Editing The Pen Addict 722/transcript (section)

== Mechanical Pencil ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. I still think about why I like that product so much. It's hard to put into words. It's just right for me. Like it just works. It's small. It's sturdy. The twist mechanism is different for like mechanical pencils, right? To have that little twist, which some people might not like. I am still just completely flummoxed why I adore it so much. And I don't know. It's just good. It's great.

'''Ana Reinhart:''' I legitimately did not think anyone could improve upon the Caran Dosh mechanical pencil, like that 849 style. I know it's not an 849. It's, they call it something else, but it's an 849. But to, and that is what I think it is. It is like a modernization, contemporary redesign of that same classic, you know, soft hex shape. They're playing with materials and colors. And this goes back to the manufacturers who are experimenting with like finishes and colors in ways, you know. And, and Caran Dosh has always done it. They've put metallics and sparkles. They've put gradients. They've done all these kinds of things. So they've, they've done it. But I think that like charm is just doing it in a different way and being very competitive about it. I think if that's the kind of tool you're looking for.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' It's crazy cool. And like, you know, it's a bit of an outlier. It's not for everyone, but I think it would be like a real treat yourself, like type of product, like just to have fun with and have around. And I've ended up using that thing so, so much. And I already, I already love the, the pen, which I literally just compared to the 849 ballpoint. They're so similar in size and just like why they exist. And I don't know, super fan, super fan. Last product I want to hit from you real quick is the one I'm the most curious about. And that's the Mark Inc. Mark's Inc. Notebooks. Mark's Edit. Mark's Edit. Yes. Notebooks. Yes. Tell me about these because I've gotten to test them out from Pilot. So Pilot bought Mark's like three years ago at this point and really hasn't done anything yet. Yes. Allegedly it's coming. You probably know more than I do.

'''Ana Reinhart:''' I don't. I wish I did.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah.

'''Ana Reinhart:''' But yeah, that's.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' But the paper's pretty unique and like getting to test them, I'm like, huh, that's pretty good. And I love the format. The format's small. Again, back to the Leuchtturm, the Dreggerfeld. They're small pens, small pencils, right? I like them. These are, generally speaking, smaller size notebooks, but the paper is just kind of awesome.

'''Ana Reinhart:''' Yeah, it really is. And it very much competes in the same category with papers like Tomoe River and Cosmo Era Light and things like that. If you are looking for a thin, lightweight paper that is really good with fountain pens, Mark's Edit is probably the, probably tops my list at this point. I did, I laugh because I just did a review last Friday, I think, of six Japanese paper notebooks and did not actually compare them to the Mark's Edit. So I'm going to have to go back and like side by side those at some point. But it's very, I mean, it is comparable. It is, they come in like a B7 slim size, a B6, an A5. They have a couple different formats that are in terms of like how they're covering them. But I really like the ones that just have the plain cardboard cover and then you can get a plastic like over cover to put on them that have like a zipper on the side to like, so you can stick stuff in the cover and that kind of thing. But, but, and those, the covers come in different, like the plastic covers come in different colors. The, the plastic covers, like there's a clear one so you can actually just see the, the, the sort of chipboard cover. But they have over 300 pages in them and they're like the size of a Midori, like in terms of thickness because it's that really thin light paper that like very similar to like a 52 GSM kind of thing. Um, they have the really, really light, um, graph grid, like Stology. So, and I'm a huge fan of Stology. So I'm like, if you can up, cause sometimes Stology isn't great with some fountain pens or inks. Um, so it's like, if you can up the game there with the paper and then still have that really light grid where like when you lift the paper up, you almost can't see the printing on there. Um, but when you're looking at a whole stack of it, because the paper is fairly translucent, you see the grid really nicely. I'm like, there's just like, they can't do wrong. And I've been carrying one around as a like everyday notebook, the little B7 size. It's been banging around in my house, my bag for almost a year and it looks brand new.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. I keep waiting for these just like continue to just like blow up cause they've been around for a while. Mark's has been around for a while. I've reviewed Mark's products years ago, not the notebooks. Um, but we've reviewed some older models, but they've changed the paper here in the last couple of years. And, um, I think they're pretty great.

'''Ana Reinhart:''' Yeah. I do think that Mark's as a company has a couple different paper stocks. So this Mark's edit specifically is they're more fountain pen friendly. So it's, it is one of those things to be, make sure you are getting it from a retailer or a vendor like myself.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So with that, is that the edit?

'''Ana Reinhart:''' The edit line, I believe is there the same way that like some people have talked about some of the other companies where they have like their, the, uh, somebody mentioned in my review, the, uh, Kukuyo, um, Sentry notebook. And I think they're not a notebook has the paper that they use in the, um, their Techo, the Jibo and Techo.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Oh, sure.

'''Ana Reinhart:''' But it's not the paper that they use in the business Techo. That's different. And I was like, oh my gosh, I did not realize. And they're like, they like the paper that's in the business Techo better because it's a little bit thicker than what's in the Jibo and Techo. So.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Gotcha. Gotcha. If you were curious. Always something. Always something. So, yeah.

'''Ana Reinhart:''' And we're so, we're all so picky. We're so picky.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I was like, why is this different? I was like, well, let me ask the company.

'''Ana Reinhart:''' I will be bringing the edits to this St. Louis show. So.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Okay, cool. Well, I will get some there and, um, we'll get some, I want to, I want to test out the new ones. Anyway, another reason for me to bring a suitcase, which we discussed in the pre-show.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Brad trying to be stubborn over here. Stubborn and trying to like be, uh, use common sense going to Penn Show. That's just a mistake. Just, just go wing it. All right. Um, we're going to talk about, we're going to talk about St. Louis Penn Show. Yeah.