The Pen Addict 612/transcript

Myke Hurley: From RelayFM, this is The Pen Addict, episode 612. Today's show is brought to you by Pen Chalet and the Canalea Pen Co. My name is Myke Hurley. I'm joined by Brad Dowdy. Hi, Brad.

Brad Dowdy: Hey, Myke. How's it going?

Myke Hurley: Pretty good. I'm excited for today's show. We've got a lot of fun things to talk about.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, it's a product-related show, which seems to be kind of like, yeah, like about every few weeks. Like, I catch up on all the new product launches. Sometimes it's, you know, 10 different topics. Sometimes it's three or four. This is on the lighter scale, but it's around some interesting stuff that I always enjoy talking about. I mean, who doesn't enjoy talking about pens and paper and all the analog tools that we love? What was the old tag?

Analog tools and their significance

Myke Hurley: Oh, I think it was like pen and paper and the analog tools we love so dearly.

Brad Dowdy: Yes, there you go. There you go. You're a professional podcaster. So, throwing back as old as that phrase is my fascination for Retro 51, yours as well. You know, I don't buy near the amount that I used to. You know, I'll save myself for, you know, one or two a year I might get. So, last year, they started the Pan Am Airlines series with their vintage, like, 1960s-ish Hawaii artwork poster. And I was just like, oh, this is like one of, like, I'll be straight up with y'all. I have not used this pen, right? Like, I have not taken it out and given it a run. I have a Retro 51 pink robot sitting here on my desk. This is one that I made several years ago. And if I want to use a Retro 51, that's kind of the one I'm picking up. But I just loved this one so much. I was like, yeah, I'm going to go ahead and get it. And they've continued on this whole Pan Am series, right? They made the plane, right? The Pan Am Clipper, which those are always, like, super, super popular. And then they just launched, which is what I wanted to put in the show notes, is they just launched the London and Japan posters for, that go in this series as well, like, kind of match the Hawaii style. So, I don't know the exact dates or times or exact. This still looks like the 1960s type of artwork and poster. That's what I got it for. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, so, I didn't want to, there was really no reason for me to bring them up other than it's London and Japan, which is, like, two, like, really cool areas. And I always like these Retro 51s. And I like this artwork. So, what do you think about these?

Myke Hurley: I like the Japan one more than the London one. But they're both cool. I like the style. Like, it fits with the Hawaii. I think they've got to take the Pan Am Pen out of the lineup, though. I know that that's what it's for. Like, it is the Pan Am. But, like, it looks really weird to have that plane in this product now. It was less weird when there was just one poster. But now there's, like, three posters and a plane. It's like, what's the odd one out here? But I understand why it's there, because it is part of the license. But, like, I think that the poster pens are a better, just a better product for me, I think. They're more intriguing. Yeah, I think these are good additions. I will say, weird to me, Hawaii, Japan, London, that's not the same.

Brad Dowdy: Right. Right?

Myke Hurley: But, like, I think that is, like, it's the Americans' view of the United Kingdom. That it is one place, and that place is London. Although that is also the Londoners' view of England, to be honest. But, yeah, like, they should have done an England pen. Yeah, England, yeah. At least. But, yes, I get it. I get it. Because I understand maybe doing Hawaii, it's just Hawaii. Yeah. Because people are less familiar with the, like, you know, maybe you do a Honolulu, I don't know. Yeah, that would be it. It was surprising to me not to see, like, Tokyo. I think, like, Tokyo would have been better than Japan. Yeah. Because then you could also do, like, Kyoto and different aesthetics. But, yeah.

Brad Dowdy: Right. Right. So, maybe these are just, like, literal from the poster catalog, right? Very possible. I'm guessing that they are. Very possible. Which makes, like, you know, the London one, yeah, it's a little bit corny. You know, it's the corniest of the three. But, like, it's cool. You know, it's taken off.

Myke Hurley: Hey, I found the poster.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah.

Myke Hurley: I've actually found the poster. I just Googled Pan Am London poster. Okay. And it is the actual, I found the poster. So, yeah, they're basing them literally on old Pan Am ads. And there is one here that just says London. And it is, like, a bus conductor hanging off the back of a bus holding on to London. So, there you go. That's what that is, I suppose. Yeah.

Aesthetic appeal of Japanese pen designs

Brad Dowdy: And I love the Japan one just because of the aesthetic of the kimono. Like, the extra long, the over-exaggeratedness of the design is really cool. Like, I'm probably just going to stick with my Hawaii, stick with that color. Like, I don't need another one that I'm not going to use. But I really like these designs. I think they did a good job. The interesting thing to me that I thought when I was going through these is, like, I bought the Hawaii, I think it was $64 last year. The new ones are $74. So, I don't know if that's just, like, a regular price increase. Because there shouldn't be, there's no technical aspects that separate, like, that would cause a price increase that I'm aware of in these three models. Even the Clipper is less. And those usually go for a little bit more, the plain ones. So, yeah. Like, not a big deal. But, like, that's a pretty decent price increase.

Myke Hurley: It's also, it is strange to have pens in a lineup and the price changes.

Brad Dowdy: And three, four pens, three different prices.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. I mean, the Pan Am Clipper one, I understand. Because that is constructed differently, right? Those ones usually have got, like, texture to them.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. They're textured like the little rivets on the panels and stuff.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. But it's weird to have the poster ones be at different prices when they look ostensibly exactly the same. Who knows? Yeah. So, maybe it's just a year-over-year increase. Maybe Retro 51 have done a price increase, but they're not doing it retroactively, which is also, I think, fine if you're going to do that, right?

Brad Dowdy: So, yeah. Like, Sailor did that when they did theirs, like, several years ago. And most companies do that, or they at least have a grace period. Yeah. For sure. Of a pretty sizable, you know, six months to a year type of thing. So, anyway, cool designs. What's cooler, Myke, is that the Pilot Custom 823 Clear is now available outside of Japan. Okay. So, this was... So, the Pilot 823 is a super beloved, well-respected fountain pen, one of the best fountain pens on the market. And any price point, even though it's expensive, it's a little over $300, it still feels like one of those pens that's underpriced for what you get for it, from it, and the options you have. But they've only, at least as long as I've been in fountain pens, they've only ever done three barrel colors, and they're all translucent. So, there's a smoke, which is kind of like your gray, grayish black, and these are, like, you can see through the barrel. And then there's the amber, which was... That one was mostly available worldwide, the only one. And then the clear, so... Which had a clear barrel. And they both have... They all have, like, a gold trim and, you know, solid color finials. So, the amber was available everywhere worldwide, and then smoke and clear were available in the Japanese market. And then last year, smoke got more of a worldwide release. And people are still waiting for the clear, because I think, I mean, that's my preference, right, is the clear. It's not everyone's preference, clearly. Clearly. I just caught that. It made me stop. I was like, whoops. But I think it's the best. It's been one of the most popular ones. And now, you can get it. This was supposed to happen at some point last year from talking to Pilot. I don't know. You know, things just get delayed and whatever. But now, if you ever wanted the 823 clear, you should be able to access it without having to go to the Japanese market, which is how I got mine eight years ago, maybe more. Something like that. It's been a long time, like, that it's been available. It's been available and just not easily accessible. And most of the retailers would not sell that product to an overseas address, right? You had to get, like, someone to carry it for you kind of thing. Or, you know, use a service to bring that over to you. So now it's available and it's cool. And so now my hope and dream is that we start getting that if they will expand the colors on this lineup, because it hasn't changed in as long as I've been following the 823. But they have, Pilot does the great translucent barrel colors in the 74s and the 92s where they have the blues and the oranges and the purples and things like that. So I wouldn't mind seeing, hey, throw me a purple translucent 823. I would really enjoy that Pilot. So I put in a...

Comparison of clear and amber pen designs

Myke Hurley: Yeah, it's quite staggering how much better looking the clear is than the amber.

Brad Dowdy: You think so? Yeah.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. It's staggeringly different in a way that I don't know if I would have necessarily expected. But that, the clear is very good looking. Very good looking.

Brad Dowdy: Smokes close to the amber and just, like, aesthetic overall appearance, right? They're deeper, darker. But you put the clear next to them, it's like, oh, this is different while it's being, like, literally the same pin. It looks very, very different. So I did a review in 2015 of the amber model. I had it on loan from a friend. And because, like, it's just a fascinating pin and I wanted to review it. This is before owning my own. So to your point about the amber model, I wrote, aesthetically, there's no arguing its beauty, but it's not for me. I was actually hoping to fall in love with it while it was on loan to me. And while it is an elite writer, I never bonded with it visually. And that's just talking about the amber.

Myke Hurley: I mean, it's very different looking, the amber. I feel like there have not been lots of pens like this. I mean, I guess maybe now with something like Ultum, like, that color range is becoming more seen. But, like, the actual, like, amber look is quite unique, especially considering it is also still a demonstrator pen. It makes it different, but I do think it's a bit of an acquired taste.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. The interesting thing about the amber, which caught me off guard back when, even back then in looking at pictures of it now, the finials are not black. They're chocolate brown, which is hard to pick up in pictures.

Myke Hurley: Huh.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Yeah. It's almost milk chocolate. I mean, it's maybe a little bit like more of a dark chocolate, but they're brown, which if you look at most pictures, like, unless you're really paying attention, they look black.

Myke Hurley: I guess that's fitting with the amber. Yeah. One of the things, like, for me personally is the amber looks like a clear pen that got stained. You know? Like, it has that kind of look to it. Yeah. And maybe that's what you want. It has got a kind of evocative vintage look to it. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: So, if you're not familiar with the 823 and you're getting into fountain pens, like, this is kind of like one of those aspirational pens. This is a pen that a lot of people could be like a one and only type of pen because the nibs on the Pilot 823, this size nib is fantastic. There's a lot of different nib choices now that are available for this. So, it's one of the best out-of-the-box writing experiences. And then it has a large ink capacity with the vacuum filling system. So, it's like a built-in vacuum filling system. So, this pen has a lot going for it and still at the, you know, at a, honestly, a reasonable price point despite being like, yes, you know, on its own, it's expensive at like $330, something. I'm not looking at the link. But for what you get and the time you'll spend with this pen, like, I still think it's very, very fairly priced. A good price.

Myke Hurley: $336 on pen, shall I? Okay. Retail $420.

Brad Dowdy: Yep. So, this is what, this was like a 10% price increase from like three years ago. So, they were $288 for, I mean, years and years and years and years. So, it's a pretty small increase for a pretty great pen.

Myke Hurley: Very cool.

Myke Hurley: All right. This episode is brought to you by our friends at the Canalea Pen Co. Canalea makes stunningly beautiful pens inspired by images of Hawaii. Canalea's founders, Hugh and Carol, believe that these locations can help recharge our spirit and connect us with nature. And we are once again incredibly excited that we get to share information about Canalea's newest release, the Blue Moana Collection. For this pen, Canalea are taking inspiration from the beautiful blue expanse of the ocean, with deep, swirling, glistening blues found throughout the pen, showing both the beauty and the depths of the oceans around the islands of Hawaii. The Blue Moana Collection features fountain pens in Canalea's five profile options, as well as a ballpoint pen as well. But new with this collection, they are introducing a brand new band option, the Mauloa Band. The Mauloa Band visually represents the endless waves of the ocean, symbolizing the interconnectedness of all living things. And it is a perfect match, in my opinion, with the oceanic theme of the Blue Moana pen. Once again, this band is made of lovingly crafted Argentium silver, making an already special pen even more so. This joins the existing band option on other Canalea pens, the Maile Le. These are both available on the classic profile of the Blue Moana. Canalea fountain pens feature Yowo No. 6 nibs. You can buy steel or 18 karat gold nibs directly from Canalea. They offer sizes from extra fine to 1.1mm stub. Hue smooths and tunes every single nib before it leaves the shop, because Canalea will want to make sure that when your pen arrives, it's perfect for you and writing beautifully. And you'll get it straight out of their lovely black walnut keepsake box. Best boxes in the business. With each purchase of a pen from the Blue Moana Collection, Canalea will also be making a donation to the Maui Food Bank and the Maui Humane Society, giving back to the community uses that inspire these wonderful designs. You can find out more about Canalea's whole offering and place an order today at canaleapenco.com. That's canaleapenco.com. There'll be links in the show notes too. Our thanks to the Canalea Penco for their support of this show and Relay FM. So we both have this pen.

Brad Dowdy: We both have this pen.

Myke Hurley: What one do you have?

Brad Dowdy: Yes. Okay. I have more than one.

Myke Hurley: Oh, okay. Well, I have. I have the one with the new band.

Brad Dowdy: Myke, I have one with the new band too. Good. And I have a comparison to the style that they know that I love in the classic flush without the band. So why don't you go first, talk about the band, and then I can talk about the comparison between the two.

Canalea Pen Co. and their banded pen models

Myke Hurley: Yeah. I mean, I'll say for the pen itself, the Blue Moana, it is a, I would say, a good staple for the lineup, right? Yes. People love blues. This is a perfect blue. Like, this feels like the, doing exactly what they want it to do, it looks like the ocean, right? And having blues of different darkness levels kind of gives that look. And plus, you know, we've spoken about this. Canalea have this incredible acrylic, which shows a depth that I don't understand. Like, the way that they do their shimmers. And so, like, I'm turning this pen now, and it looks like light shining on the water. Like, it really is very, very special the way they're able to do this. And I would say this is, like, a very good, like, staple piece of the collection. Like, how they have the all red one. I think that's the Kona Cherry. We have, like, an all blue now with the Blue Moana. Like, I think this is, like, good to have these. But for me, the star is the band. So, I have two pens of the Mailele band. And, like, for me now, the bands that are on these pens are part of the experience. Like, if I wanted a Canalea pen, I want these bands. They make the pens look special. The caps feel fantastic to hold. Like, I really like it. And this new one, the Mauloa, is beautiful. So, it kind of, you could look at it, and it could either mean to you, I think, waves, or it could also look like the air, right? Like, it could, like, wind. It's got that same kind of, like, flowing design. And I think that it just looks fantastic on this pen and is, like, an excellent pairing, right? For, like, showing waves. So, I love it. I think it looks brilliant. I'm very, very, very pleased with it.

Brad Dowdy: So, this is the design that's going to make me buy a Canalea pen with a band on it. Oh, there he is. I think it's that good. The Mauloa design, I mean, nothing against the Mailele. It's obviously gorgeous and perfect. But the way this one fits with this pen in style and aesthetic, you said it right, where this is actually, this might be the Canalea experience from a pen perspective and what they're known for because of the way these bands fit with the aesthetic of the brand and the pen and the creation. So, what happened with me when I was opening up the box, I opened it up and pulled the pen out, right? So, you know, I'm taking a look at it and I'm like, wow, this band is amazing. And then it was funny, just yesterday, I was talking about this type of material that I prefer in acrylic type pens where you have partial solid swirls and then partial translucent swirls. And then lo and behold, like this is what I pull out of the box here where you're like, there's areas where you can see straight through the pen, like in the blue. And then there's areas where it's solid and you can't see through and finding all the areas where the blue pops through is just like, that's the coolest thing. You sit there and then twist and turn the pen in your hand. So, I was like, awesome. They, you know, sent me one with the band to check out. And I was like, man, I really, really love this pen. And then I looked at, I was actually going to put it back in the box and I was like, well, there's another, there's another pen in here. I was like, what's the deal here?

Myke Hurley: I think this is clever from then because obviously you've not been a big band boy like me. So, like, they want you to see it, but they want you to have the best experience with the pen as you would have it, I would expect, right?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So, the problem for me is that they put it, the, the Mau Loa band model in with the model that I always buy, which is the classic flush model. So, now I have like a one-to-one comparison and I'm like, you know what? The one with, I think I like the one with the band more, which I can't believe I, the, I'm saying because it's a total package, right? Like it, the way it works from a design perspective is what gets me. And it's like, I'm looking at the classic flush. I'm like, yeah, this is my favorite. This is my favorite pen. This is, I have three other Canaleas. They're all the same shape, all the same style. And this one doesn't have the Mau Loa band and I'm like, it feels kind of naked looking at it. So, I think back to your point, it's like kind of the, kind of the deal almost now to have these bands on there. So, yeah, I have, I have some thinking to do here, Myke, but I really, really love it. And I don't have to tell anyone about the, the fit and finish of these pens. They're maybe the best on the market, the way these, these pens feel and how the quality level of the finish, you know, when I'm talking about threads and edges and polishing and all of those things. So, yeah, really, really great. Very happy with these. And I might be a big band boy now, Myke.

Myke Hurley: Yep. I actually checked. I have three. I have three with bands. I, to me, it is, I think, essential as part of the pen. Like, I feel, for me, like, you know, people will choose whatever they want, but you should.

Brad Dowdy: Well, it makes sense when you say it that way now.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. Because they, they look so great. The, it makes that profile look visually more balanced for me. Like, I don't like the, the classic profile, but with the classic, with the band, you don't actually notice that it's a different thickness. I feel like, like, visually, the band kind of breaks it.

Brad Dowdy: Since I had both of these here, I was like, oh, is this the same barrel model? And it's not. So, yeah, I actually had that thought.

Myke Hurley: But also, like, I genuinely have always felt that canalea pans are great keepsakes and great gifts. And adding the jewelry element of the bands kind of pushes it a little bit further in my mind. And I think that this pairing that they've done is really special.

Brad Dowdy: So, yeah, like, a lot of people will buy these. We get questions, like, people will buy these for a specific reason, right? Like, oh, I'm celebrating this, or I'm getting married, or I need a gift, or something like that. So, yeah, like, having that band option is, is perfect.

Myke Hurley: All right. Let's move on. All right. Thank you, Canalea, for sending those to us.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, really, really cool. So, yeah, I got, I got some writing to do.

Brad Dowdy: Maybe, Myke, I will write it in the IA Writer notebook. Yeah. So, we talked about this, we talked about this when it, when they snuck this in. I want to say it was, like, November, December last year. December. When they, yeah, when IA came out. Like, so, just a quick disclaimer. Can you explain better than I what IA does?

IA Writer notebook and its unique design

Myke Hurley: Yeah. IA, the company's known as Information Architects. That's what IA stands for. They've been around for a really long time. They created a text editor for iOS at first called IA Writer. And their whole thing was, it was impeccably designed. They even created their own font, I think, for the, for the app. And they have since gone on to, you know, they're continuing to build out IA Writer into its, the best it can possibly be around a couple of times. It's like a perfect text editor. They also now have IA Presenter, which is a, for, like, what they did for text editing, now doing for a, like, Keno or PowerPoint-like app, too. And then last year, they were like, hey, we've just been working on this thing that we think is fun. And it's a notebook. And the notebook's whole thing, which we spoke about at the time, that I still remain skeptical of, is that it has lines, but the lines are debossed into the paper. Yeah. Very lightly. Yes.

Brad Dowdy: What I didn't, I didn't realize, so I've used IA Writer, and it is, it's a beautiful piece of software. Like, yeah, like, if I had different needs for my digital writing, and I've bought IA in the past and used it and loved it, I actually use the fonts. They offer the fonts for free. You can download them using them in other applications. But I didn't realize that IA is based in Japan, I believe, if I'm not mistaken. Or, you know, I mean, they may have a global workforce, but I thought I was reading some of that. So they have taken that Japanese aesthetic and put it into this notebook, which we talked about before. So what Myke's describing is this letterpress type paper. Yeah, found it in Tokyo.

Myke Hurley: Didn't know that.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. I only knew that because how intense they were getting about this notebook. And I was like, okay, you're in. You are in the place you need to be to make this. So I have used, I'm going to do a, I keep saying I need to do a review of this. So Plotter offers some of this letterpress type paper where it's ostensibly a lined notebook, but the lines are, come from a deboss on the page as opposed to a printer, right? They're not a printed line on the page. In the Plotter pages I use, and they're called the same thing, letterpress pages. That's why I keep calling it that.

Brad Dowdy: They're, they're actually hard to see, right? So it's, to me, it's more of a blank page. The way they photograph this IA writer notebook, they seems like maybe the debossing is a little bit deeper, which could be interesting for non-Japanese characters, right? So if you're looking at their text writing, you know, the Japanese characters don't have a lot, and I may be speaking on a turn here, but I'm just looking at the, at the writing on the page, they don't have a lot of below the line markings, right? Where if I'm writing like a lowercase P or a G or something like that, I'm going below the line. So whether you feel that dip in the line, you know, to be determined, right? With the letterpress plotter paper, I don't, I don't. But I also have a tough time seeing it. So I don't know that I'm getting the benefits of the line. But I wanted this notebook when it first came out, and they just, they, they just did almost, almost like a, almost like an alpha release. They just did a very small pre-order, and I didn't get in on that, so I didn't look at them again. So they came back out this week saying, hey, we reopened pre-orders now, and I went and looked. And the notebook's $74. So I wanted to talk about that for a minute, because that took me aback a little bit, but maybe not for the reasons that you think. I definitely thought, okay, I'm going to stop throwing things in my cart now, because that feels pretty expensive, because I'm looking at it as strictly a review product, as opposed to, hey, I need a notebook today, and, or, like, I need a notebook. In the next week or two, I'm going to finish my notebook. Let me get another special notebook to use. I would have no qualms paying $74 for this notebook, to be perfectly honest. It's 142 pages, A5 size. You know, it's not the biggest, you know, page size. And it is, you know, without a doubt expensive, but, like, I've paid twice as much for notebooks before, but they usually come with different cover styles, cover embellishments. Like, I have no qualms paying Misubi for these hand-bound notebooks with, you know, indigo denim covers and paying $150 for that. Like, I didn't even think twice, right, the craftsmanship that goes in this one. This one gave me a little pause, because it seems like, you know, I grant a lot of things to get to this price, right? Smaller company, smaller print runs. Notebooks are expensive to make. Notebooks are expensive to ship.

Myke Hurley: They're doing a strange process. Like, the process of producing this book will be more expensive than a comparable book.

Brad Dowdy: Yep, yep. So, like, in a vacuum, I don't have a problem with the price, but then, like, I also love Midori notebooks, that you're not getting something too far different from this for, like, $20 or $24, right? So, I'll still probably get one, but I don't know. I got to think about it, and I haven't looked at the shipping costs, because they'll ship from Japan as well.

Myke Hurley: I just loaded one, because I'm intrigued, and it was 60 pounds and 20 pounds shipping.

Brad Dowdy: Okay, yeah. So, it's super expensive, right? Yeah. But, like, I don't, I just want to be clear, like, I don't think that's a bad thing, right?

Myke Hurley: I mean, I just believe this is what they cost, and then they added, like, on top of it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But, like... My biases are I make expensive notebooks. Sure, sure, sure. And so, like, basically, one of the things that I actually had a meeting with my manufacturer this morning, and we were talking about some stuff that we're working on for Cortex brand. Mm-hmm. And basically, where I have started, where I have landed on this kind of stuff is, if you make a good product, you can charge whatever you want for it, and either people will buy it. This is so simple. Either people will buy it, or they won't buy it, and they'll be happy about it, or they won't be. As long as you're happy that this product is worth it, then you can charge whatever you want, and people will either buy it or they won't, and then that's up to you. Right? You know what I mean? Right. You don't... If you think this is too expensive, like, you actually... You don't need to buy it, right? Yes. Like, it's pretty simple. But maybe people that do will be like, oh, man, like, this is pretty good, you know?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So, I think a good comparison, which I just thought of while we're talking to this, is the difference between, say, a standard lacquered Retro 51 Tornado, which is about $25, or a Studio Neat Mark I, which they start about, like, $69, right? Like, they're the exact same writing experience, because they use the same refill, right? The writing experience you're going to get is the exact same, because the refill is the exact same. So, do you value the extra care and craftsmanship, or in, like, the Mark I, or do you prefer the fun, whimsical designs in the retro? And, like, both answers can be right. This is, like, what we talked about last week. Like, both of these things can be right for different people. And, like, seeing this notebook priced at $74, knowing, being a huge fan of Japanese notebooks, it took me back a little bit. But at the same time, I also understand it. So, I haven't ordered one yet. I do want to try it. Maybe I'll let you go first, but you're very curious about the lines. I've tried the lines. I just want to see, like, the craftsmanship and the paper quality.

Myke Hurley: I'm curious from a design standpoint, because I buy lots of notebooks now. Like, this is something I don't really talk about on the show, because I actually don't think it is relevant. I'm buying notebooks, Brad, like you would not believe. Like, the other day, I bought five journals from a company. Like, I'm just buying loads of stuff, because I want to see, I want inspiration. Like, I want to see what's out there. And I want to, like, I'm buying more stuff to look at to try and build my own expectations for how a product shouldn't work or how something shouldn't be laid out. And so, I bought one of these. I mean, it says it won't ship until at least June, so you'll be waiting for a while. Okay, I see that right now. First batch will ship mid-June, yeah. But I bought this, because I just want to see, like, what does this feel like? Like, I don't think that this is, like, necessary. I don't understand this, which is why I want to buy it. Like, I don't know what genuinely would make this notebook good, except the fact that it looks nice, which is also fine, but, like, I'm just not sure that I'm, like, down on the utility of, like, letterpress lines on a paper. Like, I'm not sure. I'm not sure what that provides.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, this is what makes such an interesting product for me, because there's so many unanswered questions. Which makes me want to order it, right? Because I look at things, I'm not looking at this as, like, oh, I need a new notebook to use to fit, like, a specific need. I'm looking, it's like, I mean, I want to see what they're doing here. Yeah. Kind of like you. It's like, hey, what's the deal here? So, yeah, it looks cool. I will probably get one, but I did kind of back out yesterday thinking about the price and just wanted to think about it a little bit more. So, on staying on the paper front, Myke, this one might interest you, too, because Bullet Journal and Leuchtturm have come out with a pocket journal. The Bullet Journal Pocket is what it's called. So, it's a three-pack of your pocket-sized notebooks, like, field note size. But what they're describing is funny. So, Leuchtturm uses international paper-sized standards, I believe, for most of their stuff. Like, their main journal is A5, right? The Leuchtturm we always see is A5.

Brad Dowdy: They're calling this... This is marketing. One double page, Myke. So, if you open the notebook and you have it folded open, that's a double page, offers the space of an entire A5 page. So, wouldn't these just be A6 notebooks? Like, that's how this works. That's why international paper sizes are a thing.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, but Brad, it doesn't work if you need to market the product.

Myke Hurley: Right? Like, if we're... Look, what they're trying to do is they're trying to... sell it to you, right? Like, people know what an A5 notebook is, I'm expecting. People don't really know what A6 is, right? And so, they're like, hey, this is just an A5 notebook you can fold in half and put in your pocket, right? Like, this is just the marketing of the product, right?

Brad Dowdy: I love this. I don't know why this is making me crack up, but instead of... Like, they could save so many words.

Brad Dowdy: But it's just the marketing, right? Because, like, the bullet journal design mostly around these A5 notebooks or you can roll your own and most of the examples are done in A5 notebooks, but you can really roll it in anything you want.

Brad Dowdy: I'm having real trouble with this.

Brad Dowdy: I'm not sure why this gets you so much. I don't get it. It's just so dumb. It's an A6 pocket notebook. It's like, that's cool. Like, that's cool to me, but they're just selling it to the people who have the A5 notebooks. Like, hey, it's the same. If you just open the notebook.

Myke Hurley: I don't think this is dumb. I think this is a smart way to talk about it because, like, who really knows what A6 is? Like, genuinely. Like, I'm in this world and I forget if A6 is smaller or bigger. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: You know?

Brad Dowdy: Aside from that silliness, it's a beautiful product, right? So, again, bullet journals. If you're a bullet journaler, you can use, like, literally any notebook, any paper style. Like, you don't have to have a specialized product. That's kind of the beauty of the system. But what this offers for the price, so it's 20 euros for a three-pack of the notebooks. They're 46 pages. So, like, as field notes, it's 48 pages. So, it's, like, the same size or same page count. But as with the other bullet journal-branded pockets products through Leuchterm, you get the extra accessories, like sticker sheets that help you with the planning days of the week, different, like, task stickers and things like that. So, it's cool. Like, I actually want to get a set of these just to see how they are because the last set, the last bullet journal-specific notebook, the A5, the big, thick one with the big, thick pages, was really, really popular. And they did a really good job with that.

Myke Hurley: That's a truly beautiful notebook. I am so jealous of how incredibly well-made that product is. Yes, at a price that sometimes I understand. It's a knockout. I don't understand how that product costs what it costs. Like, I can't wrap my head around it. Like, it's way too cheap for what it is. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: So, like, even if you don't bullet journal, like, that journal is mostly just normal plain pages for you to use. And it's just a stunner of a journal.

Myke Hurley: I don't understand how something can have so much foiling on it. It's so cheap. I mean, I guess this is what happens when, like, your branded product is essentially owned by Leuchtturm. You know what I mean? Yeah, exactly. It's something that me or you could not make because we just... No. Because, like, look, that product, like, will benefit from all of the cost efficiencies of just a regular Leuchtturm 1917. Like, they are running those out from a manufacturing perspective at the same time that they're doing the rest of their journals. And that is just, like, an efficiency you can't get unless you own your own machinery. Like, it just doesn't work.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So, anyway, I'm going to get these. I think they look great. And every time I see the Leuchtturm stuff, I always forget that I need to order myself one of the Dre Grafell pens. Totally mispronouncing that. I understand. I reviewed the bullet journal one and I ended up giving it away. But it's such a good pen. They have a ballpoint version, a gel pen version, and a pencil version. I'm probably going to get, like, one of each and do some different colors. I think it's just this classic modernization of a design that they've had forever. And I think they executed it perfectly. So, I just... I have a review of the bullet journal model. We can link that in the show notes. And I loved it, but I had planned on giving it away. So, I did. So, I don't have my own. But I need to get that. Maybe I'll get an orange one and you can put, like, words on it. Like, you can get it... You know, I can put, like, the pen addict on it or something like that. So, I might do that. Order it directly from them. So, where else can I order pens from, Myke?

Myke Hurley: Wait, you can customize pens with them?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah.

Myke Hurley: That's kind of sick.

Brad Dowdy: Well, I didn't see that. Click on the other link that I put in there.

Myke Hurley: Yo, that's...

Brad Dowdy: Oh, Brad, that is... Doesn't have it on there.

Myke Hurley: Awesome. No, using graving service? Yeah, it's the... The colors are so good.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. That's why I need to get one of these.

Myke Hurley: Huh. So, yeah. Damn. Bludge time. They're killing it out here, man.

Brad Dowdy: Crushing it. Crushing it.

Myke Hurley: This is a good-looking pen. I like this way more in all the colors than the bullet journal version.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah.

Myke Hurley: I think this is much nicer looking.

Brad Dowdy: That was probably my idea when I was getting it. That lemon one. It's like... Woo! I'll wait and... You know, I like this one, but I'll wait and get... I'll review this one and then get my own specific one at some point.

Myke Hurley: What refills does this take?

Brad Dowdy: I think they're, like, Parker style, but they had a gel refill model, which is interesting.

Myke Hurley: Man, I should have added this to the cart before I bought that bullet journal notebook. I'm fine. I sit on this podcast now and I'm quietly buying all the notebooks. You don't even know what I'm up to over here anymore. Exactly. I'm just sitting here and I'm just adding to cart.

Brad Dowdy: Well, I have been there before and I might be about to be there again, right?

Myke Hurley: Uh-huh. Because we're talking about our friends over at Penn Chalet. Okay, this episode is brought to you by our friends at Penn Chalet. Ron told me, Brad, that he's got a bunch of... Let me find the exact wording because I thought it was exciting. Maybe you're going to enjoy this. So I email Ron every week and I'm like, hey, Ron, do you got anything special for us this week? What do you want us to talk about? And he said, I have discounted items that we have very limited selections on. So there are better deals than normal, but they're not going to last. So how about that? Yeah, I'm seeing a few. Go and dig into that and I'll tell everybody that Penn Chalet believe in fast and reliable customer service. They're adding new products every month. You're going to find new stuff and new deals as well. Penn Chalet have all of your favorite brands and the products that you're looking for. Whether you're looking for a new fountain pen, a new mechanical pencil, some ink, a pen carrying case, whatever it is, accessories, every type of pen you could ever wish for is over at Penn Chalet. They do free shipping on orders of over $75 in the United States and they sell internationally with very reasonable shipping rates. Penn Chalet has low prices on high quality pens and offers a 100% satisfaction guarantee. So head on over to, don't forget, our new URL at penchalet.com slash penaddict and you will get 10% off anything over at Penn Chalet and you will see this week's exclusive offers, the good ones, the real good ones for listeners of this show. What you got, Brad?

Brad Dowdy: So they have a bunch of interesting Conklens that are kind of like in the beginner pen range. Well, they're priced as like you can afford to, like if you want to try some of these with like a stub nib or, you know, some really pretty materials. Like I'm looking at the Conklin Symmetric which is kind of this amber color and then it has a stub nib option. Like that's not something that a lot of first time fountain pen users are getting in a lot of pens, you know, outside of like a TWSBI or something like that. So that's a pretty cool option

Myke Hurley: to have the prices of these Viscontis. My word. I'm getting there. I was trying to ease our way into it. Chill.

Myke Hurley: Run. You spoil us.

Brad Dowdy: I'm already, I'm already silly today. So I'm having a hard time getting past this diplomat ballpoint pen which I've never seen. So it's the Elox rings which is not one that I have. So instead of like the, the fluted barrels that the diplomat diplomat arrows have, the rings obviously have rings around the barrel and this gray and orange one is just like crazy cool and I like the shape and I think it would probably work good in a standard pen. So this is a ballpoint. I don't even know what type of refills they have but I'm going to have to look at that afterwards. And then they have the Elox Matrix which is kind of like the line art version of it. It kind of looks like something that I would draw. That's a really good price. Then you get into the Viscontis. Oh no, this is the one I wanted to talk about. One of the, one of the Heinz pens that was an exclusive for, I think it was a fountain pen day. One from last year exclusive with pen chalet. Like you don't normally get that type of stuff at a sale price and there's a couple different models there. Two different materials and that's a really, really crazy good price. And then you get into these Viscontis. I don't know if I can, like you can't really say the price but there's some popular models like the Lotus Garden one was a really popular one. I can't imagine he has many of those in stock and that's just a knockout of a price. So there's a few other ones in there too but it's pretty great, pretty great stuff.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, as always there's loads of stuff going on there. You can go check it out for yourself over at penchalet.com slash penaddict. Our thanks to Penchalet for the support of this show and RelayFM.

Brad Dowdy: Alright, we got a shout out of the week, Myke. Shout out of the week. Pretty sure I've given Tom at Sugar Turtle Studio some love before but I just wanted to get on him this time because he posted, he's been in Japan for like two weeks or something like that and his Instagram has been awesome. There's a picture of him smiling with like three bags from Atoya on there. So if you aren't already following Sugar Turtle Studio definitely go give them a follow. And this latest, his most recent picture was his hall picture. How many pens do you think are in this picture if you've pulled it up? I mean, we got to be in like the couple hundred.

Myke Hurley: One, I would probably say too many.

Brad Dowdy: No, no.

Myke Hurley: Well, maybe too many for just one person, you know. Also no. Like that might be something that is impossible to handle. But yeah, there's some cool stuff here, man. Yeah,

Brad Dowdy: what I'm trying to figure out is the sticker in the middle of that image. I don't know what that is.

Myke Hurley: It looks like a dancing fountain pen nib.

Brad Dowdy: Kind of. Also, it looks like a bottle topper but it looks like this nib design. Yeah. I don't know. I'll have to, maybe if Tom listens to this he'll have to tell me what that sticker indicates. So,

Myke Hurley: can't believe, so when I first opened this up I thought this was like a pen show table.

Brad Dowdy: Mm-hmm.

Myke Hurley: I didn't.

Brad Dowdy: So Tom does pen shows.

Myke Hurley: No, but like I thought that this, so is Tom buying this stuff to sell at pen shows? No. Right, but that's what I'm saying, right? Like I saw this I was like, oh look, here's a pen show table. Oh no. No, it's just Tom's stuff.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Yeah, totally. Totally. All right. So yeah, I'm still owed a couple of things from I think the Baltimore pen show. Kimberly picked me up some of the recent some of the recent stuff from Sugar Turtle Studio. So go check them out. Not only is Tom awesome people he makes cool stuff and then you can go check out the Japan pen Japan trip pick. So.

Myke Hurley: Wild.

Pen preferences and sentimental choices

Brad Dowdy: All right, last little mini topic here, Myke. I wanted to put you on the spot with a little game that my friend Rachel from Rachel's Reflections put out on the stationary internet and I answered a little bit in this week's Panatic Members newsletter where the concept is to take a brand that you have a decent amount of pens in, you know, some of the bigger brands, Pilot, Sailor, you know, Kaweco, Lamy, whatever, and you can only keep one of those pens out of your collection. So the ones I talked about, I did Pilot and I ended up on my Pilot Custom Heritage 9, 9, 12 with the PO nib and the Macchie artwork and then I did Sailor, which I ended up with the the Mekon Mini, the little orange tangerine from Bungu Box, which has a stack nib on it and then I did Edison, which I did the Edison Beaumont Palomino Waltz at Sunset Baltimore Limited ! So all these, like I tried to pick some that would be really difficult for me, right, to like choose if I could only have one, like the Pilots, I probably had 15 different pens in my collection that I really, really like from Pilot and to pick one is like pretty crazy. so I decided to ask you what you might pick and I threw a couple brands out there, Sailor being one, that I knew you had a pretty sizable amount of Sailor, so what did you think about this?

Myke Hurley: Yeah, I struggled because I was like, do I go sentimental and go with like the orange pro gear or just pro gear in general, even though I think I prefer from a writing experience in 1911, and so it's going backwards and forwards, like no, I think I'll go King of Pen, but I wrote pro gear King of Pen down in a document, but I'm actually, I'm not sure, it's definitely King of Pen, but I'm trying to think between pro gear and 1911 King of Pen, you know?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, so which model, so the 1911 you have the orange, yeah, what else?

Myke Hurley: For in, I only have a, the 1911 pro gear King of Pen, okay, so the 1911 King of Pen, and I have one pro gear King of Pen as well.

Brad Dowdy: The pro gear, you also have a Ruchid, right? Yeah,

Myke Hurley: that one, I'm taking that out of the conversation though, because that's like, that was custom done, right? See,

Brad Dowdy: I included that stuff, I included that stuff. So both my pilot, my pilot 912 has external artwork on it, like, maki-e artwork done after market, and like, it's nowhere near the most expensive pilot that I have, and my sailor choice is nowhere near the most expensive sailor that I had, but they were like the most sentimental and kind of like, seem like the one. Yeah,

Myke Hurley: it makes it easier then. I mean, so I would say, I think in general, I prefer the 1911 shape to the pro gear and King of Pen, but I would choose my Jonathan Brooks custom Arushi pro gear King of Pen for my sailor, and then this is made my, I also wanted to do platinum, because I have a few platinums now, and this makes this one even easier for me. So I have the 3776 Galaxy Starlight, this was the pen where the nib broke on the day that I bought it, and that took months to replace. Then I chipped it, so there's a chip in the cap. This is like a lacquer full of Arushi, like it's, they don't make this pen anymore, which I think is a tragedy, like this is for my, it's just one of the most beautiful pens I have, not just platinums. But now I also have the stacked nib from CY in this one too. Oh, okay. So like, this pen is just like, if there was a fire, this is a pen, this is one of the pens I'd go for, because this one is so special to me now, because we've been through so much together, and I bought it as like a, I bought it one year for like a relay anniversary gift. I think I bought it around the fifth anniversary, like that was, that was what I bought this pen for, yeah, because I remember we were trying to get it dealt with during COVID. Gotcha. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. It just like six months later or whatever.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that's interesting. So we kind of did the same thing when I chose my pilot, I picked the pen that had the most stories attached to it, right? It's almost like a most, it's like almost like the most sentimental type of thing, which that's pretty interesting that we both kind of went down that path for this thing. so cool. I'm going to, I'm going to, I'm going to, I'm going to,

Myke Hurley: I'm going to, I'm going to, I'm going to, I'm going to, that's what they're, that's what it's about, right? They draw the attachment to them. I'm trying a lot more in my life and I actually think I have a natural inclination towards this, but I'm trying a lot more in my life to be aware of things being damaged and the importance. Like, you know, you're familiar with wabi-sabi. Sure. So it's a, it's a Japanese phrase, like it's a term that I love, which essentially just means that like the wear and tear of an item and it's, and it's like imperfections and what makes it perfect. And I've definitely tried subscribing to that more and more in my life because I think that these things, they're made to be used and so they should be used and therefore they should show the effects of that use. like, you know, I bought a nice watch and then the next day banged it against a door frame and put a tiny scratch in the case and it's like, well, that's part of the story of this watch now and how it fits into my life and, and like, I believe that these, you, these, these items that we care about, I don't believe in just collecting them. Like, I want to own them and I want to use them and that, that use should show in the product over time and it adds to its beauty and its story. So the fact that my select 776 has a big chip in the side of the cap is actually part of its story.

Brad Dowdy: Yep. Yep. I could not agree more.

Myke Hurley: Should we finish out with an RSTPA today?

Brad Dowdy: Yep. Let's do it.

Myke Hurley: All right. This one comes from Kay who says your mission cheap and cheerful. I want to be cheered up. I'm open to anything in the stationary realm of a smallish budget. Think cheerful and all whimsical.

Brad Dowdy: I love this question. It's, it's pretty hard as like to put that on someone else is like, like I'm going to pick something for you. Am I going to pick something for me? It's like trying to answer it. It was like, ah, I'm stressing out over it. I know there's, there's a couple of things that jumped immediately to mind. Um, one is the platinum preppy, but not any platinum preppy. They do this limited edition style called the WA, W-A, where they take the same preppy barrels, make them in fun, translucent colors and have these great different patterns on there. And I think there's a new batch coming out here pretty soon. Uh, this year, they started this a few years ago and I think they've been very successful and you can find like a different pattern that's coming to you. So like last time was like a, like a lot of like art style patterns. And I think the next one coming out is, has some more little animal patterns on there and things like that. So that's a really cool one from a fountain pen. Um, I would also choose like a multi pen. Like I think multi pens are endlessly fun and you can get, uh, some really fun colors like the jet stream three color, um, which is like a black ballpoint, a red ballpoint and a pencil and some cool barrel colors for like six 50. Right? Like, so the, the, um, the preppy, I think they're around like $8 or something like that. Yeah. Something like that. And the, um, multi pen, the uni jet stream multi pen is about six bucks, six 50. And it's a really good pen for that price. And you get like a three in one, you get a pencil included in there. And then one of my most favorite stationary items, Myke, which I have gone through so many packs of these. I use, uh, sticky note flags, but only funny ones. So I found like a sushi one before. Um, I just finished, um, this, um, Shiba dog one. I've used like, I don't know how many sticky notes are in here, like 60. And I've like completed the whole thing. And now I have a ninja one that I'm getting ready to open up.

Myke Hurley: What are you using them for?

Brad Dowdy: I use them a lot for giveaways and write people's names on them. Right. So that's a little, and then every now and then I'll use it as a bookmark and a notebook, but I'm really using it just to tag other things. And I go through a ton of these and they're the most fun. There's some of the most fun stationary I have. They literally sit on my desk within arm's reach at all time. So that's like three different products you can get for like under 20 bucks there and just have endless amount of fun. But I can't recommend these, um, these sticky note flags highly enough, right? Just because of the, the character artwork on there is really, really great.

Myke Hurley: All right. If you would like to send in a question for your own for us to answer on a future episode, just go to pen addict feedback.com. You can also send in your follow up there too. If you want to find Brad online, go to pen addict.com spoke design.com. Brad is at pen addict and you can find him on twitch.tv slash pen addict as well. Uh, you can find me. I'm at I Myke. I am Y K E. And you can find my products at cortex brand.com. Thank you to pen chalet and the canalea pen co for the support of this week's episode. But most of all, as always, thank you for listening until next time. Say goodbye, Brad. Bye, Brad.