. And, you know, I just buy the ones that I like and, you know, move on from the other ones. And, you know, it's pretty cool. And I just sent you the picture of the Panatic prototype that I should have in my hands for later this year. And I'm pretty excited about that. That'll be the one that sinks the ship for sure. Like, you know, that's going to be the one that's like, oh, my God, what did they do here? And, you know, they'll be buried forever. So, I appreciate them working with me and my crazy ideas.

Myke Hurley: All right. Should we take a break?

Madison: Let's.

Myke Hurley: All right. I need to shave. Yeah. Well, then this is the perfect time for you because we're going to talk about Harry's. We're all about a great shave at a fair price, which is over 3 million, which is why over 3 million people have switched to Harry's. And you should, too. You should go join them because Harry's make great products. Their founders, Jeff and Andy, decided to create their company because they were fed up of overpriced razors and they wanted to fix it. They knew a great shave comes down to great blades made of sharp, durable steel that lasts. And they also cut out the unnecessary costs, allowing them to deliver you one perfect razor at an amazing price. They offer high quality blades at just half the price that you'd pay elsewhere at $2 per blade. Harry's bought a factory that's been making some of the highest quality blades in the world for over 95 years. So, you know they're good. And they offer a 100% quality guarantee. If for any reason you don't love your shave, just let Harry's know within 30 days and you'll get a full refund. Brad, why would people not want their full refund, though? Why are they going to be so excited and happy?

Madison: So, it's the one product I seem the most consistent packing with. So, this is what I mean. So, the last two trips I've taken were the Raleigh Penn Show and then I went to the beach this weekend. So, I packed my little Harry's Dopp kit and I never forget my Harry's razor because I know that's how good it is and I would be hosed if I forgot it. Those last two trips, I forgot my toothbrush on both of those trips. Wow. And that's kind of an important thing. I always remember my Harry's razor. I 100% forget my toothbrush. So, I need Harry's to make a toothbrush so I will stop forgetting to pack what is really, really good.

Myke Hurley: That's so good.

Madison: So, thank you, Harry's, for not allowing me to forget my razor because it's so good I would be devastated. But apparently, I don't care about my teeth as much as I do my neck.

Myke Hurley: Fair enough. Harry stands behind the quality of their blades. But they know that switching razors is not an easy decision. So, they want to give you a trial offer. You can get a $13 value trial set that comes with everything that you need for a close, comfortable shave. A weighted ergonomic razor handle. Five precision engineered blades with lubricating strip and a trimmer blade. Rich lathering shave gel. And a travel blade cover as well. Just go to harrys.com slash penaddict right now and redeem your special offer and let them know that we sent you. Thank you so much to Harry's for their support of this show and RelayFM. That's harrys.com slash penaddict. Thanks, Harry's.

Madison: All right. We got a good batch of Ask TPA this week. I want to tackle the first one from the tiny badge.

Madison: The Nib section, which is a wonderful podcast you should all go listen to. We'll make sure we put a link in the show notes. You bet. I know everyone on that show does a fantastic job and I really enjoy their content. You should listen to it. So, it says, the Nib section recently spoke of resale of fountain pens being comparable to guitars running a certain percentage of original cost. Any thoughts on a formula to determine resale price? So, good question. Tough question. Impossible to answer. But I will say, so Chuck on the Nib section is a musician or I don't know if he's a musician, but he plays music and buys a lot of instruments. So, he was talking about guitars and relating fountain pens, selling fountain pens after they've been purchased on as a resale to guitars. So, he was saying, when you purchase a guitar and right after you purchase it, you can just go ahead and mark it off 30% if you're trying to resell it like right away. Like, that's the immediate, you know, markdown and then about 10% less per year, which the pen industry, I don't think is like that per se. You know, if you buy a pen, especially a limited edition pen, I don't know that it's going to increase in value, but you can probably get close to 90 to 100% of your value back probably within that first six months or year. You know, while people are still interested in that pen, looking for that pen, things like that. I think after that first, like six months to a year, it's just going to depend on the pen, right? You know, does the brand continue to be held within high regard? You know, does, you know, did, you know, did the brand fall off some, you know? How do changes in the brand, you know, affect the prices of the older pens, like when Visconti went from gold nibs to palladium nibs? So, there's all kinds of different things that come into that. I think for most of the pens that are from major companies that are the limited edition style, they'll pretty much hold their value. If not, go up maybe a little bit. There's not like a 30% discount right off the top right after purchase. I think the stock pens from those same big brands, like the mainline pens that are just always there, I do see where they would be just like, you're just going to chop something right off the top right after you purchase it. If six months from now, if I buy a Pilot Custom 912, which was one of my favorite pens on the planet, it's just not special enough to hold its full value as a used pen six months from when I buy it. So, it would probably be, you know, like 30% discount right off the top. So, it just depends. Diana made a good comment on that show as well. She said, I would never buy a new Mont Blanc. And I see that as well. Because they make so many pens, especially their core lineups. Like, this is what I was talking about. Their core lineups, like the 146 and 149. I think I paid 300 or 350 for my 149 used. And that's like an $800 pen, new or more. It's just like, you don't have to pay these premium prices for some of these pens. So, it just really depends on the volume of the pen in the market. You know, how many people want it. There's so many variables. But it's really tough to have just like a hard, fast rule. But I do think for standard lineup pens, you know, your base lineups, there is going to be a discount right off the top if you're going to resell shortly after purchase. Where limited editions, you're probably not going to see that as well. So, you know, it's the fountain pen market. It's a good market to buy used in. I've had very good experiences buying used in some of my favorite pens. I've bought used.

Madison: So, you know, it's just something you don't want to jump into blindly. Do your research. You know, do your homework. Check prices. Kind of get a feel for what those things go for. And yeah, don't hesitate to look in the resale market for something you've been looking for. So, I thought this was a great question. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. I'm always and continue to be a little bit hesitant of some of the used stuff. Sometimes for these reasons, like, am I paying the right price? How much should it be? You know, could it go up over time? Like, that's also another part of it, right? Like, a used pen is not like a used car. Although used car can go up over time, I guess, for the same reason, right? But, you know, like, I would, like many other people, would pay probably over asking price for something like a M90. Sure. Right? So, it's a tricky business, but there is some cool stuff in it, I think.

Madison: Yeah. It's an entirely different conversation when you start to get into collectible slash investment versus using. And I know, I think TJ and Stuart on 1857 podcast, I think they talked about that this week. I haven't had a chance to listen, but that looked like it was in the show notes for this week to talk about that. So, I'll have to give that a listen and report back as well.

Myke Hurley: All right.

Madison: All right. So, this next one from Amit Yariv says, hey, I got the new Pelican M205 with an M nib. It is too fine for my taste, but the B nib is too broad. Is it me, or did Pelican make their stainless steel M nibs finer, and what can be done about it? If they did, I'll be dancing a jig because I find Pelican nibs to be on the wide side of the spectrum. So, I'm actually shocked to find that someone finds a Pelican, even the steel nibs, an M nib to be too fine in relative to other Pelican steel M nibs. I have not heard anything about this. If anyone else has, I would love to hear what you think. I have not bought a new Pelican steel nib pen in a while, so I don't know, you know, what their feel is like these days. If there's changed, I would be shocked if there was any change in their nib sizing because they're kind of known for that. You know, Pelican kind of do their own thing as far as nibs. You know, they put a stamp on it, and it's basically the Pelican size. You have to quantify the EF nib, like Sarah's saying in the chat room. You have to quantify and say that it's a Pelican EF. So, that way, you know, the person you're talking with goes, okay, so it's about a medium line, right? It's just Pelican's not known for their very fine nib sizing. So, I'd be interested to see if anyone else has had experience with the newest, you know, steel nib series, whether it's the, you know, the, whatever, the blue one, that blue one that just came out with, one of the new 205s. And they're always coming out with new ones. To me, it's extra finer, nothing in Pelican, so I haven't tried the M steel nibs. But, yeah, so we'll see. I'd be interested to know if anyone has any experience with that. Soaps and Ropes asks one of the hardest questions we get. What sort of fountain pen should I buy myself for a nine-year anniversary at work? 200 USD budget.

Madison: This is the range of everything. So, it depends. Do you want to go classic style? Like, my classic style pen in that range is the Pilot Custom 912 or a Sailor Pro Gear. Sailor Pro Gears maybe run you a little bit more than that. 912 is right around that ballpark. If you want to really get something that speaks to, like, a style you have or a color you like, you know, you look at something like Franklin Kristoff or Edison, which I think are great choices. In that price range, there's steel nibs where the Pilot and the Sailor would be gold nibs. So, it depends on what you like. 200, you can get a lot of choice in that range depending on style of pen that you want, type of writing experience that you want. So, feel free to reach out to me with more specifics if you want me to narrow it down for you. But that's where I'm starting in that range. Either the Pilot 912 or Sailor Pro Gears for something classic or Franklin Kristoff and Edison. And I'm leaving out another 20 pens we could pick in that range. So, yeah, that's a great, great price range to fit anything to your tastes.

Madison: This one's for you, Myke.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, okay.

Nib Differences

Madison: Any chance you could explain nib differences between SM, M, and SF? I presume it's a soft version of fine and medium, but what is soft? Is it springy? It's a Platinum 3776 Kompu. Okay. And I just wanted to put this in.

Myke Hurley: SM means squidgy marshmallow. That's what the SM stands for.

Myke Hurley: Just the standard M is for morning. So, it just depends that you use when you wake up. And then SF is San Francisco. And it just means that they work. It works way nicer when you're against the Pacific coastline than the Atlantic coastline. So, that's what that means. All of those.

Madison: So, all right. Next question. Carly Toes asks. No, okay. So, back to this one. Myke's pretty much right. I mean, I think you kind of nailed it. Nailed it. It is considered the soft versions of those pins. So, soft, medium, soft, fine. It's slightly springy. I don't say... There's not a bounce to those nibs. Like, springiness and bounciness are two different things. I mean, those are arbitrary, you know, types of definitions. But I believe those are two different things in my estimation. It is not springy, I don't think. Or it's slightly springy. There's not a lot of bounce to it. You're not getting huge spread tines. Like some type of flex nib or falcon nib or things like that. It's just a slight softness that gives you a little bit of line variation. And sometimes it might give you a smoother writing performance. Because you get a little bit more ink out. Although you do spread the tines a little bit. So, I don't know. Maybe that's not true. But it's a little bit easier to write with. But it's... I don't know. It's tough to explain in words without testing them out. Because it's not a game-changing difference, if you will. It's a difference in the firmness of the nib. So, I like Platinum's soft nibs. Because they do give that little bit of extra line variation in there. So, I kind of like them. I don't know. It's just a feel thing. It's really hard to put that into words. But it is a little bit of a squishy, squidgy marshmallow morning in San Francisco feel to all three of those nibs. So, it's something you got to test beforehand to see if you like it. Don't expect it to be like a game changer in difference from a standard medium versus a soft medium. But you will be able to tell a difference. Just not like 50% different. It'd be like 10-15% different. If that makes any sense whatsoever. I don't know how to put it into words. Alright. Carly Toes. I just ordered a Hobonichi Techo Cousin Avec for the July start. And I'm looking to get a case or cover that fits a 9.7 inch iPad as well. Will the Seed A5 work? If not, do either of y'all have a suggestion? Number one, I appreciate the use of y'all. That's approved. Number two, the Seed A5 case will only work for the Hobonichi Techo Cousin Avec. Because it's A5 size and 9.7 inches is too wide for the A5. So, do you have experience with this, Myke?

Myke Hurley: Well, I was wondering. And I actually don't know the answer to this question. But I was wondering if the Rotofar and Tashenberg Leiter would work in this scenario. I think that it might. And more than anything, I just wanted to say that name again because it's been a long time. But I used to keep an iPad and notebooks in these things. And they have a bunch of different configurations and sizes. It could be a possibility, right? For everything to be all in this one case.

Madison: Yeah, I think you would have to get a custom layout for that. I think so. But they do that.

Myke Hurley: That's pretty normal for them, right? Usually when you say a custom layout, that sounds scary. But they actually have a whole tool, a customization tool on their website for you to build your own.

Madison: Right. And that's why it's such a good product because it is fully customizable. Their standard A5 will not fit that because it is barely bigger than the A5 notebooks you put into it. So, I know it won't fit 9.7 iPads. But they do have a configuration tool to where you can see if you can get one built out. And if you can, man, that's a great notebook cover. So good. I absolutely adore those. They are really, really good. Yeah. Yeah. And a pro tip for those of you in the U.S. who have not been able to check those out. Jetpins have started carrying them.

Myke Hurley: Brad, they do it. They have it.

Madison: What?

Myke Hurley: The big one? They have one. Like stock? Yeah. They have one called the, which I don't even understand why, Taschenberg Leiter Valada Midwife. Who knows? Hello.

Myke Hurley: Who knows? And it is a 21 by 28 centimeter and it fits iPads all the way up to the 10.5 in the high horizontal pocket. And then has those really cool clip things so you can put notebooks in it too. So, they do it. They do it. It's in their generous A5 format. It's like the standard.

Madison: Generous A5. Yeah. Which is cool. I like that. Not A5-ish. It's generous. Generous. A5.

Myke Hurley: Well, I think that means it's going to fit the A5s, right? You're going to be good.

Madison: Oh, it'll definitely fit. If it fits anything, 9.7. A5 height is 8.2, 8.3. So, yeah. Something like that. Awesome. Well, we'll put that link to the show notes. We learned something today and also that a notebook product has the name Midwife. So, good to know. Last one. Jacob asks, TPA, what are y'alls? Again, with the y'alls, I love you people so much. This is even y'alls apostrophe S. Favorite properties of ink. So, what's your favorite property of ink, Myke? Is it ink? Is it sheen? Shading? Boringness? Color? Performance?

Ink Features

Madison: Saturation? Do you have... So, when you're shopping for ink, give me like number one and number two features. Oh, it's so difficult. Because I have like three things that I like.

Myke Hurley: So, I'll tell you the three things that I like. Color. Color.

Myke Hurley: Shading or sheen. You know, like some kind of color changing. I don't care how. Right. Color.

Madison: Those are different. You got to pick. Different.

Myke Hurley: But why can't I just say color changing then?

Madison: Okay. Color number one. Color changing number two.

Myke Hurley: No, not necessarily. I'm just telling you my three things. I still need to rank them.

Madison: Okay. Color.

Myke Hurley: Color changing. Dry time.

Madison: Hmm.

Myke Hurley: I think I'm going to go color and then dry time. That might top two.

Madison: Okay. So, if I had to pick top two, I'm also going color one and then shading two. I like some... Like you're alluding to. I like variation in my line color. Which is why I rarely use black ink or, you know, standard basic blue inks. Because I can't get that color variation in the line that I can get from a... It sounds like... Blue black sounds like it's boring. But there's some really beautiful, you know, variation throughout the line. Um, inks in a color as boring as blue black. So, color one. Shading two. And then to me. Like, sheen doesn't move the needle for me. Um, permanence is not a requirement. So, you know, it's those one and two. And then everything else is just... It is what it is. And, you know, I either like it or I don't. So, I do like lots of shading in my inks though. But color. I don't care about the shading if I don't like the color first. So, there you go. That's a wrap, Myke.

Myke Hurley: Alright. If you want to find our show notes for this week, you know where to go. Relay.fm slash penaddict slash 312. You can find Brad at penaddict.com, knock.co, twitch.tv slash penaddict. And he's on Twitter. What? Yep. He's on Twitter. This is getting longer and longer every time now. He's on Twitter. He's at dowdyism. Penaddict on Instagram. I am iMike. I am YKE on social networks. You can find this show and many other shows at relay.fm slash shows. I want to thank Squarespace and Harry's for their support of this week's episode. And we'll be back next time. Until then, say goodbye, Brad. Goodbye, Brad. Bye. You