The Pen Addict 565/transcript

The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript
Episode:	565
Title:	Egregious Gouging
Release Date:	May 24th, 2023
Hosts:	Brad Dowdy Myke Hurley
Guests:	No guests this episode
Additional Information
Official page:	Episode 565
Audio File:	Audio Episode 565
Podcast page:	The Pen Addict 565
Length:	5151 min <br />0.85 h <br /> minutes
Previous Transcript	Next Transcript

Myke Hurley: From RelayFM, this is The Pen Addict, episode 565. Today's show is brought to you by our friends at Squarespace. My name is Myke Hurley. I am joined by Brad Dowdy. Hi Brad, I'm back.

Brad Dowdy: You are back. Glad to have you back. It always feels like a long time, even though we talk pretty frequently, and I say this every time you're gone for a week. It's like, oh, it's been a long time, but actually it hasn't.

Myke Hurley: June's going to be weird for us then, because just as a scheduling note, a couple of scheduling notes, I was away last week, I was on a mini-vacation, spent some time with my friend underscore David Smith for his 40th birthday up in the Scottish Highlands, which is a lovely mini-vacation. But then I got the call, the signal was shone in the sky, and I'm heading back to California to go to WWDC, Apple's Developer Conference. Let's hope I actually make it in the door this time on the property would be nice. So I'm going to be, what we're going to do is next week, we are going to record two episodes. Big shuffling. Yeah, big shuffling for the next few weeks. Two episodes next week. So if you listen live, you can tune in a bit earlier. We're doing our regular episode. The week after that will be in all RSTPA. Okay. So if you actually have any RSTPA questions, go to penaddictfeedback.com and you can send those in and we're going to do a big RSTPA episode. Then Brad's going to have a guest. So I will be back, what is it, like third week of June or whatever. But for me and you, that's going to mean we're not going to, it's going to be like over two weeks.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, that'll be, that's always a long one. Every now and then we have the two week gap, but you know, we got some extra content like building our Lego Orchid for the RelayFM members. So we got to spend some extra time. So it all balances out. I get enough mic time in there and just you're gone long enough for me to start to miss you. So, you know, it works out well.

Guest perspectives and last week's episode

Myke Hurley: And everybody benefits from guests because you get to hear some different perspectives. I really enjoyed last week's episode. It was a very different episode of the pen addict. So getting to hear a little bit from Bryce about how luxury pens works was honestly fascinating. Yeah. So luxury brands, luxury brands.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, yeah. I know it's a thing, but yeah, Bryce and I have known each other for years on the pen show circuit. You may have even met him.

Myke Hurley: Probably.

Brad Dowdy: I don't know. I don't know if y'all have ever crossed paths over the years, but maybe, probably. But it was good to get that perspective from a distributor, right? We talk about that all the time. Like we've always had like pricing conversations and like, you know, who's making these decisions. And I was really curious about like regional things, right? Like, okay, you're the U.S. market. How does this work for the U.S. market? Right. And or how to, you know, what is your role or your business's role in like driving these products? Like, is it strictly marketing? Are you strictly a pass through? And it's like, it's all the things depending on the brand, right? So it was a cool conversation. And I think y'all should check that out.

Luxury brands commissioning products

Myke Hurley: What was really interesting to me is he was kind of talking about like the idea that luxury brands is effectively commissioning products to exist sometimes in a way, right? Like saying like, hey, we would like this kind of product for our market. Can you make it? And like when you explain it, like, yes, it obviously makes sense. They know their market, right? Like maybe even better than, especially in an international pen brand, like they're going to know the U.S. market better than a German pen brand or whatever, right? But it was also super, is it Platinum? He said that they got a brand new product that they've worked on together. Yeah. That's interesting.

Brad Dowdy: And spoiler alert, there is no spoiler alert. He wouldn't even tell me offline. So I have no idea. Like, I get the secrets ahead of time and I don't have that one at all.

Myke Hurley: I reckon it's the Curidas 2. That's what I think it is.

Brad Dowdy: No, that already exists. It just haven't arrived yet.

Myke Hurley: We'll see.

Brad Dowdy: But yeah, like that's the things I wanted to know. Like, do you as a distributor in a certain market get to, you know, put your thumb on the scale a little bit and say, hey, like this market wants this. And then, you know, conversely, how much does the company, you know, have faith in you to deliver that? And it's very like company size dependent. Like Platinum is very large. Colorverse is very small, right? So there's simpler conversations. There's more complex conversations and just all kinds of interesting things going on. So I thought it was a good one.

Myke Hurley: How big of a company do you need to be as a distributor to be able to get Platinum, like to convince Platinum to make specific things for you? Obviously, luxury brands is big enough, right? And that's just an interesting thing. Like luxury brands could be a bigger company than Platinum, but it doesn't really matter. That Platinum's got interests that aren't necessarily just like fulfill what you need, you know? Exactly. It was, yeah, I mean, but also, and you can tell with someone like Bryce, it's relationships, right, as well. It's not just about money. And if they trust luxury brands, then they will be willing to take a swing on something that they're suggesting would be good. So it's really great. Just really insightful conversation. I'm happy. Yep.

Brad Dowdy: So it was good stuff. I was glad to be able to bring that perspective to the show. And we'll probably do some more of that stuff in the future. I think people like hearing about those types of businesses because it affects just like our day-to-day stationery consumption, right? Like this is a very consumer-facing hobby that we're in. It's very capitalism-focused. So it's good to know how all of this stuff happens, right? And just get some clarity on the processes and the roles certain types of businesses play. So I thought it was very cool.

Listener feedback and final thoughts on a topic

Brad Dowdy: All right. We did get some feedback while you were gone, Myke. Maybe, hopefully, probably for you, it's the last word on the king's pen. But we might know what it is now. And it's kind of what we alluded to when we were discussing Coronation Day, that this looked like a highly custom job. And it probably is. So we got this feedback from my friend Peggy sent this to me. Asked Penultimate Dave, who is a great YouTube content creator and is based in the UK. Okay. So Peggy asked the question to Dave, you know, was it the Onodo Coronation pen that Onodo has been promoting like very heavily since the Coronation? And Dave says, hi, Peggy. It wasn't an Onodo, but it was, I believe, a custom pen made in the Birmingham Jewelry Quarter, which is where many of the Onodo sterling silver pens are made.

Myke Hurley: Can we give that another shot?

Brad Dowdy: Yes.

Myke Hurley: Birmingham.

Brad Dowdy: Birmingham.

Myke Hurley: Was it made in Alabama, Brad?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, I know. That's one that will, I am usually pretty good about that. That one does trip me up from a proximity and frequency perspective. Birmingham.

Myke Hurley: I'm just needling you a little bit. I mean, this is about the Coronation, I feel like. Fair enough.

Brad Dowdy: You know what, Myke? You read what Penultimate Dave has to say. Love it.

Myke Hurley: Hi, Peggy. It wasn't an Onodo, but I believe there's a custom pen made in Birmingham Jewelry Quarter, which is where many of the Onodo sterling silver pens are made. There is a Royal Jeweler that Onodo also used from time to time, and many products the Royal Family use are made by the Royal Jeweler.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Royal Jeweler special, right?

Myke Hurley: So, makes sense, right? I mean, this was what I think I came to and you came to, of like, for this, that is no way something that anyone can buy. Like, this is a thing that will be put in a museum, right? Right. Like, this is one of the most important things in our country's history. It's like, the pen that the king used to sign the document. How many of those even exist, like, back into history? Like, a handful? Because what did they use before? Do we even have it still, right? Like, these are very important artifacts. And that would have been a 100% custom job, like, through and through. Makes sense. Makes complete sense. Mm-hmm. Um, yeah. That was a great answer. Yes. I think Dave has probably summed that up. Talking about the coronation, it's just like a random thing I won't share anywhere else particularly, so I just thought I'd mention it. So, my brother just had a baby. So, my brother and his wife just had a baby. And on the birth certificate, they have the coronation seal. Like, any baby born in May 2023 gets the coronation seal on their birth certificate, which I think is awesome. That's kind of wild. It's a little thing to have, right?

Brad Dowdy: Like, that would not have ever registered with me that that was a thing.

Myke Hurley: No, I had no idea. Like, and he didn't have any idea either until they gave him the birth certificate and it was on there. It's like, oh, look at that.

Brad Dowdy: All right, Myke. I think we've had enough fun on this show. So, far. Because I'm about to take it a different direction. All right. You ready? You ready for this? I don't know if you've prepped for this at all. I think you probably did a little bit.

Myke Hurley: I mean, I've seen what you've written, right? And so, I feel like I have an idea of what's coming. And I don't really feel like I'm prepared for it emotionally.

Discussion on Uniball pricing controversy

Brad Dowdy: Probably not. Because I'm still not. I really was hoping I didn't have to talk about Uniball. Uniball.com. And the Uniball.com. What they did to the unique Kiritoga dive on the podcast. It came up like two weeks ago, really. Like right after the last time we recorded. All of a sudden, I started getting emails. It's like, hey. The Kiritoga dive, which Uniball.com. I believe that's a U.S.-based Uniball site. There's so many like weird worldwide sites that I never know which site, which location is actually driving which website. But I started getting emails. Of course, when they started selling the Kiritoga dive, the orange, green, and blue models got back in stock for $40 like a month or two ago. Right? A couple months ago. I was like, oh, great. Like the dive's available. They're starting to put some more out there. And then a couple weeks ago, I got an email. It's like, Brad, I guess click this link. Maybe you shouldn't because you're going to be mad. And I was like, yeah, I'm going to be mad because Uniball is directly now changed the price of the Kiritoga dive to $99 to buy it directly from them.

Myke Hurley: Okay.

Brad Dowdy: So, this is.

Brad Dowdy: I was like, okay, what's happening here? Did something change? Like, why are we selling the $40 pencil for $99 now? And people reached out to Uniball trying to sort out what's going on. And some Reddit users, there was a lot in the Mechanical Pencil subreddit about this, that they got answers from Uniball directly from their customer service. I think it was via Instagram, like direct messages. It says, hi. This is from Uniball themselves. Hi. The Kiritoga dive is a highly valued piece sought after by many. We also ran into issues with resellers, buying them in groups to resell. The price is to combat the resellers.

Myke Hurley: Mm-hmm.

Brad Dowdy: I got so angry at this. I'm sure you did. I could not even see straight. A brand doing this and having that reasoning is the most anti-consumer action I've seen a stationer make in a while. Can I ask you a question? Yeah.

Myke Hurley: So this is like flexible pricing, right? Can you imagine a way, can you imagine a scenario in which this would be okay? Like what if Uniball said like we're trying to manage our inventory or something? Like the pen's selling, it's selling too quickly.

Brad Dowdy: I'm going to grant you this question and say as a manufacturer, there is no valid reason to ever make this decision. Okay. You either make it up front knowing we cannot make many of these pens.

Brad Dowdy: And we thought like we had a good price on this pen. Like this is, you know, we did all of our accounting and we came up with the price of this pen and felt like it was an accurate market reflection of what this pen is worth.

Brad Dowdy: And you have to own that from the jump. You can't now say, oh, well, people are buying and reselling it more because we can't make enough. So we're just going to do it ourselves.

Brad Dowdy: Like you can just go pound sand. Like I just don't believe that the people who made this decision have just any concepts of their place in the market, right? You can't come in and sell a product for $40 and then tell me, well, that was too cheap and resellers are reselling it for more. So now we're going to sell it for $99.

Myke Hurley: I'm just trying to like check with you. You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah.

Brad Dowdy: They accounted correctly when they launched the product, right? From a math and profit perspective, right? So now they're trying to gouge, right? It's not the manufacturer's job to gouge. That's the secondary market. That's their job to gouge. I can't argue with the secondary market, right? People are going to like scalpers are going to scalp, whatever. Like I can't help that. If Uniball can't make enough of these pencils, they should take it down and say, hey, look, we're going to hold until we have enough of a backstock for everyone to have them, right? Or we're going to rethink or we're going to do this and that. But no, they're going to stick it to their customer because of resellers. I don't understand that. Have you ever heard of anyone doing this? Like the brand says, hey, the resellers are getting all the profit here. We're going to jump in that.

Myke Hurley: Honestly, yes, but not in pen. But like I've seen it in other things. I've seen it in fashion. I've seen it in tickets, right? You go to Ticketmaster now and they have their like. That's different.

Brad Dowdy: That's the variable pricing thing. Yeah. Like that's the, but that's not coming from the source manufacturer, right? That's not coming from the band. Right. Yes.

Myke Hurley: Yes. I think the key part and I understand where you're coming from is that like, this almost sounds like some kind of communism political statement. Uniball controls the method of supply, right? Like there's something about that. What am I, where is that coming from? Like there's some, there's something about that phrase that I've just said that's like triggering something in my brain that I can't put my finger on, but like they control the means of supply in theory. Like I will give them the, I will give them the lenience in that you can want to make as many as you want to make, right? But sometimes it's just not feasible, right? You know this. I know this. Like that can happen. However, it does. I'm not saying that it allows you to 2X the price of your product, right? Like that is a bit much, but you know, I don't, I don't think it is as simple for us to say. It's just like, we'll just make more. Like, you know what I mean?

Brad Dowdy: Like it doesn't necessarily work that way. I never, I never say that. Like, I mean, I know I was alluding to that, like, but no, no, no, it's never just, we'll just make more. Like, no, it's not that simple because we're, we're over a year into this already. Like, and they just never been able to do it. Right.

Myke Hurley: But there is, there is a, a weird arrogance in. People want this product so much that it's being bought on the, the, the second hand market or the black market or gray market, gray market, right? It would be, it would be in this instance. Yes. That we're just, we would like that money. Like there is an arrogance in that. Right. Right. Which is like, no, we'll have that.

Brad Dowdy: Which gets back to my whole, which I, I didn't, you know, explain clearly because I don't think I have to. It's just a business philosophy thing that I would never even consider doing. Right. Like the thought like that they came up with this idea is just gross to me. Right. From, from a business perspective. Right. Like that you decide to run a business this way, like a large, a large business. And this is a tiny, tiny product. Let me be very clear in, in the grand scheme of Uniball. Right. Which is just, it's just this, they're just being like, I, they just don't get it. Right. Like this is a, I, I just didn't expect this. Right. Like this is just a, I didn't get it thing.

Myke Hurley: Like now what if like the resellers is like such a strange thing to say, like about this product. Cause it's like, well, but what about the people that want it then?

Brad Dowdy: Like, well, let me tell you, Myke, if you complain hard enough to them and email them enough, they will offer you a $20 off coupon because that's happened to some of my friends. I don't even know what to say about that. That just shows you that how clueless they, they are. Why $20?

Myke Hurley: Why not 40? I don't know. Why not take it down to the actual price then? You know what I mean? Like why $20? Why is it better at 79 than at 49 or whatever it was before? Like that, there is a weirdness in that. Like if, again, it's like, if they were just like, Hey, we've reassessed the market. This product is now $99. Like I would feel better about that. Cause it's kind of just like, we can't make more of them. There's increased, incredibly high demand. So we're just going to take advantage of that situation. And then now our product is $99, but it is the combat the resellers part, which is the strange thing to consider.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. And they haven't come out and said, this is now the price of the dive, you know, and then everyone will make a different like value decision on that. And, but to me, this says we're combating this problem till we can make enough. And then we're going to start selling it for $40 again. That's just gross, right? Like, Oh my gosh. Like I, I, I can't even like wrap my head around this a little bit. Right. It's so just disconnected from like your consumer base. Like it's just so anti-consumer. It just, it, it hurts because I, you know, I love Uniball and this is just, I couldn't believe it. I'm kind of stunned. Like I get some small company making, you know, flying by the seat of their pants, making a decision and then just going, Oh, like, I mean, I've certainly made mistakes. I've made pricing mistakes and was like, man, like, yeah, I screwed up. And, you know, let's, let's not do that again. And let's learn from this. This is just like, like egregious gouging. And I am, I am just not here for it.

Myke Hurley: You think as well, like if you're making a decision like this, you have to consider what your customer base will think about you in the long run.

Brad Dowdy: They clearly didn't.

Myke Hurley: Right. But that's it. Right. They, I don't think they've done that. Like, yeah. If you upset people, do they get a bad taste in their mouth? That's like, is it worth the $50 more? I don't know.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. I mean, to me, right. Right. Like what damage are you doing by, by doing this? And like, I certainly don't know, but this seems like, like a not very well thought out decision. Like this seems like a snap reaction to something and they, they don't seem to care. Like it's been this way for weeks now. So, and this, I mean, believe me, this is conversation. Is it going to change what they think? They don't care. No, they've made the decision.

Myke Hurley: Like this is the decision and you know what's happening? They're making more money. So who's going to change their mind?

Brad Dowdy: Are they though? Like this is not a $99 pencil.

Myke Hurley: Well, I mean, there's only one color in stock.

Brad Dowdy: So they're sold out the other two. Well, maybe they didn't have a begin with.

Myke Hurley: That's true too.

Brad Dowdy: Anyway, I thought I would bring this like, cause I'm really like, I'm really disgusted by this whole situation. Like I, I, I, I've yet to be able to wrap my head around it completely other than just I'm really upset about it and just the, the philosophy of it. Right. It's not the actual physical thing. It's like, okay, that's just another physical thing I don't need. But like the philosophy, like the corporate philosophy, uh, that's where like my problem, my problem stands. And then, and then backing it up with just outrageous comments. It's like, golly, this is wow. Y'all really, y'all really stepped in, in this and don't seem to care. Like do not care. So it is what it is.

Myke Hurley: Do you know who does care, Brad?

Brad Dowdy: I do, Myke. I think it's Squarespace. They really care.

Myke Hurley: They really care. Cause they care about giving you the all in one platform for building a brand and growing your business online with Squarespace. You'll be able to stand out from the crowd of a beautiful website. You can engage directly with your audience and sell your products, services, or the content that you create. Squarespace has you covered. It's super simple to get started with one of their best in class, beautifully designed website templates that are very easily customizable to fit your needs, to fit the, your kind of brand style, the colors you're looking for. It's super simple. You just browse their category of websites to match the business or site that you want to create to find that perfect starting place and then make it feel like your own. They have all of the tools that you're going to need to start selling your own products in your own Squarespace online store. Whether you sell physical or digital goods, they have everything you need built right in and they can help you understand your business using their insights platform. You can find out where your visitors are coming from, where your sales are coming from, and which channels are most effective for you. Everything is available for you to analyze right within Squarespace for you to then take that data to make your website better, your content better, and build a marketing strategy based on your top keywords, products, or content. I've been using Squarespace for 15 years. It's the place that I go when I want to put something online and I have that idea I want to get out into the world and I don't want to spend tons of time like really digging into the code. No. Squarespace is easy. Squarespace is beautiful. Squarespace is the place to go. Go to squarespace.com slash penaddict and you can sign up for a free trial with no credit card required. Then when you're ready to launch, use the offer code penaddict. You will save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. That is squarespace.com slash penaddict. And then when you decide to sign up, use the offer code penaddict and you will get yourself 10% off your first purchase and show your support for the show. Our thanks to Squarespace for their continued support of this show and RelayFM.

Brad Dowdy: All right, Myke, I got our shout out of the week. And this came out of me doing research for our next topic, which we're going to get to in just a minute. I'm going to share with you. But this blog I came across when I was researching is called Shellshore. And I feel like they just wanted me to say it out loud because it's a challenge, but like I get it. And they do pen and pencil and stationery reviews. And I haven't run across this site before, but it looks really cool. So like the author's name is Nathan and they review things like the Pentel Carry mechanical pencil, the Caran D'Ache fix pencil, all of the things like I'm digging all of the topics that they cover. And it's really cool. So I just wanted to shout that out. I've added them to my feed reader. And to further the Shellshore content, I want you to look at a link I just added to the list.

Myke Hurley: Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: And it is the Lamy Safari Atoya Copper.

Myke Hurley: Okay.

Brad Dowdy: All right. So we have talked about this pen before. Okay. And we talked about it just as an idea that, you know, we were talking about just Lamy making cool things for the Japanese market and they did a great job on this. And guess what, Myke? One of my kind followers sent me this pen. They went to on a trip to Japan, went to Atoya, bought this pen and sent it to me. So it's in my hand. And I didn't notice, Myke, until I got it in hand, that it had a very specific logo design on this barrel. So you can see it in every picture. But if you go down to the one, two, three, fourth picture, it is very clear what I'm going to address here and what I would like to ask you. So we talk about our branding designations. The brand X brand conversation is what we call it. So the barrel of this Lamy Safari, this very beautiful Lamy Safari, it's gray with a copper clip. The barrel is stamped with X Atoya on it. And what they're saying is that this is literally the physical product X the store brand. And I wanted to know your thoughts on this because this, my friend, is quite a statement. Hmm.

Myke Hurley: So what we're saying, the Lamy Safari by Atoya. I actually think this counts for me.

Brad Dowdy: But in a physical aspect, it does not say Lamy X Atoya. It does not say Safari X Atoya. It does not say Lamy Safari X Atoya.

Myke Hurley: No, I actually kind of like it because it's making it clear.

Brad Dowdy: This product is by us. It is a grand statement. Yeah. And I am here for it.

Myke Hurley: Because I don't, my kind of thing, I do have some like rules, but they're squishy, right? Because for this one, if we called this the Atoya by Lamy, like that, I don't know if that would work so well for me. Because, I mean, if the way that it's written on Shellshore is the Lamy Safari by Atoya. Like if that's the brand name that they've, if they've given it that, that makes sense to me. It has to be though, based on the stamping. That makes sense to me. Yeah. Yes. So because this is like Atoya, it's their Lamy Safari, right? Rather than like if it was Atoya Copper 01 by Lamy, that would make sense to me. Yes. Right. But because it's called the Lamy Safari by Atoya, that makes sense to me. Like this is the Lamy Safari as designed by Atoya, if that's what they're saying, right? Like they went through and were like, we want this color and this and this and this. That would make sense to me.

Brad Dowdy: Yep. I just kind of love it. I don't know how I didn't notice this when I was fawning over the pictures when it first came out, but it just says X Atoya on the barrel. And I'm like, that is bold and brazen. And like, give me more of this. I'm like, it's just like, put it on like the physical buildings. Like this building, X Atoya. It's just like, come on, man. That's like, that takes some bravado to pull off. And I'm kind of down with it. Like I like it. So anyway, I thought that would be a good, um, a good, uh, little dissertation on how we think about these collaborations. And this was a new format that we haven't seen where they're just taking the physical product as the before the, the prefix. And then the X on there, it's kind of fascinating to me.

Myke Hurley: So I, I will just say though, this to me is a perfect example of how like using the X is just not needed. So like for me, good point. Yeah. I would just say, this is the Atoya Lamy Safari. That's what this is. Like, just call it that. And like, yeah, it doesn't need the X, does it? It doesn't need it. Cause this is like for, for the Mark ones that we do with Studio Neat for Cortex brand, it's called the Cortex Mark one. Like it doesn't need to be the Mark one by Cortex brand. It doesn't need to be Cortex by Studio Neat Mark one. Like you just call it what it is. Like, yeah, this is the Atoya Lamy Safari copper 01. Like that's all this needs to be. You don't need to have the X in there at all. Yeah. Sometimes like it just makes sense to me this way because of what the product is. It doesn't have, we don't have to do everything like a collab, like a collab, you know?

Brad Dowdy: Right, right, right. Yeah. I'm with you. I'm with you. Anyway, I thought you would enjoy that because I get an outsized kick over these type of little things and I get an outsized kick at yelling at Uniball too for big things like that. So, all right, bringing it back around. I want to touch on a few Kickstarter campaigns, Myke, that have crossed, crossed my, my eyeballs here across the internet.

Namisu Pulsar Kickstarter and product design

Brad Dowdy: First up, the Nemisu Pulsar. So, I got an email yesterday saying, hey, we got an, you know, we've, both you and I have both backed Nemisu projects before. I know you're a pretty good fan of Nemisu. Like you've used them before, right? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Myke Hurley: Like you've used them before, right?

Brad Dowdy: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So, UK based, by the way, which you know, but I'm not sure all of our listeners know. So, they are in Edinburgh. Did I do that one right?

Myke Hurley: Edinburgh, yeah. Birmingham.

Brad Dowdy: So, they sent out an email, say, hey, go check out our new Kickstarter. Like, you know, when you do these campaigns, you know, you're on the mailing list for future campaigns and they can send out messages. And they did a mechanical pencil. And mechanical pencil is all the rage now, Myke. Sure is. Clearly. Clearly. I'm a huge mechanical pencil fan. No kidding. Yeah, no kidding. Slightly. A little bit. But they did something cool. Like, I was not, like, way in on this. I was like, okay, cool. You know, titanium barrels, metal barrels, you know, copper nox, different things like that. It's like, yeah, like, I'm good. Like, I, you know, I'm part of spoke design, you know, disclosure. And, like, I like our pencils. They're metal. And, like, these are metal. And they're old grips. And I was like, yeah, I've got all these. Then they went and made a polycarbonate barrel.

Myke Hurley: Oh, my God. That's good.

Brad Dowdy: That's good. So, there is a clear polycarbonate barrel. And that's how Namisu gets Brad to back their product. That's good looking.

Myke Hurley: Like, the overall is good looking. That's extra good looking.

Brad Dowdy: Yes. So, you just, as a pencil product alone, the metal ones look fantastic, right? And they have, like, this slide knock on the front where they can do the different metal parts, different metal coatings. Then they went and did the polycarbonate. And then they have, like, the flame torch metal, like you see in there. We should put a link into the show notes, which I didn't. And I can get it for you afterward. The Leonardo Memento Zero Prisma, which is a special edition done by Stilo and Stile in Italy that was long. It sold out immediately. It was a frosted barrel, clear barrel. And then had these rainbow things. It's like the TWSBI Iris 700R. The TWSBI FAC 700R. Where you have a clear barrel. And then the metal parts are torched right there. They're, you know, the different metals have been flames. So, you get, like, the purples and the greens and the blues and the yellows in there. So, it's like, okay, fine. I will go for the polycarbonate. Plus, I know I'm going to like the weighting of the polycarbonate because it has the metal grip. I like mechanical pencils that have that weighted grip, you know, more than a lightweight barrel. It's a little bit long. I'm interested to see how it stacks up to other pencils. Size-wise, I'm going to say, gosh. So, they have the measurement in here. 148 millimeters. I will have to check and see, like, traditionally, like, what is a Rotring 600? I don't know. Maybe you can find that while I'm vamping real quick. So, like, a Rotring 600 is, like, a traditionally sized mechanical pencil. And I'm going to say it's, like, a good quarter inch longer than that. So, probably a good double-digit millimeter length differential here.

Myke Hurley: Amazon says 16.9 centimeters.

Myke Hurley: No, that's not right. No, that's not right. I'm thinking I might be packaging. I'm trying to find someone who's got it. Yeah, I can find it. 14.1, according to a website called Unsharpen, which is pens and pencils, reviews, and data. 14.1 centimeters body size.

Brad Dowdy: Link. All right. See, I see 13.7. This is a great podcast.

Myke Hurley: Let's say around 14 centimeters, then. So, that's significantly longer.

Brad Dowdy: So, you know, so, what did we say? Like, six millimeters difference? Or at least that's what I'm looking at. So, anyway, it's a little bit longer. It's a long pencil.

Myke Hurley: Wait, how long did you say this one was from the Misa?

Brad Dowdy: 148. So, it's, like, 10 millimeters. Oh, okay. That's weird. It looks much bigger than that. One centimeter longer. Right? You know what it is? We're going to get emails on this.

Myke Hurley: You know what it is, I think? It's the knock, right? Visually is smaller looking, right? And is going to be lighter.

Brad Dowdy: And lower down the barrel. It's just, maybe it's more visual than actual physical. It's just more of, like, an illusion type of thing. Yeah. So, it looks like the knock, the way it's designed, will actually go around the internal mechanism and push it down. So, it's a placement thing, which required the barrel to be a little bit longer. So, anyway, completely fairly priced. You know, I got in on the early bird for the polycarbonate, 33 pounds. I mean, I was like, sure. Like, I will try this out. So, yeah, I am digging that.

Myke Hurley: I've got a question, the size again. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because the polycarbonate shows that there is an empty space at the end. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: I don't understand why it's as big as it is. It could be a bit smaller, it looks like.

Brad Dowdy: Probably for, like, aesthetically with the knock location. Like, I think if you got it to the end of the barrel, you're going to throw off the proportions a little bit. Yeah, you're probably right. Being designer boy here, it has to be in the right spot to have a visual balance.

Myke Hurley: Mm-hmm.

Brad Dowdy: Right? So, it would probably look thrown off if you truncated that end a little bit. I think it would be a little bit off.

Myke Hurley: And this is where you get into that series of trade-offs, right? Yes. Because now it's like, is now the product too big because you had this design point that you wanted to do? I can't answer these questions until I try it. But, like, just visually, it looks large in someone's hand to me.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, as long as it's lightweight and the diameter is manageable, like, the length I can deal with. But we'll see. We'll see what it's like.

Myke Hurley: It's very good looking.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. And for the price, it was worth taking a shot on. So, like, that's how I've treated Kickstarter in the past. Like, there's a lot of pens and pencils and products that still come across Kickstarter. And, you know, I back a few projects a year where I used to back a lot more. I think I'm one of those 100-plus project backers type of people. So, I do a lot of Kickstarter. But I haven't been in there recently. I got the Enso Uno XL. That was a good one. The Carto pen was a good one. And that's kind of like the last couple that I remember getting. So, I'm looking forward to this one. Especially, like, getting something different like the polycarbonate in a mechanical pencil. Because we are seeing a lot of mechanical pencils. Which leads us into the next one. So, it's the Big Eye Design Bolt Action Mechanical Pencil. So, it uses the same Schmidt internal mechanism. And, like, this one I didn't back. But it's actually for different reasons. So, number one, Big Eye Design makes a ton of things. And if I want it, I can probably get it right after the campaign. Right? They are very prolific in just having products available. It's like, if I don't exactly have to get this today, the price is much more expensive. You know, I think it's like $100. Yeah. Which is also fine. Like, I have no problem with the price. Right?

Brad Dowdy: The thing that was actually a detractor for me, which is actually a positive for a lot of people, is you get all three Schmidt mechanisms with it. So, you can get the 0.5, the 0.7, and the 0.9 mechanism. You get one barrel of three mechanisms. I don't need that. Like, I'm just going to stick with the one mechanism I need. I don't need to swap out my mechanisms. But I think for a lot of people, it's going to be like a pro. Right? Like, this is a very... Would be a very popular for a lot of people. I mean, they've raised $100,000 already. Right? It's a $100,000 campaign already. It's great.

Myke Hurley: I think that this is a very, very smart mechanism to have the bolt action retract the lead pipe, and then there's a space to then actuate the...

Brad Dowdy: So, it's a double step.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. The lead being increased or decreased.

Brad Dowdy: And that's what I looked at when it came out, right? I think it's super smart.

Myke Hurley: I think the design of this is really cool, and that does... And again, like, I don't think that was easy to make. That seems like a very complicated thing to get right. Right. So, I've got to add it to them. Personally, I'm more interested in this than the Nemisu.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. That makes sense. Like, I'm totally down with that. And I like the style of the big eye designs. I like the different colored clips. Yeah. I like the different colored bolts. Like, I like that these have a clip where the Nemisu doesn't... Like, it's not really fair to compare the two, but, I mean, you can't help at doing it. But the first thing when I saw these is, like, tell me about this knock mechanism because you're telling me that I can retract the lead pipe completely and also, you know, extend the lead, and it's a bolt action. So, yeah. Like, the first thing I did was, like, show me the diagram or show me this working. And sure enough, there's a diagram in there. It's almost like a little, like, an S-shape bolt action to where there's two phases to it. So, you have the phase to extend the actual tip of the pin, and then you have the click to extend the lead, which is a separate notch in there. And I think it's pretty cool. So, like, I'm, like, super fine waiting on this because I know this will be easy to get after the campaign. And, like, you know, I feel like, like, the price-wise, it's like, yeah, I'm not going to really miss out on a few bucks here to go early. So, yeah, I will be looking forward to this. This is probably something I will pick up afterwards if I'm interested in it. So, very cool. And then what the product that actually made me do this little Kickstarter campaign is my friends, Sayway and Taylor at CW&T. They made one of those simple little things that they do so well. They're very special over there, right? They are.

Myke Hurley: They're living in a different speed to the rest of the world, and I adore it.

Brad Dowdy: That's the good way to put it. I love them so much. They make the simplest things, like, and, like, over-engineer the simplest things, and then on top of it say, yes, I should have that. Even though, like, I probably have things that can do the same thing. But this is, and look, like, it's a great name too, right? This product is called the 556688. So, and those numbers are the angles of this little block that is designed as a phone stand. And they made all three angles to do different ideas, you know, with your phone stance. You can have a, if you have used the 55 degree angle, you can use it to aim down to photograph or record video, like on a surface, right? If you have something, you can have it pointing more towards the surface. For 66 degrees, you can have a chat or take taller things, you know, like do, like, a FaceTime. And then for the 88, like, almost the straight-up angle, it's, like, the video chat or, like, the point of view documentation. So, it was, it's really simple, really smart. It's typical CW&T, right? Like, it's just, it's really good and cute. And, like, I've backed for two of them. And because I need one on this desk and I need one on my other desk and one to be portable around. And, of course, Myke, they have this stinking add-on that got me. So, they have the pen type C, which is the little fidget pen that I like. Like, the, I call it the gift shop pen with the little, the little wire cover that most people really will not like this pen or use this pen very frequently, but it actually works well for me. They have this really beautiful green and all these glyphs on the side of the package or on the side, etched on the side of the pen. So, it's, it's kind of cool. So, yeah, thanks, Saeway and Taylor. Y'all got me again. So, appreciate that.

Myke Hurley: So, that's something funny to me. That just doesn't mean anything at all, but it is just funny to me. So, there were three products here, right? They all have videos. This has the longest video out of the three things we're talking about today. Really? And I just think that's adorable. Like, the two pens, a minute. This one, two minutes. That's how they roll. So, they just, they're different. Like, they're just, this product, I love the look of it. I wished that you could put a cable through it. Put a cable through that and I'd be happy, right? Like, if I could have my phone charging somehow. Oh, interesting. I know it would be a totally different product then because you would need to have enough, like, clearance from the bottom. But, yeah, yeah, yeah. This is, like, a lovely little idea. Lovely.

Brad Dowdy: Because I was, all I could see was, like, photography and video. I was like, okay, yes, I will use this, right? And, again, like, it was $30? How much are these? Yeah, $33. So, you know, it's nice aluminum. They, CWT, would just make, like, high quality. Like, their craftsmanship's great. You know, it's not cheap, but it's not expensive either, right? And I think I will get a lot of use out of it. So, that's what sent me down the stinking Kickstarter rabbit hole. That and Namisu's email. So, I got marketed to very heavily this week, Myke. Except by Uniball. They did not market to me very well. So, they can do something else with their lives.

Myke Hurley: Well, they did. But it wasn't good.

Brad Dowdy: All right. You want to end this on a positive note?

Myke Hurley: You sure?

Brad Dowdy: I mean, we've been very positive here this whole show. This show's about positivity, Myke. Except on Uniball's Kuro Togo Dive pricing. Otherwise, we're very positive here at the Panodic Podcast. I've been wanting to write. And I wrote a little note here in the show notes called Happy Writing. Like, I don't know what it should be called. I don't know why I feel different than literally my entire life, my relationship with writing. Right? Like, I've always been into, like, handwriting. Like, the physical act of writing.

Brad Dowdy: You know, since I was a kid, that's why I, you know, have a blog about pens. Because I like to find pens that make me happy when I write with them. But recently, and I can't explain it. And there's no good reason for it. But, wow. I have just wanted to write with everything. Like, all the pens. All the pencils. All the fountain pens. All the notebooks. All the paper. I'm just like, what can I write? What can I write? And it's not that much different than my day-to-day. Except right now, I'm just actually thinking about it a lot. Like, it comes up in my head more than normal. Even if, okay, today I wrote X amount. And, you know, or a month ago I wrote X amount. And today I write, you know, X plus one. Right? I feel like it's a lot more when it's really the exact same. But the feeling I have about wanting to do it is very strange to me right now. It's like, oh my gosh. I'm going to go write a bunch of pages in my journal. Or I'm just going to go write this list. Or I'm going to go test this pen. Or I'm going to go try these inks. Like, I'm just about to, like, I'm about to do a whole fountain pen and ink refresh. Like, I'm excited about this. I don't know why. And there doesn't have to be a reason. You know, it's what I do. It's who I am. It's built in me. We've always talked about one of my frequent comments is that I can't not do this. But for some reason, I am even more amped about writing right now. And I don't know that there's a conversation around this or, like, there's any reason why. It's like, I just feel like writing is in a good place right now. And maybe it's because, like, you know, I've been just, like, generally stressed for no reason. And, like, had a lot of anxiety over the last couple weeks for no reason, right? Like, the people who, you know, like myself, who are very highly anxious people. There doesn't have to be reasons to be anxious. So, when I have the complete opposite feelings of just complete joy with writing with a pen, it stands out. So, I don't know. Maybe that's my point is, like, there is this enjoyment from using these things and the tactile feel of these things and the holding of these things and the looking at the design of these things and joking about these things and, you know, taking it out on companies who price things incorrectly. I don't know. I don't know. It just makes me happy. And I'm glad to be able to share that with everyone. That was all.

Myke Hurley: So, when you're saying about writing, because I originally thought you was going to mean you meant, like, blogging more. But you just meant, like, actually writing.

Brad Dowdy: Mm-hmm.

Myke Hurley: Mm-hmm.

Writing habits and personal reflections

Brad Dowdy: Like, the physical pen to paper or pencil to paper act has been more at the forefront of my mind than I – it – so much, like, I literally do this all day, every day. So, for it to stand out that much for a long span, like, we're talking – like, this has probably been going on for, like, a month. It stands out to me when I have these thoughts. Because I just do it every day anyway, right? I'm always writing something. For me to notice even more than I already do, like, I don't – I guess I'm trying to figure this out. I was like, what does that say? And, like, it doesn't have to say anything. It just means, yeah, man, this stuff's cool, right? It doesn't have to be more than that. Or, like, hey, this is fun. Or, like, I enjoy this. Like, it doesn't have to be something more than that. But it was to a point where I was noticing this, like, every day. I was like, huh, I really want to use this pen and this ink and this paper. Let's go. And I do it. And it's like, yeah, that was cool. What else? Like, what's – oh, let's use this pen and this ink and this paper. Oh, let's try this pencil. I don't know. I'm always like that. But I've just noticed it right now and I can't explain why nor should I probably try.

Myke Hurley: No, but sometimes I think if you notice something about yourself like that, then you're best to, like, make it clear and capitalize on that, you know? Like, there's something, you know, kind of like the yearly themes in that, right? Where it's just, like, if you can put a label on a thing, then you're giving yourself a reason to experience it. So, it's like right now you're like, right now I am just having a great time mixing and matching products and just using them. Like, if you can put that out loud, right? Like, if you can just make that, like, a clear thing, then you're saying to yourself, you know what's going to make me happy right now? Like, I already know what it is. It's playing around with these pens. And then just, you can give yourself an excuse to do it and you're not going to feel guilty about it because you're not just, like, tooling around. Like, you know, you're doing something specifically, like, purposefully to make yourself feel better.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. And it's like a very, like, my thought processes are when it comes to, like, this writing thing that I'm in right now. It's a very, like, specific focus, like, at the time. It's not like I'm going to go write and enjoy that. It's like, no, I'm going to use this pen and this ink and this nib and this paper and this is what I'm going to write about. It's this really weird clarity going right now because, like, I literally do this every day. Like, what is different over the last 15 years about this last month where I've just had these thoughts? And I'm sure I've had these thoughts before, but I've never had it just be just, like, this overwhelming thing on the front of my mind. I'm like, oh, I'm going to go do this. And, yeah, let's go. It's weird. I don't know. It's good. Like, no complaints. Like, it's like, I guess I'm just surprising myself because I already do all this. What's different? And I don't know. It doesn't have to be different. It just feels good. Happy writing, Myke.

Myke Hurley: If you want to find some products online that you can enjoy with happy writing, you can find the show notes for this episode. You can go to relay.fm slash penaddict slash 565. And if you want to get yourself something great to write with, why don't you head over to spokedesign.com as well. Get yourself a lovely pen, a lovely mechanical pencil. Brad also has wonderful products available in the penaddict shop at penaddict.com. There's always some fun collabs. Some collabs, some something by something always happening over there.

Brad Dowdy: You know what? Next week, we should talk about some new things I'm up to with, like, Spoke and the penaddict. I have had some new things come across. See? I like that. The stuff doesn't even cross my mind. The capitalism portion of the episode. We'll talk about it next time. I'd like to do that. We'll do that next week. We got some fun things going on. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: I'll talk about some stuff I'm working on, too. We can cover it next time. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You can find Brad streaming multiple times a week over at twitch.tv slash penaddict. You can find him as penaddict on mastodon.social. He's also penaddict on Instagram. I am iMike, I-M-Y-K-E. You can find my products over at cortexbrand.com. Thanks so much for listening to this episode of the penaddict, and thank you to Squarespace for their support. We'll be back next time. Don't forget, upgrade. No, not upgrade. I keep doing this. Penaddictfeedback.com. Sorry.

Brad Dowdy: I see where I stand.

Myke Hurley: It's the one I say the most. You know? Every episode of Upgrade, I say Upgradefeedback.com three times. So, you know, that's just how it goes. Penaddictfeedback.com is the best possible form that anyone could go to. Go there to send in your RSTPA questions, and we'll be back next time. Until then, say goodbye, Jason. Goodbye, Jason.