Editing The Pen Addict 163/transcript (section)

== New Pens ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' All right, let's talk about some new pens. I've gotten a bunch of things in recently, new pens, new inks, new blog posts that I want to talk about that we've kind of been alluding to, you know, over the past few episodes. But we've had some great guests, and, you know, we want to give them the floor, and we'll save up a few topics like this. So, like, my Shinobi. Like, everyone wants to hear about my Shinobi from Newton Pens.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' There is obviously going to be a review coming on the PENADDICT down the line. I hadn't even started or considered it because I'm having too much fun using this PENADDICT. It's one of the most interesting PENADDICT I own, if not the most interesting PENADDICT I own, from how subtly great it is. Like, the first thing you look at when you see the Shinobi is an expensive PENADDICT. You know, it's a very expensive PENADDICT. It's not for everyone. I think mine cost me $350. That's no joke. And you get it. And the first thing that struck me about it is it's lighter than I thought it would be. You know, mine was just in acrylic material. Sean does them in all kinds of different materials. You know, like I've seen some in the Tibaldi material that we have in our Edisons, Myke. That would be much heavier than the PENADDICT that I own. It's got this light and airy feel that when I use it, I'm like fascinated by how this PENADDICT feels in my hand. It really fits me well. The wider diameter barrel in my hand fits really, really well. And the fine cursive italic nib in combination with the barrel feel makes my handwriting like flawless. There's something I can't. This is one of those PENADDICT I can't explain. Kind of like the Nakayas. It's hard to explain that in words and pictures. This is definitely a feel PENADDICT. You have to feel this for yourself. And not just like one time. Like it definitely, like after a couple days, like I loved it immediately, right? And then like a week or so into it, I was like, wow, this is something else. This is, it's really hard to explain. It's just, I'm kind of at a loss for words just because it's so different than anything I've ever used. And I knew that would be the case, but I didn't realize how different it would be. So I'm thoroughly enjoying it. I love it. I've eyedropped it. I was sweating what ink I was putting in it. I used a Pelican Edelstein Topaz, which is a real bright blue. Think, you know, Konpaki or, you know, something along those lines. It's got some nice shading, some nice sheen.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' It's, I'm going to have a hard time not having my Shinobi inked up at all times. It's that enjoyable to write with. So I'm thrilled with this pen. And, you know.

'''Myke Hurley:''' And what's the nib in that again?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' It's a fine cursive italic. So it's, I can write real small with it and still have kind of that block shaping of the lettering that I like. I need to do a writing sample of it. I don't think I've done a good writing sample and posted it on Instagram, but I will do that soon. And who makes the nib? I think these are, they're either Joe or Bach nibs. I can't remember what Sean uses.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Right, but then he grinds them himself.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Then he grinds them himself. And then he has them, he gets them in blanks. And he has like his end for Newton pens engraving on the nib. So it looks real nice.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Nice.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So yeah, I'll take a, I'll take a close up shot of it. But yeah, he does the grinding himself. And it came out really good. I'm super happy with it. So, and I know a bunch of people are interested in that review and it will come. It just won't be, you know, it's not next week or the week after, you know, I like, I want to spend some more time with it and see if I can formulate my words better than I'm doing on this, on this show. But it's one of those pens that's really, really hard to describe in words and pictures, but it's wonderful. Very happy with it. Did I talk about the Uniball 307 before? It seems like maybe I mentioned it in passing, but I don't know if I had reviewed it yet the last time I talked about it. Are you familiar with this pen, Myke?

'''Myke Hurley:''' No, I don't know why it would be significant. So that wasn't meant as a burn. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' That's, you should read my article on this. I'm serious. You don't have to do it now, but when you're done, that's your next homework is go read my article on this because. All right, I'm going to read a paragraph of my own article, which is something I never do. What exactly is Uniball trying to do with this pen? Is this a replacement to the Sino 207, which is likely their top selling Joe Link pen of all time? Or is it to sit alongside the 207 on the shelf? I check with Uniball, but the 307 is not listed on the North American site or the Japanese site for that matter. The latest press room document is from 2008, and both their Twitter and Facebook feeds have not been updated since December 2013. The lack of social media updates is somewhat shocking in this day and age. So, that goes to your point, why should I care about this pen? Well, if it's the replacement for the 207, the 207 is probably the best on-the-shelf gel-ink pen. So, if the 207 is going away and the 307 is taking over for it, then that's kind of a big deal in the pen world. And I kind of think it is, just by looking at the design of this pen, the ink they're putting in the pen, the aesthetic changes they made to the pen. And it's really, really great. I love the 307. I would prefer it over the 207, as a matter of fact, if it starts coming in something besides 0.7mm gel-ink tips. So, not only is it a great pen that you can just go pick up at the store, this is also a refill that's used in gobs of machine pens that we like, like Carrot's Customs and, you know, TI2 Designs and Tactile Turn. And all of these machine pen manufacturers use the, what is the 207 refill for the Sino, and now the 307 can replace that. It's the exact same refill size, shape, specifications.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So, I think it's actually really interesting, and I'm interested to see, and I'd like to ask Uniball some questions on how it's going to proceed in the future. But they are kind of missing in action as far as being accessible in social media, online, anywhere, their site's outdated, which is really, really funny for one of the biggest pen companies. In the world. So, I found a lot of, or I didn't find a lot, as a matter of fact, of information on this pen, because Uniball didn't really squat about it, which I just find endlessly interesting. So, that's why I think the 307's important, just because I'm weird like that. And those are the things that bug me. And, you know, they may not bug you, Myke, but that's why you have me on the show, right?

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, I think that this pen is just weird, and I don't know why. Well, like, I don't know why you would make the changes. Like, the aesthetic changes that they've made, I can't see one aesthetic change that looks better than a 207. Like, everything looks worse.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, see, I think it looks better.

'''Myke Hurley:''' No, I think, what is, what are those little grooves in the end of it? Like, the little cutouts at the nib, when the nib is, not the nib, the, what am I trying to say here?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, in the tip cone there, the front end of the pen. What are those guys? Those are on the 207. Really? They're just in chrome. Yeah. It's the exact same design. It's just a chrome tip instead of a black tip. Interesting. But they have those notches cut out on there, too.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Maybe it sticks out to me more, I don't know. I have just realized now how, I'm like, looking at your website, and I'm like, how have I missed all of these reviews? And now I've realized what the problem is. I am not so much a Twitter completionist anymore. So I used to, that's how I keep up with, like, all the sites that I like is via their Twitter accounts. So I would see you tweet a review, and I would go and look at it. But I realize now that where I've not been reading all of my Twitter feed anymore, that I'm missing your blog posts. And now I'm trying to think of how I can fix that, because I don't really like to use RSS. It's just not really a...

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, so I created an account for that by itself. You can just follow pin underscore attic for just blog posts.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Do I follow that?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I don't know. I hadn't looked.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Let me see.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' And is that even my right address? I never post to it. You know, it's all if-t-t-t-t-t-t-t or things like that. It's an account I don't ever reply from.

'''Myke Hurley:''' No, I don't. That's perfect. Thank you. You've saved me.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So that account is strictly posts.