The Pen Addict 396/transcript

The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript
Episode:	396
Title:	Full of Good Functions
Release Date:	February 5th, 2020
Hosts:	Brad Dowdy Myke Hurley
Guests:	No guests this episode
Additional Information
Official page:	Episode 396
Audio File:	Audio Episode 396
Podcast page:	The Pen Addict 396
Length:	5757 min <br />0.95 h <br /> minutes
Previous Transcript	Next Transcript

Myke Hurley: From RelayFM, this is The Pen Addict, episode 396. Oh boy, today's episode is brought to you by ExpressVPN. My name is Myke Hurley, I'm joined by Brad Dowdy. Wow, that oh boy just made me realise what you were oh boying, and I'm oh boying the fact that we have not done any work towards that. We've been distracted, we've been distracted, we've had a lot going on these past few weeks. Well, distracted isn't, I mean, I guess technically sure, distracted, but yeah, just busy, right? Like all kinds of things going on.

Brad Dowdy: Well, we were supposed to be planning for episode 400, having the Kickstarter already live, and then we had to upend it, and then we re-ended it again. It's been a whole situation over these last few weeks.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, then there's, you know, the whole work and life things, you know, we don't, you know, we're not in this Google Doc, you know, 40 hours a week trying to manage the Pen Addict podcast.

Brad Dowdy: I'd just like to read over what you write over and over and over again, it's how I go to sleep every day.

Myke Hurley: I thought that meant the episode 400 doc was written already. No? No. Oh, okay, okay. Well, we're almost there. Yeah, which, that snuck up on me again. Kind of like this whole, this whole Pen Addict Kickstarter project snuck up on me, Myke, even though it was delayed for good reason and is now on the right track. So this week in Kickstarter land, in Pen Addict Kickstarter land, the Retro 51 plan is in effect. In fact, we are moving forward. If you've listened to the last couple episodes, you can catch up on all the details. So what I wanted to do, have ready for this week was a form. I have a Google form where you can go and I've listed out, I think it was 55 different top disc slash finials, whichever terminology you would like to call them. And Retro 51 likes to call them top discs in their documentation. We refer to them as finials. They are interchangeable words. But I put in 55 of what I could find basically online through Retro's documentation and going back several years worth of their limited edition releases. I didn't put any like store custom ones in. I think, you know, if people are like really adamant about like some of these designs, like the pink robots is going in, right? That's a Pen Addict specific one, but that's not in the drop down list. If there's something in these drop down lists that you would like to see added or want me to just add to the sheet or take a look at as a design possibility, you know, you can take a look at this. You're going to have to do some manual work on this. Most of our chat room is lazy. So they would like to just have all the magic happen when you click on a link and you see a picture of that. Not even Retro 51 has all that imagery. So you're just going to have to find what these look like yourself. So hopefully, hopefully you're already a Retro 51 user, consumer. You have some favorites. You can look at them and say, hey, I want the, I want Dinosauria on there or I want Vintage Surf on there. And you can pick these out and add them to the list. So this is just a way to get five choices in there to kind of give me a head start on filling out 51 or 50 finial designs for the pen we're going to create. So, which means most of these are going to make the list, right? Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Yeah. So if we have 55 that you can choose from, there's 50 going in. But there isn't exactly, we're not going to take just from these 55, as you said, right? There are some, there's been some seeding going on where I have made some choices. You've made some choices. There are some that are limited and so they'll be going in. So basically, if you just, effectively, if you have a couple of Retro 51s that you really love, find out what they're called, put them in the drop down list and send them to us. But don't feel obligated because we're making it anyway and we can very easily just knock four of these out.

Myke Hurley: What I would really like is to see like a really good coalescence of the top 10 or 20. That's a good point. Just to make sure, just to make sure that those are represented in the overall big picture. Like, you know, we don't, we don't have to do this list at all. We could just go pick them out. But I'd like to get, you know, a small number of the most favorites from the listenership and the reading audience. So I'll post this everywhere just so we get a good representation. And like, I don't need a full ranking of the 55, right? I want to know what are the 10 or 20, like really ones that we have to have on the final design. So we're working on that. The down payments made, we're locked in. So we're good to go. Now we just need to get the Kickstarter written, published. I need to get pricing from them, right? I can't publish a Kickstarter until I know how much this pen is going to cost. So I can make sure we have the pricing set accordingly. And I'm going to at least start working on writing it up this weekend while I'm waiting on pricing. So it might be, pricing is going to be tough, right? Because we don't have a final design, right? It's based on final design and colors. Well, we're going to have to do a best guesstimate on this. So we'll see. I'm a little nervous about that, but it'll be fine in the end.

Brad Dowdy: We'll get there.

Myke Hurley: We'll get there. Is the Platinum Curie Doss getting there, Myke? I feel like this has been a roller coaster ride. And I thought we would have been done talking about this by now. But we're not because it's always something with the Curie Doss. And the latest thing is the MSRP, what's the correct word, adjustment, that Platinum Corporation is forcing down the pipeline all the way down to the retailers.

Brad Dowdy: I feel like we made this happen because on last week's episode, I questioned the point of having the MSRP if nobody follows it when talking about the Curie Doss.

MSRPs and Retail Pricing

Myke Hurley: Right. I mean, that's a question in retail in general, right? So without being an economist or someone who studies the retail market completely, MSRPs just seem like this nebulous thing, right? They're listed by these manufacturers as the suggested retailing price. But that manufacturer then hands that off to a distributor. And then that distributor relays that information along with the pricing to their retailers. And usually the distributor has an agreement with the retailer based on the various manufacturers they work with, how much percentage off they can sell under the MSRP. In the fountain pen world, it's not consistent with everyone. But a lot of times, most fountain pens you see at retailers are 20% off MSRP. Right. So if the pen is $80 in the case of the Curie Doss, the retailers would sell it for $64. They get that information from the distributor and then the retailers all price it the same. Right. It's, you know, it's just like this balance thing. Right. That's how it's generally done. So what Platinum did last week, or actually just earlier this week, they notified the U.S. distributor and the U.S. distributor passed it along to the retailers that the retailers had had until Wednesday, which is the day we're recording, to adjust their prices on the site to the full 100% of MSRP, which is $80. I mean, I have no problem with pricing something at MSRP and selling it at that, but it's the lack of consistency in the messaging that is the problem here. Right. Because if you pick out, you know, our favorite sponsor, Pen Chalet, right, you go, you can go to the site and you can look up a Curie Doss and I'm not looking at maybe their prices implemented. Maybe it's not yet. I haven't looked, but you can, I've verified on other sites and that have made the change. The Platinum Curie Doss is full MSRP. The Platinum 3776s are 20% off MSRP.

Myke Hurley: What message are they sending? It sounds like Platinum is trying to stick it to me, even though they're not, right? Platinum's enforcing an MSRP, but they're not consistent in the enforcement. And that's where I start to question things.

Brad Dowdy: Right. So my question on this is, why? Why are they doing this? Now, let's not say like, oh, they're being stupid or whatever, right? Like, let's assume that they are being logical in some way, right? Why are they forcing this MSRP on retailers? Why are they making people pay full price for this pen?

Myke Hurley: I don't know because as far as I'm concerned, it doesn't change Platinum's bottom line. Right. So Platinum is sending a bill to the distributor. That doesn't change. So let's just say for pretend purposes. So the Curie Doss MSRP is $80 and they're sending a bill to the distributor for $40. Okay. Mm-hmm. Okay. And that's whatever the final price is doesn't affect what the distributor is paying for it. And then Platinum's still enforcing that on the end retailer, which I should have the most liberal abilities to price the products within the range of the corporation setting. So like, this doesn't affect Platinum's bottom line. Do they have a perception of this pen that they want to make it, you know, fixed at that certain price point? Like, is it a perception thing? Like, Platinum doesn't make more money because they're enforcing the MSRP, right?

Myke Hurley: I mean, they just don't.

Brad Dowdy: No, they don't.

Myke Hurley: So I don't know why it's important for this one pen to sell at 100% of MSRP when the rest of them sell at 80%.

Brad Dowdy: But what if this is the start of a change?

Myke Hurley: That's fine. Like, I have no problem if a company says we sell at full MSRP. That's cool.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah.

Myke Hurley: Like, you can do whatever you want. That's fine. Like, I would prefer that, right? Why should there be two prices, right? No one believes, at least in our industry, no one pays MSRP for a product, generally, right? All your Pelicans you buy, your Auroras you buy, you know, whatever. Your Platinums, your Pilots, all that stuff. No one pays that, right? So it's like this. I think it's probably just like this old school mentality and the way pricing set. And this is me just riffing on not knowing what I'm talking about. But I think it's just an old school mentality to where the manufacturers and distributors were able to, you know, have these pricing oddities to, you know, just allow for different manipulation of the prices. And I don't mean manipulation in a negative way. You know, I mean, in result, you know, when you sell something for 50% off, well, then it's 50% off the MSRP when really it's only 30% off because you were already selling the pen for 80% off and begin with, right?

Brad Dowdy: See, personally, I'm okay with this because I find the MSRP thing just, and we were talking about it last week, just at a fundamental level, just ridiculous. Right. Right. Either have a price and pay for it and charge it or don't have a, like, or just like, we'll just pick whatever price we want. Right. Mm-hmm. And so I kind of, you know, whilst I understand that this might make some things a little bit more expensive, I personally feel like standardizing around this wouldn't be the worst thing to happen. No. So, because then everybody gets more money, right? Like, it supports all of the retailers. Because, you know, like, the thing is, is like, when everyone's doing these discounts, they have to cut their own margins. Right? Yes. Like, the only person losing is the retailer. Everybody else is winning. The distributor's winning. Platinum's winning. The loser is the distributor, right, in the business sense. And then potentially the customer as well.

Brad Dowdy: So, yeah.

Myke Hurley: Well, I think this, I think it benefits, it benefits the retailer because now their decision's made for them. And in something like the Curie Doss, they're going to still sell all of them. No, that's what I mean. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Brad Dowdy: It benefits the retailer this time. It's typically a negative by them having to, like, for example, if Pen Chalet brings the price down by 10%, then so does Anderson Pens, so does Gray Pens. Like, everyone has to follow suit. So, like, then you end up with potentially a bigger retailer that can stomach the price change more easily, bringing it down, and then everybody else has to follow, and maybe they can't afford those margins as much.

Myke Hurley: Correct.

Brad Dowdy: Right? So I feel like this is a pen now where they're going to sell out, and everyone's going to make more money out of it. Like, I actually don't think it's the worst case scenario here. Well, I don't. I don't. But it's just, but I agree with you that it is, like, a weird thing for a Platinum to have done.

Myke Hurley: It's a timing and perception and an inconsistency thing, right? Like, I just try to wrap my head around that. In the end, it's not a big deal. Like, the one that gets hurt the most is the consumer, because we're not going to get it at what we would traditionally expect for a price. But if our expectation is now, well, we should pay full MSRP, then, you know, the market will adjust accordingly.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, and I would say as well, like, this pen is not at such a level that the change is, like, is monumental. What's it going for? $60 to $80?

Myke Hurley: Yeah, $64 to $80.

Brad Dowdy: Which I feel like, you know, if you were going to drop $60 on this pen, you can do $82, right? Would be my expectation for most people.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, I poked over in the European market, and their prices are even higher. So, like, this whole regional pricing discussion that is just, you know, boggles my mind if I try to think about it too hard. Like, at CultPens, I want to say it's around, it's over £90, I want to say. £95?

Brad Dowdy: But that's, honestly, Brad, that's what I would have expected to pay for it, though. Like, that doesn't surprise me. If it was, like, $80, $90 in America, then I expect it to be $80, $90 in the UK. Because we have our VAT and all that kind of stuff.

Myke Hurley: Right, right. All right, a couple more things on this. The biggest thing that came out of this yesterday when I was talking about it on Twitch is, like, well, people who were just holding off to wait and see now feel like they have FOMO having to buy the pen, knowing that the price is going to increase, you know, 20%, 25%, whatever that increases, and are getting FOMO'd into making these purchases. You know, that's not the worst thing in the world.

Brad Dowdy: Wait, so, you can't, is it, people, nobody's bought it yet, though, right?

Pre-Orders and Price Changes

Myke Hurley: Right. A lot of sites have pre-orders up. So, what are they going to do? They've, they're still paying less. They're not losing money. They've accepted orders for $64 up until today. Today, the price is $80.

Brad Dowdy: So, but are they going to be able to honor those?

Myke Hurley: Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: Interesting.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, because they, because they were only following, their retailers are only following the rules set forth by the distributor. The distributor is only following the rules set forth by the manufacturer.

Brad Dowdy: Right, but it seems peculiar to me that it's like, but we're going to follow that rule from today. Like, why not then say you, you can't sell this pen for this price?

Myke Hurley: Well, they did, and then they gave them, but since they had already allowed a pre-sell. Right. Like, so. Yeah, yeah. This is, I'm not putting anything on the distributor, which is luxury brands in the US.

Brad Dowdy: On everyone's part, pretty fair, right? That they've said. Yeah, totally. We've changed our minds on this, but you can still honor your purchases. I actually think, I wouldn't have expected that. I would have kind of been like, well, no one told you to do it. You decided to do that, so now it's on you. That's how I would have imagined that going. Right, where they're like, well, you decided to do pre-orders. We didn't tell you to do that.

Myke Hurley: Well, this is all agreed on beforehand, right? The retailer cannot post a pre-sale date that is ahead of whatever the distributor has provided as that resale date and time. And with that provision, they've also provided the price. And at the time, it was priced like every other Platinum at 20% off MSRP. Well, now Platinum says that has to change. The biggest argument in this is it's this single pen, right? Change them all or don't change them all. Why is this one different? But no one's making more money except the retailers, which is fine. I would rather the retailers make the most money, to be perfectly honest, right?

Brad Dowdy: I wouldn't be surprised if this is a test on Platinum's part. They are aware that this pen should, in theory, be pretty popular. So why don't we see if we can charge MSRP for it? And if we do, then we're going to enforce that across our entire product line.

Myke Hurley: That's something I agree with completely. I think Platinum is placing a bet based on the pre-orders for this pen that it's going to do exceptionally well, no matter what they sell it for. So I think they're placing a bet. Screw it.

Brad Dowdy: Let's make the most money we can make out of this.

Myke Hurley: But again, they're not making the money.

Myke Hurley: It is not changing their bottom line.

Brad Dowdy: Okay. This is very confusing, isn't it?

Brad Dowdy: Well, I guess then if you're a retailer...

Myke Hurley: Platinum originally sold the pens to the distributor based on whatever percentage of the MSRP.

Myke Hurley: It's not changing how much money Platinum makes. As best as I understand this. And I could be wrong. I don't think I'm wrong in this case. Anyway.

Myke Hurley: This pen, man. This pen is a hot mess in the best way possible.

Brad Dowdy: This is like a visionary scribble pen, but with a good pen. Right. Right? Which is the funniest thing about it. It's like there's all this weirdness and drama over what ostensibly seems to be like a good product.

Pen Review Discussion

Myke Hurley: Right. So let's talk about that. Our good pal, Myke Dudek, got a review sample. Did you get a chance to read through and kind of get his thoughts on it?

Brad Dowdy: Brad, I read this as soon as I saw it, right? Right. Immediately.

Myke Hurley: Everyone wants to know everything about this pen. It's like, okay, first I tweeted it. Then I went and read it myself. Yeah. And I'm really going to need to get this pen in hand because Myke brings up a couple points that you can't totally nail down in pictures, right? The in-hand feel and where some of the shapes hit in the barrel for just the way the mechanics of the pen work.

Brad Dowdy: I have never hit a roller coaster as quickly in a pen review as I did with this one. Do you know what part I'm talking about? Yes. Where you can remove the clip, right? They even give you a tool to remove the clip, but then it's left of this little plastic piece.

Myke Hurley: That's, yeah. It's, I mean, we're going to have to get this in hand.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. I genuinely think that with the clip removed, this will be a more comfortable experience for me than the vanishing point. Partly because the vanishing point's clip goes significantly lower down the pen, which is, I reckon is going to be like in my, that's kind of like where I hold, I hold quite low. Right. So I think that this pen is going to be pretty comfortable for me, maybe even with the clip, but I think the pen actually looks better without the clip. And then the funny thing is that plastic part that remains, there's like a plastic part, which protrudes from the pen to attach the clip to, that would then be a roll stop, which isn't the worst thing in the world. Although it seems to already have another one, but. Right, right.

Myke Hurley: So it's definitely going to be, definitely be funny.

Brad Dowdy: I'm jazzed about this pen, man. Oh, I am too. I've taken a 180 on this. Like it's, I'm just so intrigued about it. And so it's not, this conversation is not ending because by next week's episode, I will have gone to that launch event.

Myke Hurley: Right. So that's later this week. Is that what it is? Yeah. Like Friday, Saturday, something. Yeah. So you're going to, you'll get one before I do. Well, I don't know if I'm going to be able to buy it.

Brad Dowdy: I don't know about that. I assume, I assume I will be able to, but I don't know what this event's going to be like.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. I would assume so, but yeah, that would be weird if you couldn't purchase one.

Brad Dowdy: I will try significantly hard to walk away with one of those pens. Outside of stealing it, like I will do everything I can to have one for next week's episode. But even if I haven't, I will have extensive testing time. Yeah. Which means we're not done talking about this yet. No, we're not. This is a, this is like, honestly, this pen, you know, I remember when we first started talking about Vanishing Point, right? Like that was like multiple weeks of conversation, which ended up with me and you both owning one. Like, right. And this is a really exciting entry, like for, for a bunch of different reasons. Cause it's like, there's, there's a lot of questions around it and there's more intrigue. There's like more and more intrigue. Like why did they make it clear plastic? Why does the knock spin, right? Like it was like kind of forgotten about that. And I was like, dude, I love your review, but you didn't talk about the mechanism, right?

Myke Hurley: Well, he probably had to break it.

Brad Dowdy: No, but like he didn't talk about like the, the, the, the click knock and twist.

Myke Hurley: Like the, the, the fuddiness of it.

Brad Dowdy: I know I'm, cause it like it, it, it twists, right? And I wanted to see, hear more about that. He spent a lot of time talking about the, the nib and the way that the nib functions and stuff, right? Like how it comes out of the pen. But like the whole point of this pen, its whole reason for existing is the knock, knock, twist, knock, knock, twist, right? And I want to know more about that.

Myke Hurley: So isn't this fascinating that we can spend 20 minutes on a, on a single pen? Yep. Like I love this. I genuinely love this. You know, listeners may get tired of like this specific conversation, but I thoroughly enjoy just like thinking about this. You know, even though it's, you know, just patently ridiculous.

Pen Shell Hay Pro Gear Lucky Charm

Brad Dowdy: So a moment ago I went to Pen Shell Hay, our favorite friends at Pen Shell Hay, not sponsoring this episode, but I went there to get the link to put in the show notes for the Curitas. And they have a new Pro Gear that I have not seen yet called the Lucky Charm, which is a very light blue clear acrylic demonstrator Pro Gear.

Brad Dowdy: What's this one all about? Where'd you come from?

Myke Hurley: It's, you know how they do the North American limited editions? So like 4am, you know, the 4am one. Oh, this one's great. Yeah. I thought we talked about this. Maybe we didn't talk about this.

Brad Dowdy: No, I haven't seen it before.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. Because I was talking about the, the color ranges of blues that they've been putting out. I was like, I wonder if they just made a bunch of blues and it all came out a bunch of different colors. So now these are all special editions, which is fine. Like I'm totally fine with this one because I think this looks fantastic, right? It's a great color.

Brad Dowdy: I'm tempted. I'm tempted.

Myke Hurley: Well, just hold that thought because there's more links. There's more links in this show, Myke. I'm going to cause myself a problem later on this show.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. That's, that one's going to be difficult, huh? Golly. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: Yeah.

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Bung Box 8th Anniversary Pen

Myke Hurley: So I moved this up. Let's not beat around the bush, Myke. I saw this this morning. Yeah, I saw it too. The Bung Box 8th Anniversary pen. It's not just the 8th Anniversary pen. It's the 4B pen, which if you don't know what 4B is, it's the Bung Box Blue Black Ink, which is one of my favorites, one of the greatest inks ever made, right up my alley. And then they've gone and made a pen related to it, and not just any pen. They've gone and run rings around the barrel and, I guess, lacquered in the low parts of the ridges. And, I mean, is there even a full barrel shot of this pen? Not that I've seen. Bits and parts, but I guess I'm just going to have to have another pen sell. This is so on brand for me. Like, I have to get it, right? I mean, it is the company with the ink that I love making the pen in one of the most unique styles.

Myke Hurley: This might be, you know, without even getting it at hand, might be my second favorite behind, you know, the original pink, the original pink love.

Myke Hurley: This one's going to be difficult to get.

Brad Dowdy: They're doing a pre-sale on their mailing list thing, which I don't know how to get onto.

Myke Hurley: Right? Like, it's like, do I even try? Is it worth the frustration? Like, do I want to run circles around this?

Brad Dowdy: My plan is to do what I have done in the past. Keep my eye on their Instagram. They'll sell what they sell, and then they'll have some extras, and they'll say we're going to put them up on the website, and then I'll see if I can get one. I do really want it.

Myke Hurley: I think it looks stunning, but... Does any of the documentation say how many they're making? No. I mean, traditionally, they make 100, but certainly they're making more nowadays. They're so popular.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, I haven't seen anything to suggest what they're doing now.

Myke Hurley: I hope it's not 100.

Myke Hurley: That'd be bad.

Brad Dowdy: Yep. Bad for you.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, this one, like, I just, like, I saw this, and I just shook my head. And I was like, oh, gosh. Yeah. It's a good one, right? It's great. It's great. It's just great. Like, no one can pull this off as well as Bung Box does, in my opinion. I know a lot of people do it, but, man, this one's something.

Kuro Togo Advanced Upgrade Model

Brad Dowdy: No, they do the very best, Pergius. They just do. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: Speaking of something, Myke. Another thing, Twitter's been really good to me recently with lots of new Japanese links. And this one is a new Kuro Togo, which normally I wouldn't care too, too much about, right? It's Kuro Togo. They're great. They're one of the best, you know, mechanical pencils on the market. But the pictures of this made me do a double take, because it might be one of the ugliest pens I've ever seen. Or pencils I've ever seen.

Brad Dowdy: It is just terrible. I don't understand why it looks the way it does. So, you've all seen mechanical pencils. You may have all seen Kuro Togos. They tend to be pretty thin. This thing looks like a permanent marker, like a dry erase marker.

Myke Hurley: It's a torpedo shape, right?

Brad Dowdy: But it's so thick.

Myke Hurley: Right. Well, I want you to read the click in the translate from Twitter. This is one of the greatest. So, let's have it.

Brad Dowdy: All right. Mitsubishi Kuro Togo Advanced Upgrade Model, 1000 yen. Introduced last night. The design is solid, but the shaft itself is lightweight. The punched grip has a thick axis for a low center of gravity balance and good finger touch. Equipped with core brake prevention and core automatic rotation mechanism. Full of good functions. Limited colors are already in stock. Full of good functions. Full of good functions. So, something's going on here, right? They appear to have developed a new technology.

Myke Hurley: They've added a technology to their good technology, right? So, they're the twist mechanism people, right? Oh, I know that. The best. Oh, I know. I'm just explaining. Okay, cool. It legitimately works, right? It is not a fluke technology. No. Right? The Kuro Togo is successful because of how that mechanism works.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, so basically every time you put the pencil lead down onto the paper, something moves inside of the pen. When you lift it off, the lead rotates slightly. And what that does is it keeps the thickness of your line consistent. Because usually with a graphite mechanical pencil, you will wear down one side of the graphite. So, you end up with a very flat edge, which produces a thicker line, and a sharp edge, which produces a thinner line, which is frustrating. And what's great about the Kuro Togo is that does not happen. And you think to yourself, that's such a great idea. Why don't I see it everywhere? Well, I assume that Mitsubishi have that patented through the roof because it is, in my opinion, like, okay, so I'm a Rotring guy. Like, I just love the Rotring 600. It's just perfect for me. But really, the only, in my opinion, like, the only mechanical pencil mechanism that works is the Kuro Togo. Right. Because it is so much better of an experience. Like, I really wished that Mitsubishi spent less time creating torpedoes and more time creating bodies that are like Rotrings.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. Oh, the Roulette was one of the best they've ever done. I don't even know if that's still made. It was the first premium Kuro Togo barrel, and it's still the best.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, I've never liked any of their premium ones, even. Like, they're good. They are nice. They're nicer. But they're still missing something. Right. Because, like, the Roulette is still available, but it's, like, $7. No, like, Mitsubishi, I will pay you, like, $50. Right. Make me a very good barrel. Yes. That's what I want. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. I think they're having trouble fitting the mechanism in, you know, something like you would prefer, like, to use over a Rotring. True. I mean, I think that's what you're running up against. Mm-hmm. And then when they double down, trying to put in a pipe sleeve protector on this pen, pencil, I don't know what they're doing here. Like, it looks like half, it's like a half-baked idea.

Brad Dowdy: There are, like, four steps, like, down from the grip to the pipe.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. It's not a good-looking pencil. This one. I will try one.

Brad Dowdy: This is the thick pencil. The THI double C pencil. That's what we have here. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: I'll try one. It'll definitely be, like, the teal or the orange because the gray is hideous. So, yeah. We'll let that one bake a little bit more. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: I need to see some better pictures of this because, like, I think it's a little tricky to actually understand if maybe the pictures are just bad, right? And it's not as thick as it looks. Mm-hmm. I can't tell yet.

Myke Hurley: Right. Right.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. So, yeah. That's interesting. I'll grab one when I get the chance because, like, sometimes it's just so bad I need to test it out for myself. So, speaking of baking, what about a Bakelite fountain pen? Myke, do you even know what that is?

Brad Dowdy: I've heard of Bakelite in the sense of being used to make, like, dishes and stuff. Right.

Myke Hurley: I think that's what it was used for in the past. And that's the extent of my knowledge.

Brad Dowdy: Like, dishware type deal, right? You know, like, cooking. Yeah. A thicker, heavier duty.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. It was used for, you know, like, dishware and serving ware.

Brad Dowdy: You could make, I guess it was, like, at a certain time. I think probably between the 60s and the 80s, maybe. Because you could make nice colors and stuff. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: I think even earlier, like, in the earlier 1900s, like, wartime. Okay. I mean, like, from a fashion perspective, maybe.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. But it could be going back that far, too. You could put it right. I don't know the exact time frame. But, like, I'm familiar with Bakelite dishware, basically.

Myke Hurley: So, anyway, back in those early 1900s, they tried to make pens out of that. And they did really well. Except they didn't have the long-term durability, right? As, you know, the ebonites and the other acrylics and, you know, other materials that pens were made from. They cracked and shattered pretty easily. So, no one's really used Bakelite. But Wancher just launched a Kickstarter using this material and a fountain pen. And I got to say, I'm pretty impressed with the style and the look of this. I do not have one yet. I do have one on the way to test. So, I'm interested to see. It looks, the material looks nice. Like, I don't, this is, like, the, if you pull up this Kickstarter page, there's no way any human being can read the entirety of this page. It is so long. I just got exhausted reading it. And I was trying to find, I was trying to just read all the Bakelite parts, right? To read what they're saying about the product. And they're talking about how durable and strong it is. And, like, I believe that up front. So, we'll just have to see. Like, no one's going to know how it ages, you know, for a while.

Myke Hurley: But what impressed me the most was it's a unique design. Unique enough, right? It's a traditional fountain pen look. But it has enough design cues to make it look unique. Like, it's got interesting finial work done, you know, either with, you know, different materials on the top.

Brad Dowdy: They spend a lot of time talking about that in their video. Like, even more than it being made in Bakelite. Yeah. They have, like, a renowned artist who's creating the finials out of this, like, very specific type of work, right? Like, it's not make work, but, like, that kind of idea is called shippoyaki. Mm-hmm. And it's, like, this particular way of, like, creating these beautiful handmade pieces. And that relates to it being called seven treasures, which refers to gold, silver, emerald, coral, giant, clamshell, glass, and pearl. Those are the seven treasures. And these design elements are used and or evoked in the end pieces. I thought they were going to make seven pens, but they're not. They're making three. But there will be four total designs, I think, if I'm following you correctly.

Myke Hurley: The fourth design is the, like, the unlock, right? The one of the Kickstarter.

Brad Dowdy: Is that a different color, though?

Myke Hurley: Yeah. It's a different color. Okay. So they have four total designs that they'll be making. Yep.

Myke Hurley: I thought the price was good. Like, this seems like.

Brad Dowdy: Oh, the price is fantastic.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. Like, there's no wonder, like, this, I don't even know what the number is. I don't have it pulled up. But, I mean, like, yesterday afternoon when I was looking after it launched, it was already, like, around 70 grand. It's probably over 100.

Brad Dowdy: I'm seeing 73,000 pounds. Okay. Pounds. So it's going to be more.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. But, yeah. I mean, pretty good. I'm interested in trying this out. So I have it on the way. They said it'll be here before the campaign's over. Other people have reviewed it. Drees at the Pencil Case blog, Fig Boot, and Aziza all have their reviews on them. That seems to be, you know, pretty positive for what the pen is. And I like seeing this. Like, this is unique enough to, like, move the needle for me, like, in a Kickstarter campaign. So it seems good.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. I'm, like, reserving judgment again. I was, like, very, very hesitant about the first one. Right? Like, in so much that I never thought it was actually ever going to be made.

Brad Dowdy: But, and then really, like, it ended up being that when people got them, and most people actually got them, it was kind of like, I don't feel cheated for the price that I paid, but I was maybe hoping for more. Sure. I think it's probably a fair assessment of the overall. So I am really interested to see what you feel about this one. Yeah. I would say, like, I'm close to liking it. You know?

Myke Hurley: Like, this has a better chance of broader success purely because of the price point.

Brad Dowdy: The price point, for sure. But, like, it's just, like, the design of it. It's a piston filler, which is cool. But, like, the design, I really love the cheapo art. But I am, just the body design doesn't do it for me. It's a bit, like, old-fashioned in not a good way.

Myke Hurley: It's very traditional.

Pen Review Continues

Brad Dowdy: It looks dated. Traditional, I don't have a problem with.

Myke Hurley: It has the flavor of a Parker Dua Fold, a classic Parker Dua Fold. You know, which is that retro look that you're talking about, I think. You know, just in my eyes. So, yeah.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. I'm just not completely sold on this one. Like, I never had a problem with the look of the Dream Pen. Right? Like, a good-looking pen because it was simple. And, like, it was evoking, again, I think a very traditional design. But there's something about this one where it's, like, looks like I could find it in a tray at a pen show. Except for the end part. Yeah, I don't know. I bet that this one feels really nice to hold because they talk about, like, when they were talking about the way that it feels warm to the touch, it reminds me of the Lamy 2000. Right.

Myke Hurley: Right.

Brad Dowdy: So, I bet that's nice.

Myke Hurley: So, this is the conversation I have, right?

Myke Hurley: There's two separate conversations. Is this a good pen? And would this work as a pen in my collection? Yeah. Right? Those are two separate conversations. Yep. The second one leans more to no, while the first one is a pretty clear yes, even though I don't have it in my hand yet. And then I still think it'll be yes. Right? So, yeah. So, like, these are the conversations, like, we have with ourselves. It's like, oh, I like this. It looks great. Is it worth me spending $250 to set it next to the sailor that I'm going to grab every time instead of it?

Myke Hurley: Probably not. Right. And I think that's fair. That's a completely fair conversation to have.

Brad Dowdy: What do you think about the nibs?

Myke Hurley: The nibs are fine. Like, they're making their own. I would get steel.

Brad Dowdy: Well, they're doing Jovo steel.

Myke Hurley: Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: Or their own gold. Right? Yeah. I would get the Jovo steel.

Myke Hurley: And they're doing standard or ebonite feeds. I will, yeah, I'm not going to pay, I'm not going to, I'm not going to pimp out this pen.

Myke Hurley: I don't have the need for that.

Brad Dowdy: Yep.

Myke Hurley: Yep. I rarely do if I have these choices. Like, even the Canalea stuff, right? I buy steel pens, steel nibs, just because I enjoy steel nibs. And I have a lot of, like, varying steel nibs I can put in. And it doesn't, the gold premium doesn't, like, move me to buy it.

New Book Announcement

Myke Hurley: So, yeah. Yep. It's good, though. I'm anxious to get it. It's on the way. So, something that did arrive yesterday, Myke, which I knew it was coming, I just didn't know when, is the new Pencils You Should Know book from Caroline Weaver. It's so good. Like, this is, like, a fun, it's like your coffee table book, but, like, in miniature, like, pencil size. Like, it's a full-size book, but it's not like people think a coffee table book look like a giant art, huge clunking book. But the way it's presented on the inside with, you know, each two-page spread has a big picture of the pencil being discussed, and then a bunch of notes on the pencils being discussed. I sat down with it for about an hour last night and was just reading through. I got it, like, through the first 20 or so pencils. There's 75 pencils in the book. I just love it. You know, it's like 16, 17 bucks. It's beautifully bound. The binding on it is really neat. And Caroline's on the Erasable podcast this week, so y'all should go listen to that. I just saw it downloaded in my queue, so I'm sure she talks about this book.

Brad Dowdy: What I like about it, I don't have this book yet. I am going to buy it, though, because it looks beautiful. It's just like a great coffee table book, something good for the office. But what I like about it is the format is like a very peculiar format, right? Like it's long. I like it. It looks like a traveler's notebook.

Myke Hurley: Just wait until you see the binding on it. It's like it's a hardcover book, but the spine binding is soft. It's really neat. I really like it. I keep fidgeting with the spine and the binding, so it's like kind of flexible on there. It's cool. Really well done. Caroline's the best. She's just really damn good at her job, and I appreciate her very much and all the things that she creates for us. Powerhouse. Us fans. She is a powerhouse.

Brad Dowdy: That woman is a powerhouse. She is. All right. I just ordered it in Amazon UK. Okay. Cool. All right. Should we wrap up this episode with some Ask TPA?

Myke Hurley: Yes. But to start the Ask TPA, I have a handwritten letter. Ask TPA. Well, not really an Ask TPA, but a most interesting letter. Maybe the most interesting letter I've ever received related to this show. And I want to read it to you because it's to you too. I think I will leave the person unnamed. I did not tell them I was doing this, but I feel like I have it mostly under control here. But I would like to thank him for saying Brad and Myke, and the and Myke was in parentheses. So you were a little bit of an afterthought in this, even though it's kind of related to you.

Brad Dowdy: That's an interesting one. All right.

Myke Hurley: Hey, Brad. Thanks again for the Studio Note and Pilot Custom 74. Okay. So this was a previous giveaway winner of mine. So the Pilot is an exceptional pen and amazing writer. It looks better when paired with my favorite red ink, Robert Oster Rubine. I couldn't have asked for a better introduction to gold nib pens. And now I'm finally hooked. And gratitude for the gifts and also hundreds of hours of enjoyment in your podcast and blog have brought me over the years. I've included a couple of pens for you and Myke.

Brad Dowdy: Is the and Myke in parentheses again?

Myke Hurley: Not, but I might just go in and edit it.

Brad Dowdy: You're going to add those in? Mm-hmm.

Myke Hurley: Okay. These won't be the finest or fanciest pens you own, but they might be the fastest. I'm a Navy fighter pilot by training. And though I aged out of the cockpit a few years ago, a kind friend took these on a flight in a supersonic F-18F Super Hornet on my behalf. The lovely Bic four-color pen is a favorite among fighter pilots who often need to quickly sketch out key snapshots of a dogfight in the few moments before setting up for their next engagement.

Brad Dowdy: What?

Myke Hurley: Just wait. Wait. What?

Brad Dowdy: They drool? Is that how they do that?

Myke Hurley: There's an image that goes along with this that I've taken. I was sent a photograph and a diagram on this letter. I see the diagram now.

Brad Dowdy: Now, that is absolute madness.

Myke Hurley: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Wow. The ballpoint ink writes anywhere, and we tie a string through the lanyard hole so the pen can't come loose from our kneeboard and get stuck in the flight controls.

Brad Dowdy: I am so uncomfortable with learning all of this antique technology that's going on here.

Myke Hurley: The colors come in handy for drawing our standard engagement arrows, known colloquially as spaghetti. With blue and green used for friendly jets and red and black for adversaries. While I've since switched to the high-tech C-Colito, it says, at the suggestion of a couple of guys I heard on a pen podcast once, many Navy squadrons regularly order custom Bic quad pens. I just want to take another pause just to stop.

Brad Dowdy: Because I am uncomfortable about the idea of this individual taking a recommendation from us, right? And then, like, potentially taking it into the skies only to find out it doesn't work. And they're, like, in a dogfight. Like, oh, this pen doesn't work. Because Brad parentheses and Myke close parentheses suggested it to me. That is a very uncomfortable thing to think about.

Myke Hurley: I love it. So our Navy squadrons regularly order custom Bic quad pens with their unit patch printed on the side. These pens, being the specific ones I have in my hand, bear the lightning bolt of Strike University, which joins the much better known Top Gun at the Naval Air Warfighting Development Center based in Nevada. So this is part of, this is at the location of Top Gun. Strike trains aircrew to execute large force strikes where 16 or more carrier aircraft attacked well-defended targets and training exercises that can involve up to 50 friendly and adversary jets battling in the skies over northern Nevada. Since Strike and Top Gun share jets, there's a chance these pens flew in an aircraft used to film next year's sequel to the movie that shall not be named. No, really. If you reference it at work, you have to pay a fine.

Brad Dowdy: I'm not surprised, actually.

Myke Hurley: My wife thoroughly enjoyed that part. I hope you don't mind passing Myke's pen along when you see him again. Way back in the 70 decibel days, he was welcoming and patient to his newest host as I stumbled through my second show as co-host of Gabe Weatherhead's. Oh, so maybe I can say this. Gabe Weatherhead's and Generational. Myke is still my favorite. Do you know who this is now? Yes. Myke is still my favorite podcaster, and I'm thrilled with the penaticus carrying on the 70 decibels banners into the 2020s. Wow. So I guess I just gave it up. This is Eric Hess. So how cool is that?

Brad Dowdy: Eric. Wow.

Myke Hurley: I forgot about that part at the end until I reread it.

Myke Hurley: How cool is that? He's been really involved in the pen community, so I appreciate this. And I hope I don't get in trouble for just reading this, but I thought it was too special to not share with everybody. Because it just goes to show the wide-ranging community we have.

Myke Hurley: So yeah. So shout out to Eric. I'll go tag him in my Instagram now since he comes up all the time. So very cool, huh? That is amazing. Yep.

Fighter Pilot Letter

Brad Dowdy: Huh. That is one of the coolest things.

Myke Hurley: It totally is, and I totally should have cleared it with him if I could read it, but I'm going to take that risk because it felt okay.

Brad Dowdy: I cannot wait to get that pen.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. It's cool. So you'll see in the image, I tried to capture the logo in there just so you could see what it is. The picture has the image from the freaking cockpit of these two pens over Nevada. You know, it's on one of those, like, what are they called? The zinc? Like, is it the zero ink, you know, where you just print it out? It's probably like a sticker or something like that. And the little diagram of the spaghetti on there, all that's in the picture. Thank you, Eric. I just can't thank you enough for writing this and taking the time to do that. It's really special to us.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. That's amazing. That's really amazing.

Myke Hurley: Really amazing. All right. So I do have a few other STPAs that I've promised listeners I would get to. So let me hit a few and then we'll save a few more for next week. Maybe we won't quite have time to get to them all. All this Curie Doss talk really absorbs a lot of our showtime these days. But this one from Adam says, In your 2013 review of Sailor Blue Black, you are hesitant and equivocal. But now it's number one in your top five blue black inks list, where you say that is the dictionary definition of blue black. Have your blue black tastes changed over time? Or is this the case where the top five lists are recommendations, not personal preferences? So the lead in paragraph of the top five list states that these are recommendations, not personal preferences. I've drawn a very clear line. And I saved this question for today because now I am expanding on this. And I've just updated this specific top five blue black list in a Tuesday tool set post. We'll save this conversation for next week. We don't have time to get into like the whys and how I'm doing this. It'll be a good topic for next week. The top five update. It's finally happening. And I'm going to do it section by section. And you can see the biggest change and why I wanted to bring up this question is that Sailor Blue Black is gone off this list. And we'll save that for next week because that's a longer discussion. All right. Embiro says, Embryo. Wow. I don't think that's really meant that way. What is it about Sailor nibs that make them so awesome? I'm over a year into my addiction. I've collected three Sailor Pro Gears, a Pelican M605, a Pilot Vanishing Point, some Twisbees, Kawekos, and a Y Studio. All amazing pens, but the Pro Gear nib is just head explode emoji. Why do you think that is, Myke?

Brad Dowdy: Incredible Japanese engineering.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. I mean, a lot of people will latch on to like a specific nib. What I've found and why I like them so much is because they match my handwriting style, right? There's a firmness that the Sailor nibs have that not all manufacturers have.

Brad Dowdy: And I've also personally found the consistency of those like nib to nib is almost unparalleled, right? Like I don't think that there are many companies that can give you a writing experience across multiple pens that feels so consistent. You know, like I really genuinely, it's one of the things that I love about them.

Myke Hurley: Yep. So yeah, I mean, you know, not everyone will have the same experience that you and I have, but I think it boils down to you found something that fit your style better than anything else. And you know it the moment you feel it. And for a lot of people, that is Sailor.

Brad Dowdy: Mm-hmm. Without a doubt. Yep.

Myke Hurley: Yep. So Coach Albino says, what's my best option to fix misaligned tines on my 3776 with a soft, fine nib? I live in Connecticut. I'm assuming pin shows, but not likely for me until the Commonwealth show. Should I send it to a nib repairs website? Send it to a pin shop that does repairs? So I brought up this question for a few reasons. Number one, if the tines are misaligned, I don't have a direct link, but you can search on YouTube, you can manipulate this yourself. You know, you can clean out the pin. Well, the tines are a little bit different. Like you can adjust them with your thumb very carefully and get a better, get them lined up. Now, if they're messed up, like really bad, and you don't want to deal with that, it's no problem to send it to someone who does nib work like Mark Backus at Nib Grinder, Dan Smith at Nib Smith or any host of other, you know, nib repair people or nib grinders that we have do work on our pins. This would be right up their alley. It would be a very easy fix just to realign the tines and like the turnaround on something like that. It should be, you know, it depends on their cues, but, you know, hopefully just a few weeks, maybe a month. And it's very consistent, very good service you get from anyone that we recommend doing that. So, yeah, I would consider that. But if you're feeling a little bit frisky, a tine misalignment can be done by yourself. Just go watch a video on it. It's not as intimidating as it sounds.

Brad Dowdy: This question comes from Evan. My first question, in all my years as a listener, and it's mostly an ask for Myke. My son is left-handed and I have brought him into the pen fold. He is ready for his first fountain pen and he is left-handed. I know that Lamy has left-handed nibs, but I really wanted to get him a sailor pen. So, Myke, you're the sailor expert. Is this a reasonable choice? And if so, what nib works for you in a sailor pen? I mean, yes, I don't get any of my sailors adjusted for my left-handedness. You know, again, it does. Things get a little bit more complicated as a left-handed person and a right-handed person about like the way you hold a pen. But I think one of the reasons that sailor nibs work so well for me is because of how well they're made and like the ink flow and stuff. I think ink flow is really important when you're left-handed. And like pressure and stuff like that, these things can actually really affect the experience. I would say to go with a medium sailor and I reckon that it would be just fine.

Myke Hurley: Yep. I think it's... So, they do make left-handed nibs, but I think it's a misconception that a left-handed fountain pen user requires a specialty nib.

Brad Dowdy: I've never used one. I own one. I've never put it in a pen. Right. So, like, my entire collection of fountain pens is full of just right-handed nibs if such a thing was to exist. So, I don't think it's necessary, but I do think thicker is better because it requires less like specific contact. Right. Because there's like a larger surface area of the nib that you can use and the ink will flow more easily. These are the things that I've personally found can be helpful to me and I think is why I tend to prefer mediums. Because, you know, like I talk about like fines and extra fines being super scratchy to me. It's because I just don't hold them at the right orientation for them to work effectively. And they catch, like, on the paper. So, I would say to go with a medium and I reckon you'll be great. Or, I mean, broad will also be great. I guess it depends on what he likes. If he's not used Japanese pens before and has maybe used European mediums, then go with a broad. But I would typically recommend a medium.

Myke Hurley: Yep. I agree with that. All right. Last one for today. Storm Gorelli. Do you look out for pens in TV series and movies? If so, what have you spotted? So, I absolutely do. Right?

Brad Dowdy: If I notice them, I don't seek them out. But, like, if I see something that I recognize, it will, like, spark in my mind.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. And I don't always see them myself. But I get a lot of them on Twitter. So, a lot of people will say, hey, I saw this pen in X show. I remember, what was it? There was an Amazon space series last year or something. Yeah, the Expanse. And I think it ended up being a sailor pro gear that they were using on there, which was pretty cool. So, you know, I get a lot of screencaps from political situations, you know, where we avoid the politics, but we still want to know what pen is this that this person's waving around maniacally.

Brad Dowdy: Just a sharpie, I think, is the typical span of use these days.

Myke Hurley: So, yeah, we got into, like, a pelican conversation last week. And I think this guy might have been using, like, it almost looked like a knockoff type pen. It was funny. Like, we drug in Joshua from the Pelican's Purge trying to sort this pen out. But, yeah, so I love seeing that type of stuff. I'm watching Peaky Blinders right now. So, they just, you know, this is in the right after World War I. So, they're starting to use a few interesting things that I haven't quite pinpoint down yet. So, I'll keep my eyes out. But, yeah, I love that stuff. And I mostly get them sent to me on Twitter. And I think it's pretty cool.

Brad Dowdy: All right. If you want to send in a question for a future episode, you can email them to hello at penaddict.com. Or you can just tweet them with the hashtag AskTPA. And they will be included in a future episode. If you want to find Brad online, go to penaddict.com. He's at dowdyism, D-O-W-D-Y-I-S-M on Twitter. You can also find him. He is penaddict on Instagram. And Brad streams live on Twitch at twitch.tv slash penaddict. At 10 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. You should go and check that out as well. Or go to knock.co for Brad's wonderful works. Or spokedesign.com.

Myke Hurley: Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: That did it. I'm at imyke. I-M-Y-K-E. We'll be back next week with even more Curidas. I'm going to go back to Curidas Corner. Talk about that for a bit. But I'm going to be having one in hand. So I will have a lot to say, I'm sure. So, yeah, I look forward to that next time, I guess. Until then, say goodbye, Brad. Goodbye, Brad.