The Pen Addict 476/transcript
| The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript | |
|---|---|
| Episode: | 476 |
| Title: | Particular Thoughts about Particular Products |
| Release Date: | August 25th, 2021 |
| Hosts: | Brad Dowdy |
| Guests: | No guests this episode |
| Additional Information | |
| Official page: | Episode 476 |
| Audio File: | Audio Episode 476 |
| Podcast page: | The Pen Addict 476 |
| Length: | 7171 min <br />1.183 h <br /> minutes |
| Previous Transcript | Next Transcript |
Myke: From RelayFM, this is The Pen Addict, episode 476, and today's show is brought to you by the Canalea Penco, ExpressVPN, and Pen Chalet. My name is Myke Hurley, and I'm joined by Brad Dowdy. Hi, Brad.
Brad: Hey, Myke Hurley, how are you?
Myke: I'm good. Happy birthday, Brad. Oh, it is Relay's seventh birthday. RelayFM. Happy birthday. Forget that one. Forget seventh birthday from Relay. Happy birthday, RelayFM. Seventh birthday. Somebody had a very special one, didn't they?
Brad: Relay, yes.
Birthday Celebrations[edit]
Myke: Unbelievably, Brad Dowdy, Bradley Dowdy as we know him, turned 50 last week. Jeez. 50. How'd you do that? How do you do it? I don't understand. I feel like you're younger at 50 than I am at 33.
Brad: I discovered the fountain of youth, Myke. Do you want me to tell you the secret? I would love to know, please. All right. It's Noodler's Bay State Blue. I drink it. No! I drink Noodler's Bay State Blue. That's the fountain of youth.
Myke: A good cup of Bay State every morning. Yeah. Every morning. Keeps the Grim Reaper away. I'll tell you right now, if you drank that thing every day, the Reaper would be coming of you fast, baby. Man.
Brad: That stuff would rot your insides. Yeah. I don't want to see the things that would turn blue if I drank that on the regular. That would be bad.
Myke: That is, by the way, in case you don't know, Noodler's Bay State Blue is an infamous ink that ruins pens.
Myke: Happy birthday, Brad.
Brad: Thanks, buddy. It was a nice, chill, relaxed birthday because we still can't do anything. I'm not comfortable going anywhere, doing anything. I literally spent the day by myself for the most part. And I was cool with that. I read, I listened to music, played some video games, literally did nothing. And if I ever want to have a nice 50th birthday celebration, I'm fine having it when I'm 52 or whatever, when I feel safe going somewhere again.
Myke: Well, you know, you can still enjoy yourself at home, right? Yeah. With your loved ones.
Brad: Like, I am super easy, Myke. You know, I don't need a lot, despite, I mean, I need a lot of pens and paper and stuff. I don't need too much more, you know, just family hanging around, reading a book, listening to tunes, drinking some beer. Like, I am super content. Like, I don't feel like I've missed out on anything. So, yeah, I'm good.
Myke: Well, happy birthday.
Brad: Thank you. Thank you. And happy birthday to you. Like, seriously, happy birthday. Relay turned seven.
Myke: Seven.
Relay FM Anniversary[edit]
Brad: It's like, Relay's birthday is the August 18th, I think. Correct. And then my birthday is the 21st, so we're always sharing them around the same time. And while I had big news for the big number that I was turning, you had some pretty big news, too.
Myke: Yeah. It's St. Jude time. So, we've done this every year for the last, this is our third year. So, from now all the way through to the end of September, Relay FM is joining together with our wonderful community and some, you know, publications and other shows around in our little industry here. to celebrate and raise money for St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. And so, for our third consecutive year, we're going to be supporting the life-saving mission of St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. Their mission is finding cures, saving children. I don't know how you couldn't support that. Honestly, it's a simple one. And it's why it's so easy for us. Look, it is estimated that more than 400,000 children worldwide develop cancer every year. And nearly half of them are never diagnosed. In the United States, more than four out of five children survive cancer. But in many countries, that statistic is reversed. Most of the few of them are not diagnosed with cancer. And so, that is pretty harsh. Today, the most significant predictor of whether a child will survive cancer is where that child lives. Which is why, in March of 2018, St. Jude became the first and only World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Childhood Cancer. That's a big acronym. That's like, who? It's like a lot of Cs. World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Childhood Cancer. So, the goal of the WHO, Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer, is to raise the survival rate of six common childhood cancers to 60% by 2030. Wow. And this is something that St. Jude knows all about. Like, when St. Jude started, I think it was like 20% survival rate and now it's 80, I think is the figure there. Like, I want to double check that, but that's the kind of thing that they've been able to handle in the time that they've been around. Which, you know, it's what makes them such an incredible place.
Myke: And it's why, you know, like, obviously here at Real AFM, we have a link to them. You know, like, we have a very personal link through my co-founder, Stephen Hackett, with his son. And yeah, I just checked it. It was treatments at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer rate, survival rate from 20% to 80% since opening. But again, obviously, this is not a worldwide thing. And that's one of the great things about St. Jude is that they share what they learn worldwide freely for other institutions to learn from. So, this September, you can join Real AFM's efforts to raise the funds and awareness needed to treat and defeat childhood cancer. Donate at stjude.org slash Relay today. This year, any donor making a single gift of $100 or more will be able to claim an exclusive Real AFM sticker of thanks pack at the end of the campaign. So, this is a sticker of my face, a sticker of Stephen's face. These are stickers, by the way, that if you follow us on Twitter and Instagram, you'll see that we are covering our desks. Or, like, I'm covering my desk, Stephen's covering this, like, bookcase that sits behind him with each other's faces. Every $500 raised this year, there's another sticker that goes on to make our lives a little bit more tricky. But you can get those. Plus, there's a Relay FM, like, gold-branded, because we change all our branding to gold, because that's the color for childhood cancer awareness. So, there's a gold-branded Relay FM, and we also have some St. Jude stickers as well in there. So, that's for everybody donating $100 or more. We'll be able to get one of those. And also, the Relay FM podcast-a-thon for St. Jude will be happening on September 17th. We're going longer this year, from 12 to 8 p.m. Eastern Time. That's U.S. Eastern Time at twitch.tv slash Relay FM. So, you can tune in. You can help us hit all our fundraising goals. We've got a ton of wild stuff going on this year. One of the biggest goals we have this year is when we meet $176,000 raised, that will be $1 million over the three years that we've been running this campaign. So, let's cure childhood cancer together. Thank you so much if you do donate stjude.org slash Relay. Now, obviously, I'm telling you about it now. We want you to donate. Like, maybe you can donate today. But you might want to save your donation for next week. Or, you know, split your donation up, whatever you want to do. Because Brad's working on something. Brad, do you want to tell the Pan Addict listeners what you're cooking up?
Brad: Yeah. So, last year, I mean, let me just say this. I feel like St. Jude is part of our family at Relay FM. And that Relay FM is part of the St. Jude family. It's really, really important to us.
Myke: I know you're going to hear a lot about this. You'll hear a lot about it today. And you're going to hear a lot about it all the way until the end of September. But it's because it's important. Like, we keep talking about this because it's an incredibly important thing just in general. But also for all of us. Because we have seen the work that they do and how important that is.
Brad: Totally. Totally. So, last year, I wanted to figure out how to do something different to help promote the fundraising that we were doing. And with the lovely support of Mr. Jonathan Brooks, we were able to raffle off an Arushi Lamy Safari last year. So, you were able to donate. And that your donation, you know, allowed you like an equivalent amount in tickets to be entered into this raffle to win this pin. So, Jonathan Brooks has donated something this year. And I am going to level that up even more by having several products, including what Brooks sent. We'll have more information next week on that. But what I want to do for this year for the main raffle prize that we're going to do is to give away or raffle off, I should say, my Field Notes collection edition one through wherever I kind of stop my subscription. Somewhere around 40. So, really, what you want is like probably issues like one through 25.
Myke: One through 15.
Brad: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, the grand prize this year is going to be my personal Field Notes collection.
Myke: The whole thing, by the way. With everything. So, one person is going to get all of them. Now, we are talking here sealed three packs.
Brad: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right? One sealed three pack of all, like one issue one through. The reason why we're not going to officially announce it is because I need to put the details in and see. Exactly where it ends. Like what the ending point is. Because if you wanted to pick it up, like everything else would be just something you could easily purchase if you wanted to continue the set. And also, I need the time to like really like get people involved to drive the information that we're going to have on this. So, I'll have more information on the blog by next week. We'll talk about it next week on the podcast once I have everything set up. If you participated last year, it's going to be similar. Basically, you would donate through the proper link. And this year, it's stjew.org slash relay. And then you would forward your receipt to a special email that I will have set up just for this. And then, you know, whatever the raffle ticket price is, you know, if you donate $100 and raffle tickets are $10, you would have 10 entries into the drawing. Yeah, and it's just worth mentioning.
Myke: So, you can donate whenever you want and that's great. But if you do want to go with this, we will announce it's start date. So, when Brad posts about it, that will be the start date. So, if you donate today, thank you. But you can't use that entry for this raffle. Right.
Brad: It's just something we have to do just for management. Like, I would love it if you'd go and donate today and donate next week. But if you're just going to donate once and you want to be involved in this raffle and being that you listen to the Panatic podcast, you might, you know, want a chance at something extra cool for something you're already doing. That's extra cool by donating to St. Jude's. Maybe wait till next week when we have the details out.
Myke: But totally up to you. It's like a raffle in the way of, like, the more you donate, the more entries that you receive, that kind of thing.
Brad: Yep. Yep. Exactly. So, we will have that. So, that'll be, this year we're going to have multiple prizes that I'm working on. So, again, the Field Notes collection. Grand prize. Grand prize. I have a very cool pen from Jonathan Brooks that he sent me that is going to be in there. And I have some ideas for some other things that I just need to finalize before we get to next week. And I should have everything detailed out and ready to rock next week. So, I'm looking forward to it. Thank you, Brad. Yeah. I've been waiting for this, right? We've talked about this for years. It's like, I got to, like, there's no need for me to keep this, right? It just sits there and looks pretty. Like, it's cool. And it's a way for me to help shine a light on something that I really believe in and do good with that type of thing. And I could not be more happy to do it.
Myke: So, go to stjude.org slash relay and you can find out more and you can donate. And we'll have more to talk about next week on this. Yep. I saw something on Instagram. Mm-hmm. Spoke Design Model 6. Mm-hmm. It's like you've got a soft launch going on right now, right?
Brad: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, I told the story about Brian and his, how Spoke got started. My partner, Brian Conte, when he started Spoke Design, he was making mechanical pencils. Basically making barrels for mechanical pencils. And he eventually made the Spoke Model 4, which is how I found him because I was like, I got to have this. And then we ended up talking more and we ended up going into a partnership together with Spoke Design. And Brian keeps just pumping out the designs. I think that, I feel like the mechanical pencils are his baby and then everything else I make him do with the pens. But the mechanical pencils are his baby. So, he's always fiddling, trying to make new additions of fountain pens. And because, honestly, because people love him. People love the ideas that he comes up with. So, this time, we have built around a Spoke Model 4 idea combined with a Spoke Pen idea to still have this large aluminum barrel with, essentially, the spokes cut out of them, for lack of a better term. And we've added a knurled grip on the barrel. And the reason why it's a soft launch is because, as you could imagine, Myke, seeing all of our products and all of our pens and all of our accessories and everything that goes with them. We like to do a lot of different colors. And this pencil is going to allow us the platform to mix and match the exterior barrel with the interior barrel sleeve and do some unique colors. Oh. Oh. To where, before, your pencil purchase was essentially fixed. You bought this color and that's what you got. This, I mean, you're still not, I don't know, you know, how much you're going to be able to pick and choose. But let's just say, there's going to be some more assembly involved with these pens because you're going to get to have the exterior barrel. Exterior barrel and interior barrel color be different. You know, in the beginning, we're just going to, you know, make a bunch of different colors and you can pick and choose what you like. And this is kind of how it's going to start. So, this is our first knurled grip pencil. We've also increased the diameter of the large size grip. So, we always have done two grip sizes. With the knurling, we'll actually have a, be able to have a larger 10 millimeter grip. Because it's a little bit, it's a little bit wider pencil. It's like an aesthetically and functionally better. Like, it's really, really good. So, yeah, this is just the start of what's going to be a new pen, pencil product line for the Model 6. And we're going to be able to play around with it a little bit more, like how we play around with the pens and the roadies and the icons.
Spoke Pen System[edit]
Myke: I really love that you're building this interchangeable system. That's really sweet. I like that a lot. Because, I mean, we were talking about this before, right? Like, if we're thinking about this, like it's a business, et cetera, et cetera, this is part of, like, people can buy the products, but then buy accessories from you effectively. Right. And there's something really intriguing about that idea as a business owner because, all right, maybe people don't want to spend $200 or whatever on a pen every time. But maybe you bring out a new colorway and it's like 30 bucks. Right. I'm just saying these numbers, by the way. I haven't got the right ones in my head.
Brad: Well, just wait a couple of weeks, a few weeks, hopefully, certainly in September, when we add new colors to the Icon lineup plus new Icon accessories, which we've talked about before, new barrel sleeves and grip colors and styles and materials. This is where you'll be able to buy individual parts for products you already have. Right. And be able to swap and have that modularity.
Myke: But I just think this is super good because then people can get a new color pen without needing to buy a new pen. Yep. And then it becomes even more awesome when you can then use those parts to do ones that you've now taken off your pen to jazz up your pencil. Like it's, you know, I think that's really smart.
Brad: Yeah. I don't know that it's going to be that integrated. Like slow down there. But like I see you working. Slow your roll, boy. But now I'm going to have to tell Brian. It's like, you know, these parts, you know, they're not going to be that interchangeable. But you get the idea.
Myke: Mm-hmm. That there will be some mixy-matchy that you can do. I think that's great. Nice work.
Brad: Mm-hmm. Yeah. I'm excited about it. This is just, like I said, this is the soft launch of the Model 6. This is the first color you can expect a lot more in the near term.
Myke: Speaking about color. Mm. This episode of the Pen Addict Podcast is brought to you by Canalea Penco. Canalea makes stunning pens. Beautiful pens. Some of my absolute favorites that are inspired by images of Hawaii. Canalea's founders, Hugh and Carol, believe that the locations that they represent in their products can help recharge our spirit, connect us with nature. And they really do produce just stunning products that you're not going to find anywhere else. The execution is what really sets them apart. Every single Canalea pen is handmade in a process that means that no two pens will ever look alike. So you're going to get a one-of-a-kind just for you. And every single nib is tuned before it ships to a customer. Hugh does it himself. He smooths and tunes every single nib before it leaves the shop. So your Canalea pen is going to write fantastically straight out of their lovely black walnut keepsake box. They also make the best boxes. They make boxes that are, like, truly good to keep. But they don't just take up space so you can use them. They're, like, really nice little boxes that you can just use for other stuff, which is a thing that I think should be done more. I feel like most pen boxes are just boxes for your pen. What I like about Canalea's boxes is you can actually just use them as little wooden keepsake boxes. I like that. This is one of the many things that I like. I want to remind you about the Honakalani collection. This is a really beautiful pen available in three design profiles and a ballpoint. It's a blue, white, and black swirl pen that evokes a stunning beach scene of a crystal blue ocean. And you can also take it a step further with the Honakalani Mailele, which features the Mailele 5th Anniversary Band, which celebrates Canalea's recent milestone. I have this model, and I truly love the band addition to it. Canalea's pens feature Yo-Oh No. 6 nibs, and you can buy steel or 18-karat gold nibs directly from Canalea. They offer sizes from extra fine to 1.1-millimeter stub. Not meter. 1.1-meter stub? Can you imagine that?
Brad: I could imagine that, Myke. I could imagine that.
Myke: Someone would be into it. Now, I do have some unfortunate news that I wanted to share from our friends at Canalea. They have come to the very hard decision of deciding that they will not be able to attend either the San Francisco or Chicago pen shows this year. But they are hoping that they will be able to see everybody soon, sometime in the future. This is one of those abundance of caution type things. However, they are going to keep that pen show feeling alive by offering a special promotion during these weekends on the Canalea website. So, from August 27th to 29th, which is the SF Pen Show, and October 1st to 3rd, all U.S. customers will receive free UPS ground shipping with the purchase of a fountain pen. And if you're outside the U.S., you have a code that you can use, it's Aloha 25 off, and you will get $25 off your UPS shipping with the purchase of your own Canalea pen. So, you know, I think what I really like about this is one of the things that you don't have to do when you go to a pen show is pay for the shipping of the pen because you can pick it up and take it yourself. So, Canalea are doing what they can to remove or significantly reduce the cost of your shipping if you buy one of their fountain pens. So, go and check them out for yourself. Go to canaleapenko.com. That is canaleapenko.com to choose your Aloha today. Our thanks to the Canalea Pen Co. for their support of this show.
Brad: I might have to break down and get the recent one, the blue and black sand. What was the name of it again? The Hanukalani. Hanukalani. Yeah, the one that I had, and now it's kind of calling my name. It's like one of those things. Beautiful, man. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Speaking of back and forth, Myke, we're going to segue into one of Brad's favorite topics, which is the topic where Brad gets to pretend that he knows things about stationery and questions the existence of other products.
Myke: I'm pretty sure you do know a thing or two.
Brad: But what right do I have, Myke, to question the existence of the Uni Alpha Gel Kurutogo?
Myke: This is a pen that surprised me twice. It's a pencil. That's what I meant to say. But this is my issue. This is the first surprise. Yes. It's called Alpha Gel. Yes. Which makes it sound like it's a gel pen. Correct. But it is not. It is not. It is a mechanical pencil with a gel-like grip.
Brad: Right. No gel. So Uni has an Alpha Gel series of pens, pencils, and ballpoints. And the Alpha Gel is the grip. It's the nicest grip. It's what the pilot Dr. Grip wishes it was. It's the best larger diameter soft squishy grip in pens or pencils. Dr. Grip. Mm-hmm.
Myke: So good as a name.
Brad: Mm-hmm.
Myke: So stupid and so fantastic.
Brad: Right? It's a great name. I just don't think it's a great product.
Myke: Dr. Grip?
Brad: Mm-hmm.
Myke: Mm-hmm.
Brad: They do some good work over there. So it's more straightforward than Alpha Gel. I will give you that. So yes, Alpha Gel is... I'm sure many people have bought the pens thinking it's a gel pen, but the Alpha Gels are generally ballpoints. So anyway, that's an entirely different story. What we have here today, Myke, is a pencil that I reviewed on Monday. A pencil I was dying to buy. We're going to talk about that in a minute. And a pencil that once I got it into use, I questioned why it exists. And this is the thing I'm best at is just having like really particular thoughts about particular products that, let's be honest, really don't mean anything. But I'm a little bit confused by this product. So let me lay it out there for those who are not familiar with the Kuru Toga, which is the key to this whole setup here. The Kuru Toga, if you're a long-term listener, you know, you can mute me for like 30 seconds. Panadic Classic. Yeah, it's Panadic Classic because it is a mechanical pencil technology that works. It is designed when you press the tip down on the page and write and lift up the pencil tip from the page. There's a slight rotation, really not visible to the naked eye. Like if you looked hard enough, you could see it rotate. And this allows for a consistent point as you're writing with the mechanical pencil. So there's an internal mechanism and it rotates. Okay. And it's a wonderful, wonderful mechanical pencil. One of our favorites here at the Panadic, one of my all-time favorites because it legitimately works and it pushed forward mechanical pencil technology. Which you wouldn't think that's a thing. So what Uni did is they have a huge lineup of Kuru Togas, right? Kuru Togas in all shape, sizes, and flavors. They have a huge lineup of Uni Alpha Gels in all shape, sizes, and flavors. So they combined the... Two Great Tastes. Two Great Tastes into one pen. The funny part, Myke, is they already have an Alpha Gel Kuru Toga. Okay? They just don't have the Alpha Gel Kuru Toga switch, which is what we have today. So you can get a Kuru Toga with an Alpha Gel grip. But what you can't get unless you buy this pen is a... Excuse me, a pencil. I did it too. Aha! It's a pencil with a switch to stop it from being a Kuru Toga.
Brad: This is wild. And I can't figure out why. Yeah. And I'm wrecking my brain trying to come up with a situation where you need both a fixed position graphite and a Kuru Toga rotating graphite in a single pencil. And like the best I can come up with is like your student artist, right? Anyone who's using a pencil for art, sketching, generally needs an edge on their pencil tips, right? You need it to be either very, very sharp or very, very dull for sharp lines or shading and not a lot of in between. The Kuru Toga, the rule of the Kuru Toga is that it does not do either of those things, which is fine as well. So the Kuru Toga, strictly for writing or a consistent line.
Brad: So why do you need both? And I literally don't know. That's what I can't come up with. It's like the end. It's like the end of my conversation is this. I don't know. But I'll tell you this, Myke. If I'm in the uni labs, right, and I get to design products, I'm 100% doing this and taking it to like the managers go, look at this thing that I made. Like we have the Kuru Toga and we can turn it off and we can turn it on. And I'd be like, yeah, look at that. That's cool. And it's like, I don't know why marketing didn't go like, yeah, that's cool. Like technically, but why is someone going to buy this? Because we have a Kuru Toga that's $4 cheaper. And then we have mechanical pencils that are cheaper. And it's like, you're telling me we have two conflicting things in a pen. They're not, they don't work together. Like a multi pen could have three different colors, blue, red, and black. And you use those three colors for different things. Or you can get like Jeff reviewed an Acroball pen, multi pen with a highlighter on the back of it. It is the stupidest looking pen I've ever seen, but there is understandable functionality there. I have a pen. Sometimes I need to highlight. So I turn it over and I highlight. Those things work together. However, the Kuru Toga switch, the two options work against each other.
Brad: And I am dumbfounded by this product. This is what I love about stationary. And I would buy this product. I think I even said this in my review. I would buy this product 10 out of 10 times if I saw it. But then I'd get it in hand and I would only use it as a Kuru Toga. Right? Because I don't need the other part.
Myke: This is one of those things where like it seems like, yeah, okay, it seems like a good idea. You know, like when you read it, you're like, oh, yeah, okay. Yeah. Why not?
Brad: Yeah. And then it's like you never use part two of what it was built for. So that's all. I think it's a fun product. It's really built well. But if you want a uni alpha gel Kuru Toga, just buy the Kuru Toga. And if you need a pencil that gives you more line variation, buy like literally any non-Kuru Toga pencil. I just don't see the case for buying them two in one. So there you go.
TWSBI Swipe Review[edit]
Myke: That was fun. I want to talk about the TWSBI swipe. I think this will be a recurring theme. Customers may remember the TWSBI swipe as the new TWSBI pen, which has a spring in the back of it, even though it maybe seems like at least Brad believed didn't need it, didn't understand why the spring would need to be there like it is on a TWSBI go. So you have Kimberly at the Pen Addict wrote a great review about the pen and had some questions, some pros and cons of it. I believe you have one as well.
Brad: Yeah. So mine just came in yesterday, just unboxed it yesterday, and I just inked it up this morning. So I definitely have some questions. And so far, my thinking is right along the lines with Kimberly in that this is a good pen. Like there's no two ways about it. Like it's a good TWSBI low cost pen. The questions that have arisen so far from my unboxing and then circling back to Kimberly's review and finding the same thing is that I'm questioning which came first, the cartridge converter design or the need for the spring. And I'm saying this because I'm trying to say this nicely. The engineering around the connection between cartridge and converter and the connection to the feed and the nib is looser than I'm used to. So there is not a lot of friction there. Okay. Like it's see, I feel like it seals. Okay. Like I feel like, okay, it grabs enough. Do you know what I'm talking about? Like, what do you, am I explaining this?
Myke: Do you wear the, like the little prongs, I guess, which stick into the converter or the cartridge?
Brad: Yes. So like it goes on, but then I can pull it off without much effort. You know how normally you have to lean into it a little bit to kind of pop it off? You've got to pull it.
Myke: Yeah. You've got to give it some oomph.
Brad: Yeah. I can just slide this on and off. So two things are appearing right now in this. And this could be like a one-off type of thing. But now I'm seeing it, Kimberly's seeing it, and other people are seeing it. What's happening is that connection, I think, is not getting sealed enough because people who are using the spring converter, it's like a little mini piston, right? Like you push the spring down. You have the converter on. You push the spring down while the nib's in the ink bottle to fill it. And then the converter, then you let go. The spring expands and pulls in the ink. And people are only getting half fills. Why are they getting half fills? Maybe because it's not sealed perfectly. I don't know. Like this is like I'm not an engineer and I'm not telling, I'm not saying this is a problem. But I am noticing it and other people are noticing it, that this is loose. Like it's a little bit, the spring is necessary. So it's like a chicken or egg thing. It's now that I have this, I went ahead and inked mine with a cartridge because I wanted to test out the cartridges because they're big and bulky. The cartridges actually snap in there pretty strongly. But I'm just wondering if the design is such to where you almost have to have the spring to keep the cartridge if you're dropping things. I don't know. I'm rambling a little bit now because I'm thinking about it out loud. And yeah.
Myke: So you're wondering if they have the cartridge.
Myke: So they have the spring because the cartridge doesn't fit properly.
Brad: I mean, it's dumb to say that out loud. When you say that out loud, you sound dumb. I'm not saying that I'm saying me. Yeah, I don't think that that makes sense. That's not on purpose. I don't think that's the case. But I will say that's the experience that people are having now and they're questioning like, well, I see why I need this spring now because it's kind of loose. But I don't think that was the intent going into it. And so I think we're just going to have to wait and see. I think in general, it's a good pen. I really don't like the clip, like just aesthetically. I'm not a fan of the clip. I do like the feel of the pen. I got an extra fine.
Brad: It's a little wider than like the TWSBI 580 extra fine. So I'll have to see if it's more like the eco extra fines that I have, which is the nib that's on here. It's like the eco nib, same size, same shape.
Brad: I think the pen is going to do fine. I think the cartridge option.
Brad: I don't know. Like I'm trying to come at this pen from a beginner's perspective and it's a little hard to separate myself from that. Like if I'm a beginner and I buy this pen and I buy a pack of cartridges and I'm going to be pretty happy with this pen. If you buy their cartridges. Yeah. Yeah. Because that's the other thing is people are finding like a standard international cartridge doesn't really does not fit well. It fits. Even though it theoretically should.
Myke: It's not secure. And I think this is the thing we were talking about this pen before where it was like they're saying this is the international standard, but it doesn't look like it. The attachment part is international standard, but the sizing is super different physically, which helps it stay in place, I guess. Right. I don't think you would want to put a regular cartridge with the spring inside of this thing. I think it's going to fall out.
Brad: Yeah. So, you know, I don't want to say this is like completely wait and see. Like I think it's good. Like I just want to be clear on that. I think it's good. I'm going to keep using it and I'm going to keep using with the cartridge and I'm going to keep using with the spring loaded in the back of the barrel.
Myke: It's pretty fairly priced too, right?
Brad: It's fairly priced. It feels good. The writing experience is excellent. One annoyance I have is that I can't. So the barrel has the TWSBI stamping on it, you know, just like the word TWSBI. And I can't get that to align with the front side of my nib. It's on the 180. You know what I mean? And I've tried like 10 times before the podcast today to get it aligned, right?
Myke: I'm looking at their images and they managed to do it.
Brad: So I'm going to have to keep working on that. I've tried every connection possible.
Myke: That's like me and Lamy Safaris though, man. I just sit there and like click. Oh, it didn't work. Click it over one more time. Do it again.
Myke: So, yeah.
Brad: So, I don't know what to say. It's like a 7 or 8 out of 10 pen. Like it's really hecking good. But like I definitely have questions about let's see some long-term usage and how that connection holds up. So, that's all. I think it's good. Like I wouldn't tell anyone not to buy it if you're interested in it. And I think it is going to be a good beginner pen if you're sticking with TWSBI cartridges. I think for like the super... Or the converter, really. Or the converter.
Myke: Because again, like I think we're getting lost again. But I think the real benefit I think here is that this is a TWSBI converter pen, which is new for them.
Brad: Yeah. Like which I'm down with. Yeah. I'm all for it. I just think people... Some more experienced people are going to enjoy this less. And that's fine. That's not why this pen is being made. Right?
Myke: I don't think it's for them though, right? Yep.
Brad: It's a $27 entry pen. Right. So that's what I'm trying to wrap my head around when I talk about this. I don't want to talk down on this pen because it's a good pen. But I do have some like coming from a very experienced place, I have some questions.
Myke: Yeah. My thinking on it still, having not used it, my thinking on it still though is I would still recommend you get the TWSBI Go. Mm-hmm. But hey-ho. Because I think the best way to use the TWSBI swipe is still with the converter.
Brad: Mm-hmm.
Myke: So I figure if you're going to do that, you may as well go with the TWSBI Go. Although I'm sure that it looks very much so that the swipe would have a vastly improved ink capacity.
Brad: I don't know about that. You don't think so? The swipe have more ink capacity than the Go? I'm not sure. I would have to look. I don't like to know. I can't speak on that. I'm sure chat will tell us before we're done if the measurements are public on TWSBI's site. I don't know that they are. But regardless, I'm still going for the eco is number one. Like, again, this is coming from a different place than a beginner place. If I'm buying TWSBI's, I'll take one go and one swipe and 10 ecos.
Brad: That's how I feel about that range of product.
Myke: I didn't understand what that meant.
Brad: As far as what I think is the best product. Right. Like, I need one go, I'm fine. One swipe pin, I'm fine. Eco, I'm good having five or 10 of those because they're just cool colors. The piston filling mechanism is great. Like, there are shockingly less questions about the eco than both the go and the swipe.
Myke: Makes sense. I love the color, though. I do, too.
Brad: Like, they're all good. That's what I'm saying. I just don't want to. I know I've talked myself in circles around this one. They're all good pens. I really like all of them. I like that TWSBI's trying things and, like, is messing around doing some weird stuff. And I'm down with that. So, I just want to make sure that, yeah, I think they're good. And I do have some questions, though. We'll see.
Myke: Do you want to know a great place that you can go to if you want to pick up some of these TWSBI pens, Brad? Man, where is that, Myke?
Brad: You're such a professional.
Myke: Pen Chalet. What? They sell the very best products from all of your favorite brands. They have roller balls, fountain pens, ballpoints, mechanical pencils, and so much more. Like pen holders, refills, converters, ink, accessories, notebooks, everything the true pen addict wants in their life. And they're always doing great deals. They run discounts twice a month and close out specials as well. And they're always adding new styles of pens. So, there's always something new to go and check out over at Pen Chalet. They do free shipping on orders of over $50 in the U.S. And they sell internationally as well with great shipping rates. Pen Chalet wants their customers to be happy with their great products. So, they have not only low prices, but on their high quality pens. Also, a 100% satisfaction guarantee. They really have everything that you're looking for with fast and reliable customer service to boot. So, go to penchalet.com. That's P-E-N-C-H-A-L-E-T.com. Click the podcast link at the top of the website and enter the password penaddict. This is where you will get the code that you need to save 10% on anything at any time. And also, the list of this week's special offers. What have we got, Brad?
Brad: We have a crazy deep list of products. So, sometimes, Ron sets us up sometimes. Sometimes, we'll put the hot thing at the top. Sometimes, you got to dig for it in the middle or at the end. Or sometimes, it's just literally all over the place. And that's what we have today. No hunting this week. No hunting this week. He's dropped the Visconti Homo Sapiens Demo Stones. So, that was Visconti's new release. Did it come out this year? We're in August. I think it came out earlier this year. It is the translucent Homo Sapiens in green, red, or blue. They're really, really pretty with a really, really good price. They were... And a free ink. Yeah. And a free ink. And they were more expensive than the Homo Sapiens that I bought recently. And now, they're at a good sale. And Myke, if you scroll down and scroll... And I don't want to discount anything that's on here, including our friend, the Stipula Neto. That's what I was going to say. Wait.
Myke: I can't remember now.
Brad: How did this come up the first time? I found it here.
Myke: Okay. Like, two weeks ago. Like, wait. Because I'd never seen it. Is Ron Punk in us right now? No, no, no, no.
Brad: I'd never seen it before it came up on this list. And I was like, what is this? And we had to stop the read.
Pen Chalet Promotion[edit]
Myke: I was wondering, what is this wild pen bottle that Bradley might keep talking about? You can get one at Pen Shelley.
Brad: Yeah, yeah. So, I keep going down. I was like, oh, cool. The Conklin Word Gauge fountain pen is always a popular one. And this is a nice blue and black ebonite. And then they have the Private Reserve Fast Dry Ink, which we're going to talk about Private Reserve Ink here in a minute. And then I just kept scrolling, Myke. And all of a sudden, I got to, hey, this is a big list of Platinum 3776s. And hey, Myke, further down from that, this is a huge... Huge list of Leonardo Memento Zeros. So, if you're in the market for one of those two truly excellent pens. Platinum 3776s, Visconti, you can't get to the San Francisco pen show this weekend, you might want to stop by Pen Chalet. Use the code PENADDICT in the YouTube radio podcast link and check out all these deals because they're pretty much on fire.
Myke: Thanks to Pen Chalet for the continued support of this show and RelayFM.
Brad: All right.
Brad: I went on a spending spree.
Myke: All right. Happy birthday.
Brad: Last week. But, yeah, I tempered myself. Like, I got the pens that I wanted, like, in the last couple of months. Like, that's why we had to have a pen sale. I bought pens, sold pens to make up for the pens that I bought. I have no pens on my radar right now that I'm looking for for my personal use. Like, I obviously have, like, hey, I got this TWSBI swipe and, hey, I've got these other pens that I'm checking out. You know, that's more from a review perspective. Personal pens, like, I'm good. I got that Nakaya. I got that Visconti. Like, I'm golden. I'm literally not shopping for anything. But you know what I am shopping for, Myke?
Brad: You read the doc. It's inks. Yeah, I know. I don't know where to. I'm looking at it. So let me count. I'm clicking the links right now. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18. 18 inks are now in my possession. Oh, bro. As of yesterday.
Brad: They will not all be in my possession. Some of these are going out to review, to the review crew, which is the review crew, the Pen Attic review crew is what got me on Van Demons, on this Van Demons kick. They've been reviewing them. They've been very happy with them. I have not tried them. And they keep coming up with new colors, new fun things. Like, what's the main thing now? The Deep Sea. What are they called? I don't even think I got any of the Deep Sea because they're so hot. You can't. The Underwater Series, Myke. The Underwater Series. They're so hot. They're selling out all across the Pinternet. So, I picked up some classics under some recommendations from followers. So, I got Van Demons Pepperberry, which is like a blue-black. Van Demons Pixie Parasols, which I just bought for the name. It's a lighter blue color that I think is really nice. That's a color that I like. And then, purely on recommendation, I got Devil's Kitchen, which that's a recommendation from Jonathan Brooks. And then, was second, thirded, and fifth in the chat as a red. That is just awesome. He said when he went to the DC Pen Show that he went through two bottles of that, like testing and filling and letting people fill their bottles with it. It's such a good ink. So, these are the recommendations I need for me to go out and try a bunch of inks. Because I really, for all the inks I have, I really kind of, you know, sit in my corner and have a hard time not branching out, even in my own ink cabinet. So, I'm trying to do that. I included some Pannonia inks, of course. One of my new favorites, Myke, is the Pannonia ink. So, another red ink. I'm not a red ink person, but chat in Twitch or on Twitter are telling me this. There's no way I get this name right. It looks like Meg Yes, but I'm sure that's not how you pronounce it. It is this killer bright red that looks like it's going to be awesome. But I don't know what it means.
Myke: What's all these red inks in? I don't know.
Brad: Pens.
Myke: I have a lot of pens. Huh. All right. Red always feels like, you know, you've got to have something for it. I don't know.
Brad: That's the thing is, like, I've never been a red ink guy. Like, I have one pen that I enjoy, the one red ink that I use all the time. I have a Nakaya with the red trim, black and red, that I use Robert Oster red candy. That's, like, my favorite setup. Outside of that, I rarely use red. So, I'm going to try these because I'm trying to experiment, Myke. I also got Lichen, which is a very light green. I'm going to send that out for review. Sarah picked that out to review. It's a very light green Pannonia ink. One of the newer Pannonia inks that are lighter, more pastel, and have a little more character.
Brad: Kala inks, which we've discussed before, Myke, as having pigmented waterproof inks, which I've tested before. They now have some standard inks, which I was very, very anxious to try. Two of the Island series, Island Kingshi Cliff. I'm sure I pronounced that incorrectly. I have that inked up in my, what is that pen? I can't even remember which pen I've inked it up in yet. That one. So, we'll just go with that pen. And then, Myke, the lovely Island snack series, Sweet Potato Balls. Like, I'm feeling that's going to be a good one. They have these neat little bottle designs that are really cool. Oh, that Kingshi Cliff is in my Mayora. I finally found it on my desk to remember which one it was in. Okay. But, yeah, I mean, how can you turn down Sweet Potato Balls ink, right? I mean, it's just facts. It's unable, it's unskippable when you're going to order interesting inks. I added in the Venta Neon Collection, Myke. That's going to be a giveaway. They look fun. I love the packaging of this one. It's really, really neat. I bought that purposefully for a giveaway, Adam. So, look for that on the Pen Addict coming soon. Birmingham inks, I went all in again. This is where most of my inks are coming from right now that I wanted to test. So, two specialty inks out of this list. Voltaic Arc is a blue sheening ink, and I normally don't go for sheening inks. Like, heavy sheeners, I really don't like. But I wanted to try this because, again, experimental. And then Flamingo, Myke, is a hot pink permanent ink, which I wanted to try out. What does that mean? It means it's pink, it's fire, and it's not going to wash away when you leave your notebook out in the rain. Just like a Flamingo.
Myke: Yeah, I mean, okay. Are you having a lot of trouble with, like, it's the permanent part is what I'm stuck on.
Brad: Yeah, why? You don't like permanents?
Myke: No, it's not that. It's just interesting. I don't know. You're fine with the other inks, right? Permanent, isn't it? I'm just intrigued. Like, is the permanents a selling point for you? Because it's not normal.
Brad: You don't normally get this color.
Myke: I think that's kind of why I was angling out a little bit more. Those two things together seemed like a different, maybe interesting mixture.
Brad: Yeah. So it's like, so remember the Kala Neons that were bright colors? Those were pigmented.
Myke: Oh, yeah.
Brad: I remember those. Those are the same. That's the same idea. So it's a pigmented ink, right, which leads to permanents on the page. It's not necessarily like an iron gall formulation. It's a pigment formulation to add that permanents into the page. So it's just interesting. It is experimental. Again, those are two inks that I don't necessarily anticipate going, hey, I'm going to use this all the time. But I think they're worth, like, from a pen addict perspective to test and say, hey, is this good? Is this not so good? Why is it this way? Does it work as it's intended? Those types of things. And then I got six other Birmingham inks that are just like their normal ink lineups because they do a lot of neat colors. So I don't even know that reading these names off would do the colors justice, like kyanite, shortleaf pine, hydrangea, Ohio River, Kentucky bluegrass. So it's a I'm trying to expand my testing on Birmingham inks because they do so many and I've tested so few. Like I've done one review and I've been happy with it. So I want to continue to explore and see how how they are. This is really why I bought all these inks. And this last one is probably the most boring, but it's one that needs to be tested. And it's private reserve because private reserve is now on their, I think, third owner in the past five or six years. Um, and different formulations of ink that are now in the hands of Monteverde's owners, Yaffa brands. So my faith in the product has gone up because of that, because the Monteverde inks are so good. So I want to see, I bought a ink called infinity turquoise just to try out. I, I, I don't even know what to say about it because I haven't used a private reserve ink in so many years, but they're making a push, making them, I don't want to say come back, but you're starting to see them a little bit more. Um, my only concern with this one so far, it is in a weird bottle in that it's a very normal bottle. If you were using like a moisturizer, you know, like those big tubs, it's like, it's like a, yeah.
Myke: Wide mouth is an interesting, uh, feature for an ink bottle.
Brad: It's very heavy. It's like inordinately heavy, wide mouth, short depth.
Myke: You know, though, looking at it, I'm sure we've all been in this situation where you have an ink bottle and there's like a little bit of ink in it and you can't get to it because like you can't like hold the pen, like, like, like, like hold the pen and angle the bottle in such a way you can get to that last little bit in the edge. Right. You wouldn't have that with this cause it's going to be so steady. You just put it down on the table and you just, you know.
Brad: Yeah. But you don't have any depth to it. Like I think after like a few fills, we're going to be past the depth.
Myke: It's weird. Like, I don't think I agree with this.
Brad: It's a little concerning. It's a strange bottle. It really is. It's a moisturizer bottle.
Myke: Yeah. It's just like a little jar.
Brad: Yeah. A tub. It's like a little jar. It's super, super dense. Very, very heavy. Very thick glass base. It is. It is. It is. So anyway, like that's a lot of inks. I want to test a bunch of them. I only have one inked up so far out of that entire batch. I'll probably have another two more inked up in the next day or two. I've got some pens I need to test out, get ready for review, do some little combo meals with a pen and an ink combination, figure out what I'm going to do. And then I'm going to send out some of these inks to the review crew. I'm going to give some of them away. But anyway, it was an ink smorgasbord mic that I went shopping for last week. They're all here. And I'm actually just trying them out. I'm actually very, very excited. I'm going to test them out Thursday on Twitch, twitch.tv slash penenict. We're going to open all these bottles and test them out on paper, do some swab, do some ink playing around. So if you want to see what that's all about, come check it out.
Myke: All right. Should we do some hashtag ask TPA today? Yes. Yes, we should. All right. First question comes from Beth. Tell me about distributors. When I get amazing service from a store or vendor, it's easy to know how to support them. I buy more from them. I tell my friends to do likewise, give them good reviews, all that kind of stuff. Is there anything I can do when a distributor turns out to be awesome? So a bit of context. My current favorite pen in the universe is my Bennu Chameleon Graceful. Dropping it on the hardwood floor broke the cap. Not fatally. The threads are okay, but it's not the same thing that it once was. Pen Chalet suggested I call the distributor to see if they had any extra parts or any advice on getting it fixed. So I did, and Bryce from Luxury Brands USA literally sent me an entirely new pen the same day. What can I do as a regular consumer to support them?
Brad: This is a great question. That's why I wanted to make sure we got this in here. And we've had it for a couple weeks.
Brad: I'm trying to think how to lay this out. But basically, you want to think of our hobby as an ecosystem, right? And distributors play a role in that ecosystem in making your life as an end consumer make everything run smoothly. They deal with the shops that you are supporting. You usually don't deal one-on-one with a distributor. Our hobby is unique in the fact that it's small enough to where a distributor, if they so choose, can have a direct relationship with the consumer, which you don't see in a lot of other businesses, I don't think. And in our hobby, some of these distributors have made a concerted effort to come out in front of the table, if you will. And then some distributors stay behind the scenes and you don't hear from them. And it really pays off in seeing things like Beth and her comments on the Bennu, who is distributed by luxury brands, which she mentioned. And I'm friends with Bryce and talk to him regularly. Like, these front-facing distributors, I think, are not normal in other capacities. So, how can you support them directly? By continuing to share their stories, by continuing to support the products through the retailers that they work with. And you just make sure people know that the experience was great. Like, if you boil it down just into the black and white, the distributors are most benefited by buying stuff, right? Let's not sugarcoat that. But the way this community is, word travels fast and it's easy to have something good communicated and something bad communicated by experience. And either way, the distributors that put the most into this community are the quickest to respond, the most to handle any problems, the most to praise the good things happen, the most to support all the different cogs in the machinery. You know, I work with distributors to get products to review. You know, they have gotten to know me over the years, understand how I work, and I have always had great working relationships with distributors I deal with. In the end, they still need you to purchase products from retailers and that's how they stay in business. So just sharing their stories and appreciating the fact that we have access to someone like Bryce from Luxury Brands as, hey, I got to work with Bryce and he fixed this thing for me. Like, you don't hear that level of conversation, I don't think, in a lot of communities, right? You're like, I don't know who the person behind the curtain is and I'm just helpless out here. And I think that's what's so enjoyable about this community is the openness of a lot of, you know, people behind the scenes to give you the real, the real deal, the real truth, the support you need. And, yeah, so I think it's important to support the distributors. You know, I don't want to be, like, you know, completely off point by saying I certainly have my issues with distributors from time to time too, right? But the fact that we can have, like, these conversations in our community I think are really cool. And, like, Beth is alluding to, like, I think we should support the people that want to support us as end users. And that's what the good distributors do.
Myke: Yeah. And don't forget, like, I get this feeling. But, like, just buy the product. Buying the products supports them. You know, like, I get the feeling of wanting to do more. But I think that wanting to do more feeling comes from the fact that there are so many makers in our space. So, like, we're used to, well, this is an individual whose products we really like. We know them. They're a nice person. The distributors may not need that feeling in the same way as an individual. Like, they tend to be typically larger businesses. So...
Brad: I think that the distributors want to see the retailers they work with succeed. Yes.
Myke: That's the goal of them. It's why they're most of the time not public-facing in any way. Because it's not really what they need. Yeah.
Brad: I feel like we're just in a bit of a unique situation. Where there's this feeling of wanting to support. Mm-hmm. But if their retailers are happy... They're happy. They're happy. Yep.
Myke: Let's do a final break and we'll come back for some more hashtags. Ask TPA. This episode is brought to you by ExpressVPN. A few decades ago, even less than that, it was easy to be a private person. But the internet has changed all of that. Think of everything that you've browsed, searched for, watched, tweeted. The sad truth is this data could be crawled through. People can use it against you. They can aggregate it, collect it, and it could be sold. And it's your information. You know, you don't want to have to think about this stuff. In an era when everyone's online, anyone can be a public figure. To keep your data private, you can turn to ExpressVPN. There are hundreds of data brokers out there, and their sole business is to buy and sell that data. The worst part is they don't have to tell you who they're selling it to or get your consent for it. One of these data points can be your IP address. This is uniquely identified to your location, to you. But with ExpressVPN, your connection can be routed through an encrypted server, and your IP address is masked. So when you turn ExpressVPN on, you're given a random IP address shared by other ExpressVPN customers. This makes it incredibly difficult for third parties to identify individuals and harvest data that is unique to them. And the best part is how easy ExpressVPN is to use. You get all of that protection. You get that peace of mind on any device that you're on. Your phone, your laptop, your smart TV. All you have to do is tap one button to get protected. One of my favorite uses is, like, if I'm traveling or I'm in a hotel. It's like we have been doing a couple of things in central London recently. We've had a bunch of plans. We've had to keep pushing, pushing, pushing. Now all these things are happening at the same time. Like, I just, for my birthday in 2020, Stephen bought me a wine tasting experience. That was January of 2020. We just did it last week. So we stayed in a hotel in London for that, and they have free Wi-Fi. And I'm like, hmm, I would like the free Wi-Fi. But this Wi-Fi is free. So I turn on ExpressVPN, and I don't have to worry about it. So if, like me, you believe that your data is your business, secure yourself with the number one rated VPN on the market. Visit expressvpn.com slash penaddict and get three extra months for free. That's expressvpn.com slash penaddict. To learn more, one last time, expressvpn.com slash penaddict. Our thanks to ExpressVPN for the support of this show and RelayFM.
Brad: All right, let's hit a few more of these. All right.
Drillog Nib Compatibility[edit]
Myke: Sam asks, do you know if the Drillog nib would fit with any other pen body? Can I just back the nib, or is the nib only option only really for you if you're going to get a second nib for your pen with the body?
Brad: I mean, technically, someone can make something that threads onto the back. Like, I have dip nib front end units. Like, I have a dip nib unit that at one time I commissioned Sean Newton to make a holder for. So, I mean, the answer is sure, but it's not designed out of the box to say, hey, this is going to screw into a Yovo housing. Like, if that's the question, no. But if the question is, is it theoretically possible for someone to make something that fits in this type of threading? Yes. But I think the question is more of, hey, can I put this into something I have today without it getting custom made? The answer is no.
Myke: Next question comes from Gustavo. When it comes to expensive pens, are there specific things I should look for that warrant that price tag? Or is it more about how the pen makes me feel?
Brad: That's a tough question, honestly.
Brad: I think you start with the latter, right? Like, you're only going to pick up the pen in the first place because you have a certain feeling about it.
Myke: Don't buy a pen just because it's made of expensive materials.
Brad: That's a good way to put it. Like, yeah. Like, in short, yes, that's a great answer. Because you're never going to be happy with a product that you're just not inherently happy with, holding, using, looking at, you know, appearance, feel, wise, despite going, ooh, man, this one is full sterling silver barrel. Like, that's fancy. And that warrants the price tags because it's, like, literal silver and it's expensive. But is it functional? Is it fun? Does it put a smile on your face? Those are the more important things in buying expensive pens. Like, you know, my vice for, like, the expensive pens is the Nakaya. And I know that, first and foremost, whenever I use one, and the reason why I like them so much is they make me feel good. They, it feels like I'm holding a story that someone told in my hand. And that's why I like Nakaya's, not because, hey, this is a $900 pen or whatever, and, like, it's got a gold nib, and it took, you know, six or nine months to make, but that there's a story within this writing instrument. That's what's important to me, and that's the way I kind of look at it when I think about that. So, yeah, I mean, the bigger question is the warrant, the price tag bit of the question, and that's such an individual thing. You know, we all value different things differently. So, are there technical things like a piston filler and a gold nib that warrant prices? Yes, right? Like, but does a pen that doesn't have either of those things and cost the same price just as worthwhile? Also, yes, right? So, it's a complex question to answer directly, but I think you've got to look at how it makes you feel first. And if you're, importantly, if you're going to use it for its intended use, which is writing instead of staring at, you know, you start from there, and then you kind of figure the rest out.
Myke: I think that there are things to look for, right? Like, if a pen feels good in your hands, but it's really expensive, unless it has some elements to it, too, though, right? Like, you don't want to buy it. Like, $700 steel nib pen. You're like, all right, I need to check what's going on here. You know what I mean?
Brad: You have to ask more questions. You have to ask more questions of yourself.
Myke: Because maybe there's a good reason, right? But, like, you want to confirm what's going on with that. So, there are definitely boxes you might want to tick off or things you might want to check. You know, like, how is it made? What is it made of? What are the key parts? I don't know. But, as you say, it does start with a few. This actually goes into a second question, which I think might help a bit more. Yeah. Chris, what is most important to you? One, how a pen looks. Two, how it feels in the hand. Three, how it writes. And what is, like, a combination of three? How do you rank this? For me, it is that exact order is my importance. I want to... The look has to be a thing that grabs me and draws me in the first time.
Myke: Then, when I pick it up, how does it feel comfortable for me to hold? With how it writes being last. The reason being is that's the one thing I can change.
Myke: How it writes is definitely last. Yes. For me. Because it is... That is a changeable thing. Now, I mean, I'll say, like, there's the odd occasion where somebody gives me a pen and they're like, don't just trust me. And then it can change the order, right? Then it could be like, all right, I don't like how this pen looks, but it is unbelievable to write with or whatever, right? And that was kind of like the king of pen for me where I thought it looked kind of ridiculous. And then I tried it and was like, oh my God, this is incredible. So, stuff can move around. But typically, that is my order when looking at a pen myself.
Brad: Right. And having how it writes last is definitely a luxury of experience, right? Someone with less experience, that's going to be number one because they may not have, like, the knowledge or education to go, you know what? We can change this if necessary. But why should I have to, right? So, maybe writing is number one for some people. I think writing is number three for me also. I want to say number two is first, but I don't think I can. I'm trying to get there, but I think I'm still not going to figure out how it feels unless I think it looks good first. And I'm trying to think of a situation where the feel trumped the aesthetic.
Brad: And I don't know that I can come up with a real answer off the top of my head. So, it must be that order one, two, three for me. And it's honestly, three is, I don't want to say three is insignificant because it's not. Because, like, if I have a pen that looks perfect and feels great and has a broad nib in it, I end up buying it and it gets sold. Like, I just proved that in the sale that I've made. I sold two Nakayas with broad nibs because they do not write well for me. That doesn't mean they're not perfect in looks and perfect in feel, but they're not perfect in writing. So, it does have to be down to all three. But, I guess it's looks. But, I'm trying to determine a way that it's not looks first, Myke.
Brad: I don't know.
Myke: You just don't want to be judging a book by its cover, right?
Brad: It's not even that. You know, like, my fancy pens. You know, like, my gaudy, like, ridiculous looking pens. Like, so, maybe it's just how it looks. But, like, you know, there's some great looking pens that feel terrible, too. That's important. Both of those are more important than how it writes, I guess, though. So, yeah, I guess I have to go with how it looks, then how it feels, and then how it writes. Way down the list.
Myke: Last question today comes from Match3. I accidentally dyed a fountain pen with a white grip section while refilling it. What are my options? Hashtag horror stories. Yeah.
Brad: I'm asking this question, and this is in the show notes, because I literally do not know. Most of the time, I'm going to say there's no way out of this, right? Because you're dealing with materials that are absorbent, in whichever case this pen is. It's some type of absorbent material, and to reverse that process with a fountain pen ink, and some type of either just basically water or chemical, is going to be detrimental. It just has to be. So, I am asking listeners.
Myke: To remove it in any way, you're kind of attacking it further. Mm-hmm.
Brad: Yeah. So, this doesn't sound like it's an exterior surface issue. Because you just clean it, wouldn't you? Yeah. Well, I don't know necessarily. It could still die. I want this question in here in case anyone has any feedback and has any experience with anything like this. I've only had some fibrous pens that I've stained, and there's just no coming back from a MyCarta stain or anything like that. There's nothing that I'm willing to do. I'm not going to bleach it or something like that. It just is what it is. But for this, maybe even if you had a more specific, tell me the pen. And if listeners have had any experience doing this, I would love to hear it. Because I don't have an answer other than I don't see how it's possible to reverse this without... And make yourself happy with the end result. Like, that's what I'm getting at. Can you get back to 100% normal? I doubt it. But we'll see. I will definitely get some feedback. So Match 3, reach out to me with some more specifics. And any listeners, let me know.
Myke: If you'd like to send out a question of your own, you can send out a tweet with the hashtag AskTPA. You can use question mark AskTPA in the RelayFM members Discord. Or you can email longer questions to hello at penaddict.com. At penaddict.com is where you'll find Brad's writing along with a talented crew of pen addicts. You can find loads of great reviews and info over there. You can go to Spokedesign.com and Noc.co to pick up Brad's wonderful products. Brad streams live three days a week at twitch.tv slash penaddict. It's 10 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays. And then basically straight after we finish our recording of the podcast on Wednesday. So you can go follow Brad there and you'll be notified when he goes live. You can find Brad on Instagram. He's penaddict. Dowdyism on Twitter. Brad on micro.blog. I am imike. I-M-Y-K-E. I have products of my own. Journals and notebooks over at cortexmerch.com. And please donate to St. Jude. Go to stjude.org slash relay. But don't forget we have something fun to talk about about that next week. With Brad's wonderful raffle going on. Thank you so much for listening to this week's episode of The Pen Addict. Thank you to our friends over at ExpressVPN, Pen Chalet, and Canalea Penco for their support of this show. And we'll be back next time. Until then, say goodbye, Brad. Goodbye, Brad.