Editing The Pen Addict 185/transcript (section)

== TWSBI VAC ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' So, um, I have to have this Twisby VAC. This I am more excited about than the Safari, to be quite honest. And they said they were going to lease them on the 15th, but about an hour ago, maybe two hours ago, they started selling them on the Twisby website. So, which is funny. Twisby's always had this weird manufacturer-retailer relationship in my book. So, they sent out a message on Facebook or something saying, hey, heading out to your favorite retailers and we'll be available on the 15th. Boom. They put them up for sale themselves on the 14th. I just find that strange. Well, they do all this weird stuff. From a business perspective.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Like, with the way that they release products and stuff like that. Like, it's all kind of weird. You know, like, they tease things for months and months and months. Mm-hmm. Sometimes things never happen. Like, they do a bunch of really strange stuff as a company. Yeah. And, you know, I think as well, like, the idea of, like, them releasing it in advance. I expect to, you know, in some instances, they're at the point now where it's just like, well, what are you going to do? You want our products. Like, to the retailers, right? I agree. Yeah. What are you going to do? Like, you're going to want to sell it.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' If I was a retailer, I would be hacked. It's like, just, you know, I'm your, I don't know.

'''Myke Hurley:''' But it's the same thing, though, right? You'd be annoyed. But what are you going to do? You still want them.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. But I'm not going to, I mean, nothing wrong with Twisby. I like the folks over at Twisby. But I'm not going to order it from Twisby's site. I'll wait and buy it from whoever. Yeah. I'm not going to get it from Twisby.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I'll get it from a UK, probably Colt Pens or something, just so I can get it quick. Yeah. But it might take them weeks before they get it, even. I don't know. They haven't got, they've got it on their website on Colt Pens. It's on Colt Pens, but it just says waiting for stock.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I'm not going to be the first one to get this pen. So I'm excited to read, or not excited, I'm anxious to read the reviews and the functionality of it. Because if they do well on the functionality of this pen, I think it's going to be pretty sweet. It's probably going to be a very popular pen just because of the incapacity. And their mini size pens really aren't too, too small. They're very comfortable, comfortable size.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Explain to me why this is exciting. Why is the Vac Mini exciting?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I've never seen, it's the filling system. I've never seen that filling system in a pen that's this portable. So the vacuum filling system usually is in a larger size pen, like the 700. It was bigger than the 580. And you know how big the 580 is, right? So the 700 is only bigger, it's heavier. And it's just not the most portable thing. And actually their 700 design is probably my least, well, it's not probably, it's definitely my least favorite design that they've ever created. There was lots of design elements that were just wrong and off in that. But then you go into other, you know, companies like the Pilot 823, their vacuum filling system. It's the biggest and heaviest of their mainline fountain pens. So to shrink that down into a smaller, you know, pen and still have that filling system, what's the price? Did you click on the link? I didn't even see what they go for. $65. Okay. So for that price, that's the reason why I enjoy TWSBI so much. I'm actually using my 580 Blue AL today for the show notes.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Do you need one of their bottles? No, no, no, no. Okay. Because they are making a new bottle.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah.

'''Myke Hurley:''' For the vac filling system.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. They discontinued some of their other bottles and are redoing new bottles, I think, something like that.

'''Myke Hurley:''' But they do make bottles for the vac though, right? Like you stick it in and it's easy. Is that right?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Well, no, you have to remove the nib to use this filling system. In the bottle. In the bottle. Okay. In the TWSBI bottle. I'm getting off track here. So these bottles that TWSBI makes have like, think of it like a little nipple on the top of the bottle. So you're actually unscrewing the section of the TWSBI. So if you ever taken this section off your 580, you see that little hole in there where the piston draws up the ink through the nib and the section and the feed and everything. You're actually just placing that right on top of that bottle, drawing in the ink and then putting the section back on your pen.

'''Myke Hurley:''' However, the bottles, they got the new ones. They are hot. I just put a link in the show notes.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Well, I thought the old ones were pretty hot too. And there's actually was quite a market for them when they went off the market when they decided not to carry them or to redo them, which is pretty much what they've done here. What do you think of those? There was a bunch of people chasing them. They're beautiful. I think I'm nice. This will actually, well, I'll get a bottle this time just because there's no point to. But they fill up in any ink bottle with the nib still attached and the vacuum system just fine.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Right. But I guess it's cooler, right, to use it in this way. I assume it's a more fun experience, but just a little bit more tricky.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' But it's like, you know, when you're using the vac filling system versus the piston filling system, the vac is basically like a one shot fill. You know, you pull it out and you pump it back in the bottle and it just it fills up probably at least three quarters, seven eighths of the barrel. So it's a cool pen. I'm I'm very excited for this pen. And I want to see the reviews come out and see, you know, what people are thinking about the functionality and the manufacture of it and the quality of it. So if they do this, if they do this right, it's like everything. It's like why I love the 580 so much, because you can't get a vacuum filling system in a pen for less than like $200.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So I have a couple of things about this. One, obviously, build quality is, you know, that has been a kind of a point in my right. What do you say? In my core? So what is that? What is that phrase? Something in my craw? Anyway.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yes. Yes. It's stuck in my craw.

'''Myke Hurley:''' There you go. That's been an issue I've had for a while. And one of the problems has always been the grip section. And it's because it kind of doesn't detach. It's just been snapping off. But from what you've said to me about the way the system works, the grip section actually unscrews, which is potentially going to mean that that problem may be fixed in just out of the way that the system's different.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I mean, maybe that's why my, I've never had any problems with cracking in mine, because I can fill mine with a, I unscrew the section and fill them with a syringe anyway, right into the barrel.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. Maybe that is why. So, but you know, that's an issue that I've had, but maybe not here. And I have a slight disappointment in this pen that there's no colors or anything like that. Um, it seems like they're just doing a clear version and, uh, that is a shame because I have my eye on one of the black, um, with the rose gold. I think that is such a good look like in the regular mini. Uh, and that would have, uh, that would have really sealed the deal for me. Like, I'm pretty sure I'm going to get one of these, uh, but I really wanted to get it or even to get, you know, some of the color that they have in the AL or something like that.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So Twisby is a very good version three company. When you get to version three of whatever the one that they've introduced, uh, last, that's a lot of people's, uh, jumping in point, right? Then, you know, the kinks have been worked out, the colors are available, you know, the start with the basics and kind of slowly ramp themselves up. Right. So it's good to, you know, get into that second or even third version sometimes with, uh, with Twisby, which I understand. So, you know, a lot, a lot of people have been burned by them too many times.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. I think I'm going to give it a go though.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Oh, I definitely am. I definitely am. I I'm, I've been anxious for this pin. Yeah. If it's, if it's as good as I hope it is, it's going to be, uh, it's going to be a heavily recommended pin just because of the same reasons why the five 80 is just because you can't get that type of pin for that price. And it's not close. It's not like a 25%, um, you know, uh, less than it's competition. It's multiples and multiples, um, for, for people wanting to try these filling systems that, um, can't afford them in a lot of other pins. So good on them for doing this. This had to, this, this one had to be a challenge because the 700 itself was a challenge and, um, people, it's a lot of people enjoy that pin, but other people will argue that they failed on that design.

'''Myke Hurley:''' It is interesting to me that the 700 so bad looking and so like unwieldy, but yeah, they managed to turn it into a mini. It's weird. It's like they couldn't make it in a standard size, right? It's like, it's either too big or too small. Like we can't, we can't make a regular one.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' That's why I have, that's why we've talked so long about this stinking pin because I find it extremely interesting from a design and manufacturing perspective in relation to what they've done with the rest of the product line.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yep. Yep. No doubt. All right. Let's take a break. Thank our first sponsor of this week's episode. It's the great people over at lynda.com, the online learning platform with over 3000 on demand video courses that can help you strengthen your business technology and creative skills for a free 10 day trial. Visit lynda.com slash pen addict as lynda.com slash pen addict with lynda.com. You'll be able to watch and learn video courses that were taught to you by absolute experts who have a real passion for the topic that they are focusing on. You will be able to find topics on, you'll be able to find courses on all different types of topic. You'll be able to find courses on typography, Photoshop. Maybe you want to learn Illustrator or Lightroom. Maybe you want to learn how to take great photography. Maybe you want to learn getting things done or how to bootstrap your business, how to learn marketing, how to learn whatever. lynda.com has everything. They have software, hardware, from practical stuff to theoretical stuff. lynda.com has stuff for people that want to solve problems, for people that are curious, for people who want to make things happen. You'll be able to stream any of these thousands of video courses on demand. You can even watch them on your Android or iOS device as well, so you can watch on the go. You'll be able to learn on your own schedule and at your own pace and create and save playlists of all the courses that you want to watch in any order in all of their great bite-sized pieces to customize your learning path in any way you like. Your lynda.com membership will give you unlimited access to training on hundreds of topics for one flat rate. Whether you're looking to become an industry expert, you're passionate about a hobby, or you just want to learn something new, go ahead and visit lynda.com slash penaddict and sign up for your free 10-day trial. That's lynda.com slash penaddict. Thank you so much, lynda.com, for their support of this show and RelayFM.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So did you see those Star Wars pens that we chatted Mr. Bemis into reviewing for us a few months ago when they came out?

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, I'm happy that he took the challenge. Yeah! And I've taken a look at the review. I haven't read every word, because there's a lot of stuff in here, maybe more than I would have expected from these pens. But I love the way he broke it down.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Well, he's such a good writer. I mean, he puts me to shame in the way he weaves a story. He's legitimately a good writer. It's funny, when he sends me, I haven't told him this yet even, when he sends me his files to post, he's using Microsoft Word, and someone's editing them for him, because I get the full edit version with all the parts broken out in the side. Change this. Why did you say this here? So he takes this really, really seriously. These go through full edits before he posts them, and it shows in the results. He really kills it.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I'm very surprised at the outcome of this post, I have to say.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Well, he had already bought them when we discussed them on the show. It wasn't like he bought them for this. When we were talking about them and we were saying, wow, these are ridiculously expensive. And by that time, he's like, well, I've already bought all three of them. And I was like, well, then you're reviewing them for the blog.

'''Myke Hurley:''' It just surprises me that, because, you know, my feeling is you would buy these because you wanted to collect them, right? Ah. You know, you buy them because they are fancy, special editions, and maybe could be worth something one day, but it's not why you do it. You do it because you're a collector like all of us. But John seemed pretty down with them. Like, he was happy with the end result of each of them.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I couldn't... I would have a hard time spending that much money and not using the pins. Like, I couldn't put these up there on the shelf and display them at all. So...

'''Myke Hurley:''' Well, yeah. I mean, you've got to use them, but it's like... Yeah. Do you think... You can use them, think that they're okay, and still be happy with them in your collection, right? Right, right, right. But the fact that you use them and be like, no, these are actually really good.