Editing The Pen Addict 538/transcript (section)

== Restocking and Popularity of Opus 88 Halos ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' It's crazy busy. So like I mentioned the Opus 88 halos back in stock, that one, we crushed that one. Uh, the first time it came out. That's the thing about these pens is like, they're really good value. Um, the Opus 88, especially, um, especially also if you're a pen addict member, um, there's some added discounts for that. So I'm, I'm just going a full capitalism here, uh, Myke, right out the, right out the jump. Um, so yeah, like that's a great pen. Um, I have a Montegrappa, uh, more high-end pen that will be restocked next week. So that's going. And then on top of that, Myke, the shipping department is about to blow up with, oh, I don't know, several hundred new inventory pencils from spoke. So Brian and I have been working on the spoke model for update. So the model fours are our top selling pencil by far. Like it's the pencil that I like, I think most people, if they're new to spoke, that's the product that they know spoke from, um, back in the day. Um, that's the one that got me in touch with Brian. And that's the one where I said, Hey, this is different and unique and I love it. And to this day, it's, it's certainly been the best selling pencil that we've had. And we've obviously branched out into other things, which we'll talk about in a minute, but the model four needed a couple of tweaks. Um, Brian started designing some grips for the previous model that he was custom building, right? Custom assembling, I should say. So, you know, sandblasted grips, titanium grips. And this time, oh, and previously there was an inverted grip, which I thought was super strange, but really, really worked for me. This time we've done a few different things. We've made a wider grip, like a grip that's greater. It's, I think it's greater than 10 millimeters and it's also made out of titanium. So we have a wide grip model four. We have a flared grip model four. Like it's a little bit more subtle than the inverted grip to where it's kind of a straight grip. And then it has kind of a flare out at the end, kind of like you would see a fountain pen section that's concave in the middle, then flared at the end. It's not really, this grip isn't concave in the middle, but there's a flare at the end to help you hold the pencil. Well, and then the one that I've been using the most is we did a knurled grip, but it's not any knurled grip. It's a knurled titanium grip, which not a lot of companies do. Most of the knurling is on aluminum or maybe even steel grips. So we have a titanium knurled grip, which is really, really nice. I've been using it. I think it's going to do super well. So we'll have a lot of barrel colors, a lot of core sizes for the graphite, you know, 0.5, 0.7, 0.9 millimeter, you know, we'll have your standard gray barrels and blue barrels, but we'll have our cyans and our limes and our purples and all that probably by the time you're listening to this, you'll be able to go to spoke design.com and all of our new inventory will be up. And then we have some new roadies in there as well. So, and some new silver based roadies, silver color based barrel road roadies with color caps. And yeah, we're just rolling. We'll be doing, hopefully getting some new pen stuff in before the end of the year as well. It's been, a huge, huge delay throughout 2022 for us getting products. Like all of this stuff is like literally months behind, like six months behind probably. And just like, you know, my pen addict stuff, everything's happening all at once and it's a lot, but like, it's good stuff. So we're, we're happy to do it. We're finally excited to get some inventory back. And that's just the way the manufacturing works, Myke, you know, you know, the catchphrase.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I don't just know the catchphrase. I know the, the feeling. You're living it. I'm living it. I did want to mention actually, so what I'm very excited to see more about those, the, the super cool, uh, the new spoke stuff. Um, the model four is, you know, it also was what brought me into the spoke fold, right? Of like, Oh, this is cool. Like I remember us talking about it way back when, uh, but yeah, what I, I wanted to come back around for a moment because I realized I didn't make enough point of it. Uh, do you think much about 15 years at the pen addict? Do you have much of a feeling?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Oh, not really. Like if I think about it too hard, I'm like, dang, it's 2000. What's weirder to say isn't 15 years is that it started in 2007. That seems like a long time ago. Um, so yeah, it's, uh, yeah, it's, it makes me smile. I will say that like, I'm super happy like that. It's become a thing. And then, you know, by the time January 1st rolls around, that'll be seven full years that I left my job, right. To be able to do this, like the big picture, this, you know, Hey, we're talking about a podcast about pens. Hey, I'm getting to make cool stuff with cool people. And Hey, I'm able to make a living off of all of these things. Um, when I think I, I tend not to let myself think about it too hard because I'm super fortunate in what I do. And I don't want to get blinded by that fact. Like I'm, I literally spent most of this morning, like brainstorming what type of content I want to create in 2023. That's where my mind's at right now. Not celebrating, uh, 15 years, which is definitely worth celebrating. And I'm not selling that short at all, but like, I'm literally thinking about, okay, like we have to keep going here, right? Like I don't, I don't want to rest on my laurels. I don't want to like pat myself on the back. I want to, um, keep having fun and, uh, keep spreading the pin word. So like, I, I just, I love what I do. I'm very fortunate. Um, I'm thankful for you, for all the listeners, for all the supporters. Um, so yeah, so maybe we'll, maybe, you know, maybe now next month or so, we'll, we'll do like a real, like 15th anniversary recap or have some more thoughts on it. But that's my, my general thoughts is like, I don't overly think about it because I'm kind of always moving forward. Right. Like I'm already, like my brain is already into next year. Like, let's go, let's do these things. Let's, let's plan on all this awesomeness and let's keep having fun. Like that's,

'''Myke Hurley:''' that's what drives me. It is wild to me. You have now reached the celebrate every five years, part of an anniversary, right? That is true. They, uh, when you think about it that way,

'''Brad Dowdy:''' there is a point where, you know, you know, we're not having like the six month anniversary and the, well, you know, I feel like up to 10 anniversary of our first date. Yeah. Yeah. But I feel like up

'''Myke Hurley:''' to 10 years, you can be a bit like, oh, it's the sixth year of the blog. It's the seventh. Once you past 10, now it's like, all right, 15, 20, 25, 30, like that's you now. You're in that kind of room,

'''Brad Dowdy:''' which is wild. Yep. Yep. And, uh, and we're, we're going to keep hitting those marks. We're

'''Myke Hurley:''' not stopping anytime soon. That's the plan. No, no one's down in that. I can tell you that part.

'''Myke Hurley:''' All right. This episode is brought to you by our friends over at Trade Coffee. I believe, and I think you should believe too, that really the start of a great day is drinking fantastic coffee. This is something that I enjoy. I'm sure you enjoy too. I mean, who doesn't? And if this is something that's important to you, I want you to go and check out Trade Coffee. Trade makes it incredibly easy to get the best coffee delivered fresh from the finest local roasters around the country. Going to a coffee shop is great, but it's not something that everyone can do every day as well. So if you want that delicious local coffee shop taste on a daily basis, you should go and get it with Trade Coffee. It is a subscription service that makes it so simple for you to discover new coffees and make your best cup of coffee at home every day. No fancy equipment required. It's so easy to upgrade your coffee routine with Trade. Trade partners are the nation's top independent roasters to send you coffee that they know you're going to love, and it will be sent fresh to your home and on your preferred schedule. Plus you get to support small local businesses, which is a win-win. I noticed there's something that me and Brad have spoken about in the past, right? Finding new roasteries that you didn't know existed before.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, it's fantastic in getting to read those stories and having your preferences show up at your door and you know it's going to be the perfect flavor, the perfect roast, the perfect tasting notes for your coffee. And let me tell you, there wouldn't be 15 years of the pen addict without coffee. I am definitely the cliche fueled by coffee, Myke. And I appreciate Trade is currently fueling me very, very well. They're keeping me on full every day.

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'''Brad Dowdy:''' All right, Myke, I want to kick off a fun segment here. And this is based around the idea that everyone knows. Anyone who's active on the internet, which if you're listening to the show, you're probably internet engaged. You know all about the hot takes, right? Hot takes are what drive drive the engagements and drive the algorithms. You know, everyone wants to know the hot take, the hot take news. Yeah. Especially like in the political climate we live in and all that stuff.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I was just thinking about Twitter in general right now, but yeah, sure.