Editing The Pen Addict 618/transcript (section)

== Endless Pens Captiva ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Endless Pens, Myke, has been busy making interesting and unique stationery. The latest is the Endless Pens Captiva. And this came across my desk yesterday.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I saw this on the Pen Chalet Instagram account. Yeah. And I was hoping you were going to bring it to the show. And when I opened the show notes today, it was in there because it was good because I wanted to ask you about it. I don't understand what this pen does. Okay.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So in a nutshell, if you have a pen with a converter, right? So you take off the barrel, you have a twist in your converter. Okay? Sure. And that's how you fill the ink. So now you put the barrel on the pen and, you know, take your standard converter pen that you have. And sometimes you'll get a pen where the back end of the pen comes off and you can actually access the converter without having to disassemble the pen, right? So that's called a captured converter system where the converters on the interior are almost built into the pen barrel. And...

'''Myke Hurley:''' What would be the benefit of that?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yes. Okay. So that it's there, right? So that you don't have to take the... You don't have to disassemble the pen. You don't have to take the pen apart or unscrew the barrel. Oh, I guess you could fill it, right? You could just fill it without unscrewing it. Okay. Yeah, you just take a little piece off the back and twist the knob. That's what you normally see. And this is just kind of building it in to where you don't have to take it apart. You don't have to remove a cap. You're just twisting it. You're almost like kind of like flicking it with your thumb to like move the converter mechanism.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I would say, well, I mean, obviously we're going to talk about this a bit more, but like while I don't think I want this idea of like not have like being able to fill up a pen so fast, right? Which I guess is what's going on here. Unless you're going to tell me otherwise. This makes more sense to me than just having access to a standard converter, which is built into a pen. Like at least you're doing something with it from a design perspective. Yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Think of it. It's essentially kind of like a piston filler, right? Yeah. So, but it just has a different type of build. It almost has like a sleeve on the interior, like a converter is generally how these work. I don't, I can't tell if this one has it like that or not. Um, the questions I have about this, like it seems completely fine. Like I would actually like to test this out. Um, I think the marketing of using the word torque filler is something I want to see for myself because torque mean to me, and I have not looked up the dictionary definition of torque, but it means to me there's like some type of type of resistance and like there's like a, a tightening and a releasing of a resistance. And to me, this just seems like a passive, like you would twist a converter anyway. Like I watched the little video on it and there's no, it's no, like you're, you're winding it up and then, and then sucking in the ink kind of thing. Right? Like that's what I think of like what torque would enable, but I don't know that this does. I could be wrong on this. And I watched the video. It didn't look like it because it looks like they were just passively, um, just kind of twisting as they go. Right? Like you, you know, those windup cars that you pull back and they, they like ramp up all the way and then like shoot off in there. I like, that's what I think of if I was looking at a torque filler, like there's some type of resistance that's going to like shoot the ink in here. Once I like twist it in enough, right? Like, like twist, twist, twist, twist, fill kind of thing. So it just doesn't, it seems like a, I don't know. It seems misleading, at least a perception rise, maybe not in technical terms, but in the perception wise.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I don't think anybody wants that mechanism that you described though. I'm not saying that you're saying that either.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' That's like a vacuum filler, a vacuum filler kind of does that.

'''Myke Hurley:''' But the speed part, like that just seems like you're asking for trouble, right? Like I don't, you know, do we, do we really need like, like speed? I could imagine like taking what you were saying about those kind of windup cars, maybe something along the lines of as you fill it up, the tension increases. So you know that it's full, like that, that would make sense to me if that's what it did. But I would say all of, all of that's marketing. It doesn't matter. Like, yeah. You know what I mean? Like whatever, even as a, as a function perspective, even if it did what you said, nobody needs that. It's just marketing, right? Like, you know, you, you, you will like wind the pen and then it will do something quick. Like, you know, it's just like, you maybe think that that sounds cool. And that's like the, you're kind of designing the product around the idea that you've had this mechanism. My money would be, this is just, they've decided to name their system. Yeah. And they're calling it.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I agree because, and I'll agree with that because of the price point, which we'll get to in a second. I don't want to get there yet. Um, the, the, the main question I think from this pen is, can you accidentally bump and twist this mechanism? That's going to be the real, like, Hey, let's, uh, think about what we're doing here because

'''Myke Hurley:''' somebody pick up your pen and be like, what is this? Right.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. Yeah. So this doesn't have this safety or protection of like a captured converter where, okay, you can access the converter from the back, but it's got a cap over it. Right. Like my Kaweco sport piston has a blind cap to get to the piston knob, right? Because you don't want me accidentally twisting that and, and, and ejecting ink through the nib area. So we'll have to see, um, you know, like if you're putting this in a pocket or a bag or is, is it going to move around? Is it going to be able to be manipulated at all? Or does it kind of have more of a stiffer kind of locked in type of feel? So we'll have to see. So we'll see. We'll see. You know, is it like a push down and turn type of situation? Right. Is there some kind of, uh, it just says to engage the filling system, simply rotate the revolver, which that's a whole nother thing. So that's what they're calling the twist mechanism, which I just read that. Hey, look, it revolves. All right.

'''Myke Hurley:''' You know, it does. It revolves. It revolves.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Um, okay. It's about 50 bucks, which looks good for 50. I think it's good. Yeah. Like, isn't that right? Like it's around 50 bucks and I'm kind of interested in that. Oh, take that back. I think it might be 60. I'm not, I apologize. I'm not looking in it, but what's interesting is that I have it for 52. Okay. 52. They're offering needlepoint and architect nibs for a very small premium to that 62 price. I don't know if that, if you still have that up, I haven't pulled it up. Um, but it was a pretty low, it wasn't like a $25 upgrade to get a needlepoint or an architect. It was something lower, like almost like in the five or $10 range. So we'll see, that's going to be something they have available. So that price point, I find interesting because I think that's pretty accessible, right? For, uh, just, uh, something above your basic pen, say pilot metropolitan, uh, TWSB eco thing where they're trying to do something a little different. And I immediately think of the Tuzu, the Sailor Tuzu, which we talked about a month or so ago in that both of those pens are in that $50 price point. They're both trying to do something interesting with what they're offering. They're both Tuzu more is trying to get like a beginner is a very beginner focused fountain pen. I believe, um, where this is maybe, I don't know. They're trying to make it easier for you to fill your fountain pen maybe. So it could be a little bit that aspect, but I thought that was both of those being around that $50 to $60 price point and seeing companies try things. Like, I think it's cool. Like I don't have a Tuzu yet. I'll, I'll eventually get one and I'll get this pen too, because I think it's, it's going to be at least interesting to test to see if there's some value in it. Um, but yeah, like I think, uh, I think it's interesting, you know, the more that I look at it, the more I'm thinking about the TWSB go, that's almost more of a torque, torque type of filler filling system. We always talk, you always bring up the TWSB go when I talk about the beginner pens. Like, that's an interesting one. Like it's in that category, I think for, for the, the Captiva. So, um, it will be fun to try this one out and see what it's about because like people want to know about the Tuzu and people want to know about this pen. And I like seeing these innovations, even if someone like super experiences, maybe not going to get like the purest benefit from this. But I think, you know, there's always people looking for, um, new and different things and that are new to fountain pens. And I think, um, I think it could be good. So I look forward to trying it.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Someone had just got, it's like, uh, I'm amazed at how many ways pens continue to change. Yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. So you think they're pretty static, right? Like where this is stationary, this is analog. Like I just did my review of the, uh, Jetstream light touch, right? Which we've talked about. So I didn't want to put, I did my review is up on the blog and there was nothing new. So I didn't put it in to add to the show notes today. Cause I didn't feel like I had anything new to say, but it's Uniball is someone who like plays around with ink technology a lot, right? They're always doing something to tweak these things and big picture. Like, is it that big a deal? No, but for someone who's love stationary, seeing even just companies try like minor things and playing around with ink formulas, for example, I think it's, I think it's really neat to see. Um, it obviously gives me something to talk about, but it gives me something to test out and see is like, Hey, are they, do we actually, can we actually see change in the stationary industry? Like the, you know, I hold up the, the Uniball Kuretoga as like the champion in, in this is like, no one thought they needed something like that. No one probably thought that would technically work to have a lead rotation mechanism in a mechanical pencil. And I'll be danged if it's not one of the best inventions in stationary in the last couple of decades.

'''Myke Hurley:''' There is, there is such an easy, um, world to imagine where the Kuretoga comes out and we look at it on the show and we're like, that seems like a gimmick. Like, right. Yeah. When we've just first seen it, like who are people asking for this, but right. Yeah. It's fantastic. And like, this is why, like, I remember I was talking about the Tuzu and I was, I'm very much on the fence of like, I would, I would want to see how that feels to use. Cause I could see something here, but I also understand and completely, uh, uh, see how this could just purely be like a gimmick. Like it's right. You know, it's just like a thing that they have made because it's a thing to make as opposed to actually solving a problem. Exactly. Exactly. All right. We spoke about this new pen. D is that the brand name?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Endless? Endless. Endless. Yes. It's the maker. Okay. So they, they started making notebooks, right? So I've used some of their paper. Oh, that's where I know them from. That's the notebook. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So they, for years they've done notebooks and then they got into notebook systems, right? Like the, you know, putting together like your little notebook kit and now they've kind of branched out. So they did the, uh,

'''Myke Hurley:''' I have even more respect for it now that they're trying something.