Editing The Pen Addict 417/transcript (section)

== Lamy Pens ==


'''Myke Hurley:''' Let me just say that. But I think, I don't think it looks like Lamy's other pens. It may, but I think we can agree on this is when they miss the mark.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yes. The, the idios should not exist in my version of Lamy because they've tried and failed this version many, many times.

'''Myke Hurley:''' It's just like a, another try at the studio, which I don't think sells very well for them anyway.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Well, the studio, I will disagree on that. I think the studio is a good pen. Like, so we put in a link to the studio limited edition. Yeah.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I mean, I'm not saying it's bad. It's a very pretty color. I just think in the lineup of Lamy pens, I don't think the studio gets the attention that Lamy would like it to get.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Because they don't lean into it enough while trying to do things like the Lamy Ion or the Lamy Idios or every other Lamy. I forgot about that. That's Ion. That's in the, like the 75 to $125 price range fights against the studio when they're never going to beat the studio. The studio is the best pen there that they do. And it's not close in my opinion. Like I like the Ion fine. I would recommend the studio every time over the Ion. You know, the Idios is just another one of those shots that they take where, okay, we're going to tweak our traditional Lamy metal pen design and introduce the new one. And it just continues to be uninspired, I think. So I don't find the Idios to fall into any new design language. I actually find it to fall in line with everything that they've tried to make happen in the past that has not lasted.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I think about the industrial design of the dialogue and the Idios, which to me look different to other Lamy pens. But I am agreeing with you that this pen falls into the same spot in the lineup that Lamy have tried and failed at multiple times to make something work. But I just think that there is a visual design to both the dialogue and the Idios, which I can see some links between, which to me do not look like other Lamy pens.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. I mean, you have to look at the Lamy Scala and the Lamy, oh gosh, I just went blank on the name, Imperium as their high-end version of the Idios. It's the Idios with the gold nib pens, and they just haven't really hit a home run with any of these. Like, they're all fine pens. They're all perfectly fine pens. But I'm waiting for that Lamy knockout blow that's not the 2000 or the Safaris, you know. And, you know, I'm including the All-Stars in there, too. You know, the molded grip pens. Like, they have the ability to create that amazing pen between, like, $75 and $200 besides the 2000. And they just keep making the Lamy Idios every time. You know? It's the same thing every year. Now, the dialogue CC, I do grant that the CC is interesting, and I will try to pick one of those up. I think they're coming out in September.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, I'm very, very intrigued about this, but I will say I wonder if the Roll Stop is going to give me the exact same problem that every other retractable pen has. Why do they need to put them on the nib end?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, we discussed that. And if that's the design they're going for, they don't. And I don't understand why they did that. And I also am not sure that it's going to work as a Roll Stopper being on the front end of the pen as opposed to the center as well. As if it were more centered towards the middle of the pen. It's almost like you're asking for trouble setting it there. And I'm a little bit concerned just technically how that's going to work before you even grip it and it gets in your way.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, and I think it probably would. So, I will not buy one of these, but I desperately want to try one. It looks like they have a new nib design, which I think is quite attractive.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' On the dialogue? Yeah. I'll have to pull it back up. I can't pull up the video while we're streaming.

'''Myke Hurley:''' It at least has a strip of the rose gold color on it. But in the video, it kind of looked like a different shape to the typical London.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I'll have to look. The Dialogue 3 has that kind of racing stripe. Right, it might be the same thing. So, yeah, it looked kind of the same.

'''Myke Hurley:''' What it really reminded me of, that nib, was the Mont Blanc M. Mm-hmm. That was very reminiscent. Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Exactly. So, I don't know. And the other thing that caught me was how Lamy makes really good product videos, I think. They're fun, at least. The Idios video was a real outlier compared to the dialogue in the studio. It's quite aggressive. They, like, really went for it with that video. I was like, what is happening here? And, oh, I see why, because I really don't want this pen. Right. So, show me all the flashbang than the actual pen. So, it's going to be interesting. The Dialogue, I'm sure, is going to run in that $300 price range. That's another kicker for that model of pen. The Dialogue 3s were, like, in that $280, $325 range. And I think these are going to be in that same ballpark. So, it's a tough sell. Like, I at least like that they're trying with the Dialogue. I just, I will never understand the Idios or Idios, however you want to say it, on why they keep doing that. They keep making that thing. And, like, I'll probably get one and review one and say it's, like, completely fine. But I just don't understand why it has to exist as opposed to, like, trying something really, really different and really pushing, you know, the Lamy brand. Other than just adding in another pen that a year from now we'll have to say, and we line it up with all these other pens. Like, what was the name of this one again? That's exactly where this one's going to fall, in my opinion. So, you got your weird Twisby Go syringe, huh? I had to bring this up. So, I got it. Shout out to Claire who helped me order this from, I don't know, wherever we ordered, AliExpress. And I'm pretty impressed with the build quality of this thing. It was, like, $10. It took us about two months to get it.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Can you hear that? I hate it.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' That's the plunger is this spring-loaded plunger. And we talked about this on a previous episode of the show. It's basically the Twisby Go syringe. And for $10, if this thing works, Myke, I'm all in. Like, I'll have to get another one because I'll worry about breaking this one. It's a one-is-none theory. But I think this is pretty cool. People will be asking me about it. So, I wanted to put another link in the show notes as I drop it on the floor.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Because they're going to see it and I want to be able to link to it. And I think if this works, I should get you one, too. I think you might like this. It's like a little contraption that I think you might dig.

'''Myke Hurley:''' To fill the cartridges I don't want to fill.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Right? I mean, yeah. I mean, it looks like a fun little thing. But I don't know what my personal use case would be for it. But maybe to fill up an eyedropper or something at some point could be cool.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' See, I think this is everyone's personal use case. Just like a nasal aspirator is. You don't think you need one. But it makes your experience better.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I do own one and have used it many times. So, I will see you right on that one.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. Yeah. So, I think it's pretty cool. Especially for the price. So, they're actually pretty hard to find. Like, I was just Googling the name. I had to go back into our show doc to find the original link where we linked to it. To find anything on the internet that I could link to again. It's hard to search. So, that's why I wanted to put it in there. Say that I got it. And I'll be testing it out. And I'll let y'all know how it is. You may want to see what I think about it before you go ordering. And I'm waiting two months for it. But I'll test it out this week and let everyone know.

'''Myke Hurley:''' All right. Today's show is brought to you by our friends over at Pen Chalet. They're the company that have your favorite brands. Like Pelican and Lamy. Sailor, Kaweco, Pilot. And many, many more. They're an authorized dealer. And they bring you the products you're looking for. Whether you want a new rollerball or a new fountain pen. Maybe you want a new mechanical pencil. Maybe you're looking for some ink. Some converters. Maybe you want a pen carrying case or some storage stuff. No matter what it is that you're looking for, Pen Chalet have got it. They back it up with very fast and reliable customer service. They run special discounts twice a month. Including close out specials every two weeks. And they have free shipping on orders of over $50 in the United States. And they sell internationally as well. With very reasonable shipping rates. Pen Chalet has low prices on high quality pens. And offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee. So go to PenChalet.com and click the podcast link at the top of the website. Enter the password PenAddict for this week's special offer. And to get the code that you need to save 10% on anything at any time at Pen Chalet. So Brad, what's caught your eye at this time?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Ron has two very expensive pens on here. That are two of my favorite pens that I've reviewed. In the Montegrappa Mia 450 and the Aurora Optima. Those are, you know, traditionally, you know, quite expensive pens. You like, make no qualms about it. That are at prices. Especially the Mia. I don't own one. I got one on loan because it was so expensive to review it. And I kind of fell in love with it. But I had to send it back because I didn't want to pay for it. Because it's very expensive. And this is like half price of what it would normally go for. And we'll have to link my review in the show notes. I did the orange one. There was three different. There were several different colors. It might have been like five total colors. Ron still has like the black. The red and the yellow left. And the neat thing about these is they have sterling silver trim. Which I was concerned about the price of this pen. Like you'll see all throughout the review I did of the Mia. I was like, how are they justifying this price of this pen? And then I realized everything that went into it. And what all the parts are made of. And what all the hardware is made of. And I was like, oh, okay. I get it. It's like, I can't. I don't want to spend the money on this now. And looking at this price has me. At least doing a double take. And same for the Optima. Which I think is one of the best all around good writing pens. Like that's your big time upgrade pen. You know, if you're making a step up from, you know, like the Lamy 2000. Like we talk about. And the Aurora Optima is like the step up from there. It's a piston filler. It's great celluloids. It's really, really pretty. And it just feels and functions exceptionally well. Very, very high quality pen. And that I love very much. So, yeah. Really good stuff.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So, once again, go to penshalet.com. P-E-N-C-H-A-L-E-T.com. Click the podcast link at the top of the website. Use the password penaddict to get your hands on these special deals. Or the 10% code on anything at Penshalet. Our thanks to Penshalet for their support of this show. And Relay FM.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Hoo boy. You ready for this?