Editing The Pen Addict 21/transcript (section)

== Fountain Pens ==


'''Myke Hurley:''' So what do you want to talk about now, Brad?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yes. Like I mentioned earlier, I didn't have a, I didn't have a big list of topics for today or nothing. You know, one huge topic that I wanted to cover. So I, I, I sent out a, a call for ideas on, on Twitter this morning and we got some good ones. And, uh, one, a really good one, which we, I don't think we've completely delved into is, is came from, uh, Mary Collis who, uh, who writes a blog called from the pen cup. It's really, really good. She does great, very thorough reviews and she has a great writing style. I like reading her, um, her blog entries. And she, she tweeted, says, how about a pen wishlist? What are you and Myke drooling over that you don't have yet? And I thought that was a really kind of, really kind of a good topic that we haven't, you know, uh, approach. You know, we talk about what we get and how awesome, you know, some like we've had, you know, I've had, we've both had, you know, pens. We shall not name on wishlists that we've ordered, but you know, what other things have, you know, you know, tickled our fancies or in, in, in my case, I, you know, I have a wishlist item that almost for Kickstarter, right? I don't have, there's not, I don't have like a wishlist of a pen that's in existence. I have a wishlist item that I would like to be manufactured or me manufacturer or me work with someone to get manufactured, you know, things like that. So, you know, I sent out a link this morning. Um, if y'all don't follow Patrick Ng on, on Twitter, um, we'll, we'll put a link on show notes. This guy, he, he lives in Hong Kong and, you know, he works in the, in the stationary business and things. So he gets a lot of, uh, advanced looks at things. So if you want to see some neat stuff that you will add to your wishlist, he sent out a picture on Instagram this morning. And that's actually where I caught it first and I retweeted it of a, a new Kaweco AL sport model.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' He calls it the, he says it's Kaweco's new AL sport, shiny fountain pen. And I don't know if that's the official name of it, but it's almost like a mirrored barrel instead of like a brushed aluminum. It's a shiny mirrored barrel. And if I've ever had a pin on the wishlist at the top of the list, it's going to be this one. Cause that picture he sent out is awesome. You got to take a look at that pin.

'''Myke Hurley:''' It's incredible. It's like a mirror finish.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Really nice.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, that's, uh, I don't even know how to describe it. It's awesome. You just, you're going to have to look at the link of this. Um, when I saw, I sent out that pin this morning before I sent out, you know, the question about topics. Then Mary sent about how about wishlist. And I was like, well, if there's a pin on the wishlist right now, it is sure as heck this, this AL sport. I don't know anything about it. Um, I don't know when it's coming out. Um, I mean, maybe it's a prototype. He doesn't act like it's a prototype. Um, you know, this, if, if I'm ranking a wishlist, this is number one and there's probably not anything else close. Um, so, so that's something I'm, I'm really anxious about, but one pin that I've always wanted, um, for a, a kind of a, I don't know, a wishlist item or just, you know, a fantasy pin or a manufactured pin. And, and, and I didn't know you were going to, you know, uh, get into the Uniball Sino DX conversation earlier, but I have always wanted an aluminum barrel Sino DX.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Right.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Um, they make for, you know, the inexpensive plastic barrel gel ink pens that I use, you know, people have, you know, why the high tech C became so popular on Kickstarter was people did not like that barrel. Right. It's kind of cheap and lightweight. Well, comparatively the Sino DX or Signo, I just for, for everyone that's going to email me, I know it's Signo. I just can't say it.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I prefer Sino.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Too many years in my head. It's been sucked. So Sino is, is what comes out. I apologize. It just seems more natural, but you know, it in compared, in comparison to the high tech C barrel, it's a much, much sturdier and more durable barrel. Right. I mean, it's, it's a little more heavy duty and, um, it's got a nice rubber grip and I've always thought Uniball was kind of missing the mark and not having an upgraded barrel for the DX. Um, you know, they do like, they, they have some jet stream, you know, upgraded barrels, you know, like the, that are aluminum and have a, um, their alpha gel grip. And, you know, they have several upgraded barrels to the Uniball Curitoga pencil, you know, the roulette and the high grade. The DX is probably got to be one of their most popular pens and it doesn't get any, you know, barrel love. It doesn't, it doesn't have that next step up, you know, the, you know, five to $10 or probably $10 to $15 barrel range. There's not like a premier, uh, the, the Sino 207 has an upgrade barrel option, right? It's got a Sino premiere. I've always wanted a DX upgrade barrel. There's been projects on Kickstarter that have added the DX as an afterthought, right? Like the, the, the PHX one, um, said you can fit in a high tech C or a DX. I didn't have a good experience with the DX. The high tech C fit in that barrel. Great. The DX did not fit in very well for me. And plus that was a really heavy barrel. I think that was a stainless steel barrel. I think I'll have to go back and look. Um, but the same guys that did the PHX one have now come up with a, this solid titanium pin plus stylus. Um, I don't know if it fits the DX or not. I'll have to take a look. Um, let's see here. I've got to pull up on my screen. No, it fits the, the Sino 207 and the Sino RTs and the Sino UMN 152, which is, this is the UMN 151. So we'll have to see if this fits. Um, but I've always thought just a very specific, you know, barrel for the Uni-Ball Sino DX has been on, that's been a wishlist item or a fantasy item of mine for probably three years now. Um, just cause it's a really good pin and it, it deserves a little bit more. So, uh, I've rambled on long enough about that, but that's, that's, that's something I think about. Like, you know, if I was, you know, um, had a, you know, was a manufacturer or wanted to get in on a project, I'd design it around this barrel. And I honestly wouldn't change very much as far as dimension wise. I would just make something nicer for it. Um, you know, it doesn't need a, a $100, you know, pin barrel to, to make it a great pin. It's already a great pin, but, you know, just something a little bit nicer than the base plastic barrel. So that's, that's kind of my all time wishlist pin. If there was, if there was one thing out there that I could upgrade that I don't understand why, you know, based on the rest of the Uni-Ball market out there, why it hasn't gotten that upgrade love yet. So what about you? Do you have any, uh, wishlist items or, uh, or some people call them a, a Franken pin, you know, when you're putting together a, you know, you like this about this pin or like this part about this pin and kind of mash them up together. Is there any pins that have been, uh, you've been looking at recently?

'''Myke Hurley:''' Well, I definitely have a wishlist pen. Um, but it's, I know it's such a far way away that it's kind of unattainable really, which is the Lamy Dialogue 3. Yeah. It's like $300.