Editing The Pen Addict 415/transcript (section)

== King of Pen Rant ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, I think you're going to love it. So, that's good on you. So, here's my problem. The biggest complaint about the 4AM was they didn't black ionize the nib to match the rest of the external hardware, and they claimed it was a cost issue. This is the standard retail price that these limited editions always have with no added cost, and they ionized plated the nib. So, that's a little bit going against earlier statements that they have on why the 4AM didn't get the nib, and why does this one get the nib?

'''Myke Hurley:''' Well, what if... What if the body is cheaper? The material?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I'm going to go no. It's... Let's be clear about Sailor real quick. Okay. And this is my King of Pen rant. Their barrels are plastic. They are simplistic. Right? Right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I just want to be crystal clear that the King of Pen is the most outrageously priced pen that I just happen to love, and it is... If you want value for your money, you're basically getting like a huge honking nib surrounded by clear plastic. Right? I just want to be perfectly clear. I love my Sailor pens. It's my favorite pen, but let's not pretend that these barrels are something special when they're not. I just want to be very clear. They just happen to look good, and the colors are fantastic, and the entire package is great. They make a beautiful pen overall, but there's no difference in these barrels. If anything, this barrel looks nicer than the 4AM. So, I don't buy what happened with the 4AM being a cost issue when they come out with this one at just at the exact price. There's no price increase on this one, which is good. I'm glad. This looks better.

'''Myke Hurley:''' What ended up happening is the 4AM didn't sell the way that they wanted it to, and they thought, well, maybe if we take a little bit more of a loss on the next one, we'll put the plane on it, right? Like, there is a reason. I agree with what you're saying, that like, they said one thing and they do another. But cost also includes margin and all that kind of stuff. I know. I know. It's just me being pedantic. Nevertheless, I'm pleased that they did it because it really seals the deal for me with this pen. Yeah. It's called the Large Wicked Witch of the West, which is a great name for a pen. And also, like, just the coloring of it. It's got, like, a kind of Wicked Witch vibe to it. So, it's a very cool pen.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' It's a very cool pen. This one will sell out. If you're interested in this pen, like, this is probably one you're just going to have to go for.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Do you know when it becomes available? Because it's pre-order now, I think.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' No. I'd have to look on, if you look on Sailor's North America Instagram account, they usually put dates, but I don't have that link in the show notes. But we can find it pretty quick. Someone will find it. While I talk about this next item, which is sort of related, this one caught me off guard, Myke. There's an ink now, a limited edition ink that Sailor released called Sailor's Sailor Fountain Pen Ink.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I'm very confused about this. So, I want to say it slowly so people in the back can get it. Sailor's Sailor Fountain Pen Ink.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So, Sailor made a Sailor ink.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I'm so happy to be discussing this.

'''Myke Hurley:''' And the label looks fake, which is hilarious to me. It looks terrible. Right? It looks like I made it. It's very confusing. Sailor's Sailor.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So, this ink is a limited edition made to represent the 15th anniversary of essentially Sailor's ink mixing bar. Right? The custom inks blended by famed Sailor ink blender Osamu Ishimaru. Right? So, this is a, they've been doing this type of ink mixing for 15 years and wanted to celebrate it with an ink. And I, the Sailor's Sailor, I can't help but laugh when I say it. It's a, it's a 50 milliliter bottle. It's a bright blue ink. It's $39. It's very expensive. The interesting part, I was going to say funny part. It's not funny. The interesting part is this was supposed to be a Japan only limited edition. And I don't know if they overproduced or were just being nice. You know, it's, it's the marketing. Now we're going to release it to the rest of the world. Right? So, it was not intended to be something that our market could access overseas. But now it is. And, you know, it's whatever. I'm wondering how close this is to Sailor Sky High. So, I'm anxious. I'm not going to buy this ink. Um, you know, I, just like the, the pen. The, I, I really want the pen. I really want the ink. I, I've, I've, I've bought enough here recently, but I can't wait for people to see it and do comparisons with Sailor Sky High. It looks like it's probably a little bit darker than Sailor Sky High, but that's one of my favorite inks. I inked up my Fujiyama blue with Sailor Sky High. That's how much I love that ink. So, I think this looks like it's probably a little bit darker. Um, maybe it's like Mont Blanc Tolstoy, which is one of the most popular limited edition inks created probably in the last decade. So, I'd like to see someone, uh, compare those two and just kind of see, yeah, the Bung Box Sapphire is another one. So, I kind of want to see where this one falls because, I don't know, is, is this made to represent the most popular ink that the Sailor's Ink Blender has ever made? Like, is this the, is this the blender's choice, Myke?

'''Myke Hurley:''' This is very weird. It's very weird.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I will agree with you.

'''Myke Hurley:''' The, the tag team of these two products is almost mind-bending to me.