Editing The Pen Addict 250/transcript (section)

== Alex's Pen Outic Coloring page ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' This thing is ridiculous in all the best ways. I mean, it's awesome. This is one of the coolest things we have.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' We're going to have to start paying for Alex's hosting.

'''Ana Reinert:''' I was a little worried clicking on that, that my picture might appear on that, too.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' An Easter egg. Don't mention it, because he'll do it. Yeah, I'll be there next. Consider it done, right? So, that thing is cool. So, before we get into all of the things with the pen show and what Anna's been up to recently, I do want to hit on a couple of reviews I did. In the past week or so, I did the Baron Fig Archer, the Snakes and Ladders edition, and I did JB's Perfect Pit and Flush, which is kind of a weird thing to review, but Myke had some questions on it. So, I figured we'd talk about these real quick, because I wanted to pick Anna's brain about the Baron Fig Archer, because you had the first batch, right, Anna? You got the first ones that came out, the charcoal, I guess, the gray with the black tip, and you liked those, right? I mean, they've got pretty much consistently really good reviews.

'''Ana Reinert:''' Mm-hmm. No, I've really enjoyed them, and I had not yet sharpened the Snakes and Ladders, just because we'd been so busy with the pen show in Arkansas and everything. But after reading your review, I went ahead and sharpened one just to see, because you had mentioned that the color had come out a bit darker, even though it was supposed to be the same core.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, so I had never tried the original Archer. I was just holding off until these arrived, assuming they'd be, you know, essentially the same on the inside. And I guess theoretically, they're supposed to be, but I think it's just a matter of manufacturing variants. I sharpened up the Snakes and Ladders, and I was like, wow, this is really dark, and it's soft, and it's a little bit gritty. Like, it's like a pencil should be, right? Except we've gotten spoiled with other amazing soft, dark, firm leads, like Blackwing 602 and things like that, Tombow Mono. So, you know, comparing it to that, it's a little bit different. But I found this to be a little bit too soft for me, which, you know, helps with the darkness. So if you like a dark, soft pencil, this is really good. It's beautiful. The color is awesome. The Snakes and Ladders logos look great. But it's not a pencil I would recommend for really anybody, unless they were just looking for, like, something very specific. It's a very ordinary pencil. It's not bad. It's not good. It's just there. Like, I got a single charcoal archer from you, Anna, at the Little Rock Pen Show, and I sharpened them up. I was like, oh, this is how I want the pencil to write. You know, I enjoyed that core better, even though they're supposedly the same. It was firmer and a little bit lighter. And it was noticeable to me. I mean, it was clearly noticeable when I was writing with them.

'''Ana Reinert:''' Yeah. So I'm wondering if they just had better quality control with the first batch.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. Who knows? It happens. I mean, it's a manufacturing thing. I mean, we get at Nock, if we do a steel exterior, like, the color of it can range, right? There's a variance in the dye lots, even though they're still called the same. You know, same with Olive coming up. For the Laniers, you know, there's variance in there. And it's still normal. It's still within the range. And it still makes it a good pencil. But I'm not, like, $15 a dozen pumped about this pencil. It's like I wouldn't buy it again. Or I'd recommend about 10 other pencils before it. But it's a good pencil. It's cool looking. So that's my only Baron Fig subscription. Do you subscribe to any of them?

'''Ana Reinert:''' Yeah. I've been getting pretty much everything. So.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Well, yeah. I've been getting that, too. But I actually ponied up for the pencil one. Because they don't send me the pencils, I think, you know, on purpose. As a matter of fact, Joey wrote me a note in my subscription. I guess when they packed it, they noticed it. Joey wrote a note. But I meant to take a picture of it before I threw it away. He said something like, don't tell your followers that you have a pencil subscription or something like that. It was pretty funny. He's got your number, Brad. He does. So, I mean, we'll see how this tracks. First release. Most of their first releases have been okay. And, you know, we talk about them a lot. And we'll talk about them some more. Yeah.

'''Ana Reinert:''' They do try really hard to improve with every product that they do. So, I feel like if, you know, if they've gotten feedback that there wasn't inconsistency, I definitely think that they're going to work really hard to up the game on this. Because I know that they've done that with their notebooks. Exactly.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, I guess what makes the pencils harder than maybe the notebooks is that, like, you get a pack of them. Right? So, I guess there's a greater percentage of chance for inconsistency when you receive, like, 12 or something than one or two or something. You know? Yeah. Yeah, I guess. It's like you're more likely to notice it, I guess, is what I'm saying.

'''Ana Reinert:''' So, well, I mean, I guess the next step would be to go and sharpen all 12 of them and see if across all 12 pencils, if they're all inconsistent. I mean, if they're all soft or if some of them are harder than others. That'd be interesting. But I'm wondering if the whole lot of 12 are softer. Because you and I each got a box and both noticed that the pencils were softer. So, I'm thinking that across the board, maybe the lead was generally softer with the snakes and ladders than with the first batch of Archer pencils.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. So, I would assume they're all the same, too. But I probably will sharpen all these up because I think these are going to go straight to the kids. They'll be pretty happy with these. So, I'm not going to use a dozen of these. Whereas, you know, I'll get, I'll keep using some of the black wings that I enjoy more and more and get into the dozens a little bit deeper. This one, I'll probably not use more than the one that I have sharpened. And I'll just keep it handy for when I need that type of pencil.