Editing The Pen Addict 351/transcript (section)

== Pen Prices Discussed ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. I mean, it's a stunning pen and it's just a crazy, crazy expensive price. I don't know how to justify that, Seth. Such a shame about my club. I don't know. Like, I like the club. Like, I love this pen. It's like, you know, even if I could get a deal on this pen, it would still be an outrageous amount of money. And it's... I mean, for Visconti fans and people who like it, it's worth it, right? You're buying into a brand and you're buying into a style and you're buying into an aesthetic. It's, you know, it's a premium brand. And they charge premium prices by where they've decided to place themselves in there. If you're asking me for the technical details of why it's so expensive, I can't answer that because it's a palladium nib. I don't know what that even means. You know, it's not a gold nib. You know, it's a fancy material nib. And the mechanism is fantastic. You know, their filling system is great. Like, the engineering of Visconti's pens are top tier. You know, the threading system is great. Like, everything about it is great. But if you asked me, like, okay, why isn't this pen X price instead? I was like, I don't know. It's just the brand. It's the way the brand's set up. Just like Mont Blanc. You know, you're buying... It's a luxury brand. It's not even a premium band. This is a luxury brand. So, I think the standard Homo Sapiens pens, the Lava ones, are reasonably priced. You know, they're like in the four... That's reasonably. That's maybe a stretch. But in the four or five hundred dollar range, you're getting a similar experience without the swirly limited edition. You know, maybe that's the thing a little bit too is the Midnight in Florence material is not as common as their Lava. Materials, which they make more of as a regular edition. So, you know, it's just all those little things add up. And when you're dealing with a luxury brand, like, their price point is just what it is. And you have to decide, you know, is that something I'm willing to buy into? So, you know, I'm sorry I don't have, like, a real, like, clear answer to that. But it's just kind of a, it is what it is type of things. Especially when you're dealing with luxury brands. That's the premium you pay.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Market forces. That's the thing.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Market forces. They will sell every one of those Midnight in Florence pens. Right.

'''Myke Hurley:''' And that's why they cost that much. Yep.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' All right. So, last few quick hitters. Nick Piddick says, Not really an ass TPA, but do you think you'll be able to talk about the Pen Addict Kickstarter without being super emotional? Just remember that the people want to help you because you're doing a terrific job and give so much. It's our way to thank you for what you give us. So, I put this at the end on purpose.

'''Myke Hurley:''' But if you say that, it makes it worse.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' That's making it worse.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Like, if you want us to cry, Nick, that's how you get us to cry. Yeah. So, I put this at the bottom just to see how the top of the show would go. And we didn't cry on that. But, I mean, genuinely, like, you know, words like that, like, choke me up. Like, it was hard for me to read that email. You know, it's like, we really care about the community and the community support back. To us is overwhelming. And it's amazing. And, you know, we just, I mean, we appreciate, like, all these kind words and, like, the thank yous. Like, a single thank you goes so far, like, in, like, you know, the emotional spectrum. Like, that someone, like, enjoys your work. It's like, man, cool. Thank you. I really appreciate that. So, thank you, Nick. And I'm sorry we didn't cry hard for you this episode. It was in our thoughts, though. Paper Moore. Brad, are you going to the Chicago Pen Show this year? I am not. And it's, again, my biggest regret on the calendar. Like, Chicago is a really excellent show. And it's a show I want to go to every year. And it's hard for me to work that one out. So, that's a no for me this year, unfortunately. So, we'll have to make a concerted effort to make that happen. Again, because that'll be two years in a row I've missed, I think. So, that stinks. An Atomicrop asks probably the hardest question of all the questions. What are your favorite red inks? Hashtag AskTPA. I'm a well-known not-red ink person, but I found one that's pretty killer. So, the Robert Oster Red Candy, which I just got in Baltimore from Vanus Pens. I'm super digging that ink. The other red ink that I've used in the past that I have enjoyed, and it's, again, on the darker side of the spectrum, is the Sailor Grenade. That's a really interesting red ink with a little bit of sheen in there. So, the Red Candy is a little bit brighter, but still has some darkness. And the grenade is even darker and more burgundy than that. So, those are kind of my reds. But I am far from a red ink guru.