The Pen Addict 685/transcript

• From Relay, this is The Pen Addict, episode 685. Today's show is brought to you by Squarespace. My name is Myke Hurley and I am joined by Brad Dowdy. Hi Brad.
• Why am I so giggly still? Like, you know, we pre-game pretty hard around here, you know, having some fun, have some giggles. Like, we don't talk about the show, it's like, hey, alright, let's prep for the show, Myke. You know, this is the rundown, this is what we're gonna do. No, we're just, you know.
• That's all done.
• Cutting up and like, I have tears running out of my eyes right now because I'm trying to hold in the laughter. So, hi, welcome to The Pen Addict.
• Yep. Well, Brad's just gonna be giggly today, I guess. It's October now, which means September's over.
• It's September.
• Wake me up. I'm awake now. I'm awake. September has ended, although it kind of also hasn't.
• No.
• Our St. Jude campaign is winding down now.
• Yeah, we did it.
• We did it. We did it another year. We hit our goal over the weekend, which was incredible. So, as of right now, we're sitting at $720,000 raised for the kids of St. Jude this year, which is amazing. You know, like, I was worried. I think we were worried. You know, the finances in the world, they're complicated right now.
• For sure.
• People are putting money for their own lives, which I understand, and also there are like a gajillion good causes that are taking people's donations right now, which, you know, they're all important things, but people only have so much money to give.
• And so we really didn't know what was going to happen. And so to have raised $720,000 is incredible. Like, this puts us basically level with all of the years we've had in the last few years, like, kind of like a typical record, with the exception of last year, where we raised a million dollars.
• But we knew we weren't going to get back to that. We knew that was an outlier year for a selection of reasons, which made, you know, our 10 year as a company very, very special.
• But we didn't really know where we were going to net out this year, but we were all kind of hoping to be in this range.
• And so we're very thankful for the incredible support that our community has shown St. Jude once again.
• Obviously, it means so much to us. And so we're so thankful.
• But, you know, if you are one of these people that is a real last minute straggler type, you can still go to stjude.org slash Relay for the next few days and make your donation.
• The campaign will be closing kind of in the morning America time on the 6th.
• So you've kind of got this weekend if you still want to make a donation and all donations will be appreciated.
• Yeah. And it's been awesome to be an active participant even more than ever this year for me.
• Speaking for myself, having my own campaign to run and then being in Memphis to participate in the podcast-a-thon, which was just amazing.
• I'm still thinking about that trip. Like, it's still kind of like the forefront of my mind.
• And, yeah, my fundraiser, I got a lot of fulfillment to do over the next, probably next month or so.
• I'm going to put out a post here as we wrap. So I guess it ends like Monday.
• So, yeah, probably next week I'll put out a post kind of doing a recap on what to expect next because I got a lot of art to make.
• And, you know, I got at least 70 postcards so far to do, and I've done like three.
• So, but those are, I'm like not sweating it at all. It's so much fun to do.
• It's something I really, really enjoy. That's why I put it down for an incentive.
• I will only, you know, doing incentives I enjoy doing and are kind of like I'm able to share with everyone.
• It's really, really fun. So I'm looking forward to completing everyone's incentives for my part of the St. Jude fundraiser.
• And it was really fun, and I look forward. I'm already having people that participated this year saying how can, you know,
• they basically want to be on the list for next year when this rolls around. So I love hearing that.
• You've absolutely crushed it.
• Yeah, it was great.
• The Pan Addicts of the Prouds fundraiser has raised over 25 grand, which is just unbelievable.
• Yeah.
• Thank you, everybody who's participated. It really does mean a lot to us.
• Yep. Yep, it does. It does.
• Until next year.
• Heart. Yep, until next year.
• So, yeah, maybe one last recap next week when I'll, just from my perspective, we'll mention when I, I'll put up my rap post and make sure we link it in the podcast as well.
• Just so everyone knows, like, what's going to transpire because there's, like, physical goods and stuff to be sent out.
• So we'll touch up on that next week.
• Between now and then, I launched a pen.
• Yeah, boy, finally.
• Finally.
• Finally.
• This, let's see, last year's pen, which was, like, super stress-inducing because we talked about it a lot.
• And I didn't know how people would take the concept that I had in my brain and execute it on a pen with the help of Retro 51.
• I didn't know how it would be received, and it was received overwhelmingly positively.
• So I was like, yay, let's do it again.
• So we did, and we upgraded the pen into more colors, more styles, more awesomeness.
• You could say, Myke, it is phenomenal.
• I really think you're going to have to give more context and just keep saying pen over and over again.
• I like saying it.
• No, I know, but, like, we need a little bit more than that.
• I know, it's one of those things where I've caused my own problem, right, because, like, I really, really wanted something specific, and I executed it with the help of Retro 51.
• This is not all me.
• Without their buy-in, there would be no pen.
• See, I get to keep saying it without putting it.
• So, the story goes, if you're new to the podcast, you'll have to go back to last year's release, where the long and short of it is I'm a sneakerhead.
• I like fashion and culture and streetwear.
• So I wanted to make a kind of a sneaker-inspired Retro 51 collaboration.
• And one of my favorite designers of all time is Virgil Abloh and his work with Off-White.
• The late great.
• That is his brand.
• Late great Virgil Abloh.
• Pat died way too young.
• Mm-hmm.
• And his Off-White collection and his collaboration with Nike.
• I got to see what the original, when the original 10 was.
• What, how many years ago?
• Has it been, like, 10 years?
• It's been pretty close.
• I'll have to look at that.
• But anyway, I made a pen last year, and he has a few, like, design markers on the Off-White brand that I kind of translated into a pen style.
• With, like, some very obvious, you know, nomenclature on the product, which, in my case, you know, it says pen in quotes in large block letters.
• Yep.
• Havetica Noya, I believe, is what he used.
• And then that's what we used for the pen.
• And just some, some very obvious stuff, you know, like, he would mark on shoes, like, you know, shoes or, or shoelaces would be on the shoelaces and just fun stuff like that.
• And then most of the Off-White Nike models were embellished with a zip tie.
• Yeah.
• Which was a real marker of style.
• You saw that, and you understood, like, well, you either, like, this is, like, the stupidest thing I've ever seen, or, oh, that's a Virgil Abloh Off-White product.
• Right.
• And that's what I was going for with the pen.
• And it went well last year.
• And so I wanted to do one more because this was the idea I had in my head all along.
• I just wasn't sure last year if I could pull this off.
• So my favorite, probably of all of the Off-White releases, is the Queen Blazer, which was a Serena Williams kind of collab.
• And it's this pink and purple gradient with fluorescent yellow zip ties, just kind of little tags and things.
• So we basically, what I wanted to do was take some design elements from a sneaker and put them on a pen.
• And I did it this year.
• So we have those details, the gradients, the gray, it's called, the shoe color is called Wolf Gray.
• So we have the gray hardware on the knock and the nose cone.
• We have the, there's the chartreuse yellow tab and zip tie on the sneaker.
• We put that on the clip and the phrasing.
• And the clip, too.
• Of the words.
• Yeah, the clip.
• Is yellow, right?
• Yeah.
• The clip's yellow.
• And then one of my favorite little details is we took the sole pattern of the sneaker and put that on the finial.
• Oh.
• So it looks like a little chevron pattern.
• But it's hard to see in the images.
• You have to find the one image.
• And it's hard to see on the sneaker.
• But if you flip over the sneaker, it's got a pink and purple gradient, like a little chevron pattern.
• And we put that on the finial.
• So we went all out.
• And the, like we did the same thing last year.
• So this is a numbered edition of 500.
• And all the zip ties have a matching number to the pen.
• So the zip ties aren't just generic, right?
• They say Retro 51 pen.
• Then it has the number edition.
• Like the one I'm using today is, like I just grabbed a random one for me to use, 364.
• So my, that's on the barrel.
• I mean on the, like the twist mechanism.
• Yeah.
• Is the serial number.
• And then that matches on the, um, on the zip tie.
• Which like Retro 51 was so nice to kind of go last year to like kind of go above and beyond like what they would normally do.
• It's like, I would ask for this and they would think about it and they go, how about this?
• And then they'd show it to me and I'm like, I'll be dang, we're going to get this.
• We're going to get this over the finish line.
• And we did.
• And it went so well last year.
• I want to do it again.
• And this, aside from my pink robots pen, I think this is the favorite, my favorite pen that I've made.
• Um, I, I, this is what I've wanted last year, like in my brain.
• Um, but like, I kind of wanted, I didn't want to just go all in from the jump.
• I wanted to kind of do like a proof of concept last year.
• And, uh, this is, this came out so good.
• I'm so happy with it.
• It's perfect.
• Um, using it right now.
• And it's, uh, just, it's, it's great.
• This is, I think this is my favorite thing I've done in, uh, in quite some time.
• The execution is basically flawless.
• Like you've all really just crushed it.
• Like, you know, you look at the images that you've linked to, um, like the pen on its own
• looks amazing.
• Uh, and then when you look at the reference imagery of the, the, the, the Nikes, the, uh,
• the Serena Williams Nikes, you can see where it all comes from.
• Right.
• And it's like, it's just all done so well.
• Like it is just so good.
• It's like last year's was a lot of fun.
• This is just perfect.
• Yeah.
• Yeah.
• Yeah.
• Yeah.
• So I want to give a special shout out to Richard at retro 51 for basically like taking the lead
• and just running with this from last year to this year.
• Uh, it was obviously, it was a lot easier this year, but you know, with a lot of projects
• that you do and I do, like you, you did one and now you want to do another one, but more.
• And we did that this year and it's just perfect.
• Like even like down to the tube color and the, the, um, the tube logo and things that we do.
• Like it's everything, you know, like we talk about like design decisions we made, like we've
• in some, a project like this, you get to think about every piece and every little part is
• intentional.
• Like the material, like we're making the, uh, tubes with like, it's, it's like a flat, um,
• almost like a cardboard type type of paper, like a, not glossy, like a, you know, like
• a classic shoe box.
• Like it's just got the right texture and I don't know, everything just worked out really,
• really well on this pen.
• And, uh, like, like they do with, with all the pens.
• So I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm over the moon with it.
• If you couldn't tell.
• Yeah.
• As you should be.
• Yep.
• People can go to panadict.com.
• They can buy it there, right?
• And there'll be links in the show notes.
• Yeah.
• It's up for sale.
• Yeah.
• And we got some fun little accessories.
• Like I got, uh, Evan from Pinquisition made the fidget spinners that match the, uh, that
• match the colors of the pen.
• I think it's hilarious.
• And then I have some other, uh, stickers and patches, uh, that I just kind of
• tied it all in together.
• Um, cause I know people have been wanting like the baseball stickers and the waffle
• hot stickers that I made.
• And I, I wanted to, um, uh, to, I didn't want to like have people order stickers and then
• turn around and order a pen.
• So I'll went up to, I'll went up, uh, this week on the shop.
• So, uh, I'm, I'm super happy about it.
• Very nice.
• Very nice indeed.
• You know what else I'm happy about?
• Myke pilot giving the decimo some love first for the first time, Myke.
• Uh, we have an anniversary, uh, pilot capless decimo.
• So we talk a lot about the pilot vanishing point on here and they always do some great
• limited editions.
• You know, they've been doing them for years and years.
• Well, well predating the show.
• They've been doing pilot vanishing point limited editions.
• And as this show has escalated, they've escalated just like most companies do.
• Now there's like regional editions and like store exclusive editions.
• And what's, it's been a couple of years since I really went on my, my decimo kit to try to
• find, uh, the one that I want.
• And for those who are unaware, so there's a pilot vanishing point, which is their retractable
• fountain pen, the retractable mechanism fountain pen.
• That's super popular.
• They make a model called the decimo, which is exactly the same, but a narrower diameter.
• So it's a thinner pen.
• So the vanishing point is not too chunky, but it's a little wide.
• And I think the decimo like fits my hand better, but historically the decimo has seen less interesting
• releases than the vanishing point.
• Like the vanishing point is like a flagship product for pilot and the decimo is like a
• secondary product and it's getting, it gets the secondary treatment.
• So I spent, um, I don't know, probably a year or so looking for my one decimo that I wanted.
• Like I wanted to find like a special edition decimo to add to my collection and use.
• And I finally found that at the 2023 Atlanta pen show, someone had a collection that they
• were selling for someone else.
• And they had, um, I think it was a, gosh, was it a Korean edition or a Taiwanese edition
• where they did 21 colors of the decimo and released five, um, released them in batches
• of five.
• It was just a really, really cool, uh, release.
• And so I ended up picking up one of those.
• So long way to say, uh, I'm a huge decimo fan and they've never really gotten the full,
• the full send, uh, from pilot.
• So they did it this year with the 20th anniversary of the decimo.
• So the, also to kind of like tie a bow on the vanishing point versus decimo that the vanishing
• points been around since the 1960s.
• So it's a much more established pen product than the decimo.
• Um, so I want to read this little, um, this little blurb that pilot sent over, um, uh, about
• the decimo from their, their PR list.
• It says 2025 marks a momentous milestone in, in pilot's vanishing point legacy, the 20th
• anniversary of the vanishing point decimo.
• This is the very first worldwide limited edition piece in the decimo line.
• And then it goes into the story behind the design, but I've just wanted to say like, this
• is the very first worldwide limited edition piece in the decimo line in 20 years.
• So I'm very happy to see this.
• What do you think about the design of the pen?
• Uh, I get that.
• I mean, I don't know, man.
• Like it, it just, I don't know.
• Like I, this is a gradient, right?
• And like, we just looked at your gradient pen and that was more exciting to me.
• And this is like a triple, uh, maybe like a, this is almost like a four color gradient
• here.
• Yeah.
• I just, I feel like for something like a 20th anniversary, I don't even want you to
• make it out of the materials you usually make it out of.
• Like, let's just go crazy.
• I actually, when I first saw it, I actually thought this is going to be like an annual thing,
• right?
• This looks like an annual edition.
• Like if we're making the pen every year, this is what we're going to get.
• Not, maybe not the 20th anniversary.
• That said, I, I do like it.
• Um, I just, I feel like from what you're saying, right?
• That like, this makes sense to me as the 20th anniversary.
• If you've also done the 19th and an 18th and the 17th.
• Yes.
• Yeah.
• Yeah.
• That's kind of how I'm feeling about it.
• It's like, why are you going to make the anniversary?
• So the one thing I am going to say about this pen is I think it's really going to be better
• in person because it's really hard to tell from these images, but there's stars in the
• pen.
• Yeah.
• It's got the night sky in the pen, which you have to really expand the images on, uh, to
• see.
• Um, and I like, I'm not going to buy this pen.
• I actually think it's super beautiful, um, for what they were trying to do.
• Um, yeah, like it's, I, yeah, I don't know.
• It's, it's good.
• I'm not like over the moon by it, but I'm just happy.
• I'm happy.
• It's getting its own run.
• Right.
• Like I, I'm just finally happy.
• They're, they're putting some love on the decimals name.
• And I think they did a really good job with this one.
• And I think this one's going to do well.
• Um, the, the one interesting thing, which is, is actually pointed out, pointed out in
• the, um, discord chat for our live listeners, Rob mentions there's a, the, the hardware
• of this pen is like the silver and platinum, uh, look.
• And then the, um, barrel connection ring is black satin.
• And once you learn, once you see that, you can't unsee it.
• That ruins it completely.
• Yeah.
• Once, once you see it, it becomes more of a design problem that I thought maybe it should
• be.
• Um, it should at least be blue.
• Well, they're trying to, yeah, like matching up in the great within the gradient.
• And I actually would, I actually think it might, I just jump in there with the silver and that
• would actually might be better.
• Yes.
• I would say you've got to try and get a color match, but I don't think you can do that.
• So in that scenario, it should match the other hardware.
• Yeah.
• Yeah.
• Yeah.
• Either run all black.
• So they'd run all black satin hardware all the time.
• There's tons of additions with all black satin hardware, but they, the, the silver looks
• really sharp on this.
• And that's, yeah, it's, it's interesting.
• Once you see it, you can't unsee it.
• And you go, that was, that was a choice.
• I'm like that.
• Maybe they should have thought about more.
• I don't know.
• I don't know.
• I've never seen any different colored hardware.
• Like you mentioned blue.
• Like, could you get a blue that would fit in?
• I think that would look pretty bad.
• Um, having like the, the, the blue, the blue's never going to match.
• Right.
• Um, so I think, I actually think you have to go silver there, but anyway, I think it's
• overall a really good looking pen and I think it's going to do well since it's a worldwide
• edition.
• Um, this, this is going to, uh, I'm in, I'm in, I'm interested to see like how it goes.
• I am, I'm positive about it.
• I think it's going to do well.
• You want to play a game, Myke?
• Yes.
• Do you want to play a game with your fountain pen?
• Yes.
• While, while you're using it?
• Have you, are you familiar with the Saw series of movies?
• No.
• You, do you know what they are though?
• Oh, Saw.
• Saw.
• Yeah.
• Yeah.
• Yeah.
• Yeah.
• Sure.
• Sure.
• Sure.
• I thought, yeah.
• That's what he says to everybody.
• Do you want to play a game?
• That's what he says.
• Oh, does he?
• Yeah.
• Okay.
• So I didn't know that.
• I don't want to be trapped in a bear trap or something.
• Okay.
• Okay.
• But I, I will, I don't know.
• Like if I got to, if I got to succeed at the game of this fountain pen to be released
• from a prison you've constructed.
• Maybe, maybe.
• So like, what do you think about the Visconti maze fountain pen?
• First, can you tell me about the clip on this pen, Myke?
• I mean.
• I've never let you live that, live this down.
• No, you can make fun of me if you like.
• I am completely correct in my distaste for the clip on the Visconti pen.
• And no one can prove me wrong.
• This pen, this is a large pen that has.
• Large expensive pen.
• Yeah.
• It is a clear, it's like a demonstrator barrel.
• And inside, you can see one of those little ball maze games.
• So there's like a, like a big golden maze.
• And there is a tiny red ball inside of the pen that you could move around, I guess.
• Is there though?
• I feel like this is like Schrodinger's ball here.
• I mean, it's in the video.
• You see it.
• It is, but there's not one.
• So here's my issue.
• There's not one product image with the ball in the maze.
• There's, I could not find one.
• I mean, it says it though.
• A small ruby sphere navigates the intricate paths along a journey of challenge until it reaches the central plaza in aged bronze.
• Yeah.
• No, it's there.
• Because like I said, I had to point Myke to the video and point me to the video.
• So you put it in the video, the ball's there and it's got the little drop, the little drops in it.
• So like you can actually complete it and then make it pop out in another, another area.
• Kind of feels like it would be difficult to, to photograph it because it would just keep moving around.
• But let me just say for the record, this pen is incredible.
• And the clip works because if you, yeah, if you have so much going on inside, why not put a little on the outside too?
• This pen rules so hard.
• It feels like Visconti saw what our friends over at Leonardo.
• Montegrappa.
• Montegrappa.
• That's it.
• Thank you.
• I had you.
• They saw what they do.
• I thought this was a Montegrappa first.
• Yes.
• It's like, hold my beer.
• Yeah.
• It's like one of those.
• This is incredible.
• Like what is in the end of it?
• What's in the, what's in the end?
• I can't tell.
• There's like some little thing in the back there.
• There's a, there's a whole story in this.
• Like, like, like, I, you know, I guess miss me with that.
• Like I'm not going to read the story.
• I'm too fascinated with the maze.
• Is it a Minotaur?
• I don't know.
• You got the Minotaur hiding back there?
• What you got going on?
• Whatever it is.
• They like killed it with this pen.
• I'm with you.
• Like this is fun.
• Like it's so expensive.
• Like it's the, the fountain pen's 3,800 euro.
• Yeah.
• It's the Minotaur.
• But that's, that's the, that's the point.
• Yeah.
• Does, oh God, I'm going to get in trouble.
• But was there like a maze with the Minotaur?
• Like in the myth?
• Was that the whole deal?
• Yeah.
• Yeah.
• That's the whole thing.
• The Minotaur is in the center of the maze.
• Okay.
• So that's all together.
• Okay.
• And the creep, I think is.
• Yeah.
• Okay.
• So yeah, I don't know.
• Oh, here it is.
• In the barrel and a golden sculpture, sculpture depicts the head of the Minotaur.
• Yeah.
• The Guardian of the Labyrinth in tribute to the legend of Theseus and Ariadne.
• Yeah.
• Sure.
• Each time the sphere falls into the maze's recesses, its journey begins anew from the Minotaur's
• mouth.
• Oh, it comes from the top.
• Oh, sick.
• Now I'm even more excited about it.
• I want this pen, Brad.
• Transforming the game into an endless cycle of myth and delight.
• Yeah.
• Now it's 3,800 euro.
• Right.
• I mentioned that.
• It's the problem.
• But it makes sense that it would cost that money because this thing looks intricate.
• I just think it's incredible.
• I think they absolutely crushed it.
• They only fell down on one spot.
• What's that?
• Packaging is real boring.
• Yeah.
• Like, why aren't we like in a, and so they do this great imagery, like the maze imagery.
• Yeah.
• And then you run over to like the product is like, oh, I'm going to get, it's going to
• be like in this sick maze box.
• And it's just like, it's just like a nice.
• It's a box and it's got like a maze print on top, but it's not really.
• Maze print.
• It's not really that cool.
• Yeah.
• So that's one.
• So Montegrappa, that's one thing where they continue their theming.
• Yes.
• Throughout the packaging where that's part of the experience.
• Yeah.
• And then Visconti, like this one is like nothing wrong with the pen, but like the box is just
• the box.
• So like, yeah.
• So step, step that one up.
• If Montegrappa did this, it would be some kind of like, you wouldn't be able to open the
• box until you solve some kind of puzzle or something.
• Right.
• And then the box would be its own game.
• The box would have its own set of puzzle.
• Right.
• So like this, I don't know why the box isn't its own maze game on top of having the maze
• here.
• Yeah.
• But this is just, just.
• It's fine.
• Excellent.
• Eliminated to 188 pieces, which at that price for 188 pieces that this pen will sell out.
• Like the collectors are going to go, I will have that please.
• Right.
• The people on that list, like this is gone.
• Like that's, that's pretty cool.
• This goes to everybody at the dealerships or whatever it's called.
• Yeah.
• Yeah.
• Yeah.
• Yeah.
• So I'm glad you enjoyed it.
• I, this one just randomly showed up when I was looking around.
• I was like, what is this?
• And the more I dug into it, the more I was in.
• So yeah.
• Very good.
• Good job, Visconti.
• Yeah.
• I like it.
• Good job.
• Really, really, really good job.
• I'll say this is the first Visconti that I've actually maybe wanted to own.
• That's not true.
• They did, they did another one.
• I don't remember.
• Like it was like a beautiful, swelled acrylic marble thing.
• Yeah.
• I think at one point that I really liked.
• But this is just like.
• To, to your point about the clip, it makes you not notice the clip when you see this.
• Yeah.
• It clip matches.
• Yes.
• So much going on inside.
• It would be kind of boring if the clip was just regular.
• I'd be disappointed.
• Sir.
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• like Blueprint AI.
• They have so many more.
• It's so easy to do.
• But everything is drag and drop, customizable.
• You don't need to know code.
• You can just make it however you want.
• Once you've made that website, and it's going to look amazing, and you want to share it with
• the world, you want to make sure that you're optimized for SEO, search engine optimization.
• But how do you do that?
• I don't know.
• You know, who wants to build a website for nobody to see it?
• That is why every Squarespace website is optimized to be indexed with meta descriptions, has an
• auto-generated sitemap, and more.
• This is all important for people to find your website through search engine results.
• You can also offer your services and get paid with Squarespace.
• From consultations to events and experiences, you can showcase your offerings of a customizable
• website designed to attract clients and grow your business.
• We're talking built-in appointment scheduling, email marketing tools, and more.
• You can keep everything cohesive on-brand invoices and get paid easily with online payments.
• This is also important if you sell goods on Squarespace.
• This is how Brad is selling his pen that we were talking about earlier on.
• There is a, on the pen addict, on penaddict.com, you can go, oh, it's the pen addict and pen
• addict.
• I remember that was a long time ago.
• I forced you to buy that domain name.
• That is crazy.
• I forgot about that.
• Yep.
• So on penaddict.com, you can go there and you'll see Brad has a shop page and it takes
• you to his Squarespace store.
• It's all in this website and you can buy it and it's all integrated there.
• It makes it really easy for him to be able to take orders in the place that you know and
• trust him on.
• It's really fantastic.
• Go and take yourself over right now to squarespace.com slash penaddict and you can sign up for a free
• trial.
• Then you can build your whole website and when you're ready for the world to see it, use
• the offer code penaddict to check out and you will save 10% of your first purchase of
• a website or domain.
• That is squarespace.com slash penaddict with the offer code penaddict to get 10% of your
• first purchase and show you support for this show.
• Our thanks to Squarespace for their support of the penaddict and Relay.
• We got our shout out of the week, Myke.
• Shout out of the week.
• The Cloudy Desk.
• I can't remember and it wouldn't have been that long ago for me to go back and look if
• I gave Claudia a shout out from the DC pen show recap episode.
• I know I talked about the class I took, the sketching with fountain pens class from Claudia,
• but I can't remember if I gave them the shout out of the week, but we're doing it today because,
• Myke, I don't know if you know, but it is October and that means there is another month for you
• to do something every day in the Cloudy Desk over on Instagram.
• I happened to pick up that Claudia is doing a sketch every day.
• 31 ink drawings in October.
• So I really, really enjoyed taking Claudia's class at DC and I think that's something like
• if you're looking for inspiration from anyone, like go give Claudia a follow.
• She takes you along her journey through art and teaching and I'm a huge fan.
• And even the class that I took in DC on their shop there, you can go get the zine from the
• class and it was just a really great reference to help you learn how to sketch with fountain
• pens.
• So shout out Claudia.
• Y'all go check out the Cloudy Desk, give them a follow and yeah, do your own project in
• October.
• Kind of like I'm doing, Myke.
• Oh.
• So last year, I just want to be clear and like, I can't believe I'm going to say this.
• Like I got to give you a lot of credit.
• We're never going to beat Ticonder October.
• It was the best name of a month ever.
• Inktober, get out of here.
• What about Ticonder October?
• Like you crushed that.
• That was you and you crushed it.
• And then the world embraced it.
• And now here we are.
• Yeah.
• I think I hated it because I couldn't say it at first.
• That's a good reason.
• And then I worked my way into it and now it just rolls off the Ticonder October.
• It just rolls off the tongue as it should.
• We can return at any point, you know.
• We could.
• Not this year, Myke, because, and I don't know, maybe you'll come up with a better name.
• We've had a discussion about what I'm going with for October.
• This year, we're going with Toptober, Myke.
• And let me tell you why.
• Yeah, baby.
• Quickly.
• Let me tell you why.
• Quickly.
• Quickly.
• Hurry.
• Hurry.
• Quickly.
• Not quick enough, Brad.
• You wonder why we were laughing before the stream.
• I need to update my top five pens list.
• And we talked about that earlier this month.
• And I gave myself to the end of 2025 to do it.
• And like, that's totally fine.
• Like, I feel like I haven't like totally started on it, but I feel good about it.
• So I wanted to take October to kind of audit these lists, basically take the first draft of the updates of what I'm planning on doing for Toptober.
• And I don't know.
• I already have to change the name because now I'm giggling every time I say it.
• I think that means it's perfect.
• Yeah.
• So it means it's perfect.
• Right.
• So I have all these lists on my Top 5 Pens page.
• And most of them haven't been updated in like three years.
• And that's kind of how the timeframe has worked before because there's historically not been a lot of change.
• The really good products remain good.
• And the new products don't quite meet the or live up to what's already really, really good.
• There's some that come close and there's some things that kind of jump up in the list and should be considered.
• But overall, especially in this is really probably a little bit more on standard pens and fountain pens, but we're going to get to both categories here in a little bit.
• This is, it's three years is about the timeframe.
• I started doing this when I started doing this.
• I'd update it every year.
• And then I was like, well, I don't really have anything to say because nothing happened.
• You know, nothing happened with micro gel ink pens that made me want to change like the Top 5.
• Or, you know, beginner fountain pens, no one was really, you know, pushing anything new there.
• And so, you know, they kind of linger and I can tell like they're either one, this list is accurate or two, people are just bored with it because I've gotten less commentary to update it than I ever have in the past.
• But it's still, that doesn't mean it's not time to update it.
• It is past time to update it.
• So, before I dig into a couple of the existing lists, I wanted to run something by you and the listeners.
• And I've had a couple of people reach out independently and saying, what if you changed, you kept the idea of a list, you know, the Top 5 in a category.
• But what if you made the categories more interesting or more like direct answers to broader questions that people might have?
• So right now, let's take the first list on my Top 5 pens page, which is the Top 5 micro gel ink pens.
• What if that description changed to, you know, so you want to write small, right?
• What if we had a list that said, so you want to write small or, you know, you want to have tiny handwriting?
• These are the pens that are going to work for you.
• You know, I don't know the exact wording for what that would be.
• But it would be more of a descriptor category than like Top 5 micro gel ink pens, right?
• And there's multiple reasons for that.
• One, to freshen up the, kind of give the Top 5 page a better vibe, right?
• It's like more of a just list after list after list.
• It'll have a little bit more personality, a little bit more feel to it.
• And secondly, I can expand what the answers would be for a Top 5 instead of sticking to micro gel ink pen.
• And there's pens that don't get categorized in any of these lists because they're so unique,
• but are actually the answer to a lot of questions that people have.
• So that was the whole impetus behind this page is like, here's the recommendations.
• This, again, is not a list of my personal favorites.
• These are the pens I would recommend if you wanted X.
• And so I think I want to ask a question to give answers to as opposed to saying Top 5 micro gel ink pens.
• Like that just seems kind of like boring to me now.
• But if I had a list for, hey, I'm trying to write, I have small handwriting, you know, what's the best pen for me?
• Well, the old list, the Top 5 micro gel ink pens are some classics.
• Uniball Signo DX, Zebra Saraciclip, Pilot Juice Up, Uniball Signo RT1, Pentel Energel Cleanup.
• So what would change if I allow myself, I mean, I make the rules so I can do what I want, to have, hey, you want to write small.
• You could have the Uniball Signo DX and the Zebra Saraciclip.
• You could have the Jetstream 0.38.
• You could have a Kuretake Zig Mangaka 0.1, you know, a drawing pen.
• You could have, you know, a couple of different, more of an outlier type of stuff that maybe better answers the question than the fourth or fifth best micro gel ink pen.
• Does that make sense?
• I figure, do you want more categories?
• I'm open, like, I don't care how many there are.
• Yeah, because I wonder.
• I actually think this would make less categories, to be honest.
• Interesting, because what I'm thinking is, like, you know how, like, this is not what you want.
• You know, like how Netflix does their categories?
• Not exactly.
• So they're, like, really, really, really granular.
• And so it would be, like, you know, drama with teenage angst would be, like, a whole category on Netflix, right?
• And I'm wondering, like, is that the kind of thing that you need, you know?
• Is, like, pens that are good for a Sunday afternoon top five?
• Maybe.
• Maybe.
• So let me jump into the next category, right?
• So let's set that category aside and stop thinking about that.
• So one of the, so that's a popular category, the micro gel ink pens.
• The other popular category, maybe the most popular, is top five fountain pens for beginners.
• Do you leave that as the top five fountain pens for beginners?
• Or do you say, you know, you've never used a fountain pen before.
• Check these pens out.
• Like, what is better?
• Or, like, is it, I don't know, am I trying to reinvent the wheel for no reason if I try to do this?
• I don't know.
• So I'm kind of trying to balance it, right?
• Because I actually think there's some changes that need to happen to the top five fountain pens for beginners.
• So the current list is the Platinum Perpi, Pilot Metropolitan, Pilot Kakuno, Kaveco Perchio, and Faber-Castell Grip.
• I think there's a couple things to shake up in this list.
• But then there's also things that don't make other lists.
• Again, like the Jetstream in the previous category.
• You know, I could put something in, like, the Kaveco Sport, which is not one I always recommend.
• But it's an interesting pen.
• And, you know, if you're curious about using a fountain pen for the first time, maybe you have certain needs.
• I don't know.
• Like, I might just be overthinking this and maybe I just update the lists to keep the traditional top five listings.
• So, again, like, I'm looking for feedback, like, from you, from the listeners.
• I kind of like the storytelling aspects of, like, the question lists as opposed to just, like, the flat black and white nomenclature lists.
• So, I don't know.
• I think.
• So, here's the thing.
• It's like I'm thinking at this from two different angles.
• That you have the, like, these are fun to read and, like, it's good to put yourself in that scenario, right?
• Like, your top five pens for your happiest journal days or whatever, you know.
• It's like, or as you put it in here, like, so you've never used a fountain pen before category.
• The thing is, though, you kind of want the SEO, right?
• I mean, there's a reason why this is, like, the most visited page on my website.
• Exactly.
• Like, I never do that on purpose, right?
• But I won't lie.
• This is easily, though.
• Like, maybe it's both, right?
• So, this is what I was going to say.
• I think it might be fun for you to give the categories titles and subtitles.
• So, like, the text, you know, so, like, you start off with, like, a fun.
• So, say it's, like, the top five micro gel ink pens.
• You know, it'd be, like, top five pens for small handwriting and then, like, subtitle top five.
• And then just, like, side to subtitle micro gel ink pens or something like that.
• It's just complicated because.
• Yeah.
• Yeah.
• So, let me list the third one.
• So, those are the, I put those two on there on purpose because those are probably the two little categories that, top five categories that people, like, are most interested in, right?
• That's why they're towards the top of the list on the page.
• So, this next list is actually kind of sort of doing what I'm talking about doing already because after you get the basics covered, then you just start really losing the plot on what does the top five even mean, right?
• So, the next, the list after the beginner fountain pens list is called the top five next fountain pens.
• And it's, like, what does that even mean?
• So, that's actually the category that has me thinking about changing some of how I do it.
• So, that's after you've discovered your beginner fountain pens, right?
• And you're, like, okay, I really like this Platinum Preppy.
• It works for me.
• I've learned I can write with fountain pens.
• Now, I want to upgrade.
• Oh, I want a bottle of ink, you know, to use with my fountain pen instead of just this cartridge.
• So, like, what is that list of pens?
• Yeah, like, what is that phrase?
• Right.
• So, that's the top five what?
• Okay.
• So, this actually changed.
• So, in an old version of the list, they were done by price brackets.
• Yes.
• Which I don't like.
• Which I didn't like in the long term.
• It was, and plus, things changed, right?
• Like, things were moving out of price brackets and things weren't getting backfilled into price brackets.
• That I felt like recommending.
• So, we did away with price brackets.
• So, what would you call this list?
• The top five what?
• I mean.
• So, I called them the top five next fountain pens.
• I think that's a good name.
• But, like, that we're already kind of, I'm kind of down that path, right?
• So, I'm going to assume that you would not be happy to call this list the top five fountain pens.
• That's a good point.
• I haven't considered that.
• Because I think you would have top five for beginners.
• Then top five fountain pens.
• And then top five expert fountain pens or something like that.
• That's not a bad thought.
• Because it's honestly not going to change that much.
• No.
• If I just say the top five fountain pens.
• Like, I feel like you need to have, like, these are the top five fountain pens.
• And then you can have the two extremes, right?
• Like, beginners and also the, like, baller ones.
• Like, you really want something custom now.
• So, if you're going to do it.
• So, I'm literally just thinking this on the fly because I haven't thought about it this way.
• If we're just going to kind of, like, transform this list and just call it the top five fountain pens.
• Yeah.
• Like, I'm going to put the TWSBI Eco on there.
• But then how do you rank them when I'm also going to put, say, like, the Platinum 3776 on there?
• Like, do those go on the same list?
• And that's where things start to fall apart for me, right?
• Because we're talking about a $35 pen or a $190, $200 pen.
• Both of those would make probably, like, from a, again, you have to categorize this as a recommendations list.
• Not a personal list, right?
• Every day.
• Top five everyday fountain pens.
• Yeah.
• As opposed to, like, next.
• I like that better.
• As opposed to, I think there has to, I don't know that I could pull off.
• I could do a top five fountain pens personal list.
• Yeah.
• That's very different from a recommendations list.
• I think.
• And that's kind of the lens.
• The lens has to see it through.
• Yeah.
• I think with what you're doing here, it's too hard to do a top five fountain pens.
• Yeah.
• Because, like, you could do it, but it's not helpful.
• Because they're all going to be really expensive.
• Like, let's be realistic.
• Yeah.
• Yeah.
• Yeah.
• You could do a, these are the top five fountain pens.
• But, like, I just, I don't think that list is going to give people what they want when they're looking for that list.
• Right.
• It's like, your get-in price will be, like, $300 or something.
• Right.
• And, like, that's one of those lists where I yell at other people's lists.
• That's one where people will just yell at me.
• Because it's kind of pointless.
• Like, it doesn't solve anything.
• But that would be a blog post where I say, Brad's personal top five fountain pens.
• It's like.
• That's completely different.
• Top five cars.
• Yeah.
• You can't.
• It's too much, right?
• Like, the industry is too wide.
• Like, and the fountain pen world is too wide.
• You can't just lump them all in together.
• I know people do, like, top five, ten.
• Yeah.
• But this is the thing.
• And as I'm saying it.
• Every time you see, like, a top movie list or a top TV show list, everyone's always mad about them.
• Because it's like, you've gone too broad.
• Right.
• Yeah.
• Yeah.
• Yeah.
• I think breaking it down into, like, beginners, something like everyday and, like, maybe expert
• or something like that is good for the fountain pens.
• Yeah.
• I, you know, the thing that I wonder, though, about, like, going back to the micro gel ink
• pens, which sent me on that road of, like, maybe you make it more, like, cozy than accurate.
• Is I just, maybe I'm just the wrong person.
• Like, are people looking for micro gel ink pens lists specifically, do you think?
• Kind of.
• You think they're not just looking for gel ink pens?
• It's, yeah, it's, I will grant that it is a poor name for a category, despite being the
• actual name of the category.
• Right?
• I agree with your overarching point.
• I think maybe, again, all right, so.
• It's just such a specialty list.
• It is a specialty list, but it's a popular specialty.
• Right?
• It's a sub-genre of gel ink pens that is the reason for a lot of people being pen addicts.
• People who, so, if I classify people who use the Pilot G2 0.7 and like that pen and are
• happy with that the rest of their life, they're never reading my website.
• Right?
• So, people are going, oh, I like this, but like, it's safe in the case of the G2 0.7,
• it's too wide.
• Right?
• Like, is there something else?
• Like, I can do better?
• Can I get the G2 and 0.5 or 0.38?
• The answer is yes, but most people don't know that.
• And the people who are looking for those things tend to, that's who generally stumbles on like
• the pen addict and goes, oh, there's other stuff out there.
• But they're calling it micro, not fine line or anything like that?
• That's such a generic term.
• I don't know how you would get there.
• Right?
• Like, how are you getting there?
• Yeah.
• Okay.
• They would call it that.
• My point being is, yes, that's what they would type in.
• They would not get really good information.
• Sure.
• So, yeah, it's, this is a great discussion.
• Right?
• Because I do want to play with this list because let me, let me cover one more than maybe we
• can do an STPA or two.
• And I didn't put this in the notes, but this is a good point.
• So like one of the categories is top five ballpoint pens.
• And I'm a huge ballpoint pen fan.
• I'm not sure that this list in particular is useful because there's three good ones I
• list here.
• The Jetstream, the Acroball, which is Pilot's Jetstream type pen, and then the Zebra blend.
• And then number four is BitCrystal and number five is Fisher Space Pen.
• Like those two pens are fine.
• I don't know that they belong on this list.
• There's just not a lot of options.
• But the Jetstream, the Acroball, and the blend belong somewhere because they're amazing.
• Right?
• Right?
• So like, I don't know.
• It's trying to, trying to play around and manipulate with some of the categories, shrinking some
• categories, expanding some categories.
• Um, you know, the liquid ink rollerball pens, like that doesn't need to be a list probably.
• Like that's a very popular category for general pen users who don't read the pen addict.
• Right?
• The Uniball Vision or the Eye, as it's called in the, in the UK and in other parts of the
• world.
• It is such a popular pen, but it's just not a good pen.
• Right?
• But people who use that love it and like, they're never looking for anything else.
• Right?
• I don't know that this needs to be a list.
• But then we have a list like the top five mechanical pencils.
• That should be a list.
• Right?
• The top five wooden pencils probably should be a list.
• Uh, the top five fountain pen ink brands, that should be a list.
• So like, I think I'm still going to have like a lot of top five lists.
• Right?
• But some of the, like the, I guess it's really just the most popular categories.
• I kind of want to open them up a little bit.
• I don't know.
• So that's what I'm chewing on because like literally like, what am I going to do?
• Like how would, what would be my Netflix name for, you know, the top five mechanical pencils?
• Right?
• Like they're, it's, it's just going to be the top five mechanical pencils.
• Top five clicky boys for when you need to draw something.
• Like, so you want to be a engineering draftsman?
• So you want to be Ted Mosby?
• Yeah.
• It's like, it's, that's pointless.
• Then it just needs to be the top five mechanical pencils.
• So I've just talked myself into a circle.
• Top five for everything.
• All right.
• So I've got some R.T.PA.
• Yeah.
• I want to, I want to adjust the category.
• So yeah.
• There we go.
• Sarah writes in and says, I recently purchased the Galen Leather three ring binder in Crazy Horse Brown.
• And I'm totally in love.
• It holds A4 or 8.5 by 11 standard North American three hole punch paper.
• It's rad.
• But now I have a storage pouch deficit.
• It would feel anticlimactic to put a standard meat style mesh three hole binder pouch in such a beautiful leather binder.
• Are there any stunning stylish pouches that are punched in some configuration that would fit in the Galen binder?
• Number one, you should absolutely be putting a pouch in there.
• I love that you're, you're thinking about this.
• You have a three ring binder you use in paper you like, but you need a little bit more storage in there, right?
• You got to put, you know, you want to carry some other extra things in there.
• So what are you going to do?
• You're going to put in a pouch.
• But being the pen addicts that we are, we don't need our regular, you know, Ziploc looking plastic pouch.
• And the reason I'm vamping so hard is because I don't have an answer.
• And I have, I have the answer because I own it, but they don't make it anymore.
• Done paper made a denim with like a, like riveted ring three hole binder pouch.
• And I'm trying to look, I'm about to look and see if the superior labor has one because they would be a brand that would make something like that.
• So let me look right, right quick and see, because they make kind of like the canvas and, and leather goods.
• And I could see them making kind of like, um, I don't know, like an interior pouch.
• Yeah.
• So they have pouches, but they don't have rings.
• So, um, yeah, I would browse a little bit more on superior labor.
• What you can do, and this isn't a great answer, but you're going to have to find some, like a leather maker, a canvas maker on Etsy that probably has something like this.
• And I don't have a direct name, um, like my dome paper pouch that I bought.
• Um, I've actually bought two from him that he made these three ring binder pouches.
• Let me see if he still has these, but there's, they've been around for a while.
• Uh, um, and they're the standard three hole punch that fits in those binders.
• Yeah.
• He doesn't currently have them.
• I think no, he doesn't have them anymore.
• So yeah, this is a great product category for us, but that doesn't really exist as far as like, Hey, I can point you to X and here is your answer.
• I would browse around the superior labor a little bit more, um, because I have different pouches from them, just none with the rings in it.
• So we'll work on that, Sarah.
• And, uh, I'm going to think about that a little bit more because this is a product that I like and I would like to have a better answer than like, I don't know, Google it.
• And because I literally own two of these pouches, I own one in black and one in denim and they're so freaking good.
• And I just can't point you to it cause it doesn't exist anymore.
• It feels like this is an opportunity for Galen leather.
• Yeah.
• I mean, if they're selling a three ring binder, they would be the exact ones to, to make something like that.
• But, uh, God, this is a really good question.
• I'd love that.
• This is my level of nerdery and I apologize.
• I don't have a really good answer for this.
• And I'm, I just really want there to be a good answer for like the one person in the world that needs this.
• Like, that's what we're here for.
• Like, and I, I don't mean that like pejoratively, like I seriously mean that, like I want to answer this question because there might be the second person that does it that needs this too.
• Right.
• I think it's just so cool.
• I'm glad we can do this.
• Natalie wrote in and says, my husband and I are both fountain pen enthusiasts and he wants to buy an ultrasonic cleaner that would also be used for bike components as well as pens.
• But I am worried that bike grease and grime residue could linger and get into the pens.
• Should I be concerned about this or is it safe to use one cleaner for both purposes?
• Yeah, I'd be concerned.
• I don't care how well, how well you clean that, like with, with alcohol and any stringent cleaner, like there's nothing that's going to make me happy about putting my fountain pen nib into, into that ultrasonic cleaner.
• Um, so I would keep those absolutely separate, um, for any like bike part cleaning in anything, any other cleaning, um, in the ultrasonic besides like jewelry or something.
• Maybe buy an ultrasonic cleaner to put your ultrasonic cleaner in.
• True.
• True.
• If you considered that.
• Yeah, maybe.
• But no, I would, yeah, I would for sure keep those separate.
• And, um, and I, I would buy, you don't need a very expensive one for the fountain pens, right?
• Like you can get a small compact one for relatively inexpensive, probably like 20 bucks or less.
• You don't need something large capacity, like ultra aggressive for fountain pens.
• So you could have like, I would have like a small one for, for that and maybe something bigger, you know, once you're getting into some of the larger components, like gears and things like that for bikes.
• Like you're going to, I don't think I would, I would, I would use them as a combo at all.
• Like I, that wouldn't even, I would definitely sweat, stay away from that because even if you cleaned it perfectly, you're always going to have questions.
• This pen isn't writing.
• Is it because X and like, you just, you don't want to, you don't want to, you know, you don't want that to be part of your, your writing thoughts.
• Yes.
• You're not going to like this, but realistically you probably need to.
• Yeah.
• There's just no way around it.
• You're putting yourself in a situation that's avoidable.
• Yep.
• If you would like to send in a question to answer in a future episode of the show, just go to penaddictfeedback.com and you can send them in and we answer them.
• We'll do our best anyway, or at least we will say it and then hope that somebody else will write in and answer it and we'll tell you that answer.
• It's very slow.
• We gave me a telephone.
• Yeah.
• You write in to us sometime in the next few weeks, we'll read the question.
• Sometime in the next few weeks from there, maybe somebody will give you an answer.
• We'll collect feedback.
• Yeah.
• So Sarah will have you an answer in about two months.
• Two months.
• You can also give that feedback if you have answers to our questions.
• Penaddictfeedback.com, feedback follow-up questions.
• It's all available there to you.
• You should go to penaddict.com.
• You can go and check out Brad's new pen.
• It's available on his shop and you can go buy that.
• You should buy that.
• You can also go to spugdesign.com, twitch.tv, slash penaddict.
• You can find me at theenthusiast.net, cortexbrand.com as well.
• I want to thank Squarespace for the support of this week's episode and I want to thank you for listening.
• Until next time, say goodbye, Brad.
• Goodbye, Brad.
• Goodbye.
• DEFENSE