Editing The Pen Addict 557/transcript (section)

== Lando Norris and his potential pen preferences ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' If Lando Norris had a vote in this bracket, Myke, what do you think he would have voted for?

'''Myke Hurley:''' I reckon he's using a Safari in that image.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So, we got a link. As listeners know, Myke and I are F1 fans. He's one of our favorite drivers. Well, I'll speak for myself. No, me too. But I think you're a Lando fan. He's British, so I love him. Yeah, Lando Norris drives for McLaren. Yeah. British. So, they're down in, they're down in Australia. And Lando put out an Instagram where he's, like, walking through the town. And he's going through, like, this, like, graffiti kind of, almost like an art installation. Right? There's just, like, a localized, like, graffiti thing. And, like, you know, I didn't see this and, like, I wouldn't have gotten all the way to the end of the photos in the Instagram feed. So, he's, like, looking at all this artwork, artwork, artwork, artwork. Then he's all of a sudden in a Lamy store writing. You know what he's using? What is it? You're saying Safari. It is a Safari. It's the Safari ballpoint. And that was one of the pens I wanted in. That's one of the pens I wanted in the bracket was the Safari ballpoint. Or, actually, his might be a little bit different. No, I think he has a Vista in his hand, actually, at the time. The Safari ballpoint's next to it. He's using a Vista. My apologies. So, again, the Vista should have been in the bracket as well. So, he's got pretty nice handwriting, I will say. Like, he did a signature on there, which you'll never see, like, a good quality signature. I'm sure that's not his autograph signature. But, hey, pretty good. It says, so someone's probably gone in there behind it. It says, Lando Norris. Hello, everyone. And then he has his wild signature, right? His number four signature, right? The, hey, let me hold the end of the Sharpie signature, the squiggle, which is awful. Like, could you read that as, if you had no context, can you get Lando Norris out of that squiggle? No, of course not. Absolutely not. The only chance is that there's a number four on there. You're like, oh, maybe, maybe. But, like, as far as I'm concerned, it could say, like, Cola, number four. Like, there's no idea on a signature.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Everyone can be like that guy who we're talking about. Your favorite.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So, yeah, I thought that was cool. Like, he's sitting there playing in the Lamy store. I wonder if he picked anything up. Or maybe, maybe, Zac Brown sent him on a recon for, like, the 48th sponsor to their car.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I see this as, I see this as kind of just like, follow a few drivers right now. They were just trying to stay awake. Yeah, exactly. Right? Like, they were flown halfway across the world and they got, like, work to do in a couple of days. They were all just, like, desperately trying to stay awake. So, he's just, like, roaming the streets and just, like, rumbling into a Lamy store. Like, why is he even there? You know what I mean? Like, I don't understand. Like, why is he in the Lamy store? He's just, like, killing time, you know?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. Yep. Gotta love it. But, yeah, he looks like he has good penmanship for a fountain pen. Looks like it was the Lamy Vista. So, yeah, good job, Lando. We already liked you. Now, we like you even more.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I enjoy some of the thirsty comments from pen stores and companies that we know. And I say, go for it. You know what I mean? They're all in there. Come to our store, you know? Just, you never know, right? Oh, I haven't read any of those. But, yeah, yeah, come on. Maybe you'll pop in. Let's go. I also enjoy Will Buxton saying, what did he say? Lamy pens are the business, he said. Nice. Thanks, Will.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Thanks, Will.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Thanks for your expertise in another area, Will.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' You need to clip one to your short sleeve sweater this weekend. That would be great.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Or, like, in pure, we're just in pure drive to survive memes now. It's just like, pens are used to write with.

'''Myke Hurley:''' If you want to use the pen, you've got to uncap the pen.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Paul Will Buxton. I'm feeling fine.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' What a job he has. All right, and what a job I have right now to explain to our listenership that we have the official word on the Safari 2023 edition. We knew.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Can I just say, it is exactly what you said it was going to be. I cannot believe how closely you nailed this and how disappointed I am that you did.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So, I nailed it because they released this on their press channel as a text document saying the name. In general, they didn't give the actual name of the lineup, but they said pastel colors. So, it was not me. It was, like, the speculation from their press release. Like, back in February, they did, like, a text, like, the PR newsroom type of thing. Oh, okay. When they did the Lilac and the Petrol All-Stars, right? This was included in there, but no one, there were no pictures at the time. No one was confirming it. No one really knew the proper names of them. But what we have here is the Safari 2023 D-Lights, Myke. These are pastel colors, light rose, aqua sky, and spring green. So, that's a green, a pink, and a light blue. The product names are all one word, which I was double-checking around the marketing around them. So, light rose is literally all smushed together. Light rose, aqua sky, spring green. They're all one word.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Spring green is the most unfortunate because you've got a double G.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yes. So, the groove is not in the heart with these, Myke. It is not good. Like my pun there, it is not good whatsoever.

'''Myke Hurley:''' These pastel colors are good and nice one time. Yes. They can't keep doing it. Yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' They, in a vacuum, they're perfectly fine, right? Great colors, right? I really like the green. Like, it's kind of a neat color green. Lamy has done so many greens. Lamy needs a reboot in the limited edition Safaris and All-Stars. Like, the All-Stars came out great, but they were reused colors. I mean, let's be clear. I mean, they're so good. And those colors deserve to be in the aluminum barrels. But let's be perfectly clear. They spent five minutes figuring that out, right? And these pastels, like, I don't know how they sit there and justify another set of three pastel colors. When they've done a set of three pastel colors, then they did a separate set of three kind of more saturated colors. And it's just these constantly sets of three colors, three colors, and last year was two colors, strawberries and cream. Make me one really special pin in the All-Star and the Safari lineup. And I think you would sell, you know, maybe not 100% of the volume of three. Three releases for this set and two for the All-Star. But if you gave me one great Safari that you did something different with, and you gave me one great All-Star that you did something different with, I think you would do pretty close to the numbers of this. Because this just falls flat every year. Like, when you do this every year, the interest is just kind of, like, it just kind of kills all that interest, right? It just kind of dies. But, like, there's absolutely nothing wrong with these pens. They're beautiful pens. It's just not interesting based on what they've created in such recent time frames, right? So, I mean, the All-Stars are completely better than these. Like, the Team Safari is going to take the loss this year. But it's the whole product lineup idea. I think someone needs to sit down and rethink these limited editions of two of their most popular pin lines and try something different for a change. Like, surprise me. Like, 0% surprise in any of these releases this year, right? And that's what I'm looking for.

'''Myke Hurley:''' It's a shame. Yeah. Yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' But, you know, like I said, uniquely, you roll up, like, someone, you know, looking for a safari rolls up and sees this blue one. Man, it's going to be spectacular, right? Yeah. But as someone who follows this, like, you know, for a long time now, it's just like, come on. Like, we're just having the same party every year and, like, I'm tired of cupcakes. Like, can we do something different? Like, let's try pie or something. I don't know. Like, it's just, we are in, they are in a design rut as far as originality goes. And that's my issue for a company I obviously love, right? And I love it. So, yeah. So, anyway, they're uniquely great. I hope I get to see them this weekend at the Atlanta Pen Show. We're going to talk about that later. But, like, my expectations are really high for Lamy. So, when they don't meet it, I think it's fair to, like, have these discussions. So, all right, Myke. Next product. I am so excited about this. I can't even tell you. And we're going to have more on this because, and I'll tell you why in a minute.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I was so confused when I opened this Instagram post this morning and I thought something was broken. It took me a long time to work out what was going on.