Editing The Pen Addict 414/transcript (section)

== Kickstarter Fulfillment Speed ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' But it's so fast. This was really fast. Really fast. It's like, I'm not ready to ship, you know, 800 and whatever the number of pins is. But they are at retro 51. They are sending the final 50% of the bill invoice to me today. It will be paid. Those pins will be shipping to me probably next week or the week after.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Very nice.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' They come pretty fast. It's going to be the UPS guy or however they're going to send these is not going to be thrilled with this delivery. Because it'll be nine boxes of 100 pins each. That'll be taller than me by a good margin. And it's a lot of pins. Like that's the part that's intimidating me. It's like this is a big number. But the good thing is that it's all kind of the same type of shipping. So this is a long way of saying we're getting pretty close to be able to fulfill this Kickstarter for the product, for the pin and the poster. Along with the pins, Anna sent me yesterday or two days ago the first pass of the poster. So the way the poster is working is we're getting a color layer on the bottom with like digital printing. So a lot of the color will be on there. And then the posters are getting a second pass through the letterpress machine for the remainder of the logos. So it's going to have a good tactile feel. It's going to look really neat. So all of this is coming together at the same time. Which means I'll say in about a month I'll be ready to ship these. I'm guessing. You know, I don't know exactly. Right? There's going to be a lot of pre-packing. Like we've got to get tubes and we've got to get sleeves for the posters. Like there's going to be a lot of manual labor involved. But I bet by July we're going to be shipping this, Myke. Which surprises me.

'''Myke Hurley:''' That is just fantastic.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. I feel good about it. I'm ready to see the pins. Even though I know what they look like already. I've never had a Retro 51 that wasn't exactly correct from the prototype. So I know they're going to be great. I'm looking forward to getting them. And I'm looking forward to getting them all in everyone's hands. I think everyone's going to be very happy with this. And we definitely appreciate the support for this campaign. And it's not done yet. We just don't know what the rest of the campaign is going to be at this time. But it's going to be something.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Man. Yeah. I'm pleased that we're getting this part done so fast. Like that feels good to me. Agreed. And then we can work out what the rest is going to be. Right? Like we just really don't know yet. Yeah. It gives us some runway. Yeah. I mean also it's just like I was just naturally expecting that there was going to be some kind of delays to the manufacturer of the pens. Right? Because everything is delayed or the shipping is wild. So again, pen addict listeners always find out this information first. Like I'm finally, I believe, got all of the many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many issues worked out with the most recent run of the theme system journal. And they're on a boat right now. Because to put them on a plane, it was going to cost three times as much as it did last time, even though we have two thirds of the order size. Because there just aren't a lot of planes leaving China. So they're on a boat. And that means many weeks of shipping as opposed to a day or two. So, you know, it's just like I was expecting that we would have some kind of delay because it just feels like no matter where things are being made right now, things are moving more slowly for obvious reasons. So I'm very excited to know that we're going to be going to be having them. And then the only delay is just caused by Brad, really.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Right. This is a single threaded shipping process for eight. What was the final number? Like 828, 828 individual orders handled by me. So, yeah, once I start shipping, I will not end shipping for a while.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' You know, so we'll have some conversations. So, yes. Artisanal pen packing and shipping.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Everybody can know that the man that they love so dearly, which is you, has handled, has Brad handled every single package. Yep. You know? Yep. I do wish that I was in a position to be able to help you. Like, you know?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. I thought about, like, what if I flew Anna here for like a weekend and we just did all this stuff and then like recorded it and did something stupid. But no, that wouldn't work. It'll be fine. But it's the best part about this is I can batch labels because so many orders are similar. It's just the physical packing of all this stuff. Oh, yeah. I've done it. I've done this a million times. And it always goes better than I anticipate. So, just the overall takeaway is the Retro 51 portion of this campaign went completely best case scenario from beginning to end. And so, we're going to get the pens early and we'll be able to do it all early, strip everything early instead of, you know, we're looking at July instead of, you know, September or later.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yep. And then we still have a couple of months to go to work out something.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yep. Something. Yep. But I'm really pleased about that. Something, something, pen show, something.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Really pleased about that. All right. Let's take our first break and thank the Canalea Pen Company for the support of this week's episode. Canalea Pen Co. Make wonderful pens inspired by stunning images of Hawaii. Canalea's founders, Hugh and Carol, believe that these locations can help recharge your spirit, connect you with nature. That's what Hawaii is all about. It's what makes it such a special place. And they do such an incredible job of transporting that feeling, that spirit, that design to the products that they make. They're beautiful and the execution of every single Canalea pen is just outstanding. This is where for me and for Brad, this company truly shines. Every pen is handmade in a process that means that no two pens will ever look alike, which I think is such a special thing to know that the pen that you're buying is your pen. Nobody else has one that looks like it. And every single nib is tuned before it ships to customers by Hugh himself to make sure that it will be perfect for you when you receive it. Canalea have a wide variety of styles of material and shapes of pen, and they're all fantastic. You're not going to find a better collection, like just one single collection. You go to their page, look at their products. I believe that that is like the best single collection of pens that you can buy today. Like you will find something, multiple things that you're going to love. Both me and Brad own multiple Canalea pens at this point. I believe the one I'm going to talk about right now has found its way into Brad's permanent collection. And every new release is full of tons of excitement. I want to remind you of their latest, which is the Kona Cherry, inspired by the world-renowned Kona coffee bean. It has the beans themselves that hold the coffee. We talked about coffee earlier. They're actually a rich red color. This has been encapsulated in the design. But it's not just a red pen. It features so much depth and complexity with lots of transparency in the body as well. It really brings that whole look to life. Canalea pens feature Joao's number six nibs, and you can buy steel or 18-karat gold nibs directly from Canalea. They also offer rose gold too, which is a personal favorite of mine, from extra fine to 1.1mm stub across their nib line. And they also ship every pen in a beautifully packaged keepsake box. You can check out their range of pens right now at canaleapenco.com. That's K-A-N-I-L-E-A-P-E-N-C-O.com. And right now, participate in the Choose Your Aloha celebration for the Kona Cherry Pen. All of the models of the Kona Cherry are now available on a three-to-four-week wait from purchase to delivery. Canalea usually have a 12-to-16-week wait, so this is much better. And Canalea Pen Co. are going to continue donating a portion of the profits to the Food Basket, which is Hawaii's Islands Food Bank, and the West Hawaii Community Health Center. So go to canaleapenco.com and choose your aloha today. Our thanks to Canalea Pen Co. for their support of this week's episode of The Pen Addict and RelayFM.