The Pen Addict 314/transcript

The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript
Episode:	314
Title:	Everyone’s Favorite Game
Release Date:	June 27th, 2018
Hosts:	Brad Dowdy Myke Hurley
Guests:	No guests this episode
Additional Information
Official page:	Episode 314
Audio File:	Audio Episode 314
Podcast page:	The Pen Addict 314
Length:	5656 min <br />0.933 h <br /> minutes
Previous Transcript	Next Transcript

Myke Hurley: From RelayFM, this is The Pen Addict. Episode 314. Today's show is brought to you by our friends at Harry's and Mac Weldon. My name is Myke Hurley and I'm joined by Brad Dowdy. Hi, Brad Dowdy.

Brad Dowdy: Hello, Myke Hurley. How are you?

Myke Hurley: I'm very good. I'm very good. I think we need to... we've got an action-packed show today, so I think we need to just jump right in and play our favourite game.

Brad Dowdy: Um... Okay, we need a... do we need, like, an audio bumper for this or anything?

Myke Hurley: No, we definitely don't need that, because that feels like... I don't know. It feels like a lot more time than I currently have to spend, but maybe you could just do one. Why don't you do a little jingle for us right now? Uh...

Brad Dowdy: That was... okay. That's where you went? That's fine? Well, I mean, this is the circus, so that's like a circus clown thing. I mean, we're pretty much clowns.

Field Notes Release

Myke Hurley: Alright, so the game that we're gonna play is... there was a new Field Notes release.

Brad Dowdy: Everybody's favourite game!

Myke Hurley: Everybody's favourite game, back again for a new edition, and this is the game in which we try to guess for each other if we like the edition. Uh... I should record this, but I have no idea who went first last time, but I'm just gonna go first. Okay. So we have the Three Missions Edition, which includes three notebooks that have pictures on the front, so they're like the picture-based notebooks, and they are of three different space program things. So you've got the Mercury, the Gemini, and Apollo programs, so it's like images from each of those. It also comes with tiny little cut-out capsules that you can build out of paper, so little scale models that you can build of the capsules of each... of each space program mission, I guess? A shuttle mission? Mission, yes. Yeah, the paper is... it's grid. It is with extremely light, firmament grey ink is the grid, but it's on Finch opaque white graph paper. And so yeah, that's kind of the details, I guess, that you need to know. If you're a subscriber, you get a sticker. I'm gonna say straight out, like, there is no question about this that you love this one, but you are reserving judgment on the printing of the grid.

Brad Dowdy: So do I reply, or do I pick you now? Should I say what I want, what I think?

Myke Hurley: Yeah, say if I was right.

Brad Dowdy: You were mostly right in that I don't have to reserve judgment for anything.

Myke Hurley: Okay.

Brad Dowdy: Is the only place where you were wrong. This is what Field Notes does best. This is a 10 out of 10 Field Notes edition, not necessarily for me personally, right? But for Field Notes as a brand, as a company, as a manufacturer, as a storyteller, this is a 10 out of 10 Field Notes ranking, right? This is what they do best. They're an American company. They focus on American storytelling in a lot of their manufacturing, in most of their manufacturing. And they've always been fans of space and exploration. This has been an issue that has been requested for as long as Field Notes has been in existence. And they absolutely nailed it. Like, using the full bleed photos on the front for this type of issue is wonderful. Like, it's not everybody's style. Like, it goes away. This is not your traditional cover. But they've done this enough times now to where it's become kind of a Field Notes thing. It looks the part, right? It fits everything that you, your expectations. And then they went above and beyond with the extras. Like, this is not normal. You know, in any way, shape, or form, this is not normal. And that's a positive, right? It's hugely positive. I, you know, on me on a personal level, I mean, I love them too. You know, whether I'm going to use them, buy extra ones, who knows. But just as the Field Notes brand and the Field Notes story, this is a 10 out of 10 for me.

Myke Hurley: You want to give your guess for me?

Brad Dowdy: I mean, I think this is on lock, no brainer. Right up there. Probably still behind.

Brad Dowdy: What was the one? Pitch Black? Not Pitch. Is it Pitch Black the one that you like? Night Sky. Night Sky. But it might be number two for you overall. Am I close?

Myke Hurley: I want to get it in my hands. I would say that I think this one, I don't think this one's going to beat Coastal for me. Like, I adore Coastal because it's basically like Pitch Black 2, Electric Boogaloo, right? It's everything that, sorry, Night Sky, I should say. It's everything I loved about Night Sky. Like, again, reticle grid, foil stamping, like the whole bag. I absolutely love three missions. But again, there is an element of this is a very America-focused pack. And I obviously, I love that, but I have a slightly different feel about it. And also, you know, all of these space things were happening kind of before my time as well. Right. And also, you know, even though these were happening in the 60s and 70s, like my kind of young life wasn't really full of space so much. You know, like a lot of it started to go away by then. But I will say I absolutely love the look of this edition. I cannot wait to get my hands on it. I'm really interested to see what the paper looks like because they've colored it a little bit, right? And I like that. I'm really, really intrigued to see the extras. I think that they have gone, as you said, like above and beyond what they needed to do from that. Like, you could have just made those extras available to subscribers, but they've made those available to everyone. And there's a sticker for subscribers, which is a let's go back to the moon sticker, which I really enjoy. Because I think we should, as humans, go back to the moon. I don't believe in that. I think that's a cool thing. And I can't believe that even with all these extras that they're doing, so it's three little scale models that you can pop out. Still $12.95. Yep. But, Brad, I don't know if you know this, but this is the largest edition size of all time.

Brad Dowdy: Oh, I was going to look at the number.

Myke Hurley: What is it? Do you want to take a guess at how many? And I'll say that the previous was something like 40,000, which was... 40,000 three packs? That Shenandoah was 40,000 three packs. It was the largest before three missions.

Brad Dowdy: Okay, so I was... Before you told me that, I was going to say 125,000 books, which is a little over 40,000 three packs. So I'll say it must be larger than that even. So we're going to go 50,000 three packs.

Myke Hurley: 50,000 three packs.

Brad Dowdy: Mm-hmm.

Myke Hurley: Wow. Which is an obscene number. Like... And I'm expecting you've got a couple of things going on here. One, they know they can sell them, right? Or at least they're confident they can sell them. Because this, like, nice guy, like Raven's Wing, like, byline, these are general interest. Like, a lot of my friends have bought these. Like, Jason Snell bought a pack of these. And Jason never uses pens, right? Because he's a space guy. Right. But the other thing is I'm assuming all of the extras that they've done have kind of restricted them from a cost perspective. Right. So they've had to increase the pack size to get their costs down. So they're able to sell them at the same... Or close enough, I guess, on the profit margins. So that'd be my expectation. It's those two things. It's one, they need to do a larger run so they can make it up in volume. But then the other is they are probably very confident that they will sell these. And I expect them to be sold out within the next two weeks, for sure.

Brad Dowdy: Oh, no way. You don't think so? Zero percent chance they'll sell out in two weeks.

Myke Hurley: Okay. Well, we'll see. We'll come back to that, shall we?

Brad Dowdy: I'll put some jelly beans on that.

Myke Hurley: All right.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. They will sell out, though. If you would have said two months, they will absolutely sell out. But I think it's two months, not two weeks.

Myke Hurley: I think I may have gotten a bit excited with two weeks. But they're going to sell out quickly. They'll sell out quickly. How about that?

Coastal Edition

Brad Dowdy: Yes. Yeah. Okay. Good. I wanted to point out the Coastal Edition that you brought up, because I think these are a perfect comparison. And what's interesting is that these two really high-end editions for them, like, you know, there's always a variance in each release on, you know, the, not the quality, but necessarily like the technical aspects. The ambition? Right.

Myke Hurley: Like, how, how, they seem to go, like, in peaks and valleys, right? Yeah. Where, like, they'll do something, like, that is bonkers. And then they'll do something that's a little bit more chill. Like, maybe it's some cool colors, but standard craft. And maybe it's got some interesting print on the inside or something like that. Right? Right. They tend to flip-flop. Which makes sense, because how much, you know, you can't be pedal to the metal constantly. Right.

Brad Dowdy: So that's what is impressive, one, about these last two releases. I think Coastal is not anywhere near my favorite like yours, but it's one of the most technically impressive editions, right? And then this is a, the best story, one of the best story editions that they've done, you know, just from a, from a branding story on what Field Notes is. Yep. So having those two editions back to back, I think, bodes well for the future of the, of the brand.

Myke Hurley: I would agree. I mean, I think that there's also an element of, like, you never want to put too much stock into it in case it was like, you know, because what's probably, what probably has happened is they've been working on three missions for like a year and they finally got it ready. So they put it out.

Brad Dowdy: I bet it's more than a year. I guarantee.

Myke Hurley: You know what I mean? Like, this is something that's been in the works for a long time and now it's ready. So they've done it. But I would also, you know, I would hazard a guess that the price increase that they made something like a year ago enables them to be more ambitious. So, you know what? So like, I would expect that there is, there's a couple of things going on there, but I would, I would have assumed that if they would never have increased that price, we would never would have gotten these two editions back to back at all.

Brad Dowdy: Right. Agree completely. Agree completely.

Myke Hurley: But yeah, I am super pumped about this one because I love it when they're firing on all cylinders, right? That's why we love this company because they're able to tell stories through stationery in a way that so few companies are able to do, right? And we were talking about this last time, like Blackwing is getting there. Like, it's kind of there, right? Like, they are, they are coming up with these interesting ideas and like, are able to build up excitement because they can tell stories through their products. So many companies have tried to do this. But like, in my opinion, there is field notes are so far away. Like, they are untouchable in this regard. Like, no one can tell a story like they can. And eventually companies will get there, right? Because they've had a head start. But like, this is a perfect example of why over the course of this show, we spent so much time talking about them because they're able to do this. So hats off to them.

Brad Dowdy: Hats off. Love it. Wonderful edition. I can't wait to get it in hand. I guess I should get it probably in the next few days. So we'll see. I'm looking forward to it. I will crack these open immediately and get to using them.

Myke Hurley: I'm really hoping that mine come by next episode. It's possible, right? Like, because they told me it was shipping like nearly two weeks ago. So, you know, I know that they try and stagger it out as much as they can.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, this might be one we just have to follow up on when we both get them and get to use them and open them up. It's I think it's that good of an addition. And it's just going to be one of those anchor additions in the in the history of the brand. So I think it's great.

Myke Hurley: While we're talking about field notes, actually, let me go on a slight diversion. So get married soon, right? Everybody knows that. And I've made my decision that I'm going to write my vows into a field notes notebook. So when I'm reading my vows and I'm not sure which one. Yeah. Adina, she's doing it, too. And she knocked out of the park. She's going to use what were the wooden ones called?

Brad Dowdy: Shelterwood.

Myke Hurley: Shelterwood. She's going to use a shelterwood. It's like, oh, darn it. That's a really good one. Right. Like, because that's just going to look real classy, you know, like standing there, like in the pictures and stuff. And I just haven't worked out which one yet. And I'm mentioning this because this is something that I'll follow up on either over the next week or two or after the wedding. So she say, like, we're doing a couple more episodes. Then I'm going to be away for a few weeks. And Brad's going to have some guests because I'm going on a honeymoon. But if I've made my decision by next time, I'll let you know next time or it will be, you know, sometime in the future. But I'm kind of narrowing it down to a few. Right. Like, I'm thinking maybe I might go with, like, the orange and black draplin one that came with the book. Or, like, a lot of our wedding colors are, like, pinks and blues. Mm-hmm. And so I'm thinking about, like, unexposed. Yeah. Because there's, like, a couple of books that mix pink and blue. But, like, they're super vibrant. I need to – I'm also thinking now, like, maybe I go with – I thought, well, maybe I could use the roastery one, like the wooden roastery one. But I think it's too big. I want to go for a smaller one. So, yeah, I'm still knocking it around. But I think it will be – I want to write it down on something. And Field Notes feels right to me, you know? Like, it just feels like it works. And I think it will be even cuter considering we both are using them now. Like, I didn't know anyone was going to do it. But I didn't – we're not going to use our phones, right? Like, that's just not good. And then it was either a notebook or index cards. And I figured a notebook felt right to me. So, Field Notes was the obvious one. Because it's small and I love them and I've got a million of them. So, putting them to good use would be a good idea. So, I haven't worked out which one I'm going to use yet. But I'll let you know once I've made my decision.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, that's fantastic. I can't wait to see which one you pick.

Sponsor Break

Myke Hurley: All right, should we take a break? Yes, let's do it. All right. I want to thank Mack Weldon for their support of this show. Mack Weldon, make the most comfortable underwear, socks, shirts, undershirts, hoodies, and sweatpants you're ever going to wear. Mack Weldon is better than whatever you're wearing right now. Trust me on this. Like, I absolutely adore all of my Mack Weldon stuff. I got, like, a bunch when I was in San Jose. I had a bunch of stuff delivered to me. I got, like, six new pairs of underpants. I got a brand new pair of their sweatpants, which is just, like, the greatest thing ever. Because I want to be nice and fresh. You know, get a fresh pair for when we go on our honeymoon. Because that's what I'll be wearing when I'm on the plane. Um, and I also bought myself some of their swim shorts as well for the beach, you know? Like, they just do such great stuff. I absolutely love Mack Weldon's clothing. And they're so confident that the quality is going to be right for you that they have a no-questions-asked return policy. Mack Weldon are so sure that you're going to be super comfortable in whatever you buy. If you don't like your first pair, they will refund you, no-questions-asked, and you just keep it. Don't send it back to them. They don't want your used underwear. Like, you just keep it, and they'll refund you. Mack Weldon pair premium fabrics with meticulous attention to detail and couple it all together with a simple shopping experience. Mack Weldon delivers a new level of daily comfort right to your door. They make undershirts that stay tucked, socks that stay up, and waistbands that don't roll. Everything they make is with premium cotton blended with natural fibers. Mack Weldon also have a line of silver underwear and shirts that are naturally antimicrobial, which means they eliminate odor, which is some cool science stuff. Mack Weldon's underwear, socks, and shirts look good and perform well, too. They're good for whatever you want to do in your daily life. And listeners of this show can get 20% off with their first order at mackweldon.com. That's M-A-C-K-W-E-L-D-O-N.com. So get 20% off just by using the code PENADDICT at checkout. It's all one word. 20% off with the code PENADDICT at mackweldon.com. Thank you so much to Mack Weldon for their support of this show and RelayFM.

Brad Dowdy: So I wonder if Mr. Jeff Bruckwicky will be rocking his Mack Weldon on the way to the St. Louis PEN show this weekend. Because he's going to be there, leaving tomorrow. I can't believe it's PEN show time again, Michael.

Myke Hurley: Mm-hmm. It's like, there's something about this where, like, I heard you say, one of your Twitch streams, which you were helping pack him up. There's almost like a first day of school kind of vibe to this. You know? That you're like, you got him already, you got his bag packed, you got him his lunch, and you're sending him off.

Brad Dowdy: Yep, yep, exactly. So that is, he was nervous for about a second, you know, when he decided to go. He's like, well, I'm going to need your help on, you know, how to do this. I'm like, yeah, I got you. We got this. I was like, you're good to go. He's like, okay, cool. Then that was it.

Myke Hurley: I can imagine it as a nerve-wracking experience, right? Like, anything where, if you've done something a certain way multiple times, and then it's being changed significantly. Like, you know, you two have always been there together at these things. And if he's gone on his own, it's like, what about everything that Brad does? Like, who's going to do that, right? I get it. I totally get it.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So he's good to go. He'll be there. We actually got a better table now. We were kind of like the last table, squeezed in the exterior hallway, and then someone had to back out at the last minute. And there's an inside main ballroom against the wall table now. So we've upgraded our table. Nice. So find Jeff in the room now instead of hovering around the outside. And we also got a room at the hotel because someone hooked us up. So we had an extra room. So, yeah, it's lining up perfectly. Jeff will be in late Thursday. Be ready to sell Friday, Saturday, Sunday. And I look forward to just what this show is going to be like overall. I think it's going to be good. But, you know, as with any new show, we'll see. But I don't know any show that has put as much into, like, the effort of getting the word out as the St. Louis show has. So we'll see if it's how it stacks up. But I definitely want to hear from you all. If you all go to the St. Louis Pen Show this weekend, let me know. Shoot me some tweets. Send me some messages, emails. Let me know what you think. Let me know if you had fun. Let me know what you bought. So it should be pretty cool. Related to the show, we got an Ask TPA question that I thought was really good and timely. It's from our friend Claire. She says in the last few months, I've heard more and more people say I'm going to pick up X Vintage Pen at Y Vintage Vendor at Z Pen Show. Are you finding that some of the vintage vendors are starting to get more of a following? And I'd say absolutely.

Brad Dowdy: People like ourselves who may be new in the vintage pen market, we're looking for comfort and safety when we make a purchase, right? So it can be intimidating. It can be scary to buy vintage pens because you don't have as much information. The pens aren't coming new in a box. Like your new pilot pen might be. So there's a lot more questions and a lot less knowledge that you may personally have. So as a community, as an online community in general, we've started to share information on where we find things that, you know, that are good quality or vendors we've had good experiences with. And I do think that the vendors who embrace not necessarily this generation, but just embrace the openness and sharing of information and helpful nature. Those are the ones whose names end up getting repeated by our friends in the online world. And then that's who you want to seek out when you go to a pen show. So, you know, people like Paul Arano, you know, has definitely been, you know, helpful in this regard. And he will talk to anyone about pens and vintage pens and help you out. And, you know, there's, gosh, I don't know. There's probably a list of vintage vendors like that are the most helpful. I don't want to say anyone's not helpful, but, you know, you know, there's certainly favorites in this category. So, you know, and then we have people in our community, community like Jessica Coles, who sells Estabrook, who's going to be one of the guests while you're gone. And Myke, so she's going to be on the podcast in a couple of weeks and we're going to talk about just vintage pens and vintage pens selling at a show and being, you know, a younger female in an older male world. So that's going to be a really good episode that I'm looking forward to.

Myke Hurley: I'm looking forward to that.

Brad Dowdy: But she focuses on vintage Estabrook. Like, that's her thing. I mean, she has lots of vintage pens, but she's known for her Estabrook. So once you start building that relationship and building that rapport, word travels fast. So some of the vintage vendors are getting a following and they're going to be the ones who are going to be the most successful, at least in our market. Now, the other ones who, you know, who don't necessarily, you know, have the time of day for some of us, you know, that's OK, too. We'll just move on to the next one. There's always going to be someone else. So that's the thing about vintage pens is there's a lot of them. So you can find what you want in multiple places usually. So I think that's a really good question. And I think we're starting to see that, you know, play out in the in the real world here. And that was one of the things I mentioned when we were talking about the future of the industry. I think there's a huge opportunity in vintage as long as, you know, you can. You know, kind of. Bring those products into a more modern setting in that setting requires, you know, information and it requires patience and compassion with the people you're working with. So it's it's only going to get better and more refined as the years go. At least I hope so.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, I think so. I'm excited to hear that episode, too. That's going to be a good one. So that's one to look out for. Yep. I mentioned that you were streaming. Oh, boy. Does Brad Dowdy stream? You know, stop is what happens. You've been over at twitch.tv slash pen addict. You've been streaming stuff like basically every day for the last week or something. Yeah. And in a way that I can't fully understand, but I know because I do this stuff a lot. I've watched. I've just happened to catch some of the stuff and I've just had you on in the background for like hours at a time. Yeah. It's working really good, man. I think you're doing a really good job of it.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So I don't have any direction necessarily yet. And the reason why I've been streaming a lot is twofold. One, there's some construction going on at my house, so I don't want to be there. So I stream from not at my house. I stream from Studio B, which has amazing Internet. And that's where all my streaming stuff set up. So I haven't been home. I've been over here in Studio B primarily because my house is a wreck right now. So that's been one reason. Well, if I'm here, I'll just turn on the stream. And the second reason is I want to get past the affiliate hump. And in Twitch, you get more tools to use in the background, like lesser delay and different things like that. You get more better amenities, if you will, on your trip during your Twitch stream. And one of the things you have to do is, I forget, I don't know if it's seven or ten unique days in 30 to get affiliate is the last thing I have to do. So I'm just trying to get all my individual days in so I can apply for affiliate and get the extra tools for the stream. And three is it's fun and I'm trying to figure it out. So like what you're saying is like I'm all over the place. Like I'm going to have dedicated stationary streams. And those are the ones where I pop up the big the big pen addict overlay. And those are the ones I upload to YouTube. So the next one is going to be Thursday. I haven't published the time yet. I think it's going to be 5 p.m. Eastern time again. And we're going to do fountain pen cleaning.

Myke Hurley: I want to give you a little Twitch tip here. At some point I need to impart to you the wisdom I've learned over the last month or two. There's a thing in Twitch called events where you can schedule an event. So for your big episodes like this, you can go in and say like what it's going to be. You can set a custom artwork and a time. And then people can like add it to their calendar or add reminders for the specific events that you're going to do. So when you're doing an episode of what you're referring to is like the pen addict, not just like I'm playing video games or I'm just hanging out. So you can set those in advance as like events that people can go and watch. Right. I mean, they stream in the exact same way, but it gives people like, and as well, you can share that link. Right. So when you're saying like, oh, hey, I'm going to be doing this, there's a link to share. So that's a good little feature for you. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: Better scheduling. So, yeah, you know, I'm still trying to the other reason why I'm streaming all the time is I'm trying to figure out all the buttons. Yeah. I'm trying to figure out what I want the stream to be, how I want it to look, you know, what's what's good out there. And since I'm not at home as much this week and I have work to do, well, if I'm sitting in front of my computer, I might as well turn on the camera. And that's what ended up happening a lot this week. That won't necessarily happen a bunch in the future, but it will. I mean, I have work days where I just sit and work for hours. I might as well turn on the stream and chat with people like it's fun. And like, that's what people were saying, what you did. They're like, I just put it on the background. And, you know, if I hear something interesting, I'll just jump in and say something. But, you know, it's a hearing a familiar voice in your ear. It's soothing. And then I like to play video games. So if I'm going to play a game and I'm not at my house, well, I'll just throw on the stream here and goof around. So, you know, it's been fun. I'm trying to figure it out. I really enjoyed it. The feedback's been great. And, you know, I just want to keep getting better and, you know, giving more to the community that follows, giving them more things to do. Like we've been doing polls in the chat room and having fun and doing things like that. So it's been fun. And I will continue to get to continue to work on it and get better at it.

Myke Hurley: Twitch.tv slash pen addict. Go and follow. And then when Brad hits affiliate, go and subscribe too. That would be my recommendation to you. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Cool. We need an intervention, Myke. A pintervention, if you will.

Myke Hurley: What did you do?

Brad Dowdy: Well, it's not what I did. It's what our good friends at Bung Box are doing to us and Sailor. Sailor has been like the most impressive, aggressive special edition maker on the planet. And our favorite vendor, Bung Box, has this edition called Fujiyama Blue. Myke, did you see this before I put the link in the show notes?

Myke Hurley: Yeah, man. Because I, for my sins, followed the Bung Box Instagram. So I see all of these things pop up in front of me on an extremely frequent basis.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So this is one of the finer examples of Bung Box pens that they've made.

Tsuyuhikari Fountain Pen

Myke Hurley: The green one, though, as well, was stunning. The Tsuyuhikari, I think. I don't know if that was right, but that sounded pretty good. I butchered that. I'm sorry. But that was just another incredible one. And these are all the nibs. They all say ink tells more on them. So it's obviously some kind of series or long-term collaboration, I would expect. But I don't know.

Brad Dowdy: So I just wanted to put this in, number one, because I adore it. And number two, I'm not going to buy it. I say that, but I don't see how. I like I've spent too much on pens recently. But there's always something new and nice that comes out. And this brings up a question that popped up yesterday when we were talking about Ask TPA from our good friend Rebecca. She says, have you ever, maybe for a split second, wished you could go back to being happy with a mole scheme in a G2 before perhaps feeling like the constant desire for more, better, cooler stuff is the opposite of happiness. So she has some good hashtags in here. Hashtag asking for a friend. Not really. Hashtag emo. I love that. I love it. I love her. So I wanted to talk about this for a second as it relates. Like, you know, putting in this bung box link in the show notes. This is the perfect timing to answer this question. So I'm going to take my break this down a little bit. So do you wish you could go back to being happy with a mole scheme in G2? The answer to that is no, because before I was ever a blogger, I was never happy with what I was using. And I was always on the search for something better. So if I didn't like if I thought I don't think I ever thought like this is me personally. She's not saying me personally. She's saying in general terms, in general terms. Yeah, I agree with her. But in specific terms, I was always looking for the next thing. And this was when I was a kid, when I was in high school, college, in the business world. I was always looking for the next thing. And actually that made me happy. Trying to find the next pen. The difference was at the time that next pen cost three dollars. Right. I wasn't into the fountain pens and the higher end pen stuff. So it was much easier to manage. And, you know, just better on the pocketbook. So do I wish I could go back to that day? I still say no.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, because basically what the question is implying, and I understand where it's coming from, is that we didn't have this problem before we knew about Sailor. But that wasn't the case. I was just looking for new moleskins or whatever. Right. Like, I was always looking for stuff. I was always trying to find something. But if anything, it was maybe frustrating in a different way because I didn't know what I was looking for or where to get it.

Brad Dowdy: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So, I mean, I think that's one part of the question. But I think the second part is really more important is the feeling, the constant desire for more, better, cooler stuff is the opposite of happiness. And I do agree with that sentiment. But there is a balance to be had in everything, right? And, you know, I don't ever, and we've preached this from the beginning, is we don't ever want anyone to overextend, to make bad purchasing decisions, to make rash decisions with their money. Like, I'm very concerned about, you know, like, on one hand, I talk about, man, look at this limited edition bunk box. I want it. And then on the other hand, you know, telling people to, you know, manage their money well, right? Everyone's an individual. Everyone has different likes, desires, ways, and means. And I just never want to see anyone get in trouble with making purchases that really aren't necessary. You could be happy with a Moleskine and a G2, and you have a place here in the Panadic community. You know, if those are your tools or choice, and you love them, you should be extraordinarily happy with those things.

Myke Hurley: Especially when it's not even just the, like, forget about those two things. There's so much at the low end, price-wise, or, like, low to middle, you know, like $20, $30. There's so much good stuff there. I don't think it's equal, but we spend quite a bit of time devoted to those things where possible, right? And we have some examples of that later on, right? Like, there's a couple of products that are cheap or probably will be cheap, or on the cheaper side. But we also balance it out by talking about pens that cost $300 and maybe $900. You know what I mean? Like, there is a balance to it. But you don't need to be in this top range if you don't want to be. There's more than enough good stuff in the lower price ranges.

Brad Dowdy: Yep, yep. And, like, I mean, today, and I'm probably sick of hearing me say this. I get as much enjoyment out of a $3 gel ink pen as I do a $300 fountain pen. I'm using the Uniball Signo 307 today. I found what made me happy about it was I did find a special edition of it. It still cost me $3 a pen, but I got this all-white edition that's a .38 millimeter, and I'm using it today. And I absolutely love that pen. So I can be happy with anything. But I do, you know, I do love all kinds of things. But I do, you know, try to – I never want to keep up with the Joneses. That's never a good place to be. So just be careful and, you know, research what appeals to you and buy what you love.

Myke Hurley: I do want to add something to that, though, right, as well. I mean, I understand the conceit of this. And I also imagine that Rebecca's asking this question. She's being a little tongue-in-cheek of it anyway, right? So I'm not kind of, like, saying this to her directly, but just in general. I wouldn't be happy if I wasn't curious in the way that I am. Like, it's part of who I am. And I know this is kind of silly, but I've built a career based upon my curiosity and dissatisfaction with what I currently have. Like, I've built a career based upon the fact, and so have you. Right. That I always want something more. Like, I'm in the pursuit of something cooler. But it's not, at least I feel for me, it is not because I have an emptiness. Right. Right? It's just that I love to find new, cool things. Like, it's just how I am. But I don't think it's based upon a level of dissatisfaction. There are times when I'm like that, but I don't feel that way. Like, I am so satisfied with my pen collection. Like, if I never bought another pen, I would be happy for the rest of my life because I have so much cool stuff now. Like, it's all so good. Like, I'd be fine with it. I'm not buying new stuff because I feel like my life's going to change when I use it. I'm buying new stuff because there's stuff out there that I think is really fun and cool, and I would like to see what it's like. And I would like it just because it's cool. Not because it's like, oh, now my life's going to change because I own this new X pen, like this new Bung Box Fujiyama Blue. I really want that pen. I'm not going to buy it. Right? I mean, I've been through that. And the main reason I don't buy these is because it's such an event to try and buy these outside of Asia. Like, it is such an event to try and get one. But I will do it again. I know there's going to be one at some point. Like, I'm going to be far enough away from the ordeal that was buying my pink glove that I will get another one. But I do this because I enjoy it. It's fun for me. I don't feel like I am trying to be happy. You know, like, it's not in pursuit of happiness because this isn't it. Right? It makes me happier to have fun stuff, but I'm not buying to fill a hole. Right. So, you know, but I get the point. And if you are buying because you feel some kind of level of emptiness in your life, don't do that. And speak to someone about it would probably be my advice because that's not a great way to be. Yep. Yep. All right. We talk about this all the time. Should we take a break? Let's take a break. We can move on from this then. Today's show is also brought to you by our friends over at Harry's. Over 3 million people have made the switch to Harry's because they are all about a great shave at a fair price. The founders of Harry's created the company because they wanted to create a product that was excellent quality and wasn't overpriced. They know that a great shave comes down to having great blades. That's what it's all about. You want sharp, durable steel that lasts and that you can replace frequently. Frequently. That's what makes a great shave. But to be able to do that, for you to be able to replace your blade more frequently, they need to be cheaper. And that's why Harry's offers high quality blades at half the price that you'll see elsewhere. You pay just $2 per blade. They deliver to you one perfect razor at an amazing price. Harry's own their own factory. It's a factory in Germany that's been making high quality blades for over 95 years. And they are so confident of how good their products are, they offer a 100% quality guarantee. If you don't love your shave, let Harry's know within 30 days of purchase and they'll give you a full refund. So Brad, tell me something about your love for Harry's.

Brad Dowdy: So I have two things today. Okay. Number one. Well, it looks like it's going to be three things now.

Brad Dowdy: Number one. Did you see the pride set that they did? I have not seen the pride set. It's amazing. I just put it in my shopping cart right now.

Myke Hurley: Oh, damn.

Brad Dowdy: That looks good. It looks really good. So number one. Someone showed me that this weekend. I was like, wow. Oh my God. It's amazing.

Myke Hurley: I love this webpage so much. There's so much great stuff happening. I'm going to put it in our show notes. I haven't asked us to do this, but it's in there. Like you should probably look at this. It's incredible.

Brad Dowdy: Number two.

Brad Dowdy: I have to reconsider going on the blade subscription plan because my daughter is getting older and steals all my razor blades now. I went to get a new blade out and noticed that the little plastic box that the blade comes in was empty. She didn't throw that away as preteen kids do. So she took the last blade, threw the box back in, so I thought I had more blades. So I've now ordered an eight pack of blades. That is in my cart as you were talking. And then something interesting happened on the way to the checkout, Myke. This was not planned. This was nothing that we've talked about before. So I put in the eight pack of blades is $16. The shave with pride set is $25. I got an opportunity to add a mystery item into my order for $5.

Brad Dowdy: And my answer was, yeah. But I clicked off the screen so I can't explain what it said. But now I have a mystery item. They basically said this is not something we sell, but we want to send it to you. It's going to be a pretty cool kind of thing. I was like, huh, well, that's interesting. So now I have a mystery item in my cart. So I will check out. And by the time Harry sponsors us again, we'll know what my mystery item is. They can leave everyone on the edge of their seat.

Myke Hurley: Harry stands behind the quality of their blades. They know that switching razors isn't an easy decision to make. So they created a trial offer for listeners of this show. You can get yourself a $13 value trial set that comes with everything you're going to need for a close, comfortable shave, including a weighted ergonomic razor handle, five precision engineered blades of a lubricating trimmer blade, rich lathering shave gel, and a travel blade cover as well. Just go right now to harrys.com slash penaddict. That's H-A-R-R-Y-S dot com slash penaddict. And you can redeem this special offer and just let them know that we sent you. Thanks to Harry's for their support of this show and RelayFM.

Brad Dowdy: So I'm checking out here. My shipping is free. So that's very good. You get free shipping.

Myke Hurley: Ding, ding, ding. Winner across the board.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, across the board also. Yeah, so I will continue with payment after we finish this show. So we have more stuff to talk about, Myke. I put this in, even though we've talked about it before, the Pelican Suveron M815 Metal Stripe Edition. You have lusted over this pen. I've lusted over this pen. Neither one of us are probably going to buy this pen because it's very expensive. But this is going to be a blowout Pelican pen, in my humble opinion. Number one, it's the right size range. Number two, the looks. The trim is silver slash rhodium, whatever they're using. Yeah, rhodium plated.

Brad Dowdy: Palladium, the strips are palladium plated brass. These metal barreled Pelicans are always hot. We've talked about this before when they first came out, but I'm putting it in now because they're available. Our friends at Colt Pins have them in stock. They are, what is this, 475 pounds. Someone can do the math. It's probably 600 and something US dollars, something like that, which is probably the going rate. But I just wanted to point this out because we've raved about this pen in the past and it looks like it's starting to come available. It'd be a nice wedding pen for you though, Myke. It's a good looker, I will say. It's a good looker. It really is. It's a good looker. So I want to talk, this is more up my alley. And I've only read this article once and I probably need to reread it because this could be hearsay. It could be not true. It could be something. But I'm going for it anyway because it sounds pretty good and it looks like it came from a pretty good source. The title of this blog post on the Clumsy Penman's Ink Fusion site, which is one I subscribe to in my RSS reader, says Lamy Orange Ink. I didn't think twice about it. I figured it was like maybe the copper orange, you know, just the previous special edition orange. But no.

Brad Dowdy: Mateus got a sample from a friend that contained a box of Lamy cartridges of the orange ink variety. Just orange. Like not, you know, some fancy limited edition orange. Just orange. And it looks great. I want this to be real. I think it's real. But I'm putting in the show notes and hedging my bets just a little bit just because I'm not for sure. But the box sure looks real. The packaging looks real. You know, it looks pretty amazing. Is this expected to be a pre-release? I have no earthly idea. Like if they made an orange Safari, I would die. Like that would be it for me. Like I don't know what this is. This is just a standard ink color they're adding to the line or they pairing it with something else. I don't have any answers. So the pack. This is going to be available. Nothing.

Myke Hurley: In this blog post, it says the pack of cartridges looks fairly similar at the front, which may be confusing. But at the back, the orange one is mentioning this ink is not for sale. So maybe it was part of like a pack at some point.

Brad Dowdy: Oh, okay. I missed that. Hmm. Interesting. So maybe somebody knows.

Myke Hurley: Like maybe someone out there like can point to when this existed.

Brad Dowdy: So maybe this is an old, maybe this is an old thing. Maybe it's an old thing. It was just given to people. But Lamy needs to come up with this ink and an orange Safari next year. So let's put that on the books for 2019, Lamy. You, you played yourself this year with that black pen. No one wants that.

Orange Lamy Ink

Brad Dowdy: You can, you can correct. You can right all wrongs. If you come out with this orange ink and an orange Safari next year, it'll be game over for team AL star. If this happens.

Myke Hurley: Speaking about color, the sailor fountain pen converters, colored sailor fountain pen converters. What is this all about?

Brad Dowdy: I put this in because it's a silly thing I got from jet pens recently. So it's two things. Number one, sailor converters are generally known as the worst converters out of the big fountain pen players. You know, pilots aren't great. Platinums, I think are really good. You know, any of the standard international converters are generally pretty good. Sailor's converters are generally trash.

Myke Hurley: They don't hold a lot of ink, I find.

Brad Dowdy: Oh, no, they don't hold a lot of ink. They're wonky. And this makes them a little bit more fun to use, even though there's already, you know, something neat to do, you know, with something that's going to be bad anyway. And they're expensive, but I like that these converters are doing different things. Like, Platinum has, like, some of the painted converters. Like, I like those. I don't know. I just wanted to point these out because now I can have my demonstrator pens. Like, I ordered a purple one and a, I think it's called yellow green. It looks like a lime green. Yeah. So, it looks, it looks pretty cool. So, I just wanted to bring that up.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, they're good looking. Yeah. Chat room's going crazy at you right now, by the way. You're aware of this.

Brad Dowdy: Oh, yeah, why? No, I'm not.

Orange Ink

Myke Hurley: They're saying that this lime ink already exists. Where? It's just in cartridge form. This is what they're saying. Everyone's, everyone's going crazy at you.

Brad Dowdy: I have never seen this ink.

Brad Dowdy: I'm digging around, like. Can someone link me the orange lime ink?

Myke Hurley: Yeah, this is the thing. Like, people are saying that it exists. But I, while we've been talking, I've been poking around for it. I can't find it.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Yeah, and like Myke's saying, you know, there's already an orange AL star and orange safari. Yeah, that's never stopped them in the past from remaking something. They're just limited editions from the past. I mean.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, because they've done it. Yeah. Like, they've reused blues. Lamy does this all the time. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: And the orange AL star was called a copper orange and the ink is a copper orange ink. It's different ink. Mm-hmm. So, if anyone can come up with an orange Lamy ink. Which is not copper orange. Which is not copper orange. I'll buy it today. Send me a link.

Brad Dowdy: Because I, I've never seen it.

Myke Hurley: Mm-hmm.

Brad Dowdy: So, yeah. And I mean, you know, it's never been above Lamy to, to just reissue something again. They did the orange, they did an orange safari. They did an orange with a red clip safari. Um, I don't see any ink with them. So, y'all shoot me a link if you see this for sale online and I'll buy it. Like, not, not aftermarket. Like, current market. I'm not paying, like, eBay prices for something, you know, that was limited and not available now. But if this is a current ink, yeah, hit me up. I'll buy it. I'll buy this too, Myke. Even though this, I mean, for science, right? So we got, right before the show, we started getting links from, uh, Sonny in the Slack room. And Slack was down at the time where I was trying to get this link. But Sonny is a, is a distributor in Singapore, uh, Straits Pins. And a lot of you have been to pin shows, no Sonny in the straights Pins. And he's a Twisby. I don't know if he's actual distributor of Twisby, but you know, he's, you know, in the, in the fountain pen world. And he got a video from Twisby directly call for a product called the Twisby Go. So I want you to stop your podcast here, go in the show notes and click on the link that we're going to provide to this video. And come back and listen to the rest of the commentary about this product. All right. So you're back now. Are you still dancing, Myke? Cause I'm still dancing a little bit.

Twisby Go

Myke Hurley: Just really great music to help set the, the scene, I guess for the Twisby Go. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: So let me try to explain what this is. It's not a piston filler. So, okay. It's a demonstrator. Say, take picture of the eco. For those of you who couldn't watch the video right now, picture a clear barreled eco, but kind of thinner. It almost looks like a platinum, platinum preppy ish size. It looks a little bit thinner than the eco about the same length.

Brad Dowdy: And in the barrel section, there's this spring loaded filling system, like literal spring. Like you see the spring and I'm not talking about a spring, like on the end of a ballpoint pen, where you have just the little, little tiny spring that's engaging the refill. So this is like half the length of the barrel spring to fill up the, to help to use as a filling system for this pen. It is extraordinarily ugly. I think I'm being kind just in, in my perspective, but it could be cool if this is a low end price point pen. Like I could see this being like a fun pen to have. It's got to be priced less than the eco, right? What do you think about this pen?

Myke Hurley: It has to be cheap. Right. This has to be low end because you couldn't sell this pen looking the way that it does. Because it looks like if MacGyver built a piston filler, this is how it would come out. It is a very interesting idea. And if it is a cheap pen and I'm hoping that this is a cheaper than eco, like this thing is like $20, $15 or something, right? It would be game changing because this would be the example that you could give to people and be like, are you interested in getting into fountain pen inks, right? Like you want to get into that world. Here is the pen for you. It's like a super, it's got a fun mechanism that you can get nicer ones of in the future, but it is a super easy way to like cleanly fill a fountain pen and go for it. Like it doesn't look like it has a very big ink reservoir. Well, because half of the pen is a spring. It's a spring, right? So again, it's like another reason why I think it's cheap, right? Because it would be on the cheaper side because this would be a very, it's a weird pen to sell to people. But it would be a great like ink testing pen as well. I think that it looks very fun, but I, I don't know about it. Like it's with all Lamy, with all TWSBI stuff, all we have is like a video right now. It was like no information, no idea when it's going to market, no idea if it's ever going to go to market, no idea what the price will be, no nothing.

Brad Dowdy: Right. So that's always part two of any new TWSBI conversation is does this exist? And we didn't have time to get all the information beforehand. I haven't talked to Sonny, but I mean, Sonny, I trust what Sonny says, but he just provided, he didn't provide any details on the pen. He just provided, Hey, TWSBI sent me this video of this pen, not here's the release date. Here's the price point. Right. So it could be TWSBI vaporware, like, you know, some of their bamboo pens or some of the cool stuff they post on Facebook, which is fine. Like I like them playing around with this stuff, but yeah, this has to, this has to come in sub $20. I'm thinking I hope, I should say, I hope, I don't think it has to, but I would hope that this comes in as a sub $20 pen and I think it will do well.

Myke Hurley: I think, I think it has to, I don't think you can judge that you could charge more than 20 for this. Right. Like, because it's a cool looking pen. It's not a good looking pen. Mm-hmm. Right. Like it's, it's cool in its functionality, but like a huge spring like that with a big plastic like piston is not good. It's not good looking, you know?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. It's like, well, but if you make the, uh, if you make a solid color barrel to where you can't see it, is it cool anymore? Right. Then they don't sell any probably like.

Myke Hurley: Exactly. Oh, but that's what I'm saying. Right. That's the cool part. Like the cool part is that it's like super weird, but you know, it's not attractive in the traditional sense.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. It reminds me of like, uh, uh, larger platinum preppy with like more bells and whistles. Like that's what it looks like to me.

Myke Hurley: And that's the market that this one is probably aiming at. Right. And that would be the right kind of idea that it's going for that market. Like Twizby is potentially looking to hear over the last two major pen releases to establish themselves as the low end player as well.

Brad Dowdy: Right. Right. So that's good. I mean, I, I'm y'all know I'm a Twizby fan. I know not everyone likes them for valid reasons, but, uh, I'm, I'm a big Twizby fan. I will be all over this the moment it releases and I'll be giggling all the way home immediately because it's, I want to see it. I want

Myke Hurley: to see, I want to try it. I want to see it because as well, I mean, I, I would love to be able to have a pen like this that I could recommend to people. Right. Like that, that, that's, you know, it's kind of perfect. Like sometimes I'm interested in getting into fountain pens. What should I do? It was like, go to this website and pick literally any ink that interests you, buy a bottle of it

Brad Dowdy: and then buy one of these. No, buy the Twizby Eco. It'll be worth the five or 10 extra dollars.

Myke Hurley: You don't know that. We don't know that. I mean, I expect yes, but like it's a, it's a good, it just, it's just like another, like, I don't know. And plus as well, I think that this is more to, I reckon to a, to someone who's getting into it, something like this would be more exciting to use. Like it'd be more fun and weird to use than an Eco. Oh, my kids would love this. Right.

Brad Dowdy: And then that's a way to get them into a fountain pens by, you know, seeing how this stuff works.

Myke Hurley: Absolutely. I'm all about it. So like this mechanism looks way less prone to becoming faulty.

Myke Hurley: Because it's just a huge spring as opposed to twisting parts of a piston.

Brad Dowdy: You're talking about build quality and Twizby in the same sentence. We're going to have to wait and see. Yeah, they've done better. They've, the Eco has had no problems for me, but let's not, let's not get ahead of ourselves here. On that note, Michael, we should probably wrap this week up because we have a plethora of Ask TPA, lots of good questions, but we have two shows to record next week and we'll do a full Ask TPA show. How about that? And we'll save all these questions and we'll protect, we'll get more for next week.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. So if you have any questions, please tweet with the hashtag Ask TPA. Any questions of any kind, just send them in to us. Or if you're in the pen addict Slack, you can ask them there as well and Brad will collect those up. But tweeting them really is the best way to do it because they get collected into a sheet. Nobody needs to actively save them. Right. So tweeting with the hashtag Ask TPA is great for that. We really enjoy that and it's very helpful to us. If you want to catch Brad online, oh boy, there are a lot of places. You can go to Twitter. He's at Dowdyism. He is penaddict on Instagram and you can go to twitch.tv slash penaddict or you can go to penaddict.com or knock.co as well. All the great places. You can find me on Twitter. I'm at imike, I-M-Y-K-E. If you want to find our show notes for this week, which have a bunch of links, including that video to the Twisby Go in case, in case you need to get to those, relay.fm slash penaddict slash 314. But they should hopefully show in your podcast app of choice. But I know that not, not every app shows show notes. So you can, there's always, there's always stuff there on, on our website at relay.fm. Thanks again to our wonderful sponsors this week, the great folk over at Mac Walden and Harry's. And we'll be back next time. Until then, say goodbye, Brad. Goodbye, Brad.

Myke Hurley: Bye.