Editing The Pen Addict 194/transcript (section)

== Omos Brand ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. Yeah, for sure. For sure. All right. So I've been a little bit late to the party to the Omos brand. And now it looks like everyone's going to be kind of late to the party because they're going out of business. Yeah.

'''Myke Hurley:''' What's happened here?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I saw this floating about. So I haven't totally followed this. It's like I missed a lot when I was out in L.A. You know, missed Dr. Dean's stirring the pot over at FPN and Mont Blanc images. And now his commentary on Omos. That was all going down while I was out in L.A. as well. But Omos looks like they're literally going out of business. Like the people are gone. They're not making pins anymore. And this is a pin that I was I'm really looking forward to like having more of because I love them so much. And, you know, I don't have much to say about the business of it. I don't know much about it, but it's sad to see like a super well-respected company like this. One that I've just discovered in the past year, one that I can tell quality wise is superior to many, many other products on the market that they're just going to be up and gone. 90 years they were in business for. And, you know, they make higher end pins. You know, it's they make really, really nice products. They generally make them in smaller, smallish quantities. And every Omos I've ever picked up has just written beautifully. And like, you know, they're definitely a pin that makes you say, wow, when you feel them and use them. So it's kind of sad to see this happen as I was just like discovering the brand. But, you know, that's why we have our our favorite vintage dealers and people who can dig up different things from from different brands that have have gone by the wayside. But I do hate seeing a brand like Omos go.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, it's a shame. It's a shame.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So I want you to try an Omos or two when you're in Atlanta, just so you have the feel of it and see why I feel like it's kind of a different pin just in the way the way it works for me. The quality, the style, the fit, finish and the performance are all like 10 out of 10s to me. I mean, they're pretty great.

'''Myke Hurley:''' This is no way to judge the brand or judge why this has happened. But all I know is in the circles that we operate and they're not brought up very much. Right. And I don't know if that's, you know, if that means anything. But that's the only data point that I have is that. Right. I never really talk about them. I never really hear anybody talk about them. And, you know, I don't know if that maybe they just weren't that popular anymore. I'm not sure what's happened here.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. So it's interesting to see. And, you know, I don't know if something will happen with a buyout or bankruptcy. I don't know if all that's all that, you know, bird has has flown the coop or if it's just like done done. Or is there an option for someone to come in here and resurrect it? I don't know.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Maybe the Estabrook people will pick it up.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Oh, Lord. Yeah. Oh, don't even go there. I haven't heard about them for a while. I won't ask. I was just talking about them last night, but no, no news really since like DC last year was kind of the last hurrah. I'm assuming they still exist, but I'm really not sure why.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I picked up a new pen from Japan this week.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. What is this thing?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' It's called the Pilot Timeline. And I've reviewed the Pilot Ageless before, which JetPens carries and JetPens carry some timelines. It's a it's a really unique, small profile pen. The Ageless, I think, is the gel ink model. The timelines are the ballpoint models. And they have this two stage advancement mechanism to to get the get the tip out. And it's a really good pen. You know, they kind of have proprietary refill. So like the gel pen, you're kind of stuck with the point seven. It looks like the ballpoint is a little bit different. And you might have some options to play around with that. I'm going to look at it. But I actually enjoy point seven millimeter ballpoints because they really write about a point five millimeter line. So that's nice. And I've always loved the shape and design of these products. And then someone on Instagram tweeted a newer pilot timeline just from Japan. It's like a black matte black clip with like a with a dark wood section. I was like, I got to have this pen. And someone sent me a link to where I could purchase it from Japan. And I sure as heck did. It was like 50, 50 bucks or so. I think I was like, well, I'm just going to get it because I'll this is just one I want to have in the collection. Just because it's cool looking. And it is cool looking. It works great. I wrote about four pages with it in a like in a small field notes yesterday while I was waiting in the in the kids carpool line. I love I really like having this pen. So, you know, there's not too much to say about it other than I had to get it from Japan. And it's awesome.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, it's I just wanted to point it out because it's a bit of a looker.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, that's what I mean. Obviously, that's what what was the selling factor for me. And luckily, I had reviewed one of these before. So I knew how the mechanism worked and I enjoyed it. And I like the size and feel of the pen. So this is a this is a really good carry pen just because it's not too big. It's completely retractable and it looks killer.

'''Myke Hurley:''' All right. So what else is on the list today?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' The VAC mini review I did just went up.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yes. So I haven't even read this like you put it up literally as we were about to start recording. So I guess to recap, it's the vacuum filling TWSBI in the mini form, right?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Exactly. So it came out a few months ago. Yeah. And, you know, a bunch of people reviewed it right out the gate.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Opinions were mixed on it. And rightfully so. TWSBI definitely brings out a lot of opinions. I'm a TWSBI fan. I love this pen. Though the one issue I have is the clip on the cap is kind of wobbly. I don't like that. Outside of that, everything else about this pen is really, really good for me. The size is not too small. It's actually larger than the standard mini. It's more comfortable to write with. The grip section's larger, longer, I should say. So it's more comfortable. It fits in the hand great. The filling system's killer. With one shot of the vac, I get about two-thirds of a barrel full. And you can turn it over, pull the plunger back out, and redo it again to get a full if you like. But, I mean, two-thirds of ink in that barrel is going to out-capacity pretty much any other pin on the market. Like I look at the Eco.

'''Myke Hurley:''' The Eco's barrel is pretty small. This thing is all barrel, man.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. It's all capacity in there. So the only kind of kicker with it is the price point. It's in a weird little price point with TWSBI's brand, you know, because you can get the full-size 580 AL for the same price. Which, if you're buying your first TWSBI, that's where I would go, the 580 AL. I call this pin, this is the second TWSBI you buy, right? This isn't the first one you're going to go to because there's quirks with the vacuum filling system. It's difficult to clean. You have to remember to twist open the blind cap if you're writing for a long period of time to let the ink flow good. But there's huge positives too, just like ink capacity and being able to seal it off if you're traveling with it. You know, the mechanism will seal off the hole and stop ink from flowing to the nib, you know, while you're traveling. So I'm a big fan of this pin. I love it. I don't have, I don't really have many negatives to say. I wish the clip was tighter. That's about it. You know, I think it's just a cool pin. It looks awesome too.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, it does. It's a good look, especially when you get a nice colorful ink in there, right?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Like what do you have in there? What is that blur?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So this is Omos Turquoise. So speaking of the now retired Omos, this is a really nice turquoise ink. So I know a bunch of people have been buying up Omos inks because they like them so much. They're very standard, kind of middle of the road, good performing, great cleaning type of ink. So it's really good.

'''Myke Hurley:''' And there is a lesser spotted dowdy hand in this.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yes, that's infrequent, you know, fuzzy hands in the picture there. Yeah, that doesn't get in there too much. I would need a manicure and probably something else. So yeah, but I wanted to show the length of it that it's not even remotely too short to write with for me. And I have average size hands, you know, my hands aren't too big, aren't too small, just kind of normal. So the length of the pen works well.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, it looks like it fits. It just fits in nicely.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, and the mini, the regular mini, which I don't write with posted either and never had an issue with, it's almost a half inch shorter. So it's definitely shorter. And so this is great.

'''Myke Hurley:''' How would you compare this to the Eco?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' To the Eco?

'''Myke Hurley:''' Mm-hmm.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I wouldn't.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I mean, they're completely polar opposite type of pens.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Okay.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' They're not even in the same category of pen.

'''Myke Hurley:''' This isn't a choice at all.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' No. I wouldn't. For a first time user, for the first time, for a first time user, I would recommend about three other Twisbees before this one.

'''Myke Hurley:''' All right. Fair enough.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' That's good to know. But if you're familiar with the brand and familiar with its style of pen, I would totally recommend the pen.