Editing The Pen Addict 616/transcript (section)

== Car Discussion ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. And, and that's kind of where like, it's like a car discussion, right?

'''Myke Hurley:''' So like, it's like something like Land Rover Defender or something like say a sports car, right? Which you're like, you might love them. They are incredible when they're doing what it's supposed to do, but they're more prone to error. Yeah, definitely.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So that my, my conclusion, if you didn't listen to the previous couple episodes was that I think I, my, I've become more hesitant over the years to recommend the Lamy 2000 as your first step up pen in price point and gold nib and more, I categorize it in an expert category. You want to know what you're doing before you purchase the Lamy 2000. Like, I think everyone should like try out a Lamy 2000, right? But I think it's more on the expert level of fountain pen users. Uh, it should be more on their list than on the beginner side of the list was what that's the, that's the, the conclusion from a long winded answer to talking about the design of the pen.

'''Myke Hurley:''' All right.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Speaking of design.

'''Myke Hurley:''' And I wouldn't even say this is long winded. It's not long winded, but, uh, it's just regular winded.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Pelican M200 Orange Delight. Yeah. Let's talk about this. What a delight. What a delight. And this is an interesting pen. And this brings up again, this is a great discussion to have around this pen because you almost should lead with how expensive this pen is relatively speaking. So this is a pretty expensive plastic barrel, piston filling, steel nib fountain pen. You know, we're talking like $200 for this pen. Um, you can find them cheaper Pelican Pelican. For those who have not, uh, not listened to the show for a long time, they're one of the great conundrums in regional pricing. So different parts of the world have vastly different price points for Pelican. So that's a, that's a, the more, you know, type of situation, but in the market that I'm in, it's 200 ish. So, and I was happy to pay that for this one because this is a beautiful color. It's a limited edition. I mean, I'm not paying the premium because it's a limited edition, but this is a, this is not a, my point being, it's not a stock item Pelican M205, which I do have one of those as well, the 205, uh, this 200 is just, you know, something that they did, which they did a Pelican thing where they make cool colors and cool designs and cool collaborations. And I keep going back to this Lamy conversation because I have constantly said that I do not use Pelican pens because I don't get along with the nibs, but they are some of the best made pens in the world, right? So this is the opposite of the Lamy conversation. Pelican, I think you could go in blindly with just about any Pelican, as long as you have enough money in your bank account and you would be thrilled with it, uh, which is the exact opposite of the Lamy 2000. And I don't use gold nib Pelicans because I don't like the nibs. So it's such context dependence though, the more I think about it, but this orange delight I had to have because the 200 size is their small, generally smallest mainline size. There's a couple of smaller ones that have been around over the years, but this is a small pen. I have the M205, which I linked in this review to talk about how I use this pen as almost like an everyday carry type of pen. The size, the weight, and the feel, the compact nature, the easy piston filling mechanism, easy to use, easy to fill, easy to clean. And literally Pelican makes the most beautiful high quality pens that are just completely simple to use. And that's what impresses me most about the brand. Again, as someone who doesn't use many Pelicans, I can still be impressed by their design and their quality. Uh, it's extremely consistent, right? Like even the Pelicans, like I'll borrow people's Pelicans, you know, to use. And I just like, yeah, this is amazing. They do such a good job. They're great when you pick them up and write with them. And I like the size of this one. It's really small, but it's not, it's a full size pen, right? It's on the small side of the full spot, the full size pen category. If you're, anyone's familiar with the Pilot Herrera, it's not as lightweight as that, but it's like the same size. It's a full size pen. You can use it unposted, but you can also post the cap. Um, and it, and it writes really well. The cap posts deep enough, but I just wanted to talk about it because this is one of those pens that people should think about when they're looking to move up. Should they choose this over a Lamy 2000? That's almost an unfair comparison, like, because they're, they're not related to each other at all, right? I feel like they're just such disparate pens. Like, I don't know how it could even compare the two. I've been asked to compare this Pelican with the Kaweco piston support that I just acquired because they're around the same price. And I'm going to try to do that as well. And I'm having a hard time. Like, how do you compare to like really, really different pens? So that's something to think about, but this is simpler. For the Pelican M200. It's easier to use. Um, it's easier for everybody to use, but it may not check your design boxes, uh, like compared to the Lamy 2000, right? Someone may not like the translucent barrel of this pen and feel like it might make it look cheap for something you're spending $200 on. And like, all of that makes sense. Like, oh, that's like really good criticism and, and valid. But, uh, given the feel of this pen and the enjoyment I get from looking at it and using it. And I got the nib ground too. It has a fine nib and I got a Curse of Vitalik on there. And I love writing with this pen. It's, this is one of those pens that could just be inked up all the time and sit here and I would never get tired of it. I just really, really enjoy the 200 size Pelicans and they have tons of options. This is a realm where they play around with color a lot when they do their annual ink colors. They, a lot of times do a translucent barrel to match. And those are always fun. And like, I want to buy like all of those, but I know I won't use them very much. I'm very limited in my Pelican usage, so I have to make sure I get the right one and I'm glad I waited for this orange delight. And we've talked about it a bunch this year, but I finally got it at the Atlanta Pen Show, had some time with it and wanted to write up my review and talk about it a little bit because I'm, I'm really impressed with it. It's a stunner. Even though it's just a standard quote Pelican release and it's great. Big fan.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Um, the nib that's in it, is it, it's a gold nib? Gold plated steel nib. Gold plated steel nib. There you go. I, so it, so the Pelican, the reason I asked is because maybe I missed it in there, but I could see it was gold and I noted that you said it was $200. And so I was like, wait, that doesn't make any sense.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah.

'''Myke Hurley:''' That makes sense.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Pelican is one of the weird naming convention companies, but when you understand the naming convention, it all clicks. So anything with a 200, anything with a two, uh, is a steel nib. And then the exact same size pin with a gold nib starts with a four. So that's the 400 series. And so the 400 is the same size as the 200 series, but has the gold nib. And they don't, uh, cross over the colors, right? There's not an M 400 orange delight, right? They don't do that. Um, they only do their stock. Once you get into the gold nibs, they'll do the different sides. Like the green stripe, like the classic green stripe Pelican. It comes in there. The S it starts at the four, which is a gold nib. And then they have a six, eight and a 1000, 600, 800, 1000. Uh, that's just size increases in nib and barrel. So, but, uh, it sounds complicated, but this one's actually easy. When you look at it, you go, Oh, I understand the size and the nib material when you see the number. So I do appreciate that from them.