The Pen Addict 573/transcript

The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript
Episode:	573
Title:	Corporate Stooge
Release Date:	July 18th, 2023
Hosts:	Brad Dowdy Myke Hurley
Guests:	No guests this episode
Additional Information
Official page:	Episode 573
Audio File:	Audio Episode 573
Podcast page:	The Pen Addict 573
Length:	5252 min <br />0.867 h <br /> minutes
Previous Transcript	Next Transcript

Myke Hurley: From RelayFM, this is The Pen Addict, episode 573. Today's show is brought to you by ExpressVPN. My name is Myke Hurley and I'm joined by Mr. CEO, Brad Dowdy.

Brad Dowdy: Good morning, everyone. Hi, my name is Brad Dowdy from The Pen Addict and thank you for having me here today. Oh, wait, no, this isn't. Is this the talk?

Myke Hurley: So, as we are recording this, we're recording a day earlier than usual because our usual time, Brad will be in an undisclosed location at the UniWall America headquarters telling them what they need to know about the pen world.

Brad Dowdy: I think they have that pretty well covered. No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Myke Hurley: I see, I can say it, right? You can't say it because you're not going to be there, but I'm going to say it. Brad's going to go down there and he's going to whip them into shape over at UniWall.

Brad Dowdy: I don't know how much whipping into shape I have to do, but it's going to be fun. I'm excited. As you know from me talking to you, I'm anxious, right? Like I have to give like a talk, you know, like, hey, can you talk in front of these people for like 20, 30 minutes? And I'm like, yes, I can, but like getting there.

Public speaking versus podcasting

Myke Hurley: What we do, what me and Brad do every week is not public speaking, right? Like this is a completely different skill set. As I'm sure many people listening to this know, right? When you have to get up and do a presentation in the office, right? It's like, it's nerve wracking. And I, you know, I don't envy you specifically, but I am like excited for you. Cause I think this is going to be, this is going to be really cool. This is one of those things that you don't need to hear this advice, but I'll give you this advice. In this situation, everyone who's there wants you to be there and they want to hear what you got to say.

Brad Dowdy: Okay. I mean, that's a good perspective to have.

Myke Hurley: That's not always the case, right? Right, right, right, right. But everybody who's there is like, like they want you to be there. They've asked you specifically to come and talk to them. So I'm really excited next week to hear what your experience was like.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, it's going to be great. And like you were kind of alluding to, even our live podcasts, those are a breeze, right? Like I can't tell you how many hours I've put into like a 20 minute talk so far. I mean, it's got to be, we're well into double digit hours of me working on this talk. And like I still only feel like maybe like 80 or 90% there. Like I'm having trouble, as someone who doesn't do this type of thing, I'm having trouble closing the deal, right? Like bringing home the point at the end, that's the challenge. Like the podcast, we can just, the podcast we can end and guess what? We can do follow up next week, right? This one, I have to like bring it all the way around and make it cohesive. And that's my hang up. And, you know, I've got about 24 hours to dial that in. But I feel totally okay about it. Like I'm not overly worried, but I'm going to keep working on it tonight and tomorrow morning. And I've definitely worked it through out loud. You know, I've recorded myself. I've given the presentation, you know, several times to Toby, my dog. He's tired of it by now. And I'm still not there, but it's not the end of the world. It's not a big deal. I'm trying not to sweat it too much, but I want to do a good job. So I am putting some time and effort into it.

Myke Hurley: So I can't wait to hear about it. But yeah, that is the hard part that like put in a full stop on the whole thing. Like that's right. You know, it's just like, I can talk to you for an hour and we can end, but I guess you want me to like give you a close. Right. And like that's hard, right? Like the conclusions of anything are complicated.

Brad Dowdy: Right. So I feel pretty good overall. I just want to tighten that part up and I'm not quite there yet, but I'll be happy by the time I walk in there tomorrow. So I'm not too worried. I definitely I've run through about five different ending points so far right now and I'll just I'll figure out what works the best and just go for it and it'll be fine.

Listener feedback on Muji polycarbonate fountain pen

Myke Hurley: Brad, we have a selection of correspondence reporting in from the field, mostly via penaddictfeedback.com about the Muji polycarbonate fountain pen. Carol says Portland Muji checking in. None in stock. None scheduled to arrive anytime soon. Trance says, Trance Report, Trance Dispatch says, I found the Muji fountain pen here in Taiwan. We're looking at 139. Is that Taiwan dollar? Is it empty in the dollar sign? Yeah. Let me see what that is. Entee dollar. I want to get that right. That gave me the National Theater. That's no that's no help. Is it? Come on, Google. It's in National Theater dollars. New Taiwan dollar. That's what the NT is for. New Taiwan dollar, which is just under five dollars USD. I love those kinds of things, by the way, when it's like the differences between currencies and like what they mean. Five or 139. How do we get here? Right. I don't know. Including taxes, but not at all stores, says Trent, and only available in one nib size. Oh, three. And meals dispatch from Vancouver, Canada says that they immediately went to the store, to the online store, I should say, to buy one of these. Before ordering, I did go to the physical store to see if they had any. I wasn't expecting to find one, and I was right. Nowhere to be seen. But I got one online.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Canada was the one of the two online shops that I found it in. I love that this is our bit now, right? Like, I love the $5 fountain pen check-in. I was honestly surprised how many people had written it.

Myke Hurley: It was a surprise. Because I don't think we asked for this, right? Like, I'm not complaining, right? But it was like, people did it. I feel like now we've done this, maybe we'll get more. And you know what? Go for it. Like, someone's going to make Muji restock, and maybe Pen Addict listeners can do it.

Brad Dowdy: That's exactly right. And last week, we had Italy and Australia, right? So we're covering all our bases here. So Muji, get on the restocks. We need you. We need. The people need their pens, Muji. They do. And this is one of the good ones. So make it happen. And keep reporting. And if you have Muji Polycarbonate Fountain Pen news from around the globe, we would love to hear it. You can. Where can they send that feedback to, Myke? Penaddictfeedback.com. You can send it in there. Nice, nice. This is where we also got this upcoming feedback, which I am so excited you put this in here. Actually, I like this topic, and we're going to, let's see what we got here in this next bit of follow-up.

Myke Hurley: We also have quite a few people writing about the Pilot nibs. So was it 15 Pilot nibs?

Brad Dowdy: Yes, 15 nibs. 15 nibs.

Myke Hurley: We were talking about last time, and we had Robert. I wanted to read out Robert and Joe's feedback specifically. So Robert says, on the Pilot 912 specialty nibs, the coarse and broad, broad are fantastic if you're looking for a custom grind that needs a lot of tipping, like an architect or full-on Naginata Togi style. Before you jump in on this, I have an opinion on this. I have a hot take. Okay. I just don't know why you would buy this nib if you're then just going to get it ground to something else. Like, is it that good of a platform?

Brad Dowdy: Yes. So, yeah, you would be very wrong in that statement. And not in a, like, oh, you're wrong type of way, but this is exactly why people buy, like, sailors.

Myke Hurley: I don't understand it. Now I understand it. I was like, you're crazy. Yeah. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: No, this is the fraction of the fraction percentage that would buy this type of thing for that. But the platform that a coarse or a broad, broad gives you, which I am so glad you said broad, broad instead of double broad. Well, it's BB, baby. Yeah, it is. It is. And these types of tippings for people who are really into this stuff and really want to have the wilder, the nib, the better, or the more expressive, the nib, the better. You need a platform to give to a nib grinder. And when you have this huge bulk of tipping on the end that coarse and broad broads have, then you are setting up for, like, a good bit of shaping to happen on those type of platforms. So this is a good perspective from Robert in thinking about this and how I can review this. So my whole question, ending question last week was how should I review this? How should I review 15 nibs? And what should be the way, what should be the questions I answer for people that are interested in hearing me talk or write about these things? So this is a good, good question. And it basically Robert's saying, like, why? Like, why would you buy an extra fine nib? Why would you buy a fine nib? And in the case of a coarse, why would you buy a coarse nib? Well, you can have a big broad signature. Or if you're really into this stuff, you now have a platform to have this big sword shape, sword tip, Naga Nata Togi or something like that, right? Where you're giving someone else the platform to do their best work. And that's what coarse and double broad would give you. So, yeah, I think that's great feedback and something to consider as I go forward in this project.

Myke Hurley: And Joe says, Why don't they just sell the nibs, Brad? P.S. The Estabrook adapter section fits the 912 perfectly. So at least I can use the 912 bodies of any of the dozen of available Estabrook vintage nibs that I have. Why don't they just sell the nibs, Brad?

Brad Dowdy: This is a short feedback that is so awesome. I have so many things to say about these two or three sentences of feedback that I am so excited that Joe sent this in. So I can't answer why Pilot refuses to sell swappable replacement nibs only because I have not asked them the question. That is now a question I will ask them.

Myke Hurley: But I will say in Joe's original feedback, he did ask if you could ask them. But I took that out in case that was overstepping. But now you can ask them.

Brad Dowdy: It's not. I will ask this question because the experiences I've had over the last five or ten years working with makers who have used platinum parts in their pens to make pens around basically have to go around Pilot's back to get inventory to make pens with their nibs. It's just something as a company they do not do. And my gut tells me that it's a control thing, right? They want to control the platform that their nibs are on, right? So any of the makers who at one point were acquiring vanishing point nib units and making pens around them, if they publicly advertised them, they would get a letter from Pilot and asking them to stop. I don't know what recourse Pilot would have, but it did not go well for the two or three people that I've talked to that have done this. So it's weird because Sailor does a little bit of this. Platinum I don't think does any of this either. So it's a weird situation. And I do think to help Joe out here, I am going to ask that question.

Brad Dowdy: We're not going to get a satisfactory answer, right? This is a lot of times why I don't ask the questions to large multinational corporations is because I already know the answer going into it, right? I can only beat my head against the wall so much. But maybe I'll get something. Maybe I'll get something. But I will ask this question.

Brad Dowdy: But it's really a control thing. And I mean that in a positive way as a brand, right? Like they want to ensure the final product is up to Pilot standards. And if someone buys a product with a Pilot nib in it that's not a Pilot pen and didn't come from Pilot, and then Pilot starts having to get feedback on these things, you know, things have been out of their control. Um, with those single nib units. So that's my guess. That's my gut feeling. So the second part of the question, or the second part, it was really just a comment. The Estabrook adapter section fits the 912 perfectly. That's cool. I had no idea. So, uh, that is a pretty neat swap. That is something, uh, that is a part that I have with one of my Estabrooks. And I have a 912, of course. So, uh, that is something I need to, uh, try out and swap. Because that's pretty interesting. I don't know that I would use that full time because I love the 912 nibs so much. But that is at least something fun to play around with. So good feedback from Joe and Robert and great questions. I also had at least two other emails directly to me offering up, um, ideas or suggestions on how to handle, you know, reviewing, you know, people chiming in saying, Hey, here's what I would look for, what I'm looking for from this whole huge batch of nibs. So I appreciate the feedback on that. So any feedback y'all have on this project, which I'll start working on when I get back, uh, from this little short trip, uh, in the next week or two and, uh, start figuring out how I want to do this. So, um, this is great. Keep it coming.

Myke Hurley: Great.

Discussion of items on their desks

Myke Hurley: All right. So should we talk about what we have on our desks today? Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So every now and then Myke and I like to check in with what we are using and the things that are, you know, have, uh, matriculated to the, the top of the desk within reach. And mine is a little bit different this time, which is why I wanted to do it because I've made a little packing kit for my date, essentially overnight trip to Chicago to go talk to Uniball. And I wanted to tell you what I have laid out to bring, uh, stationery wise on this trip, right? If I was going to a pen show, this would be a much longer, much broader carry situation. Um, you know, just for bringing different fountain pens, different inks, different papers, all kinds of different stuff in a much bigger, uh, packing situation. I'm literally carrying a, uh, uh, a Tom Ben, uh, 24 liter backpack is all I'm bringing for, for this trip. So it's a short one. So my stationery packing is light. Number one, the first pen that I've packed, of course, it's going to be a Uniball, but which one Myke, it's going to be the Signo RT 0.8, 0.38 millimeter in black. And there's a big reason why I'm bringing this.

Myke Hurley: Is it because you're a corporate stooge?

Brad Dowdy: It is. Number one, I'm a show. I'm giving you such a hard time today. I just want you to know I love you. That's all. Oh, hey, if anyone could take it, it's me. So, uh, we'll, we'll get to my full, full stooge, stooge-edness, uh, with the last link that I just put in before we stopped, uh, before we started recording today. So, uh, you'll see my full, full stooge-edness, um, uh, here in a moment. But this pen is the core of my talk to Uniball. So we'll save the rest of that. If you've followed me long enough, you kind of know where that's going with that, uh, with that pen. But I physically am bringing this pen to use as a prop, um, for my talk. Um, when I, when I go there. Secondly, this is, this is the real shill. Myke is I'm bringing a spoke roadie, but I'm bringing the spoke roadie because one, it's a great travel pen, but number two, it's built around the uni jet stream. Um, their, their Parker style refill, it's called the SXR 600 07. And I, yeah, that's, that's more of, that's way more shilling than the first one is like, Hey, look at this spoke pen that I made. I am bringing them some spoke gifts, right? I'm bringing them some roadies and some spoke pens, uh, because we build, we build some of our pens around Uniball refills because they are the best, right? I built the, helped build the spoke pen around the Signo DX refill, which is not the same pen that I mentioned up top. And, uh, we can elaborate that on another day in time, why they're different. And then we built the spoke roadie around this jet stream refill. And I chose these refills for specific reasons and that they're the best at what they do for their size. So those are the only two pens I'm bringing. I'm bringing my plotter narrow, which is somewhere where I just have like all, I can keep any notes I need, right? I'll just have one of the random thoughts and note taking and general capture. It's my capture notebook when I'm traveling, right? It's normally has, and it still does have my, like my task and planners and calendars and things like that. But it also has a, just a general notebook section in there. So that's my general notes inside that plotter. I have stuffed a stack of not co note cards, RIP to the not co note cards. Uh, I'm sorry for bringing this up. Yep. Sorry for bringing this up. I do have as my own personal stash. Don't at me, um, to send you some, I wish I could still make them. They don't make the paper. And I have not tried to find something comparable. I am not, I'm never saying never on that one because I love them so much, but, uh, not right now, but I am using some of my stash to plan my talk. So I am note carding my talk, right? So I'm not using a slideshow or laptop or anything like that to do my talk. I'm using note cards. So I've gone through 20 cards or so, just writing notes, ideas, shuffling, shuffling them around, trying to workflow a 20 ish minute talk and note cards work great for that. Right. Because you can manipulate them in certain right ways. You know, I have like, kind of like not quite my final version yet, but you know, I have them numbered. They also look good to hold.

Myke Hurley: Like if you're going to hold something for notes, like note cards are best, better than a notebook, better than a phone or an iPad. Like note cards are really good.

Brad Dowdy: Yep. And I haven't, I'm out of practice, like glancing and talking and glancing and talking. So I'm actually working a little bit. I'll do a final version tonight and like in the hotel room, um, where I have a little bit more visual cues, right? Um, have some bigger like block style, like real points that I want to drive home. So when you're just glancing, right, because I need to be not looking at my cards, but I need them there for reference. So I'm working on the actual, I'll have like a final version tonight where I'll, um, lay that out a little bit better, just visually speaking. But like, I know the content on them, but you, it's just good to have there for refreshers, reminders, and the flow of the conversation. Because I, I mean, you're totally going to get stuck, like while you're talking, like you're just going to get stuck. So you have this good little visual reference to get you back in, back in the path. Um, it's great. Like I'm, I'm kind of excited about using my note cards, uh, for a talk. So that'll be something different for me. And, uh, I'm hoping it goes well. I think it will. I've practiced, you know, yesterday holding the cards, glancing down, but not like staring at them. So like I sit there and practice, I have voice memos all filled up in my phone of me practicing this talk. So yeah, it's a whole thing.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, I video myself. That was something that Gray recommends. So my own, my like main example that I think of was back in like 2015, I gave a keynote, uh, opening keynote for the release notes conference. Yeah. And, uh, I was, that's like the biggest kind of presentation I've ever done. And it was Gray's recommendation that I video myself doing it. Yeah. And then just watch it back. And that would be similar to the, the audio too. Just listening. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So like, I'm okay. Not videoing myself. I see myself enough on camera. Like I'm okay with like my emotions and my delivery. Yeah. Yeah. But, um, I will definitely, there will be another session tonight, uh, in the hotel room as I finalize my note cards. But, um, we're, we're, like I said in the beginning where I'm, I feel 80, 90% there. Like I'm not sweating it too much. I just want to kind of stick the, stick the landing a little bit better. So I want to practice a little bit more. Um, lastly, Myke, I'm bringing, uh, some sneakers. The sneakers I'm wearing, Myke are very uni ball centric, uh, you know, little red, little blue, little black. These are actually called, uh, the Jordan one mid deep Royal blue blacks. And yeah, the, I've had these for four or five years. Now back, uh, in the COVID times, I got into the sneaker hobby. I haven't bought a pair of sneakers in two or three years now. So I'm still going through like the 20 pairs that I bought during COVID. Cause that was my, that was what kept me busy. This was one of them. I paid like, like just basic retail, maybe even less than retail. And this is one of those shoes that has kind of gone up from there, right? There's this whole secondary market for them. Like I paid like completely normal, if not below market rate for these when I bought them. Um, but they're cool because the color name is deep Royal blue black. And then that's not a more perfect name for me. I don't know what is. So, um, I, I took a little, took a little picture of me, uh, my, my fit check for my talk tomorrow. Yes. I'm thinking about what sneakers I'm wearing to talk in front of people tomorrow. Um, you feel good, man. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Makes you look good, feel good, feel good, play good. Right. Right. Dress for the job you want. That's right. That's right. Uh, you know that with your, uh, your golf now, man, you gotta, you gotta look the part to play the part, right? Uh-huh.

Myke Hurley: I may be going to talk about that in a second. I want to mirror your idea of, uh, bringing sneakers to the show.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So I, my, uh, my little set of Uniball RT1, RT fountain pens, excuse me, not the RT1, uh, clipped them to my show, shoes, tagged Uniball in, so I'm, I'm playing it up big here for Uniball and getting ready to, getting ready to hit the road. So, uh, we're going to show out tomorrow. I'm, I'm feeling good.

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Brad Dowdy: All right. What you got going, Myke? That's my packing kit. That's my stationery kit right now. This is going to serve me well for a couple of days. So what do you have going on?

Myke Hurley: Well, as always, Sidekick Notepad on the desk is what I use to take notes. It's one of the reasons the product exists. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: Not going to lie to you, Myke. I need to use mine more because it's really cool. I really like it and I just have not been using it. But it's one of those things that I know is good and I know it's perfect. And so I just got to put it in the rotation and get going.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. Continue to be happy with the feedback we've got about it. Continue to be happy with the sales that we've got. We're really encouraged by how many of these we sell a day, considering we haven't kind of unlocked our full marketing arsenal that we have available at Cortex Brand. Which is a video from Gray, right?

Brad Dowdy: I was going to say it's Gray's YouTube channel. That's the nuclear option.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. I mean, and it's part of what we do, right? Like Gray's made a couple of videos about the journal. And I think that they continue to result in a very long tail of sales. And I think the Sidekick Notepad will maybe get that treatment one day. But it's doing really well on its own out there in the world. And we're very bullish on it. And, you know, we're building a family of products around it now. And we're going for some different layout stuff from different sides and stuff. So that's all to come. I mean, I'm going to say hopefully this year. But, you know, you know how it goes. Sure, sure, sure. But I absolutely love my Sidekick Notepad. I use them every day and you can get it for yourself. Something that has, I think I mentioned this on the show, but I've been really surprised about just how often I am grabbing the Studio Neat Mark III, their pencil. That surprises me greatly. I think I use it every day and have since it arrived. It's actually now, like, so I have my pen cup where I've got a bunch of Mark I's in there. And I've got the Tactile Turn and, like, just a quick to grab pens, quick to make note pens. That's on my, like, main desk. And then I have all my fountain pens on my recording desk, where I am now. But on the, I'll kind of look at the main desk. But I have my Mark III just sitting next to my Sidekick Notepad there. And it's just, like, quickly grab it and just, like, scribble something down. And I find it to be very pleasant to use. Today, the pen that I'm using to take my show notes with is the Pen Addict Agiotto Colab. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: Just a treat to use. I, yeah. Like, y'all don't want me to talk about Agiotto because it will just not be fair. Like, that's how much I love the pen. Like, that's all you need to know. It's a really special pen to me. I don't understand why I like it so much. Like, it's really hard to grasp the concept of such a simple product. Same goes with, like, the Studio Neat, like, the Mark I and III's, right? Like, they're very simple. Very simple. But the thought and care that goes into the design and construction of these things, it sets them apart. That's why, like, I fought over some of these things like that, especially, like, the Agiotto. My collaboration with them is just, it's one of my favorite pens of all time, bar none.

Myke Hurley: It's so comfortable to use. Deceptively heavy, but in a good way. Like, it's got weight to it, which you wouldn't expect just by looking at it. And the tape is super good, and the texture they put on this with the paint is, like, excellent. And obviously, it carries the same great refill that's in many of the pens that we adore, like the Mark I and the Rage 51. And then my extra that I'm bringing today is my golf bag. Nice. It's by a company called Vice. Okay. I found them on Instagram, and I have a bunch of their stuff now because I really love their whole, like, aesthetic. It's very fun. That's really cool. Very loud. And I have the Force Golf Bag in gray and neon lime. Yeah. Accent. This is sweet. Very loud. This is a very loud bag, but that is exactly what I'm looking for. It's, like, I don't think it's that loud. I mean, it is, like, compared to the golf bag. That lime, the lime is, what I would say is every time I see someone's golf bag, the golf bags tend to be on the more chill side. Like, they're just, like, one color or whatever. Maybe they've got a big logo on them. But this has a big logo and a bunch of, like, neon lime accents.

Brad Dowdy: I love it. Like, as, like, I'm not an old, stodgy golf person. I would carry this in a second. Like, this looks great. And plus, it looks like a good design, right? I'm a double strap, carry bag, stand bag type of person. Very flexible.

Myke Hurley: Like, a couple of handles in key places. The double strap, which you can use one or both. Like, and it's got that little mechanism that when you put it down, the little legs pop out so you can stand it. It's really nice. Pockets in the right place. I also have a matching golf glove. Like, same style. Nice. Nice. Nice.

Brad Dowdy: Love it. Myke and I, we're planning a, the idea has been popped into our head to have a golf outing at some point in the future. The Pen Addict Podcast Invitational. So, yeah, that's great. I love that the golf thing has stuck with you. And I was, yeah, I was telling you before the show, I need to get back and start practicing. I haven't picked up a club in probably two years. So, I need to go to the driving range some this summer, maybe play a round or two. Because I might be doing a little something fun in September, which is not far away, Myke. The days are going by fast. Too fast.

Myke Hurley: Brad, you think? Yeah? You think I'm not aware of how close September is? Oh, my gosh.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So, completely sidetracking.

Myke Hurley: I'm at the point where I'm about to start my countdown clock.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Like, right now, you probably feel behind, right? Yeah. Like, it's just the nature of the calendar right now. So, yeah, I feel you. I feel you. Hey, just so you know, and I haven't told you this, I got a lot of stuff working behind the scenes. So, we're going to do some fun Pinnatic stuff this year. Heck, yeah. Come on. It's all working. It's all working already. All right. Let's get into a shout-out of the week, and then we'll do some Ask TPA. Then we're going to get me out of here so I can hit the road, Myke. Shout-out of the week. Pencil fodder. I don't think. I do a poor job of listing out everyone. So, sometimes I might duplicate, but that's just because sites are so awesome, and Instagram feeds are so awesome, and YouTube feeds are so awesome. When I see something awesome, I'm going to share it, even if I've shared them before. So, Pencil Fodder is, as you can imagine, a pencil blog. It's not updated that often, but when they do, they're usually bringing all kinds of cool vintage wooden pencils to the forefront on their posts. And this most recent one is one of my favorite posts. It's been one of my favorite posts to read on any stationery blog this year. It is covering Mitsubishi Anniversary Edition pencils. And let me tell you, you want to take some time to go through this post because it is long. It has a ton of pictures. I love all the pictures, and you get to see all the different varying anniversary releases that Mitsubishi has done. Well, not all of them, but a ton of them. And it's cool to see all the packaging, all the extra stamping, all the extra work they put in on all these features. So, there's some old vintage editions. There's some more modern editions. There's some Disney collaborative editions in here. You'll see a lot of those in here. Myke, some really wild sets. I don't know if you have seen this, Myke, but if you scroll down, there is a picture. When you scroll down of, which is this, the High Uni, and it's a maroon pencil. And if you line up all these pencils correctly in the case, the stamping on the pencils spell Disney Mickey Mouse 90th. Like, each pencil has a letter. And then the barrel stampings have stars placed in different locations to where they end up lining up and making the mouse ears in there. Like, that's intense. Like, that's cool. So, this was a really neat post. And I just wanted to make sure everyone saw it because it's really fun. If you're into stationery at all, you don't have to be into pencils to love seeing a post that puts together all kinds of things that you never get to see, right? Like, these are things we don't get to see ever. And I just wanted to shine a light on that, and I thought it was really cool. So, shout out, Pencil Fodder. This was some cool stuff I saw this week over there.

Answering CPA-related listener questions

Myke Hurley: Very cool. All right. We've got tons of our CPA questions. Let's knock out a couple of them today. An anonymous question asker is taking you to task. Brad, how is the Pen Addict 100 going? Yeah, they better stay anonymous. 100 are you currently at? Are we ever going to get an update?

Brad Dowdy: Yes, we're going to get an update. So, I gave myself a goal at the end of June saying that by the end of July, I need to have my next pen sale because I need to have one more pen sale to actually have the correct – like, to be in a good place to finalize the 100 because it can't be at 100 when I'm done. It needs to be at, like, 85, right? So, I think I'm going to be in that once I do one more pen sale. So, as soon as I get back from this trip, I have a lot of things to do when I get back between the nibs and this Pen Addict 100. That's at the top of my list. As a matter of fact, if I have a chance to stream Thursday, I don't know if I will or won't, I'm going to go through my current – the current pens in my 100-pen cabinet from Toyocraft, my trays, and start breaking out the next round of sales. Because I said I needed to thin that out before I go to the DC Pen Show, which is only three weeks away. So, that's my goal. As soon as we get back – so, when I get back from Uniball, I'm going to start working on that, get a sale out, go to the DC Pen Show. So, probably by August, we'll be ready for a big update to the Pen Addict 100, and we'll dedicate a podcast episode for that. So, that's the schedule right now. It's like we're getting – I feel okay. Like, I haven't bought any pens in a while. I mean, I say that, and I could probably go, oh, whoops, yeah, I did buy that, and I did buy that. But, like, I haven't been buying a bunch, but with the DC right around the corner, right, like, I know that's going to – like, I'm going to be into some stuff for sure. So, we'll see. And that's where I'm at with that right now. It is at the forefront of my – of the things I want to accomplish here in the next month. So, you'll be hearing a lot about it.

Myke Hurley: I'm still pushing for a multi-episode series where we go through the entire 100.

Brad Dowdy: That is absolutely in the cards. We can totally do that. I would love to do that, to be honest. Chunks of 25.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, I would love to do that, to be honest.

Brad Dowdy: But we'll do – here, we'll do 20s because each drawer holds 20. So, one drawer per show. Yep.

Myke Hurley: Sir Jerkface says, what is your favorite, i.e. the best, premium body for a Jetstream refill, both OEM and third party?

Brad Dowdy: So, this is a shockingly broad question. Which Jetstream refill, for starters? Right. So, you have your standard Click Gel Pin Jetstream refills, right? Like your standard barrel refills. I've always been on record as stating the regular Jetstream sport barrel is the best. And I think they still make it. I haven't looked at them in a while. But it's just your basic entry-level plastic barrel. But it has a nice rubberized grip. It has a barrel that I think is better than, like, the Uniball Signo 207, 307. But it's along those lines, right? So, if you're looking for, like, a stock Jetstream traditional refill, that one's great. So, the one thing that I do do from time to time, and I've done it in the past, is they have a premium barrel. Let's see here. Not the edges, but what is it called? So, they have a barrel called the Jetstream rubber body series. And they make an orange one. So, I will buy refills from time to time. And I'll put this link in the show notes for you, Myke. I love this barrel because it's orange. And it fits the standard Jetstream refills. And in the past, I've used that barrel and swapped refills into it before because it's cool and it's orange. And it's only a $5 barrel, right? But you can get the Jetstream sports for, like, half of that, I think. So, between those, for the premium barrels, I, of course, like the Spoke Roadie that I talked about. For the shorter Parker-style Jetstream refills, like, that is one of my most used pens. I have two of them I'm staring at at my desk right now and one of them about to make a trip with me. So, I'm obviously biased in that situation. But that's kind of my go-to. If I'm not using something like a Sport or this orange barrel Jetstream, I'm either using a Roadie or the last one, which is why this is a really, really huge, broad question, I am in love with the Jetstream Edge. Now, that one's not for everybody. That one starts at .38 millimeter. That's the widest tip Jetstream Edge. So, that may not be something that Sir Jerkface would like, right? It's a needle tip .38. I think this is one of the best pens they've ever made. But, boy, is it particular, right? This is a not-for-everybody pen. It goes .28.

Myke Hurley: You do a .28.

Brad Dowdy: So, I have a .38 and a .28. And they are some of the best pens I use.

Myke Hurley: It's effectively like one of those scalpel knives. You know? And you just write things and then you just actually just cut holes in the paper. That's what happens.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. But the way they design this is so good. And it's expensive. Like, for a premium product, you know, it's $15 for a ballpoint pen whose refill is smaller than the standard, like in the Jetstream Sport refills. This is a smaller refill. These refills are not compatible with each other. This one's a smaller, narrower refill. So, this is my favorite Jetstream of the entire list. But this is very much one I don't recommend unless you know what you're getting into. So, the Jetstream refills are a big, broad category. And we didn't even get into multi-pens. And so, Jetstream does a 2 plus 1 multi-pen, which I think is one of the best multi-pens on the market. It's a black and red refill and a pencil insert. And it's like $6 for a multi-pen, for a three refill multi-pen. It's unbelievably good. I don't know the name of it offhand, but I can find it for you. So, this is a broad, broad, broad question. So, my favorites are the Jetstream Edge and the Spoke Roadie for the very, very premium options. And then the standard Jetstream Sport for your standard options.

Question about Pilot 701 fountain pen

Myke Hurley: Here's a question that I'm very interested about that came in via penavicfeedback.com from Matt. It says, I have a question about pilot pens. What are the differences between the M90 and the 701? I keep hearing about how awesome the M90 is, but it's expensive on eBay. The 701 is a bit more affordable. What's going on? What's the difference?

Brad Dowdy: I don't even know what the 701 is. Let me look at it.

Myke Hurley: So, Googling for the 701 produces a pen that looks like the M90 to me. And it's referenced as the Miu 701 fountain pen, 1974. I found it here on vintagemodernpens.co.uk. Which is a site that I don't know much about. But yeah, when I was Googling around for what the 701 is, it kept showing me the Miu 701.

Brad Dowdy: So, I'm looking at the classic reference site for the Miu's and Miu X's. And this is stutler.cc. So, I'll put a link in the show notes. So, this is Russ Stutler's reference site, which I've used many, many times when I've been looking at it. So, the M90. So, the question. So, I didn't realize the original Miu is actually called the 701. Okay? So, I will tell you the difference. The M90 is a reproduction limited edition made in the past 10 years. That's the pen that you have, Myke. That's the pen that I have. The M701 is the original Miu from the 70s. So, they are different. It's literally that simple. If you want to know the difference between the M90 and the 701, the M90 was made like 10 years ago. And the M701 was made 40 years ago. The M701 is what the original Miu is called. Okay? And the M90 is the anniversary edition.

Myke Hurley: Why would the more modern one be more expensive? Is it branding?

Brad Dowdy: No, because they really only made very few of them. Like, let's see if we can find the count. What is the count of the M90? Oh. So, the 90 was a 90th anniversary edition. So, that's why it's called the M90 instead of the original Miu. Right. Okay. But there was, I want to say, I mean, we're like in the low hundreds, I think, for the M90, if I'm not mistaken.

Myke Hurley: Right.

Myke Hurley: So, basically.

Brad Dowdy: So, I mean, if you want to know the difference, that's the M90 is the modern version. Yep. Let's see here. Oh, okay. Well, it's not that limited. There were 9,000 made.

Myke Hurley: Okay. But still maybe more limited.

Brad Dowdy: And this was, do I have a year on this? Looks like 2009?

Myke Hurley: 2008. 2008. According to Stutler.

Brad Dowdy: Okay. So, that's the difference. And that's, so the M90 is the modern version. And you can visually tell the difference because the M90 has a little jewel on the cap, which the original Miu's don't. So, don't get them confused. But that's, I mean, just the basic answer to the question is that's the difference. The M90 is the modern version and the reissue, if you will, of the 701. I just didn't know the original Miu was called the 701.

Myke Hurley: Oh, man. I want one of these 1981 clock Murexes. Oh, yeah.

Brad Dowdy: You kidding me? That's right. You always know what time it is, boy.

Myke Hurley: That's fun.

Brad Dowdy: Mm-hmm.

Myke Hurley: That's really fun.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Yeah. That was that time, like, around the Casio calculator watch time, right? So, those things were, all those little clocks were getting built into pens and things like that at the time. It's very cool.

Myke Hurley: That is a cool pen. All right. So, basically, I guess what we'd say to Matt is if you can find a 701, get it.

Brad Dowdy: 701s, consider, yeah, 701s are your vintage, original product. Just like the Murex, you know, around the same, mostly throughout the 70s were when the 701s were being made. Mm-hmm. And then, in, what'd you say, 2008, they did a re-release limited edition called the M90 for an anniversary edition. So, that is exactly why. And the M90... Sorry to tell you, Brad, by the way, it's 15 years. Wow. You lost five years. 15 years. I'm good. Yeah, definitely. That happens every day, it seems. Yep. I lose more years. I lose two days for every one, Myke. Yep. But the M90 also started at a higher price point. So, that's another reason. So, when the Mew came out, I'm thinking it was like an under $50 fountain pen in the 70s. And when the M90 launched, it was $180 retail, I believe, if I have that correct. I'm not looking at it, but that sounds right. Yeah. Which, I mean, if you could find one for twice that much, you would jump at it. But they're not even that cheap now.

Fountain pens and environmental sensitivities

Myke Hurley: All right. And Chad asks, I have a specific fountain pen that I use for scoring baseball games. And for ease, I've been leaving the pen with the scorebook in my car this summer. No. After a while... Brad's already unhappy. After a while, I'm noticing that the cap is not unscrewing as easily. Same with the section from the body. I'm wondering if the heat from sitting in the car this summer has impacted the resin. Can you talk a bit about the precautions we should think about when storing our pens?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Fountain pens are extremely sensitive to heat.

Brad Dowdy: And even altitude. Right? The way that... Everything. They're just sensitive to everything. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: You don't want to drop them. You don't want to bump them. You know? Don't put them in water. You know?

Brad Dowdy: Just simply how the ink flows needs a pretty basic environment to function its best. Right? Like, it can't be too cold. It can't be too hot. You know? The altitude will change the flow. Right? So, yeah. Anything you're putting in a hot car, like, from stationery, right? You really want to limit your options. If you're going to do that, like, it's fine. But I go into that knowing that, hey, I probably need to use something like a Fisher space pen. Or just even just a generic ballpoint pen, which is even not as good as a pressurized refill space pen. To handle the high temperatures that your car is going to get. So, the cap issue is definitely affected by the expansion of a plastic barrel in the heat locking the threads. Right? Like, it's just... You can't do that. Like, there's... Like, I'm not even going to tell you there's a good way to do this. You just shouldn't do it. Right? Right? So, you're going to have to take it out of the car if you want to continue to use a fountain pen. Or you're going to need to switch to a pencil or a Fisher space pen ballpoint. Which I've used to score. When I was, dude, like, scoring, like, my kids' games, I always took a Fisher space pen with me. Because they can handle, like... I was out in, like, the dirt and the elements and the sweat. And you know that ballpoint's going to write in those type of situations. So, the Fisher space pen, when I wanted to use a ballpoint pen instead of a pencil, was always my choice. I never tried to use a fountain pen. But if I did, it would be something that would take in and out of the car with me. Like, you would never leave a fountain pen in the car. It's... You're going to have a bad time. There's nothing good that's going to come out of leaving that in there. So, my vote would be to carry it with you at all times. Right? Don't leave it in the car. Or switch to a different pen. Which you may not want to do. But you're just going to take more care of the fountain pen. There's not going to be an option. I can't say, hey, buy this pen, fountain pen, which will be great to leave in your car. There's no such thing.

Myke Hurley: And Nathan asks, I'm new to fountain pens, so this may be a dumb question. My two pens have European fine nibs, and I've noticed that they write like a medium on the Japanese paper I've tried. Recently, I ordered Clairefontaine paper and found my pens to write a nice fine line. Is it coincidence? Or does European paper tend to make a line width truer to the grind of European nibs? Likewise, does Japanese paper tend to work best with the traditionally finer grinds of Japanese nibs?

Brad Dowdy: So, Nathan, this is the furthest thing from a dumb question. This is actually a genuinely smart question. And a question I love tackling, especially when you have new users to fountain pens. There's so many little things that make a difference in how a pen writes that newcomers to fountain pens are not aware of. That, like, number one, you and I used to talk about it when we were getting into fountain pens. There is a big difference between a Japanese medium nib and a European-sized medium nib, right? They're used to different scales of measurement to make these nibs, right? They're just, it's just a fact. That's how manufacturing is. But you don't know that when you're new to this and you go to buy a pen and you buy a medium nib pen and it's writing like a highlighter, you know? So, like, your expectations might have been set differently. Like, if your first pen happened to be a Preppy and was a 03 Preppy, which is around a fine nib, which is for a Japanese fine, it's pretty fine. And then you go buy a Pelican fine nib and you're writing with a marker, right? So, there are clear sizing standard differences between European fine nibs and Japanese fine nibs. And that goes up and down the lineup. So, like, the basic thought is if you're buying a European nib, it's going to write one line width thicker than a Japanese nib. So, like, a Japanese fine nib is comparable to a European extra fine nib, right? So, that's the type of line variation. And that's just general, right? That's not, like, definitive across every product. You can't just line it up exactly that way. But that's the general concept there. Now, the paper. There is... There is...

Brad Dowdy: The Japanese market does take care to manufacture a lot of papers that work well with finer, sharper nibs because of the traditional handwriting styles of Japanese characters that's required, right? So, the paper is designed to be smoother and sometimes less absorbent.

Brad Dowdy: But something like Clairefontaine is also a very high-end premium paper that works well with a lot of nibs. And you shouldn't see... If you're taking Clairefontaine specifically and comparing it to, like, Midori, you're not going to see much difference there, right? Like, could I tell you in a blind test the difference of a European nib on Clairefontaine versus Midori? I don't know that I could. Like, that's how good Clairefontaine paper is. But there is something to general paper construction ideas. Like, if you're getting, like, a German brand paper, like a Leuchtturm, right? It's not as coated. It doesn't have as much sizing, right? Like, the coating on there, on the paper. It's slightly more absorbent. But that's good for generally broader nibs in European countries. But I don't know that it's necessarily designed that way.

Myke Hurley: This just feels like one of those things to me where it's just happenstance of culture. Where, like, it would make more sense that if people were testing paper in Europe that they're going to use Europe nibs or, like, nibs that are suited to European handwriting. Same for Japanese. Like, it just seems like not necessarily even something that someone would decide, but just a natural happenstance of the place in which it was created.

Brad Dowdy: Right. This is what's required of the locale that we're making this paper for. Therefore, we should make it this way. And I do believe that Japanese paper is designed to handle those finer nibs purposefully, right? For the most part, right? And we're talking in general terms here. General? General terms. Are you just struggling with the word general? I was going to say generalarities, but that's not a word. And then I got stuck.

Myke Hurley: No, wait. Isn't that word general? See?

Brad Dowdy: No, that's not a word. Generalarities. Yeah. In general terms. In general terms here, right? There's obviously, like, highly specific stuff. But, like, to answer, like, just the Clairefontaine paper, I think that it's just such a good paper anyway. Like, your Japanese nibs are going to write their true width.

Brad Dowdy: Generalities is a word.

Myke Hurley: Generalities? Apparently.

Brad Dowdy: Sure.

Myke Hurley: Generalities. But it's a weird word to say. Not one to write, but a weird word to say.

Brad Dowdy: It clearly is tough to say. I hope I don't have this much trouble speaking tomorrow, Myke. We're going to have to eliminate that term.

Myke Hurley: Command F for generalities.

Brad Dowdy: How do I do that on my note cards?

Myke Hurley: This is, I mean, computers, man. You know what I mean? This is what they're for. I can't help you.

Brad Dowdy: I think I am going to type up my notes tonight, though, just for having a backup. Good idea. I don't have any type. I don't have any digital notes. All paper, man.

Myke Hurley: Spill your coffee on your note cards. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: Yep. Who knows?

Myke Hurley: Good luck, Brad.

Brad Dowdy: Thank you, buddy.

Myke Hurley: I'm very excited to hear about it next week. You're going to kill it?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, it should be fun. It should be fun. I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be a great day.

Myke Hurley: If you want to send us in some questions, follow-up, or feedback for a future episode, go to penaddictfeedback.com, and you can do that. If you want to find Brad online, he is penaddict on all the social media that you'd want to find him on. You can find Brad at twitch.tv slash penaddict, where he streams multiple times a week. I guess you won't be streaming as many times this week.

Brad Dowdy: Not this week, yeah. Maybe Thursday if I'm feeling awake, but that's about it.

Myke Hurley: You can also find Brad's products over at spokedesign.com and at penaddict.com. You can find mine at cortexbrand.com, and I am iMike. Thank you so much to ExpressVPN for the support of this week's episode, and thank you for listening. Until next time, say goodbye, Brad. Goodbye, Brad.