Editing The Pen Addict 48/transcript (section)

== Retro 51 Snapper ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Mm-hmm. Yep. Yep. Well, speaking of Retro 51, we talked about the Retro 51 Snapper a couple weeks, two weeks ago now.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' And how both you and I had done a product focus group for when they were bringing this pen to market, and both of us had pretty similar issues with the pen, and both of us felt that it wasn't quite up to snuff, at least what we're used to for Retro 51 products. So I said during that episode that I will do my best to purchase an actual production version of the Retro 51 Snapper Tornado, because they just came out. That's why we started talking about it. They just released them to market. And gosh, before, practically as soon as we got that podcast episode posted, our friend Mary Collis, she sent me a link, because I had mentioned, you know, if anyone knows where I can get one, tell me, and she sent me a link to Daily's Pen Shop, and they had the four colors of the Snapper available for sale in the U.S. So I ordered one. I ordered the chrome version. So there's four colors out now. There was yellow, a blue, a confetti, and the chrome. And I just went with the chrome because I thought it looked best. But after I ordered it and got it in, I was like, you know, maybe not an exact comparison to the one that I have, because the one I have was like the white lacquers version, you know, which was similar to like the yellow and the blue one and the confetti one now. So I don't know if the chrome is actually a little bit heavier or, you know, maybe a little bit different build. But the whole premise behind it is, of me ordering this, is to find out has it improved from the model that we had.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So to recap, the model that Myke and I had, we both felt like the knock was, I guess, a little loud. What's the best way to say it? Like we felt that the mechanics of the pen were loud. There was lots of clicking, lots of jangling going on.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I found it to rattle a lot.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, rattling. That's a good way to put it. Like when you're writing, when you're, you know, between letters or between words, when the tip lifts off the page and then the tip goes back down, you'd often hear a click or a rattle or something like that, right? So we wanted to find out if the production model was any better. And I have to say it's a little bit better. It's noticeable. I can tell a difference between the two pens. Because the knock section, the difference that I found with the prototype version and the production version is the knurled knock at the top on the demo version that we got moves. Like I can rotate it, okay? Like it spins around the barrel. On the new production version, it does not. It's fixed. Good. So it's a little bit more stable as far as the sound goes. I don't know if you can hear this.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, that sounds better.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' No, that's actually the demo version. Oh.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Well, then it sounds the same.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. And then the knock part, the new one, doesn't really do as much. It's a lot more. I don't know. I'm sitting here. I got both of them in my hand. And I'm clicking. And you can't tell anything by me clicking. And you probably can't tell anything by me writing. But you hear that?

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' That's the demo version. Yeah, I know that. Like if you're just tapping it. That sounds familiar, right?

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yes.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' And that's the new one. It's a lot more solid.

'''Myke Hurley:''' That's miles better.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Well, I'm pleased. I'm actually very pleased.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yep. So in the end, I mean, like we discussed, the problem, well, not the problem, but the issue it boils down to, it's an all-metal barrel pin. There's going to be some noise, right? But there's things you can do to limit that. And it looks like they basically, I think they've tightened up the mechanism on the knock from the demo version that we originally tried to this production model that I just ordered. And I will say it is better.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Mechanically, it seems better. Now, functionally, you and I, we're not a huge fan of this pen just because it's a ballpoint. That's a whole different story. But it does fit the Moleskine gel refill. It fits a standard Parker gel refill. I put mine in and it works fine. So you should try that on, swap that out on yours one day and see if you like that.

'''Myke Hurley:''' It's all about that Schmidt refill for me though. Oh, that's true. That makes the pen as good as it is. It's that specific refill that they use in the Retro 51 in the rollable version that I love.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, it kind of feels, it makes it feel like a Retro 51, right?

'''Myke Hurley:''' That's, as I said, like for me, when I first put the pen to the paper of my orange one that I bought, which was the first one because you convinced me because of how it looked and I was blown away. I think that experience sort of opened me up to this show more because it showed me the type of quality that you can get if you look outside the pen store.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yes, that's right. I mean, there's, yeah, that's episodes and episodes worth of conversation. But the differences, the minimal differences that make a big change in your writing or the performance of the pen are out there. And, but people, you know, you just have to discover it. And once you discover it, then you're down the rabbit hole with the rest of us. Yep. Yep. And you're, you're downloading all 47 episodes of the podcast and having a marathon, a weekend marathon of the, of the pen addict podcasts.

'''Myke Hurley:''' People do that.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' They do. We get, do we get tweets all the time. I got one today. Hey, I just found the podcast. I'm catching up now. I'm on episode five. I'm like, sweet. That's awesome.

'''Myke Hurley:''' This is a good show. I think to listen to from the start.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, for sure. And, you know, and it's changed a lot, you know, and I think we're, I think we're getting better with age, Michael.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So just like a good wine.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' That's right. Or girly drinks.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Just like a good girly drink.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' That's right. That's right. All right. So what else, what else do you want to talk about? We got, we got some new field notes in the pipeline. Yeah. Have you gotten yours yet?

'''Myke Hurley:''' No.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. Well, don't, don't feel too bad. You know why?

'''Myke Hurley:''' Why?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I haven't gotten mine either.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Oh, I don't feel so bad.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' And I, I ordered mine in the first 15 minutes of was live and people started getting theirs yesterday and I haven't gotten mine yet. So I haven't seen them yet.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Mine's been shipped as part of my subscription, obviously, but international shipping and there's been double bank holidays.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Oh yeah.