Editing The Pen Addict 559/transcript (section)

== Enigma Stationery and Product Features ==


'''Myke Hurley:''' This episode of The Pen Addict is brought to you by Enigma Stationery. I'm very happy to have Enigma Stationery back as a sponsor of the show. They are a family-owned and operated business that offers unique items made from in-house designs along with top brands, including products from The Traveler's Company, Field Notes, and many more. They have an exclusive new pen release this week that we're going to talk about on the show. It is the Studio Neat Mark I Enigma Edition. This is a unique shimmering teal colorway for the iconic Mark I rollerball pen. Every pen features the classic all-metal retractable design that these pens are known for, with a three-step finish, which is new for this model, that ensures durability for the brilliant teal sparkle. The black PVD-coated knock complements the teal barrel and, of course, provides the signature click that the Mark I is known for. This edition includes 100 pieces. While Enigma Stationery would love to make more, nothing is currently planned, so if you want one, get one while you still can. Now, one of these is flying across the Atlantic to me right now, so I have not seen it in person, but I've seen many images. Now, Brad, I believe you have not seen images, but yet you have one right in front of you. Is that correct?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Well, you're making me cackle with the description. So, based on my vacation and our document writing, I didn't know Enigma Stationery was a sponsor until today, when I opened up the show doc this morning, you put them in. So, I was like, oh, that's funny. I have an envelope from Enigma Stationery that I received over my vacation, and I tend to wait to open things, right? I'll just do unboxings or whatever. Like, I don't, like, rip right into my mail when I get stuff. So, thankfully, I didn't run into this one. I was like, oh, well, let me open this, and there's my packaging right there. I was like, Myke, do you just want me to wait and, like, surprise open this for the ad read? And it was a problem that you were giving me the description. I couldn't, I don't know if you heard me, like, giggling while we were doing it. I was like, oh, my God. I cannot wait to open this up now. So, like, number one, I like Studio Neat's little Mark 1 packaging. So, we're going to talk about that later. And an unrelated thing that I added to the show note before I knew what I was getting into here. So, let me open this up real quick.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I will say while Brad's doing that, there are just 100 of these available. So, if you want one, go to enigmastationary.com slash penaddict, and you can use the code penaddict to check out as a listener of this show. And you will receive free shipping on orders of over $40 or more, along with a free gift. Now, what do you think of it there, Brad?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Have they done a black knock before? I think maybe, well, the Apollo one was kind of that silvery.

'''Myke Hurley:''' The black PVD knock that you're looking at was created originally for the Cortex Mark 1. But, you know, I'm just saying.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' It is.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So, here. So, I will say I love the black knock.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' It's my favorite color of the knocks that they do. Yeah. And I don't own the Cortex one. So, that's why I hadn't seen it before. So, what this is, if you want me to describe this to you, the color, this is Lamy Petrol All-Star with shine on it. Like, it's a dark teal Lamy Petrol color, but cooler because it's got, like, the sparkle is very subtle, right? You have to see it in the light. Like, if I had it laying on my desk, you would think it's a teal pen with a black knock, and it looks great, right? Then, up close, you can see it's just loaded, loaded with sparkle. This is fantastic, and this is going to sell out, like, immediately. I would guess you probably need to go over to Enigma Stationery. Like, ASAP. This is really, like, top tier. Top tier Mark 1 action here. This is what Lamy should be doing, Myke. Like, they should lean in. Like, Mark 1 made a classic pen, and guess what? Now, they're doing fun stuff with their classic pen, and that's what you get here with this Enigma Stationery model. It's fantastic.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So, what we're saying is we want the Enigma Stationery Lamy 2000. That's what we're looking for. Yeah, there we go. That's what we're trying to look for.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' All right, Dan, I'm going to need you to work on that. Yeah, if you could just go and do that. Dan needs to lean.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Because you clearly got it all settled. Like, you know how to do it.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, this color is so good. This color is, like, right on the money. I like the feel of it. I guess I'm used to the ceramic coated ones. I don't guess that I have one in this type of coating. And I just can't put it down. It feels really good. So, yeah, I'll be using the heck out of this. Wonderful.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, it's really a beautiful addition. And it's just worth going to look at. I will tell you right now, I know just by looking at the images of this, this is just, like, one of those pens that's really hard for you to photograph. Right? Like, as of all of the good shimmery stuff. But this is just a top-notch, beautiful Mark I. And I cannot wait for mine to arrive. It will go into my wonderful collection. So, go to enigmastationary.com slash penaddict to secure your Enigma edition of the Studio Neat Mark I. And use the code penaddict to check out to receive free shipping on all orders over $40 plus a free gift. A thanks to Enigma Stationery for the support of this show and RelayFM.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Great job by both of them. So, here's the funny thing that Myke enjoys. And our listeners will not believe me when I say this. But I think my reputation is pretty intact. I put in the shout-out of the week before I knew what our sponsor was. My shout-out of the week was for Studio Neat. For something different, it's because I got my Mark III pencil in. Right? So, I gave my shout-out to the week to our friends Tom and Dan over at Studio Neat. Who make awesome stuff. They're good friends of both mine and Myke. And, you know, it's cool to be able to shout-out some makers in our shout-outs of the week as well. It just so happened that we kind of got a twofer here accidentally. Because I just opened my Mark III right before the show as well. Because, again, I like to hold these things and be surprised and kind of give my first impressions. So, the reason why I like the Mark III is it's mechanical pencil. Right? So, they launched this on Kickstarter.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' And it complements the Mark I perfectly. That's why I like it. But they did what I believe is the correct design decision is they narrowed the barrel. Right? So, the barrel itself for the mechanical pencil is slightly narrower than the barrel for the standard Mark I model. Which uses the 0.7 Schmidt rollerball refill that I enjoy. And the Mark III uses the 0.7 millimeter lead core for the mechanical pencil. So, they just kind of shrunk it down a little bit, like, in diameter-wise. Which I think is necessary for mechanical pencils. At least for me. Like, when I'm making decisions about the products that I like and want to use. Like, I have certain kind of unwritten rules. You know, the finer the tip, the narrower I want the barrel to be. That's why I can't use. That's why I'm not a huge fan of very large fountain pens with an extra fine nib. Right? That just is a disconnect for the way that I write. So, I need a mechanical pencil to not be overly wide. So, I was glad to see that the diameter of the Mark III. And I've just started using it today. I'm using it for my show notes as we speak. And it's great. Like, this also, I believe, they sell a 0.5 replacement mechanism for it. This pencil is made for 0.7. Right? It's just the exact theory that I just said a second ago. Yeah. Like, I understand that some people are, like, very fixed on 0.5. That's my... 0.5 is my favorite. But I use it in the more engineering-style, narrow-grip-section pencils. If I want to use 0.7, I'm good with having a little bit wider barrel like this. So, like, I have the Uni Kuretoga Dive. Right? And we've talked about this before. It's a very big, very wide pencil. And it's a 0.5 tip. And it's not a great writer because the grip section is too wide for that fine of a lead size. That's what I think the Mark III gets right. So, like, my recommendation for the Mark III is to keep the 0.7 mechanism in it, even though you can switch it out to 0.5. It just feels really great. I'm really enjoying it so far. So, I got the white Cerakote with the copper-colored Noc, which matches my original Mark I from the original Kickstarter. So, that's my shout-out of the week for Studio Neat. They're always doing cool stuff. I know you partner with them a lot.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yep.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Including a podcast called Thoroughly Considered on our very own RelayFM network.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yep. We talk about product design and all that kind of stuff. I'm still waiting on my Mark III. I got the white and silver, which I don't think that that one has shipped out yet.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. Your opinion on that is, like, more interesting than my opinion on that. Like, I know I'm going to like it. But I know you're not straight up, like, a mechanical pencil guy like I am. Right? But I think, like, for what this is, I think you actually might use it.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. I mean, I use my rotary and I use my spoke. Like, I use them. Right. But not, like, a ton. But I do use them. I will say I've used them more in the last year or so. Like, I've found a new use of mechanical pencils in product designing. Like, in sketching things out. You know, like, grabbing a ruler. I think I updated you. Remember I was looking for a ruler forever?

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. So, Kathy Campbell bought me a 30-centimeter brass ruler for Christmas. It was either for Christmas or my birthday. Okay. So, like, Kathy, obviously, as, you know, such an organized individual, found the thing, got me, like, a nice 30-centimeter brass ruler. It's exactly what I was looking for. And I use it all the time. So, Kathy did the thing.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I think a listener, we had a listener a long time ago send me a couple. Yeah. I thought I'd maybe send it in one of your packages to you, but maybe not. It might still be sitting in the shipping department.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Brad, knowing you, you still have it. I will eventually get it.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Well, I think you would know because, yeah. But you still have it. Exactly. So, I have two brass rulers from a listener. Thank you. Wonderful.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I look forward to having three brass rulers maybe next year.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So, last thing related to mechanical pencils. So, I'm sitting here at my desk and I have, like, pen cups and pen holders. I'm not counting those, but, like, literally, like, to my right hand, just laying on the desk of the products I've used recently, counting the Mark III. I have one, two, three, four mechanical pencils. One rollerball, now that I've opened the Mark I Enigma model. I have the spoke roadie, which is a ballpoint, and two fountain pens. So, my point being is I love mechanical pencils. I have four different models laying here because I like picking them up for different reasons. So, you know, one Mark I, one spoke, and two pentel various models. So, yeah. I'm a huge mechanical pencil guy, and Dan and Tom did a great job with this. So, shout out Studio Neat.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' All right, Myke. I am going to go back on something I said very recently. I think within the past two months, I took the stance where I'm just going to let Sailor go for it and make all the things and make all the money and make all the pens. And ever since I said that, the release cadence of Sailor pens has exploded even more than I expected. So, now I am going to go the opposite direction, and I am going to put a podcast moratorium on new Sailor pen releases for the remainder of 2023.

'''Myke Hurley:''' You know what, Brad? What? I am 100% on board with this.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' It's non-stop. So, and it's not, what gets me is it's not just single releases. So, I have a link in the show notes. They have a new, like, Equinox, what are they calling this? Slim Solar Terms series. So, this is a four-pin series. Again, they can't just make one pen at a time. This is another four-pin set for the spring and autumn Equinox and the summer and winter solstice, right? It's like, it's non-stop. I mean, they're beautiful pens. Like, I have nothing wrong with Sailor as a product, right? You look at these pens, you go, man, that's beautiful. It's four more. How do retailers afford this inventory is what I want to know. Sailor, like I said the first time I brought this up, Sailor must be making money hand over fist to release this many pens, right? They must be selling this because it is non-stop. It's every week I'm talking about this, and it's not just one pen. Like, sometimes it's just one pen, but it's usually three pens, four pens, six pens in a series every week. Like, moratorium. Moratorium the rest of the year. Here's what I would like to suggest. We're done.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Just as an addendum to the moratorium. I'm done. You can choose whichever one you want. We either don't talk about them all, or you get one a month.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' No, one a month is too many. All right. Like, one a month is normal. Like, one a month is normal. I need...

'''Myke Hurley:''' Every week we can do it.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Like, well, I know. I know we could. But like, you know, like other brands, like we're going to talk about this, like as related to like my palette Decimo. We're going to talk about that as it relates to like some of the conversation, not to be hypocritical, right? But like, this is too much, man. I really tried to like handle this in a better way. It's like, I'm just going to lean in. We're going to talk about every single one of them. And I didn't think it would be this nuts as far as releases go. It is completely out of hand. Like, I overbooked my brain on Sailor, right? It's just the problem is, though... I'm overbooked. They're the best.

'''Myke Hurley:''' They're so good. Like, to use. Yeah. Like, that's why. Right. I'm such a fan of Sailor Pro Gear. That's which is why I agree with you on the moratorium. But it also makes me feel uncomfortable at the same time because I love them so much. But I do feel like from a content perspective doing the show, I'm not sure... I'm not sure if it's worth talking about them so much as we do.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. I didn't think I would be this exasperated this quickly. Even though like I came out of exasperation last year, I was like, okay, I'm fine to start talking about these again because between like all the price increases, which are fine. Like, I don't know. That's, you know, you got to do what you got to do. And the releases, like I was burnt out at the end of last year and I was like, okay, they're just... It's not going to stop. So, I'm just going to lean into it and like I've just... I've overdone it. So, moratorium for 2023 on new sailors. We'll see if I can... We'll see if I rescind this at some point or have any exceptions. But I feel like a moratorium is an order after what we've seen in the last couple of months from their release schedule. How do retailers afford this? Like, I don't get it. I don't know. I don't know. That's why I'm not in retail because it hurts. It hurts my brain. It hurts my wallet. It hurts the bank account. Like, I'm just so confused.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So, I wanted to relate this to the Pilot Decimo, which we talked about last week from my Atlanta Pen Show haul. We talked about I finally got my Decimo. And I'm sitting there in that review clamoring for more Decimos, right? So, can I say I want more Decimos and less sailor releases? And I think that's fair to say. Just like I want more... I want a colorful Lamy 2000 while I want less sailors, right? Those two things can coexist. So, the Decimo I bought was part of 20 Decimos that they released in 2020. Like, it was a big release for Pilot in Japan only. And, you know, that was kind of an outlier for Pilot, right? To do that. Where the difference with sailor is it's the norm, right? They could release 20 pens this month and 20 pens next month and 20 pens the month after that. It's like, oh my gosh, that's a lot of pens. Where Pilot did this was an outlier. And I'm asking this for what I'm asking out of Pilot is I would like to see a little bit more Decimo love outside of Japan is, you know, what I'm asking for in the review of the Decimo. So, I talked about the Decimo. Do I like it better than the Vanishing Point? It's hard to say. I mean, I love them both. I'm, you know, I'm trying to let the new shine, the new shiny new toy, you know, off the Decimo and just keep using it and keep seeing what I think about it and see if I actually have a preference over the narrower Decimo barrel versus the Vanishing Point. Like, I think they're both going to be pretty equivalent and pretty good. The issue was we kind of only had Vanishing Point choice over here. I would like some more Decimo choice was the extent of my review, if you even want to call it that. It was more, I called it a stump speech. I was trying, I want more Decimo options outside of Japan, like in our market. But I get that one of the things I always say refers to Lamy, refers to Sailor. Like, I can, it refers to Pilot, like I can talk about all this stuff and say what I want. I will always defer to the brands they know better than me, right? I can still say, like, what I want, what my dream pin would be, what my dream scenario would be. They still know better than I do. I'm just a guy that talks about pins on the internet, right? So, like, they know. They have the numbers. They have, you know, they have the ideas on that. But I can still hope and wish that we get a little bit broader release for something like the Decimo limited edition. Why can't we have one Decimo limited edition a year outside of Japan? I feel like that's fair, right? Asking Lamy for an orange and black PVD-coated clip, Lamy 2000. That's unfair, right? Asking Pilot for a singular limited edition Decimo outside of Japan every year. I think that's fair. I think that's a fair ask. I think it's reasonable. So, anyway, that's my follow-up to the incoming. Well, you just said Pilot did 20 Decimos in 2020. It's like, yeah, I know. But they don't have a history of doing this every year or every month. So, there we go, Myke.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' That's how I'm feeling about all this stuff right now. So, it's good stuff. Like, I feel overall, and this next link is something that I normally wouldn't put in the show because it's just like a singular pin. And I don't always just do every singular pin review or every, like, new release news. But I think we're in an interesting place where we're getting a lot more customization and a lot more interesting, highly specific releases. And I'm talking about the Benu Alluring Anime Pin. Like, my jaw dropped when I saw this. Not that my jaw dropped for wanting it, but that it exists in the first place. That they made a choice to design this pin. And I think it came out amazing, despite it, like, it's not for me whatsoever, right? But I think this is more interesting than our 101st sailor release of the year. Am I wrong? Or I don't know. I don't know what you think about this.

'''Myke Hurley:''' It is a very interesting design. I think it's super cool that it's painted. So, the context for me here, while I'm, like, struggling on this one so much, is the keyboard hobby. In keyboards, people put anime girls. So, this is a Benu pen, which is pink and blue with tons of sparkles, as they do. And it's beautiful in the way that they put their designs together. And it's a limited edition with a hand-painted female anime character. Right? Mm-hmm. That's fair to say, right? Did I reference this? Yeah. Mm-hmm. In the keyboard hobby. Yeah, like Warrior Woman. Great. In the keyboard hobby, people put anime girls and everything. And so, I'm a little burnt out of anime girl appearing in, like, on products as a way to sell products. Yeah. But if this is your thing, fantastic. You now have a pen for that, right? Which is great. But, like, I'm just, like, a little, like, I feel like I see through the anime girl too often, you know?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Right. So, here's what I think. So, I think it's, like, I'm not even looking at it from an anime girl perspective. I brought this one up because it's very much an outlier for our industry, generally speaking. But it's more representative of Bennu doing, about every month, doing some hand-painted release, right? Right. Anime girl or not, right? They've done, since, like, the end of last year, they've kind of almost had, like, a monthly hand-painted release. And they've all been exceptional. And I actually think they're getting better and better as they get more experience doing this and whoever their artist is. Doing this. I think they're getting higher quality and higher quality every time. So, I think it's more of a... Very detailed. General sense. Yeah. Yes. This one. Yeah. So, and this is a follow-up. Like, they did a fish one not long ago. They did one for the holidays back in December with, like, you know, like a reindeer and antlers. Like, they're all very beautiful. And, like, just to prove the point that I wasn't necessarily bringing it up for the anime aspect of it, that I love these Kaweco Sports that Rose Studio does. They were at the DC Pen Show last year. They're pretty quiet on Instagram right now. But they're out of Turkey. They traveled over with Galen Pens seeing these hand-painted Kaweco Sports, right? Like, someone's taken the stock Kaweco Sport and added art to it, right? And I think Bennu's kind of doing the same thing, even though it's all singularly in-house, right? Kaweco's not painting these that I'm going to put a link in the show notes to. But it's the same concept. And it's the same idea. And it's these are the things, the creativity I like to see. As opposed to... I love seeing the new sailors, and I think they're beautiful, right? But, like, I'm good. Like, I thought I was better with them, but I guess I'm not. But I love seeing the hand-painted. I love seeing artistry, right? I love seeing creativity. And that's what this little topic brings to mind is, like, I want to see more of this type of stuff. You know, regardless of the anime part. I don't care about that. But just the idea of making very specific, very artistic style pens. Like, I'm very much behind. So, yeah, I think it's cool.

'''Myke Hurley:''' All right. This episode is brought to you by our friends over at Squarespace. Squarespace really is the all-in-one platform for helping you build your brand and grow your business online. You're able to stand out with a beautiful website, engage with your audience, and sell anything. Your products, services, even the content that you create, because Squarespace has got you covered. With Squarespace, it's super easy to get started. You just go and sign up for a trial. Go to squarespace.com slash penaddict. You can sign up for a free trial with no credit card required. And you get started by choosing from one of their beautiful templates. They are award-winning, best-in-class website templates that you're able to customize to fit your needs. It is as easy as browsing the category of your business or site that you want to make to find a perfect starting place. And you can customize it with just a few clicks. And they give you all of the tools to make any website that you want. You can set up a site for a restaurant, if that's what you have. Maybe a band, you know, like whatever. Maybe you have a business. Maybe you have a photography business and you want portfolios. They have all of these templates to really help you get started. If you want to have a blog, Squarespace has powerful blogging tools for you to share your stories, photos, videos, and updates, which you can categorize, share, and schedule your posts to make your content work for you. And if down in the future, you know, like me and Brad have, you want to set up an online store, it's very easy to do that. Whether you sell physical or digital goods, Squarespace has all of the tools that you need to start selling products online. And you can measure how everything is going with their insights tools to see where your site visitors are coming from, where your sales visitors are coming from, which channels are most effective for you. This is all possible within Squarespace. So go to squarespace.com slash penaddict and sign up for that free trial. And then use the offer code penaddict when you're ready to launch a website. And you will save 10% of your first purchase of a website or domain. That is squarespace.com slash penaddict. And when you sign up, use the offer code penaddict to get 10% of your first purchase and show your support for the show. Our thanks to Squarespace for the support of this show and all of RelayFM.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' One quick thing on the Squarespace, like the commerce and marketing side of things. One thing they've integrated, which I don't use because I don't have the need for it, is they have the integrated email list with it now, which I always thought was something I would totally use if my shop was set up to be that type of shop where I needed to communicate with our customers pretty frequently. And that's all in-house now. I think that's kind of a cool addition. So there's always stuff like that going on.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, it's really helpful.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yep, yep, yep. All right, let's hit some Ask TPA. First off, Myke, where can people send us feedback? Because the feedback is booming right now.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Booming. We're in a boom economy for feedback. If you want to send in a question for the show or you want to send us in some follow-up, just head over to penaddictfeedback.com and you can submit it there. We have gotten loads of questions recently. I brought a lot of them into the document, so we're slowly getting through them all. But if you have a question for us to answer on the show, go to penaddictfeedback.com and you can leave it for us there.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Keep those questions coming because we're going to have some opportunity for some full Ask TPA episodes in the future with our recording schedule over the next few months. So if we don't get to your question quickly, it's coming soon. We have a lot to work through, but don't hesitate to keep them coming.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Our first question today comes from Josh. I think Josh wrote in recently about Pilot Metropolitan and we gave them some advice. And Josh says, I've recently switched to a Pilot Con 40 converter with no more problems. They were having the converter issues. Was it the Con 20 they were using?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, they have a squeeze converter. Yeah, it's a squeeze converter in the stock metropolitan, which is very, very weak.

'''Myke Hurley:''' No good at all. Josh says, I have one more question for you, though. How am I meant to refill my pen without getting ink all over my hands? Or should I just resign myself to being sure I never have to re-ink in or near public people?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' You should resign yourself to getting ink on your hands. It's almost impossible to get none. It's as simple as that.

'''Myke Hurley:''' You know? Right. Like, you'll get better over time.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Like, you can get not... Yeah, you can get not too much on there, but you're probably going to get some on your hands, right? Yep. So, where I tend to get the ink in my hands... So, don't hesitate to dip the nib pretty far down into the ink bottle, but you want to have a paper towel to wipe off the section when you pull it back out. And since it's usually, like, a two-handed operation, like, one, to twist the converter, and two, to actually hold the nib. Like, you don't want to set the nib in the bottom of the ink bottle. You don't want the tip of the nib hitting the bottom of your ink bottle, right? Like, it could bend it, like, if you put pressure on it or something like that. Probably not your steel nibs, but regardless.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' But I usually get, like, if I'm right-handed or I'm spinning the converter, the end of the converter with my right hand, my left hand is right above the ring opening of the bottle. And that's where I will get ink on my hands, just from kind of sitting my fingers touching the top of the bottle. But when I bring the converter and the nib unit out, that goes straight into a paper towel. So I'm wiping that off before I get my hands fully inky on there, right? So I'm going to get a little bit inky on my hands, almost certainly. But I'm not getting too much because I'm now going to remove the nib from the ink bottle and kind of wipe it off with a wet paper towel. And then that's about as good as you're going to get, I think. So it's, unless you're using just exclusively cartridges, you're going to get some ink on your hands from time to time.