The Pen Addict 678/transcript
| The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript | |
|---|---|
| Episode: | 678 |
| Title: | Where Forth How You Been? |
| Release Date: | August 13th, 2025 |
| Hosts: | Brad Dowdy |
| Guests: | No guests this episode |
| Additional Information | |
| Official page: | Episode 678 |
| Audio File: | Audio Episode 678 |
| Podcast page: | The Pen Addict 678 |
| Length: | 6262 min <br />1.033 h <br /> minutes |
| Previous Transcript | Next Transcript |
- From Relay, this is The Pen Addict, episode 678. Today's show is brought to you by Squarespace, Pen Chalet, and Factor. My name is Myke Hurley and I'm joined by Brad Dowdy. Hi, Brad. What is up, Myke Hurley? How are you? I'm good, man. I'm dealing with a back problem. Yeah, still. Right now, yeah, it's rough. It started last week. I don't remember if I mentioned it on the show. But times are tough over here, is what I'm going to say. Yeah, you mentioned it to me. Yeah. We have commiserated over thrown backs. Mine is usually a two-week thing, so hopefully another week and you're good to go. I hope so. Yeah, yeah. Mad respect to my wife. I'm just going to keep saying that. Yeah, right. She's dealing with a lot right now between looking after me and her other baby.
- Isn't that the truth, man? She's trying to, like, it's almost like Adina is, like, incredibly precious cargo at the moment. It's like, don't hurt yourself. You know what I mean? Like, whatever you do, stay healthy.
- Yep. So, we're going to lighten things up on your back. Because I'm going to carry the weight of this show, Myke. You always carry the weight of this show. I'll tell you that. You know, I wasn't going to say it, but, you know. He's got the weight of the pen addict on his own back. That's what this man's doing. Well, you know, I love this stuff, right? Like, that's why I'm literally leading the show with something that almost nobody cares about. And I want to talk about sticky notes again. Let's do it. Why not? Because we can't solve the sticky notes problem in the stationery world, right? Like, it is not solved or solvable. There's good options. There's better options. Midori. Just go buy Midori stuff and you'll be happy. But I got fed these recent ones from Craft Design Technology. Now, long time list. Hmm? Huh? How they taste? Yummy. Fibrous. Fibrous. I think it's actually matcha, if you look at these colors. Oh, perfect. They're very, no, it's not. It's a little bit lighter. Anyway, Craft Design Technology. I've talked about them a lot because they're one of the more interesting brands to me. I don't know how they do it, to be quite honest. And we've talked about them over the years. Because they make the most beautiful products that are not their products. And what I mean by that is they're almost like a design studio that will see a product from a brand. Let's take Pentel, for example. They're a huge Pentel partner. So they'll take something like the Pentel Carry, like the super, super famous mechanical pencil. And they'll work with Pentel and be allowed to craft design technology, the product, into their own product. And then charge an ultra premium for it. Right? So if the Pentel Carry is an $18 pencil that's standard, you go buy the CDT one. I'm going to say CDT a lot in this because it's craft design technology is a long name. CDT will then take that. They will make an exclusive colorway. They're basically just doing colorways on existing products. And then sell it for an upcharge. So that $18 pencil is now $28 or $32. And guess who buys it? This guy. Because it's sick. Right? They do an unbelievable job with their design. And it's always this green, these light shades of green. So they've done Pentel is their big partner. And then Life Notebooks has done some collaborations with them. And this one is a new sticky note. And I'm not sure who this one's from. But it looks kind of great. And I want to try these. And the biggest question I have is like I was talking about the premiums that they charge, right? For taking, you know, I'm looking at this image we're going to share in the notes. They have like the Pentel sign pen, right? The classic, you know, $2 Pentel sign pen. That's probably a $5 pen. I went and looked at these sticky notes. And they were like the conversion rate on the price that they had. And I put it in the show notes. And I feel like I'm missing something. Conversion rate was like $3 or $4. I can't remember. I'm not looking at it now. Which doesn't make sense for this product. This should be like, it's like missing a one in front of that number or something based on what CDT has done in the past. But if you go to like their product page and it's in yen, it's only like 400 and something yen, which is, you know, like three bucks, two, three bucks. Do they ship internationally? I've always gotten mine from secondary sources. Either like a JetPens or a Yoseka in the US, someone that's importing stuff. I've never tried to order direct from them. And as I was looking through the site, they have way more stuff than I thought they did. They have an overseas, they have overseas partners. I'm looking at their website right now. Yeah. But again, this is, they, maybe I'm missing something, but I don't think there's any like originally designed items, but they take existing items and CDT-ify them. And honestly, I think they're beautiful. You just, you just have to understand that what you're paying for, you're paying for, oh, I'm going to have a green, I'm going to have a green one now. Or in the case of the, the, the Pentel carry, it's like a clear and white one. It's awesome. I like, I, I bought that pencil instantly, even though it was like really expensive. But anyway, that's CDT and it's a sticky note, which is a pretty unique item, especially if they work well. Like, I don't know that they always do. So I would be anxious to try these, especially if these get imported somewhere easier for me to buy and the price stays like in the single digits. Like I will buy these and try them because I like the look. Speaking of liking the look. Nice, nice work if you can get it right. Yeah. Imagine that was your job. It's like, hey, I like what you do. How about if I made it orange? It'd be like, it'd be a shame if something green happened to it, you know? And I say that and I'm literally about to do that right now, which I haven't told anybody. Like I'm working on a thing. It's like, hey, I like this. Can we do it in orange? Fair. You are the CDT for orange. You know that, right? Okay. You do do that. Like that's not the first time you've done this. Yeah. Karen Dash. Hey, can we do this? But in orange. Yeah. It's like, oh, yeah. Oh, Robert Usa, I like the thing you got there. Have you considered more orange?
- Yeah. So I'll raise my hand to that. Definitely guilty. But hey, I'm a fan. Like I'm not knocking them. I love them. So, you know, make more things your color. So speaking of which, Drillog has made more things in their color. I don't know if you recall this product. Mine probably will once you see it. No, because I got it as well. Like I backed it. I feel like this was a COVID thing. I think. Yeah, that sounds about right. Like 2021, 2022, something like that. Because I remember using this at my old desk in my old apartment. And that would suggest to me that it was kind of like around that time frame. Right. I don't remember our general consensus over the original Drillog product. The original Drillog product was problematic. Okay. It's one of those products that I wanted to work so badly because it was so perfect for what I wanted to use and how I like to use like a dip nib pen. So for those who aren't aware, this is a metal tip dip nib pen, which we have a question about that later in the show we're going to tackle, which was a great question. And the idea was that they took a traditional dip nib that you would dip into ink and then put a basically micro tip on the end of it. So like the finest one they make is a 0.5 millimeter metal tip. It looks like a Pilot Hitec C, but in a highly engineered dip nib pen. So that's like a dream product of mine. Like if I was, you know, just making up products in my head, I was like, boy, if I could ever have this, it would be great. Yeah. I mean, for me, it was like, oh, this would be the perfect thing to try new inks with because you could just rinse it off and you're done at the end of it. Like it felt like a really good thing. And I don't remember disliking it. I think my general feeling was just like, eh. It was like the way that I kind of have a memory of this product. I also remember that this was like the first Kickstarter that I'd seen that implemented Kickstarter's version of BackerKit. Oh, okay. No, it had options. Like you would say, I want to back this. And then instead of it needing to do the survey afterwards, you would say like, I want the orange one. And it was part of the Kickstarter checkout process. Because I remember we were quite surprised by it at that time because we'd never seen it before. I wonder if this was one of the first Kickstarter Japan projects, to be honest. You know, they added in region-based campaigns. Yeah. Instead of, you know, companies weren't able to like to do Kickstarters at the time. So, yeah, I wonder if that was might have been one of the first Kickstarter Japan projects too. Anyway, the problem with the first one. And so, they would come in like this 0.5 tip, which is, again, not for everybody. Then they had a 0.8 and a 1.2, I believe. So, a little wider, but still like not super wide. The problem was the ink retention on the nib was way too short. Like you would dip the pen and you'd get like five words out. And you're like, well, this is a pain in the butt. This is not how it should work. And what ended up, most people ended up finding out, like a lot of people had them. Like you could get certain inks to perform better than other inks. And it became too much of a headache to find an ink that matched your drill log. Because no one wants to do that. You just want to use the pen and whatever ink you want. And I'm still like in the first look phase. I don't know if that's solved with this one. But I've used this one. I have a 0.5 millimeter. Drill log sent this to me, full disclosure, for free. I have the 0.5 millimeter. I have one of the fancy like gradiated ones, gradient ones. They look beautiful. You know, pink and purple. And I like straight out the box, I didn't plan on anything. I opened the box on my desk. I grabbed the closest ink bottle I had, which is Sailor Sky High. And I dipped it. It's about halfway up the nib. I wrote a ton. Like I was shocked at how long I could write with it. That doesn't mean nothing. It doesn't mean anything in the context of drill log. Because it needs to be tested with many other inks before I come to any kind of conclusion. My first impression was, did they fix it? Because it feels great. Like it was really, really good. So I have a picture on Instagram. I'll get you that link in the show notes. It's to see like a single dip halfway up the nib. I mean, I wrote several sentences, dozens of words, right? For a dip nib pen, it was more than acceptable. I would say it was beyond acceptable. It was really good. So if you're interested, this is one of those products. I remember at the time is like, man, this would be nice. Like if you're interested in this, you really want to test it to see if it's for you. Because this is a product that is not for everybody. They will be at the San Francisco Pen Show. I've never seen them there before. I don't think they've ever made the trip before. They're going to be at the San Francisco Pen Show here in a couple of weeks. And you might can check them out there with all their different nibs and colors and things like that. So give them a try. But like the key with the drill log in the past was finding the right ink. And now I'm hoping when I get back from this trip, which we're going to talk about on this show, I'll have more time to get out, you know, a bunch of random inks and inks. I know how they behave and see if they are consistent from this nib. Because I want this to work again, like just like the last time. I want this to work desperately because it would be like a good part of my stationery usage and my workflow. But the last one just had too many frustrations with it. So I hope this one's a little bit different. And they've made some changes in how the ink resides on the nib and flow. So should be good. Yeah. Because I guess it's an engineering challenge, right? Like how are they moving the channels, how are the channels flowing through the ink? Yeah. And so that's what I'm going to do. I have my old nibs. So I couldn't really tell online, but I want to see if the pattern has changed. But I can get my old nib out and compare like did they change the design? They could be one of those things that's barely impossible to see even if they did. But I guess my question would be though, like, you know, maybe this isn't a fair question. I don't know. But it's like this is the whole point of the pen, right? Like to dip it and use it. And like, great, you'll have a bunch of ink on it. Yeah. It would just surprise me if they fix it with the second round but got it wrong with the first. It's like that was like the whole point. I don't know if it was like customers didn't like X or Y or Z. It's like, well, this was the point of the product. It would just be interesting to me if they solved a problem that was the original solution. Right. You know what I mean? It's like it would be like odd to me in that way. So I spent some time trying to find an answer to that. It's like, is there an article on, hey, 2.0, here's what we did different. And I couldn't find anything yet. Or like, here's the changes we've made. I haven't found anything yet. So that's why I don't want to like, you know, big up this one too much. Yes. But I'm just, you know, I want to spend some time with it. But like my initial test was really good. But like we got a long way to go before I can say. So we're going to work on that over the next few weeks because I want to see it. I want to see it for my own eyes, right? Yeah. Because I desperately want this product to work. And sometimes, you know, you can't always get what you want, Myke. I've heard that before. There might be a song about that. Just get some other stuff. I think so it goes. Yeah. This episode is brought to you by our friends over at Squarespace, the all-in-one website platform that's designed to help you stand out and succeed online. Whether you're just getting started or you're growing your business, Squarespace will give you everything you need to claim your domain, showcase your offerings at a professional website, grow your brand, and get paid all in one place. One of the ways you can get paid is by having a store of physical or digital goods that you can sell on Squarespace. Brad has been doing this for years with different projects. Yeah. CDT for orange on Squarespace. Yep. Exactly. It's right there. You can just go to his site and you can do it. It's got all of the integrations you need to make shipping products work. But you can also do digital goods too, which is actually one of the cool things of Squarespace. So you can upload content, so video content, that kind of stuff if you wanted, and organize it, showcase it in video pages, that kind of stuff. And you can sell access to this by adding a paywall to your content. It could be perfect for online courses, tutorials, premium workshops, and more. And you can offer other services too. Maybe your business isn't selling things, it's providing things from consultations to events and experiences. You can showcase your offerings of a customizable website that is designed to attract clients and help you grow your business. Do you think about built-in appointment scheduling, email marketing, that kind of stuff? It's all built into Squarespace. You can keep everything cohesive of on-brand invoices and get paid with online payments. It is the one-stop shop. Don't just take my word for it, though. Go to squarespace.com. You can sign up for a free trial and see how easy it is to build your new website. Then when you want to launch it to the world, use the offer code PENADDICT and you will save yourself 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. That is squarespace.com slash PENADDICT with the offer code PENADDICT and you will get 10% off your first purchase and show your support for the show. A thanks to Squarespace for the support of this show and all of Relay. All right, you gave me an idea. Okay. Listen up from Squarespace. So since I can do the consultancy, right? And I can just build this page where you can be PENADDICT consultancy. But only Lamy can order my services. Okay. So we get your special domain. Maybe to give them a password or something because you can do that. Yeah. Okay. Make it exclusive. So just for them. So coming soon to PENADDICT.com. Shout out of the week, Myke. Shout out of the week. Japan SideQuest. So I followed. This is kind of a long winding story. I won't tell the whole story. But basically, a friend on Twitch said, hey, I think you would like following, you know, some people on Twitch. And, you know, they're doing cooking streams and doing, you know, other streams like that. Some stationery streams randomly. And I was like, yeah, follow them. Follow them. Follow them on Twitch. Amanda and Graham on Twitch. Different Twitch handles. But oddly enough, I got to meet them randomly. Like I didn't know they were coming to the St. Jude Play Live event back in April when I was there in Memphis. And got to talk to them a bunch then and, you know, hung out with them throughout the show. You know what? This might be a reference. There was a moment when Steven texted me. It's like, oh, my God. Everyone knows Brad. This might be part of what he's referring to. Yeah, there were other people there too. So, yeah, it was hilarious. I love my Twitch friends. You were the big star. You were the big star. That's funny. Everyone gets the biggest kick out of that. It's like, how does Brad know all these people? How does everyone? So, I was talking to them. And I was like, oh, yeah, you know, what else you got going on? And I was like, well, we fly back tomorrow. We're moving to Japan. I'm like, excuse me? And so, they have actually completed that. And now they are down there on YouTube as Japan SideQuest and on Instagram. So, go follow them over at Japan SideQuest. They're doing some cool stuff. I just caught Amanda's latest video. Went to the Bangu Joshi event in Japan. Which this is supposedly like the, I don't know, supposedly. I think it might be factually correct that it's the biggest stationery show maybe in the world. When Amanda was going through some of the numbers, I think it's like either a four or five day event and 600,000 people come through. And I just don't grasp that. But this is a great video. I'll have a link to the video that was just posted on their channel. And this event just happened like in June or July. It's over the summertime. And it's an amazing event. It's a little bit different than the Tokyo International Pen Show, which is the one we talk about, you know, later in the fall. Which is more fountain pen and ink folks. This is more general stationery focus. But they obviously have pens and inks and all that stuff too. So, anyway, go check that out. Go give them a follow. And, yeah, they're awesome people and so cool. So, go check out Japan SideQuest. I know. Maybe the next time or maybe the first time I'm in Japan, Myke, I get the 20th anniversary Pilot Decimo. Okay. I have questions about this. So, I was surprised to see this post. Happy 20th anniversary Pilot Decimo. I was like, huh. All right. So, the Vanishing Point's been around since late 60s, early 70s. So, like 50, more in the 50-year range. I did not realize that Decimo had only been around since 2005. And now I'm, like, questioning everything about my life. I don't know why. My headcanon was that the Decimo came first. I know it didn't. I would. Yeah. But I wouldn't have been surprised. Like, it definitely didn't. Like, that I know. Because I know it's like a lot of the early Vanishing Point designs and how that design has changed throughout the years. I didn't know it. I would have guessed, like, in 1980s, maybe. Like, the Decimo came around or 90s. Like, if I just had to have a brain-and-guess. But it's only been around for 20 years. Maybe it's the 20th anniversary or something else. I don't know. Can you hear me feel about that? I did. Because I was like, is this right? So, I went trying to research it. And, of course, like, I could only go so far in the amount of time I had. And it's like, I couldn't find anything different. Right? I didn't find anything that said this wasn't. And this was like a – it wasn't from a pilot source. But, like, the imagery looked like it was like a pilot imagery. So, like, yeah, this product is releasing in November 2025 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Decimo. So, maybe I'll ask – I will see them – I will see Pilot at the Atlas Stationers event that I'm getting ready to go to. That's on my list now to ask them, is this really the 20th anniversary of the Decimo? Because I – they normally – they know me as the guy that annoys them about bringing in more Decimo colors, right? Because I prefer the Decimo. So, this will be right up my alley. They'll be like, oh, gosh, Brad's at us again. Look, here's the thing. You know, do what you want with this. But Google's AI overview tells me – Oh, God. It tells me the Pilot Vanishing Point Decimo was first released in 2005 as a slimmer and lighter version of the Pilot Vanishing Point. Okay. The Decimo means 10th in Spanish and was the 10th model in the Pilot Capless family. All right. That's new information. That part could be complete – like, that part at the end, that feels like it's made up. But who could tell? That's awesome. But it might be the first time the Google results have been correct. I've now gone to – like, I found the source from a website called Pen Boutique. Oh, sure. That's a valid – that's a good – And it says the slimmer and lighter Decimo, so named because it's the 10th model in the family, came out in 2005. Okay. Okay. I like it. I have no idea. So that's wild to me that it's only 20 years old, seeing that we've been doing this as long as we have. Yeah. That was a pretty new pin at the time we started this show, which is crazy to me. That's gross. It's not that close. It's not that close. It's terrible. Terrible to think about. It's like within seven years, maybe I'm embellishing a little bit. It's what we do on the internet. We've been doing this show for 45 years. Yeah. Happy 20th anniversary, Pilot Decimo. Yep. So I'm going to be carrying my Decimo. Again, I keep alluding to this event we're going to get to that in a minute. But in honor, which I didn't know until a couple days ago, I was like, in honor of the 20th anniversary of the Decimo, heck yeah, I'm bringing my Decimo. It's a good travel pin. What paper am I going to use with it, Myke? How about Canopus paper? Excuse me? We talk. Yeah. Excuse me. That's a name. I don't know about that name. I keep saying cannabis a lot when I'm on stream and people keep saying, why do you keep saying cannabis? But it's because I say Canopus like really fast and Southern. So now we just call it the cannabis paper. But yeah, this is the, I think when I did shout out of the week for Jacob at Food Day Fan, I think he had just gone over his review and gotten his hands on this paper. Because it's coming from Yamamoto paper in Japan. So he gets all the things first, which rules, and we get to learn about it. So I picked some up from the Gentleman Stationer, got it delivered to me at the DC Pen Show, got home, wanted to test it out. So the idea behind Canopus paper is that it should have some of the characteristics of a paper called Cosmo Air Light. Cosmo Air Light was a popular paper because of how inks represented on the page. They were very accurate in color, in shade, in sheening. They were very bright. It was a very, as Jacob says, Instagrammable paper for inks, right? It just showed the stuff off. But like all good things, Myke, the Cosmo Air Light era was like Cosmo Air Light 2022 to 2024, RIP. And it just went away because, again, and we've talked about this a dozen times on the show, a lot of these papers we fall in love with were not designed with stationery in mind, right? So whatever market they had went away for this Cosmo Air Light that we were using for its not intended use. But it became such kind of a niche paper for people who love inks and sharing inks and the qualities of inks that it had kind of a cult following. So Yamamoto Paper, the person behind Yamamoto Paper is Taizo Yamamoto, who I've known for years and is just a paper genius for lack of a better term. Like he knows everything and he makes his own papers and works with printers to come up with his own formulations and makes a new paper. So Kanopus is Yamamoto Paper's own formulation that Taizo created and worked with a printer to have made that is trying to get in that Cosmo Air Light ink representation realm. And I think it does a pretty good job with it. So the pro of Cosmo Air Light, like I mentioned, was the brightness and just the color representation on the page was awesome. The Cosmo Air Light downside was it was terrible to write on, which doesn't make a lot of sense, but it really, really was. So the nibs would basically sink into the page as you wrote with it. Like they were spongy, the page was spongy and it was just a weird feeling. And the reference I like to make is if you had like a standard Yovo fine nib and you wrote on Cosmo Air Light, the lines spread on the page just from that softness and give would make it look like a medium or even wider pen. Like all my extra fine pens, like I couldn't write extra fine lines with them on that page. And I actively dislike Cosmo Air Light. But if I wanted to just do an ink sample and was going to do like an ink swatch or something, it would be awesome. Canopus is kind of the best of both worlds where you can actually write on it and get all this great ink representation from the colors and the shading. I don't think it's perfect for general writing. I still think it's a fountain pen paper after all of my testing because the way the surface of the page feels, it doesn't make it feel good for like rollerball and gelings and pencils, right? It doesn't, it doesn't give me that feel that I like for standard pens, but for fountain pens, all kinds of nibs, even my most extra fine nibs, like I use the Sailor extra fine nib and a pilot posting nib. They work great. Like the line widths were accurate. The colors were great. The smoothness was awesome. It had no bleed or feathering. So I think this is going to be a good paper. I don't think it's going to be like a universal paper, like just a standard Midori MD paper is a great universal paper, right? Because my gel pens feel good and my stub nib fountain pen feels good and my extra fine fountain pen feels good and my pencil feels good. It's not universal in that aspect. But I think for fountain pen users and for ink swatching, I'm going to use it more than I ever use Cosmo Air Light. I actively dislike using Cosmo Air Light because it felt so funny. This does not feel that way. And, you know, Taizo did a great job with this and it's just kind of coming into the market now. Like Jacob got his hands on it a couple months ago in Japan. And it's just made its way over to the U.S. and to other stores here in the past literally few weeks. Again, San Francisco pen show. It's a huge show. If you're going to be there, Yamamoto paper will be there. I'm sure we'll have plenty of Canopus on hand. And so it would be a good paper to test out if you like fountain pens, fountain penings and things like that. I did enjoy writing on it. So that's a plus from what Cosmo Air Light used to be. So there you go. Can you just help me understand a little bit? So how is this being made? It's just, I mean, with a printer. But so we need, I need to probably find some Taizo videos or some talks. Like I've listened to him talk. He will literally go to printers. So let me tell the bank paper story in a short, quick version. So bank paper is going away, right? We've talked about this. The Mitsubishi classic three diamonds bank paper is going away. That is such a famous and popular paper that Taizo actually went to the printer. That makes the Mitsubishi three diamond watermarked bank paper. And was able to work with them to reformulate the process of how the paper is made and turn it into his own bank paper brand. Right. So he's doing this again with a different printer and making this Canopus type paper. That's incredible. It is. It's beyond my comprehension. I just don't understand how like economically it works. Yeah. Poorly. According to Taizo.
- According to him, it works poorly. But he keeps doing it. That is it. Okay. So. All right. So you're understanding why I would be questioning it. Like trying to get my head around this one and it doesn't make sense. And I guess. Yeah. Because yes, it actually doesn't make sense to do this. So last year at San Francisco, I sat in a talk that he did. Yeah. And his commitment that he had to have with the printer to make his own bank paper was astronomical. Yeah. But he did it. He did it because he believes in it. I mean. Yeah. It's frightening. It's literally frightening to hear him talk about this stuff. But that's what passion will do to you. Right? Yeah. Like he really, really cares about some of this stuff continuing on. But. And not just continuing on how it used to be. But making it in, you know, his vision of like really great stuff. Like I said in the little article I wrote that he knows more about paper than anyone I know. And possibly more than anyone I don't know. Like he is literally that guy. Right? And he cares about this stuff. And he puts his money where his mouth is. And yeah. It's crazy. It's. As someone. And you and I who have made paper products before knows the level of nightmare that can go into it. And we're not even making the paper. Like he's making the paper from like raw materials. Like formulating the output. And I just can't imagine what that process is like. Yeah. I don't understand. Bravo though. I'll say that. Yeah. Absolutely. It's fascinating. It's fascinating. And like if you're in San Francisco. I don't know if he's doing his event that he did this year. Like doing it this year. But he did last year. Where he's just talking about like the paper industry. That's worth signing up to go hear him talk. It's. Be well worth your time. It's fascinating. Great person. This episode is brought to you by Pen Chalet. Hey Pen Chalet have the products that you're looking for from the brands that you love. Whether you would like a new rollerball. A new fountain pen. Maybe you're looking for some inks. Some refills. Some carrying cases. Maybe you're taking your pens on the road. Pen Chalet have got the products that you want. They have great discounts. Every couple of weeks you're going to find new deals over at Pen Chalet. As well as the fantastic special deals that you get for being a listener of this show. Pen Chalet believe in providing fast and reliable customer service to their customers. And they do free shipping on orders of over $75 in the US. With great shipping rates worldwide. Pen Chalet offer the lowest prices on the highest quality products. And they offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee. Take yourself over now to PenChalet.com slash PenAddict. That is P-E-N-C-H-A-L-E-T dot com slash PenAddict. And you can save 10% on anything at Pen Chalet. And to see some exclusive offers just because you listen to this show. What have we got Brad? I know we talked about this Schaefer Pop fountain pen before. But I think the price might be even lower than it was. This is a really good entry level fountain pen. Or like if you need like a tester pen. Or just like some kind of pen to just take out and about. Or give to someone. Or not really worry about how it goes. Like the price on this pen for the quality of what it is. Is kind of crazy to me. So yeah. I would definitely check that out. Also still have the Monteverde MP. Which I am really anxious to see for myself. Like I've held them. They feel great. I have not used them yet. I bought a couple for review. Still waiting on those. So those will come out soon. And then the Conklin exclusive 1898s. With the wonderful cool tone Brooks material in here. Looks kind of fascinating to me. And then you got to sneak all the way down to the ink samples. Which I've talked about before. I like picking out a couple of the ink samples that you don't always see. This time I'm going with Waring Old Myke. So they have a couple of different. They have one of the literature collections. They have one of the Alice in Wonderland collections. Which Cheshire Cat is one of my favorites. They don't have that ink in part of this kit. But they have some of the shimmer inks from that series. You know. Mad Hatter. Alice. Queen of Hearts. Things like that. So these samples are awesome. I love Waring Old inks. So go check those out over at PenChillet.com. That's at PenChillet.com slash PenAddict. Where you can find that for yourself right now. Our thanks to PenChillet.com for the support of this show. And all of Relay. All right, Myke. I am going on a trip to a not Pen show this time. Which is something that really interests me. These more stationery fests, right? Like I went to last year at Yoseko. These more. I don't want to say smaller events. Because these events have turned out to be very large. But different than your traditional Pen Show events. So whatever you want to call them. This time I'm going to the Atlas Station or Sidewalk Sale. Which Atlas Station is a retailer in Chicago. Brick and mortar. Right in the heart of downtown Chicago. I've been there before. I went there for Fountain Pen Day a couple years ago. And had a really great time. Loved the store. Loved the people there. And loved Chicago. Chicago is a really awesome town. My kind of town. Chicago. That one? Wow. Yes. That one. Sort of. Sort of. So what they're doing is essentially. Unlike say. Yoseko Stationery Fest. Where they had an event space. And brought in a bunch of. You know. Different stationery companies. And Pen retailers. And stuff like that. And had their own type of event. This one is actually bringing these vendors. To the store. At Atlas Stationers. It's going to be inside. And outside. On the street. At Atlas Stationers. They've done this for several years. And I keep looking at the pictures. And as like. As someone who's been there. It's like. This looks wild to me. So. There's going to be. 35 vendors. And just. So many different brands represented. And a lot of smaller makers. Are going to be there. And there's like. You know. There's going to be. You know. Nib grinders there. Like Kirk Spear. And Matthews Nibworks. And it's kind of like. A pen show. At a retailer. And it's. I'm trying to grasp. This. Without having. Attended it yet. It looks big. Like I'm. Crazy impressed. At how big. This event. Looks like it's going to be. And so. I'm going to get to experience it. In person. This week. So. I'm also. Going to do something. I've never done. At a show. But we've actually. Kind of joked about it. In the past. And I'm actually. Going to get to do it. This time. I'm going to get to sit at a table. And autograph pictures. Which I think is. Yes. Oh my god. Yes. He's going to do a sign in. Let's go. Yeah. I'm going to do a sign in. See. I don't even know what to call it. Oh yes. Because I've never done it before. But it's hilarious. I have like three different sessions booked. Right. So like. Three. Like scheduled. Yeah. Like two on Thursday. And one on Friday. So this is a Thursday. And Friday event. So I have like a morning signing. On Thursday. An afternoon signing. Wow. And then another one on Friday. And then we're going to do. Like some interview stuff. In the middle. And so they have lots of classes. And. And other events there. For people to do too. It's not just. You know. Just like the pen show. It's actually. It's actually more. Like a pen show. In that you have. Classes. And seminars. And things like that. But it's going to be fun. I. This is the one that I made. The laser beam picture for. So they told me. They wanted to do this. It's like. Hey. Can we get a picture? So here's our idea. It's like. You know. We want to have you all out. Just to come. And hang. Hang around. And. And do. Do other things. You know. Just. You know. Help promote the show. And whatever. Um. But here's our idea. We want. Can you send us like a headshot. And we'll make some. Like Polaroid. Picture. You know. Images. And. I think they're going to be stickers too. To where you can just like. Sign the bottom of them. You know. Like the bottom of a Polaroid. Yeah. And I was like. Well. Yeah. Number one. Yes. But number two. I was like. Well now. I need to do something hilarious. Or something that's going to make me feel fun about it. Fun doing it. And so that's where. You know. I got with my wife. And did the laser beam picture. Um. Which kind of rules. I'm pretty proud about that. I hope the pen addict. This will show up. Show out for you. Yeah. Is there going to be. Multiple signings happening at the same time? No. So it's me. And. Hemingway Jones. Who's also. A pen fluencer Myke. He's mostly on YouTube. And Instagram. Um. And so. Myke. Uh. Madison was supposed to be there. But he's not going to be able to make it. Uh. Ink Dependence Myke. So it was going to be the three of us. But now it's just going to be the two of us. So we'll be alternating at the table. Do you think Myke got intimidated by your potential signing line? No. Myke. No. Myke was ready to roll. Myke was ready to roll. So. I mean. Going up against the pen addict Brad Dowdy. You know what I mean? Yeah. Oh yeah. That's what everyone says. Ooh. I'm scared of that guy. Watch out. Watch out. He's going to get you. Although I will say. Have you seen the laser beams? I mean. Exactly. I. I expect the pen addicts to show up for you. And get some. Can you sign me one please? Yeah. I'm going to see if I can. I'll bring some home. Um. And. And give. I know. Yeah. Yeah. It's going to be a thing where I'm like signing things now. I can't wait. Let me tell you man. I've done it a couple of times. And. It's. I remember that one print you did. Yeah. It's exhausting but fun. Yeah. I. I. I ended up being able to bribe people. Uh. That was. Because basically it was signings. At like. Conferences or whatever. Yeah. You bring a thing to be signed. Right. Gotcha. Gotcha. Yeah. Yeah. I didn't make anything that people could sign at that point in my life. Right. So. And also. I. I desperately didn't want to just be sitting in this hall on my own. I never asked for the signing. Right. Like. This was a thing that was kind of like. They. They put into my schedule. Yeah. And so. I was like. Well. We're going to make a deal here. I'm going to make a really nice print. That I will give you for free. Just. Yeah. To the signing. And then I ended up like they. My signings were. At least on the first pod con. Ended up being a bit of a logistical nightmare. Because there were too many people. For what they assumed my. My time would be. And I ended up. I think I delayed the McElroys in the end. Which was incredible. They had to wait for me. That's a good thing to say. To be done with my. With my line of incredible listeners. Yeah. I forgot about pod con. Does that even still exist? No. I did two of them. And then that was the end of it. It's just a real shame. It was just. I think. I was pre. Pre COVID. Yes. And that. That wasn't the reason though. Yeah. Really. But I'm saying. It was a while ago. If they want it. The problem was wanting to. Keep it to like a niche. Like basically. It needed to become like. Murder podcasts. And then. Then it. Right. Would have sustained itself longer. Because there are other conferences. Like podcast movement. Which has been very successful. And pod con was trying to service. Like a very particular type of podcast listener. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm not sure. If that had enough legs. To keep doing over and over again. With the same people. So. Yeah. Yeah. So anyway. So talking about. You know. Is. Is anyone going to come. And like. You know. There might be zero people that come. And get it. I bet I'll sign at least one. No. But what's funny. I know. Well. Here's my point. What I think is fun. So. I just want to. I haven't even been there yet. But I just want to give Brendan. And the whole. And Brian. And the whole Atlas Stationer team. The level of detail. Of information. That I'm getting about this. Is off the charts. Amazing. And. So like. There's a table. Dedicated. To these signings. And the table. And. I have linked to like. The show layout. So like. The outside. Tents. If you will. So the outside. Well. There's an outside. And inside area. So we're going to be outside. I am right in between. Kenro Industries. And Tom Studio. So there's not. Two more. Instagramable brands. That I'll be. In. In between. So even if I'm not signing anything. I'll be cutting up with those guys. And. And. You know. Seeing like. All the. The new Estabrooks. Maybe I'll get some. Funky Town Estabrooks. And. You know. Who knows what. With Tom Studio. Maybe another Wren. Or something like that. So. There's just going to be a lot of cool brands. It's going to be a cool event. Two days. Thursday. Friday. And Myke. I'm finally doing the thing. That I've threatened to do for years. Which is to take an extra day or two. In the town of the show. And do something. Oh. Okay. So. The show is Friday. Excuse me. The show. The Atlas Stationers Sidewalk Sale. Is Thursday. Friday. And. I'm going to take Saturday. To do Chicago. And I've already got like. A whole plan. And then I'm not coming home. Until Sunday. So like. I'm literally. Going to go to. Another stationery store in Chicago. That I've never been to. Paper and pencil in Chicago. On Saturday. I'm going to go to the Cubs game. At Wrigley Field. I've never been to Wrigley Field. And then. Randomness. Of all randomness. The Flaming Lips. And Modest Mouse. Are playing. That night. So. I'm having a triple header. On. Oh my god Brad. You're going to be exhausted. On Saturday. You're going to be exhausted. I don't care. I'm exhausted. That's the reason why I'm doing it. So like. I'm literally going to like. The stationery store when they open. A afternoon Cubs game. And then a nighttime concert. So yeah. I'll be a dead man walking. But I'm excited. So this is. Like. This is why I'm doing it. Right. Like. I said. I have to do these things. When I go to these shows. Not just go to the event. Stay in the hotel. And then turn around. And go back to the airport. It's like. Take advantage. Of some of the situations you're in. Yep. Put on your big boy pants. Yep. And do the fun. I love it. So. I'm going to do it. I guess it's probably worth noting. That if you see Brad. Out and about. Outside of stationery fest. Don't talk to him. Because the man. Will be out of his mind. He's going to be so tired. He's not going to know where he is. If you want to talk to Brad. In Chicago. You've got to go see him. And get. A signed Polaroid. Brad Dowdy. Yeah. Come. If you're. If you're there. Come by. Swing back. At the stationers. Come say hi. Yep. All right. This episode is also brought to you. By our friends. Over at Factor. Summer. Means having fun. But. With a busy schedule. When it comes to eating. Before heading out again. You might want to think about this Brad. You might only have two minutes. Very. This is where Factor can help you. I'm like. Oh man. Yes. You can eat smart. With tasty. Chef prepped meals. That are dietitian approved. And delivered right to your door. And now. With more than 65 weekly meals. You can pick what's right for you. And have even more ways. To fit in a real meal. No matter where the day takes you. With Factor. You can enjoy more variety. And more meals. Choose from a wider selection. Of weekly meal options. Including premium seafood choices. Like salmon and shrimp. At no extra cost. You can support your wellness goals too. You can enjoy GLP-1 friendly meals. And a new Mediterranean diet options. That are packed with protein. And good for you fats. And you can save it as global flavors. For the first time. Try Asian inspired meals. With Factor. With bold flavors. Influenced by China. Thailand. And more. From more choices. To better nutrition. 97% of customers say. That Factor have helped them live a healthier life. Feel the difference. No matter your retained. Do you feel the difference Brad. When you have a Factor meal? I do. I feel the mental difference. And the physical difference. Myke. The mental. It saved me so much time. Yep. Knowing I can just go grab an awesome meal. And have it ready. In just a couple of minutes. And then eat. And get on about my day. And have it be such great quality. I love the flavors. I love the different styles that they have now. I'm going to have to try some of these new flavors. That you were mentioning. I haven't tried. Some of like the new Mediterranean. Or some of the new Asian influenced ones. But their flavors. And food is always good. Great quality. Super fast. And super easy. I love them. Eat smart at factormeals.com. Slash penaddict50 off. And use the code penaddict50 off. And you will get 50% off. Plus free shipping on your first box. That's code penaddict50 off. At factormeals.com. To get 50% off. Plus free shipping. Get delicious ready to eat meals. Delivered with Factor. Our thanks to Factor. For the support of this show. And Relay. All right. You want to hit some ass TPA before I get on the road? I do indeed. First comes from Russ who says. I've read your description in the refill newsletter for AT three times. And I have no idea what your new product is or does. Can you cover it on the show again? Every fountain pen is literally a nib holder Brad. But I feel this is not what you made. I love this question so much. That last part is my favorite. You know. It's like. It feels like a proverb. You know. Like if every fountain pen is a nib holder. Does nib holder actually exist? Exactly. So Russ. The reason why I like this is because Russ has been a long time subscriber. A long time follower. Like as long as I can remember. And he's referencing the ink thrower that I made. Which is. I call it a handle. For a nib. Or a nib holder. And Russ is like. What even is this? And it's like. That is such a good question. Because maybe I didn't do a great job of describing. So. Yes. Every pen is literally. A nib holder. But this comes from. In the modern sense of the term. What I created. Was a fancy acrylic holder. For what I call. A bullet nib. Which is. Something that use. I use. And a lot of people use. Just to spread ink on a page. Right. It's almost a tool for. More artistic impression. As opposed to writing. Okay. But these came from. Like writing nibs. Like the first. You know. Before fountain pens. There were dip nibs. So you basically had a stick. And had a pointy bit on the end. Sometimes you just carved it. And then later on. When you know. Metal production became more popular. It was shaped into a nib. And you would get a box of. 12 little steel nibs. And you would have. One. Stick. To jam them in. And you would use that. With an ink pot. And a bottle of ink. And you would dip your pen. In the ink. And write your letter. And say. Dearest.
- Constantine. Yep. That's it. Keep going. Whereforth. How. You've been. Yeah. That's it. I've already lost it. So please continue. Whereforth. How you've been Brad. Yeah. So that kind of got modernized there. A little bit. So anyway. Yeah. So like. Dip nibs. Have always been a thing. Right. That was kind of like. The first writing instruments. Outside. Outside of just making marks. With you know. Just various tools.
- And. That kind of morphed. Into the fountain pen. And dip nibs went away. Right. Because now. Fountain pens were more. Were easier to use. And you didn't have to have. These. You know. This. Tin of nibs. Laying around. And these extra pens. And those bottle of inks. You could have a self-contained. Portable. Writing device. So. Nowadays. With the prevalence of ink. In our. You know. Day to day. Usage of fountain pens. A lot of us. Use a lot of different inks. And want to see. What those ink properties are. So now we have. Different tools. That are being. Specifically designed. With. Play time. You know. Of. Focus. More than just like. Pure writing focus. Right. For the nibs. They're not as utilitarian. As they used to be. They're more for play. And artistic expression. And some writing. For sure. But like. What I built. Is really just like. An ink play tool. And I built. A handle. To hold these various nibs. That you can buy. You can still buy. Those old. Classic dip nibs. Um. And use them with. Like the handle. That I built. Um. But yeah. That's why. I just call it. A nib holder. Because. It's just a cool piece. Of acrylic. That I keep on my desk. I can vary. What nibs. I put into it. Depending on what I want to do. If I want to write. I can put in a traditional. Style. Dip nib in there. And write a letter. And. If I want to play with ink. I can put in this. Kakamori bullet nib. Which is what. Most people do. Uh. With this type of device. And yeah. Like. I don't even know. That I explained it well. But it's. It's literal. In the sense. That it is. A stick. That holds a nib. And then what you do with it. Is up to you. And what I do with it. And what a lot of people do with it. Right now. Is to take their various. Ink colors. And shades. And splash them all over the page. And be creative with it. So. That's kind of. Kind of the idea behind it. But. This is. Really just. A play. On the very. Very first. Like dip nip pens. That you know. You were writing letters with. Back in Myke's day. Back in my day. Where. For. Out thou. How are you? Yeah. How you been? How you doing? This question comes. Via Tomos. You were talking in a. Recent episode. About how going to a pen show. Is mainly a marketing opportunity. Breaking even as a bonus. And making money as a stretch goal. Is that just for the DC pen show? Or is it the case for every pen show? Most pen shows have lots of vintage sellers. Who may not have an online presence even.
- Yeah. That's a good question. And a good way to present it. It. Obviously. Depends. Right. On. What your. Personal goals are. So. Let's just take the vintage sellers. Part. And I'll. Circle back to the DC specific part. In a second. So the vintage sellers. Even then. If you're just kind of going to classify. Vintage sellers. Even those. Sellers are in. A couple different categories. In their own little grouping. So you could have just the individual personal seller. Who is selling stuff. They. They buy. Sell. Repair. Make. And. They just go to the shows. Because. That's their. Their point of sale. And. You know. They would like to see other people. Who are. Shopping. For. Vintage pens. They can. You know. Help them learn about some of the vintage pens. They can. Buy. Sell. Trade. With other vendors. Of pens. And. It's just kind of. More of a hobby based. Thing. So. I don't know. That they. Actually. Completely. Care. About the bottom line. You know. I don't know. That they're like. Running spreadsheets. Of profit and loss. They're going to have fun. And talk to people. That are interested. In the things they are. And selling some things. And probably buying some things. They may spend more. Than they make. A lot of these vendors. But other vintage sellers. Are. In the business. Of selling vintage pens. And they. Are out there. To get their name out there. As. Hey. When you go home. If you're looking for. This weird. Parker 51. I have this website. That you can come find me at. And you can ask me questions. And you can get to me. A lot easier. Right. So there's a couple of different. Ways to go about it. And. As long as. Repairs. Of vintage pens. Which is always. A very popular.
- Seller. At some of these shows. Right. People who can. Repair vintage pens. Are. You know. They're getting fewer. And fewer. Out there. So their services. For people who are into that. Are very. Very well needed. And they have to get that exposure. That. Hey. Maybe you don't need me today. But down the line. When you're. You know. Parker vacuumatic breaks. You can. You can send it to me. And I can get you fixed up. So. You know. It's kind of a little bit of both ways. On the vintage sellers. I feel like with the vintage sellers. They're just operating a different kind of business. Where. They're acquiring stock. Over a long period of time. For. Maybe a cheaper price. And then. You kind of just sit on it. And try and sell it slowly. Well. Like. If you're trying to build a brand. You're. You're trying to deal in bigger volumes. I think. I. I get the. The point. That like. There are some. That don't even have a website. Right. They're like. Yes. Come to this thing. And it's going to sell some products. And that's the end of it. Right. They're. That is like a. Different business. To the kind of thing. That we're talking about. When we look at. Yeah. And show. Yeah. I think there's hobbyists. And then there's like. Businesses. Right. And. You know. They can look the same at the table. But like. Just how they run. You know. Whatever they do. Some of them are just doing as a hobby. And it's really. Really fun. And. It's like. A lot of the people. That are doing that. They're doing that. It's like. For whatever reason. And most of them. You know. They've acquired this thing over time. And they're just doing this thing. But. When we're talking about anybody. That's like. Trying to establish a business. They are either wanting to. Or it is their full-time thing. Right. Yeah. Like. Anyone at a pen show. Who's turning pens. Like. They want to be a pen company. It's like. What they want to do. Right. It's like. The reason they do it. They want this. They love this thing. They want it to be their living. That's kind of. I think. More what we're focusing on. That like. If you're trying to make it. Like a. Like a serious part of your life. But of course. There will be people. That fall into that. Like. They don't want to do that. They just want to do. A little fun thing. And then they kind of. Fall into the same bucket. As the kind of. Vintage salesperson. Which is more of a hobbyist. As you're saying. Yeah. So. Back to the first part. Of the question. I think. Just for the context. Of my answer. On the previous episode. Was for a first time. New vendor. You know. Breaking even. Breaking even. As a bonus. And making money. As a stretch goal. Is that just for DC. Or every show. The context. Of my answer. Was around. The very first time. We've ever been to a pin show. And it's DC. Right. So. With that context. I think. Yeah. That's a. That's a fair answer. I think. After that. Everyone. Wants to make money. At the shows. They go to. Right. But you have to understand. That you're not. Probably. Not every show. Is the same. Right. Some vendors. Will do. Like. Some vendors. Might not do as well. At DC. As they do. At other shows. Right. It just depends. Even if DC. Is the biggest. You never know. Who's walking through the door. And who's wanting to buy. What that day. So. I think most people. Who do. Multiple shows. A year. Are looking at it. As a money making. Experience. Right. As opposed to. Marketing. So. You know. There's. There's definitely. Some context around. The answers. To the question. But. Yeah. I think everyone is. Would like to. Turn a profit. At the end of the day. After all the expenses. Because it is. It's expensive. To go to. All these shows. And travel. And do all that. So yeah. The ones you see. Repeatedly. Are probably the ones. Doing. Doing the best. Because. It is. Not free. To go do all this stuff. Here comes Cody. Dropping. Biggest name drop. Yeah. Big name. Big name. Cody writes in. And says. My friend Peter McKinnon. And you. Got me into this hobby of stationery. And I'm completely loving it. I'm going to the Dallas pen show in late September. It will be my first ever pen show. And I was wondering how I should start to prepare. For what I think I should purchase. And to what. Or for what to look out for. While I'm there. Tactile Turn. Drum Ghouls. Fountain Pen Revolution. A local shop in Dallas. Retro 51. Are just a few. I would like to check out while I'm there. What should be my approach? First off. Cody. You need to email me. Because ever since. Peter did his video on his favorite pen. Myke. Which do you know what it is? I don't remember. It's the Uniball Signo DX. Nice. Which is my favorite pen. I've been. I told my wife. I was like. Yeah. I'm going to send him a spoke pen. And I've just never gotten around to emailing him. Or figuring out what it is. So Cody. I need to get a spoke pen. That is made for. It's a barrel made for. Peter's favorite pen. So just. I'm just going to. You know. This is the price you pay for wanting to name drop. You now have to email Brett.
- I am also bringing my Pink Robots pen to the. To the Flaming Lips concert. But I didn't play that card. Like I could have played that card as like. Hey. You know. Remember when we did this pen. How about some backstage. But I didn't do that. But anyway. So going to the Dallas show. First ever show. That's kind of a. That'll be a good first ever show. It is a very busy Friday and Saturday show. You have the right list. I would definitely count. So the people you listed. So Tactile Turn. Drama Goals. Fountain Pen Revolution. And Retro 51. Are. Offer different things. Right. You're going to look at what Tactile Turn. Makes themselves specifically. Right. What Will and team are making in the shop. They're outside of Dallas. And seeing their craftsmanship. Okay. So that's why Tactile Turn is on the list. And then you're going to Drum Goals. To see. Hey. What does this pen look like. In person. That I've seen online. Right. So you make a list. Of saying. Hey. I don't know if I can use a vanishing. Pilot vanishing point. But it sure looks cool. You go to Drum Goals. And say. Hey. I'm going to. Can I look at this pilot vanishing point. And see if it works for me. Right. So you have that list. Is a Sailor. 1911S. Too small for me. Is a Leonardo. Memento. Zero. Grande. 2.0. Too big for me. Right. So you figure out. The things that are. That you've seen. Like in retail shops. And online. And you make a list of those things. To see. At places like Drum Goals. Or Pen Revolution. Right. And then. Is there stuff. You had your eye on. But you weren't sure about. It was maybe expensive. And you weren't ready to like. Just go for it. From an online sale. Like this is. Is your name. Was like the perfect place. To put some of those thoughts. You've had into. Kind of. Into action. Yeah. And you will have the opportunity. To test these things. You'll have the opportunity. To hold them. You'll have the opportunity. To use them. A lot of inks. You know. If you're into inks. Or paper. You'll have a lot of. Opportunity to see. What that ink looks like. In a swatch. You know. There at the table. Like physically in person. Or you know. You get to see. What the texture of a paper. Is like there in person. And then you have like. Retro 51. Where you just go and see. Hey. What did they pull out of the vault? They might have some pretty cool stuff. There for you to check out. And then get to talk to like. The people behind the scenes. At retro. I mean. They're like. Literally bringing. Like when I've been to Dallas. They bought. Brought like their main designer. Richard there. And who will talk to you about. Designing a pens. And like what all goes into it. And like the processes behind that. So yeah. Like. You really want. If this is your first time. At a pen show. You want to kind of have a plan. On what you want to get hands on with. And then everything else. Kind of goes from there. Like. This is the time to pick up and use. Or to like. Is this tactile turn pen. Too heavy. Or too short. Right. Does the retro 51. Fountain. Fountain pen. Fit my hand. Like those types of things. Right. So. It's a very. Good. Exploratory. Show. To have the time. To spend the time. With the vendors there. Go around. Kind of check off your list. Not necessarily for shopping. But for trying. Right. You get to experience things. First hand. That you can't do. Online. So. I think that's a way to do it. Also. You can email me at. Hello. At pen addict. Dot com. And Rob writes in and says. What are the good UK pen shows? Are there any? Yeah. London. London. Spring and fall. Like. It used to be a one time a year show. It has grown well enough. To where I. People are traveling from around the world. To come to these shows now. Which didn't used to be the case. So. These are all run by. A group called UK pen shows. Which is part of. The. WES. I think it's the writing equipment show. Yeah. Um. This. In. This group. Actually now. Has multiple shows a year. They do. London. Spring. And London. Autumn. Get it right Brad. Sorry. Uh. And they also do. A show called. The Northern pen show. Which is funny to me. As a name. They also do. Uh. Birmingham. And Newcastle. So. This is a group. That's grown over time. Um. I've been to the London pen show. A few times. Um. When I. Was first going. It was not. That great. To be honest. It was basically. Uh. All vintage. And cop pens. Like that. When I first started going. Which is fine. But it wasn't what I was looking for. After I'd experienced a couple of the US. Shows. Um. And then I last went. A couple of years ago. And I haven't been able to make it back. But I. I want to. Um. I'm. Very much. I always say this. But I'll be planning to go in the autumn again. Um. Um. The show has grown much more. Into. The type of pen show. That I would want. Um. It's like 180 to 200 tables. Like tons of vendors. Um. And they have. Big and small. Now. And like lots of small makers. It is much more like. The pen shows. That I am used to experiencing. Um. And that has been. I'm very pleased that they've been able to pull that off. Because it's. I think it's taken a lot of change from them. And it's probably been a lot of hard work. But like. You know. Companies like Galen Lever. Are there now. Um. A lot. As well as some of the UK. Plus. Yeah. It's a. It's a really good time. It's turned into a great show. Um. I recommend it. Yeah. It's. It's gotten. So big. And. And. And well received. That like. It's on my list. For like. International travel. Like. I want to go to. That show now. That they've. That they've turned it up. And. And made it an event. And it. It looks great. So yeah. All right. If you would like to send in a question of your own. For a future episode of the show. It's very easy to do. Just go to. Penaddictfeedback.com. You can send us in. Your ask TPA question. You can also give us any follow up. That you might have. About this episode. Or any episode. Or maybe about Brad's newsletter. Because you just don't understand. What he's talking about. You can. You can write in. And we can cover it here on the show. For everybody here. Uh. Remember. If you see Brad. In Chicago. Go get. A signed Polaroid from him. I forgot. I forgot to mention during that segment. That's when the. The Waffle House stickers are. Are launching too. So. That's it. You've got to give people stuff. Penaddict Waffle House stickers. Yeah. They're really good stickers. It says Penaddict. But it looks like the Waffle House logo. Will everybody that comes and gets one. Will get one. While supplies last. I hate to blow him up. But Rob designed that. So. You know. Whatever. Whatever. But while supplies last. You know what I mean. If you want. If you want a good sticker. You get two stickers. From Brad. You get Waffle House Penaddict sticker. And Brad's Incredible Portrait sticker. Go see him in Chicago. Remind people when it is Brad. It is Thursday and Friday. August 14th and 15th. 8 to 4. 8 a.m. To 4 p.m. Tag me. If you take any pictures of Brad. On Instagram. I want to see him. Yeah. I want to see him. Thank you to our sponsors. For supporting this week's episode. That's Factor. Squarespace. And Pen Chalet. But most of all. Thank you for listening. Until next time. Say goodbye Brad. Goodbye Brad. Goodbye Brad. Goodbye. Bye.