Editing The Pen Addict 556/transcript (section)

== Discussion on portable ink cartridges ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' All right, we still have a little bit of follow-up trickling in from portable ink cartridges. Myke, who knew that this was such a hot topic on the Pinterest? But this time, I got a link that was sent in, and there was a post on Reddit of someone using Pilot ink cartridges, which we have talked about is that's a proprietary ink cartridge, right? So some of the little stoppers and things that came in for the international cartridges wouldn't work for cartridges like Pilot or Platinum or Sailor, many of them who have a wider opening. And these Pilot openings, they were stoppered with erasers. So someone found some erasers that will literally stop their Pilot ink cartridges, and then they have them stashed away in the little Altoids tin, which is always one of those famously popular EDC small kit carrying things. It's kind of genius. Like, I am not that trustworthy for this product, but it appears to work, and I just don't know that that might be a bridge too far for me. You know, I would go with some of the little other, you know, brass stoppers in the Short Internationals. But erasers in your Pilot cartridges, Myke, are you going there?

'''Myke Hurley:''' No.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. Not even for your M90, for your favorite.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I've said it before. I just don't trust it. I don't trust these, like, oh, I've just worked out this thing. Like, I wouldn't trust that and then put it in, like, a bag with myself.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I love the picture of this. I think that's what sold me was the picture, right? Yeah, that's fine. We'll have the link in here. It's, like, the erasers and then, like, the ink kind of bleeding up the side of the erasers. But even though they're technically stopped and then the little Altoids tin, it's, like, kind of completely perfect for what we're trying to solve here. So we've gotten a lot of run out of having portable cartridges. It's, like, solving a problem that really is of our own making, right? It's not really something that needs to happen. But I get it. I get it. All right. I'm going to flip the script, Myke, and talk about one of the more popular reviews I've ever done and one of the more interesting products we've ever covered here on the podcast. And that's the Kuru Toga Dive, Myke. The Uni Kuru Toga Dive, the crazy, wild, shove all the technology, even technology you don't need, into a pencil barrel and make it this huge, gigantic, interesting release. And it just flew off the shelves, right? Like, they launched this in Japan. They launched this blue barrel Kuru Toga Dive in Japan. And it sold out pretty much the day of launch. As we mentioned in a previous episode, my friend Jacob, who lives in Japan, grabbed one of these for me, sent it my way, and I reviewed it on the blog. It's still sitting here on my desk. I like it as a product. I don't use it, like, as... It's not what I think of when I think of mechanical pencil, right? It's more of a neat thing. It's not how I want to use a mechanical pencil. But, like, I get it. So, people have always been wondering since that first sellout, and myself included, when are they going to become more available? And the answer is now, even though they've already sold out, like, a few weeks ago. But they have come to the U.S. market. You can get them at uniballco.com.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Is that the only place?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' That's the only place I've seen. But I imagine if the distributor is starting to get them in, like the mothership in the U.S., that they're going to start getting sent out to stores probably this year sometime, maybe by this summer. I don't know. That's me guesstimating. But now that you could actually go buy them from Uniball directly, they're going to eventually, once inventory catches up, they'll be able to get them out. Because they launched two new colors, Myke. They launched a green one and an orange one. Yeah. And they're pretty fire. Yeah, they're nice. I'm way in on the colors. And the price. The price. When they launched in Japan, I think the conversion rate for the U.S. market, it would have been over $50 at the time. And this was last fall, I guess, maybe. Last summer. This was a while ago. So, the U.S. dollar price directly in the U.S. market is $40. Which, that's still, like when you say it out loud, that's really expensive for a mechanical pencil market. But for what this is, I mean, that's a pretty good price. Like, I would be, if I'm interested in this type of product, like I wouldn't hesitate to spend $40 on it. But again, it's like also not a product for everybody. But I might have to get one of these orange ones. But it was funny right after the original one was blue, which is also now still available. So, blue, green, and orange are the three colors. Again, sold out at this level we're going to have in the show notes. But I would be watching. They'll be coming back. I think $40 is pretty good. Yeah. Like, what I was going to say is the blue one, once it went on sale, then immediately sold out, they were on eBay for over $200, right? Yeah. Which is just ridiculous. Yeah. I think $40, like, I think $50. It's funny, like, how we talk about this stuff. Like, I think $50 to $55 is like, well, it's getting to be like a little bit too much for this pen. But like $40, or this pencil, the $40, $40 seems about right. $40 seems where this should be. Feels like a good feeling. Yeah. And I like the green and orange. So keep an eye out on this link. They have a notification button for restock. But I'd also start looking. If you're in the U.S. market, I don't know about European markets or the rest of Asia outside of Japan when these are going to return. But we're starting to see some things, like, especially when this pops up on this type of site and that you could buy it directly. I think we're going to start seeing them a little bit more widespread. So long story short, don't go buy one on eBay. eBay. Just wait. They'll be ready soon enough. So I had friends that ordered these from Uniball and have already received them. So should be good. Should be good. All right. Real quick. Let me hit that shout out of the week, Myke. So now that it is pen show season for me, I'm getting to see a lot of my maker friends at pen shows. And did you know that there is a maker pen podcast? It's called As the Pen Turns. It's with Brad Owens from Mythic Pens, Jason Miller from Jason Neal Penworks, and our good friend Jonathan Brooks from Carolina Pen Co. They have a podcast. And they talk about making stuff, right? Like pouring resins, making pens, all the tools and taps and dyes, all that technical stuff about making pens. They talk to other pen makers. Like if you like the meet your maker posts that Caroline does for the pen addict, this is that in podcast form, right? So hopefully I'll get to see Brad soon at the Atlanta Pen Show. Get to see Jonathan again. I just saw him in Baltimore. And I know Jason just did his first ever pen show at the Arkansas Pen Show last week. So I imagine they're going to have a lot of fun content here coming up soon on the podcast. And I hope to see them soon. And we'll see. I just love hearing about the making of stuff. And they really get into it. So talking about their shop setups, talking to other makers, how they do things, and like really nerd out over a very specific part of the business that we're in. And I think it's really, really cool. So y'all should go check them out if you're looking for a new podcast. And that doesn't necessarily talk about the things we talk about. But it's still, you know, talking about things that, hey, you might be interested in buying. And how does this stuff happen? And how does one make a blank? And all this stuff. Definitely check out As the Pen Turns. Add it to your podcast listening list. So it's great. Very cool. I made a post this week that I really need to do more of. And I call it a pairings party because I did a review where I paired up a pen I needed to review with an ink I needed to review and kind of did it together. One of the things that I'm not going to say I don't like doing it, but ink reviews are always just kind of, are they necessary for me? Right? There's a lot of great people who just review inks and they do a really good job. And the way I think about inks are, yeah, I like it. It works pretty good. It's got some cool features. And, you know, the end. Like, here's the dry time. Here's the shading. You know, here's how it works on this paper and that paper. And this is what it looks like. And I guess that's my short version of saying I don't super love doing ink reviews. Very rarely do I. Like, I recently did a pigmented ink review for Octopus Fluids. I love doing that one because it was new, unique. It was pigmented. I could test the waterproofness of it and all these things. Like, that's cool. But, like, doing, like, an ink a day or an ink a week, you know, like, every week. Like, I don't really get excited about that. So, but I do have a lot of inks on hand that I would like to review. Well, let's find a pen I need to review and match those inks and pens up together. And that's what I did this week with the Onodo Scholar. The material is called Highland. It's kind of this green, mossy green and gray acrylic that's really kind of neat looking. And I hadn't tried an Onodo recently. I had seen them before they launched the Scholar. And part of this review was discussing how Onodo, which you should be looking into, Myke, if you ever need a purely British pen maker, they make some great, great pens. But they're reasonably expensive. Like, when I was looking at them and finding some that I really enjoyed, they started at, like, $400 or $500. And, like, that's fine. Like, I just wasn't in the position to buy one at the time. And that was with a steel nib, which is also fine. But, you know, I was just like, okay, let's see, you know, how this goes. So Onodo kind of realized that, I think. And they made... Entry level isn't the right terminology for, you know, a $250 pen. But they kind of readjusted their access point into the lineup.

'''Myke Hurley:''' It's like an entry to their brand.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Exactly. Right. Not everyone has to have, like, a $25 pen to start into their brand to get people learning about it. You know, Onodo has done this thing where they've made an insanely high-quality pen. They've charged a fair price for it. But it's also kind of their entryway into learning about Onodo pens, right? This was a $270 pen. And it's totally worth $270. But I hesitate to call it an entry-level pen. It's an entry-point pen, as you said. So the pen itself is great. It has a steel nib. It writes amazingly. I love the color. I love the style. I love Onodo's graphics. I love their logos. I love, you know, all the little bits and bobs they include in their packaging. This is a detailed entry point to a brand that would like you to explore their higher-end pens eventually, right? So this one's cool. I reviewed it. I have... I reviewed it very highly. I thought it was a very great pen. And then I matched it with a Ferris Wheel Press ink, which I have never reviewed. And Ferris Wheel Press has been around for years. I don't know, five years, maybe more. Beautiful packaging. Less than functional ink bottle. Great ink. So great packaging. Great ink. Bottle is not my platonic ideal of what a fountain pen ink bottle should be. It's, you know, it's basically a form over function bottle, which is fine. You just have to manage that differently. Like, I just was able to put the converter of the pen and draw ink into the converter to fill this pen. Like, I was not comfortable sticking the pen into the ink bottle if it would even fit through the opening in the top. Or I would tip it over because it is really not balanced for that. Not all of their ink bottles are like this, which I find interesting. But this more... Their most current ink bottles are this kind of perfume bottle shape that is very kind of tipsy and has a small opening, which is just... That's like two things I look for in a good ink bottle design is, hey, can I get the pen in here easy to fill while not knocking it over the bottle? And Ferris Wheel Press is 0 for 2 on that. Luckily, the ink is pretty good. So I used Central Park Greens just to kind of draw out some of the color in this pen, the Highland material from this Onodo. And I like kind of mixing in my ink review into a pen review. It's kind of a two-for-one type of deal to where I feel better about the review instead of just reviewing the ink, mixing it in with a pen review. So I think I'm going to do more of these because I have, I don't know, probably eight or ten inks sitting here and a decent amount of fountain pens that I can match them. It's not going to preclude me from doing like individual ink reviews, but this Ferris Wheel Press is pretty much just a standard ink, right? I like to review non-standard inks. So like I mentioned the pigmented ink from Octopus Fluids, the shimmer ink, the Shogun ink, which I reviewed last year from Shea Herbaugh, like those kind of really, really, hey, the ink is like a real interesting product on its own, real standalone. It's not just necessarily a standard product line ink, right? So that's the way I think about those things. And a lot of standard inks are really good, like this Ferris Wheel Press one, but I don't necessarily want to spend that individual time doing it. So I'm going to try to mix and match in these reviews a little bit more. So just kind of like a combo review. And I felt better or I felt good about the review setup for this to where I could do both of those things instead of breaking them out separately. So anyway, that's just me talking about doing me things. And I had fun doing it. So I'm going to do it some more. I think people liked it. So it should be fun.

'''Myke Hurley:''' It made me think like Brad Dowdy, Pen Sommelier.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Right.

'''Myke Hurley:''' You're like finding the perfect pairings, you know?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I like doing that.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I love the sharp flavor of this ink.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I mean, it's already something we think about all the time, right? And some people do not care about it. Some people will say, this is my favorite ink. It's going to go in any pen. Or this is my favorite pen. I'll use any ink in it. And a lot of us are considerate, like thinking about, hey, I need to get the right match for this pen and this ink. And that's kind of how I was thinking about this review because so many of us do it already. So it's fun. I think you will start to see me mix in a few more of these reviews just to have a little bit fun with the pairings and how I like to use and review products.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Talking about products. If you want to get yourself a new product, you should go to Pen Chalet because they have all of your favorite brands and all the products that you're looking for. Whether you want a new Sailor or a new Kaweco. Maybe you want a new rollerball, a fountain pen, a ballpoint. Maybe you're looking for some ink. Maybe you want a fountain pen converter. You want some little accessories. Maybe you're going to a pen show and you need a carrying case. Pen Chalet's got all of it. They have fast and reliable customer service. Every couple of weeks, you're going to find new products added to the store and also new discounts, new sales. There's always something to go look at over at Pen Chalet. They do free shipping on orders of over $75 in the U.S. and they sell internationally with great shipping rates. Pen Chalet believe in low prices on high quality pens and they offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee. They want you to be happy with your purchases. So, go to penchalet.com, that's P-E-N-C-H-A-L-E-T.com and click the podcast link at the top of the website. Enter the password, Pen Addict, and you will be able to get a code to save 10% on anything at Pen Chalet and also to see some very special offers available just to Pen Addict listeners.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So, again, there is a mix and match of products on our page at Pen Chalet. And Ron has done the thing where he puts like some feature products on top and then does the sneaky thing down at the bottom. One thing up top that I got to see some people use at the Baltimore Pen Show, the Conklin Endura Deco Crest Fountain Pens. They are kind of like an entry point into overlay fountain pens. If you like that style and aesthetic, it's a very vintage look, but it's a style of pen that I appreciate. These are like crazy inexpensive and they have some really good looking patterns. They have a billion different nib choices, including flex nibs. And at the price point, it's super tempting to check those out if you're looking for that style of pen to add to your collection. Then, Myke, you scroll down and you keep going and you keep going. And then all of a sudden, I don't think he's done this before, but I know I've talked about some other pens before. Leonardo, their Messenger fountain pen, that's their entry level pen.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' It's positioned to be a little bit less expensive than the Memento Zero. And at this price point, it's one of the most no-brainer purchases you can make if you're a fountain pen fan for like a high quality fountain pen. Great nib, great design. I've reviewed these on the blog. I think Jeff did our review of the Messenger. It's just a fantastic pen. And then one random thing, which y'all should check out, which I haven't noticed on here before. The Platinum Mixable Fountain Pen Inks, they're 20 milliliter bottles. They're small. They're inexpensive. And Platinum doesn't make a lot of ink colors on their own. But this set is designed in these individual colors. Their individual colors are excellent. And then you can mix and match them together to make your own colors.

'''Myke Hurley:''' And the price point is really, really good. Like, the colors are great. Mixing the inks is a terrifying prospect to me.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. No, it's good. It's good stuff. And the Platinum is designed to do that. And you can make some cool inks. And I would just buy them. Like, if you want a good Platinum ink, then in just a solid color, like the Platinum Orange ink, just buy that. Like, I use a lot of just the standalone inks for these. That's why I recommend them a knot. So, the mixing is ancillary to just, hey, getting a cool purple Platinum ink. And they're really good quality. So, there's a bunch of other stuff in here. The Pelican M205 Demonstrator is a great price. The Montegrappa Elmo 02 I need to look at because that's a pen that I like. So, yeah, it's a bunch of good stuff in here.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So, go check them out at pencholet.com. I'm going to put a link in the show notes to the 60ml page because the 60ml page for Platinum Mixable, which is not in the deal, you should go get the ones in the deal. It has a color chart, which makes you feel more comfortable. It's like if you mix this color and this color together, you get this. My concern would be like, is it all just going to end up black? You know what I mean?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yep. So, yeah, I like these inks just as standalone inks, but you can definitely go mix some stuff.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So, go to pencholet.com, P-E-N-C-H-A-L-E-T.com, click the podcast link at the top of the website, and enter the password penaddict. Our thanks to Pencholet for their continued support of this show and RelayFM. Do you want to finish out on some Ask TPA questions, Brad? Yeah, let's do a few. Don't forget, if you have a question you would like us to answer, go to penaddictfeedback.com, and you can leave it there. Just like Callum did, who said, my partner and I are looking to try out some varying nib sizes on a new fountain pen, and we came across the TWSBI Eco White Rose Gold Fine Nib on Pencholet. Hashtag sponsor. There you go. But, okay, we didn't put that in Callum's mouth. No, we did not. Callum, if you do buy it, don't forget to use the 10% code. Callum says, is this a good option to purchase along the medium and broad nib as extras? Thank you for awakening the pen out, Robin.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So, this is a really interesting and good question. Number one, hey, we want to test out this pen. It seems like reasonably priced. It seems like it looks pretty cool, right? The TWSBI Eco White Rose Gold. Also, let's do something smart and just buy a couple of other nibs to test to see what we really like. I mean, yes, you're having to outlay a little bit more money, but you're not necessarily buying three pens for three different nib size. This is 100% a good option, and it's something I have done before. However, I'm at the point now where I do have, like, all the pens with all the nibs, so I can just swap or pull out a nib and try something somewhere else. But at the point, when I was in the beginning of this, I would really want to decide, what do I really like for nib sizes? Not just pen styles, but what nibs work well for me? And I would have extra nib units for other pens. But, like, Lamy, Kaweco, and TWSBI are all good at having easily accessible nib units to try, where you could buy one pen and have a couple of extra nibs to swap into. I think it's a great pen. Number one, the TWSBI Eco is one of my favorite pens, personally. It's one of my most recommended pens. And then trying a fine nib, a medium nib, and a broad nib. I, yeah, no-brainer. 100% approve. Good job, Callum.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I will reiterate what I said before, though. Just understand that, like, it's a scary prospect to change nibs, just going confidently. You know what I mean?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I'll disagree slightly, only because in this situation, TWSBI actually does make it easy. It's probably more... TWSBI and Kaweco do it very easily. They have to screw in ones, right? Well, the TWSBI Eco is just a slide-in nib now. So Kaweco does just have the screw in one. Kaweco slides in. Lamy is actually a little bit more difficult because you kind of have to pull it off the feed. But it's really simple once you do it once. Just think about what you're doing. It's not intimidating. But you do have to put the slightest bit of thought that Myke is not capable of into doing this.

'''Myke Hurley:''' That is completely unfair. I don't know why you would come at me like that. It's just unnecessary. John asks...

'''Brad Dowdy:''' There are exceptions. There are exceptions. So you are right in some areas. Whatever. Whatever.