Editing The Pen Addict 125/transcript (section)

== Pen Reviews ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' It's totally their fault. It's totally their fault. We need to put this in the show notes, Myke. And I didn't put it in there. But let's talk about that real quick. And then we're going to get into your pilot problem. So, you're obviously well-known for the Clicky Post and your pen reviews. And you're also super well-known for all of the pen holders and different type of desk accessories you make out of wood that you sell. Dudek Modern Goods, under the Dudek Modern Goods name. We're obviously huge fans. You've sent us some in the past. We're actually, from a knock perspective, we're a customer of yours. We purchased your goods. And they're all made out of walnut. Is that correct? Yeah. Yep. Yeah. So, all the products you're making right now are out of walnut. But you're coming up with something a little bit different with your products and Karis Customs. So, tell us a little bit about that real quick.

'''Mike Dudek:''' Yeah. Being kind of close by, obviously. And we have kind of a good friendship that, you know, outside of just me being fanatical about their products. We have a good kind of relationship going. And just months ago, we talked about doing a collaborative product. And we toyed around with some different ideas, some different designs. And what we, Dan and I, you know, just were sitting down kind of one afternoon. And we were whipping up. And Dan's amazing. Like, this guy is fantastic with regard to design. And we just came up with what would be kind of a representation of one of my products. The first one, the cube, out of aluminum. So, it's, you know, Dan whipped it up. And it looks like a cube. And it has the same number of holes. But it's machined out of solid aluminum, which is pretty awesome. So, it is solid.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Because when I saw it originally, I was like, that's insane.

'''Mike Dudek:''' It's just a huge block of aluminum. I have the prototype right here on my desk. One of the first prototypes. And it weighs about two pounds.

'''Mike Dudek:''' But it's fantastic. It's fantastic. To sort of take away any scares, right? Of, oh, it's made out of metal. Am I going to put my pens in there? To prevent that, that's one of the big things that I talked about was, well, what can we do inside to protect the pens? And so, what's been machined is individual sleeves out of Delrin that are press-fit perfectly into every single hole. Wow. So, it's a beautiful piece. Beautiful piece. So, we're looking probably in the next month, I'd say. And I've been given the okay by the guys to say we are going to go the route of Kickstarter. Because this is a new, sort of entirely new venture. Like, outside of pens and things. And so, we're going to go that route. And I know there was some discussion maybe about shipping because of the weight. And there is, they've sort of partnered with this really awesome shipping group that they can get it down, like, even for international. Somewhere around, like, ten bucks. Wow. Something like that. So, it's... Okay. We're going to work really hard to make sure that everybody all over isn't going to get, you know, stuck with crazy shipping rates because of the weight. But we're really excited. So, I guess stay tuned for that.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' All right. So, you definitely sold me with the Delrin sleeves in there. Because, obviously, that was my initial question. Yep. Right? I mean, any, like, pen junkie is going to go, well, you know, is it going to spin around and, you know, rough up the pen barrels? But that's a brilliant idea. And Dan's an awesome, awesome designer and engineer of that stuff. So, I know it's going to be rock solid. So, that's awesome. That is... Wow. That's exciting. So, good. We'll look forward to that. And, you know, hopefully we'll see it on Kickstarter before long. And I'm guessing you're going to need to sell a bunch of those to afford all these pens you've been buying, right?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Maybe a few. Maybe a few. Yeah, maybe a few. So, if you're not familiar with Myke Dudek's reviews at the Clicky Post, Myke does a beautiful job, beautiful photography. And you can tell kind of a running theme on, in general, what type of pens Myke likes. And for a while, Rotring played a huge, huge role in his posting and reviewing, and still does. But there was kind of a switch about a month ago. And, you know, you can only... There's only so many Rotrings you can buy, Myke. And you kind of started talking to me on the side. He's like, hey, you've got this Pilot Murex. Tell me about that pen. It looks pretty neat. And the next thing I know, Myke Dudek has a Murex, a Mew, which is another vintage Pilot, a Pilot custom black stripe. I mean, you're just like, when you go for something, you're all in, right, Myke? I mean, it's just like, Rotring went from one to a hundred. And it looks like Pilot's heading that same route. So tell me about this latest addiction of vintage Pilot.

'''Mike Dudek:''' Yeah, yeah. It's in my... I don't know if my personality... I wonder if you could consider it... See, I don't want to call it compulsive, okay? I don't.

'''Mike Dudek:''' But I think you're right. There's... I consider my pen hobbies to be... I don't know. It's almost based on like an attention span, right? Like, there's only so much time I have to, I guess you could say, invest into certain pens, right? Or certain brands. And what I find about my personality is that I'm a little bit more drawn to maybe the unique things that are... Not like the standard sort of classic styling. You know what I mean? Like some of the more... And there's nothing wrong with like classic style, you know, piston fillers like the Pelican M205 or things like that. You know, just that classic sort of style. But pens like Rotring, you know, you got the hexagons, you got the knurling. There's just a lot to it that's... There's not really anything else like it. And so, you know, yes, you're absolutely right. There was that time... And I still love Rotring. I do. I've sort of thinned the herd a little bit.

'''Mike Dudek:''' Primarily just to fund the pilot addiction now. But they still hold like a really good place for me, you know, as far as my pens and my collection. And I know that I'll get enjoyment out of them over time. But I would definitely say your Murex post from... When was that? Like a year ago, maybe? It's about two years.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Two years ago, maybe. Yeah. I don't know.

'''Mike Dudek:''' Maybe two years ago. Yeah. Whenever you posted that, I just was blown away. You know, even at that time, I thought, oh, wow, that's something fantastic. And, you know, I kind of put it aside, I guess you could say. Because maybe at the time, I wasn't quite as deep into fountain pens. Or I wasn't, you know, quite at the position where I could maybe go out and just jump on that. Right? And so, it just sort of sat in the back of my mind. And then all of a sudden, I don't even know where, you know, like a month and a half ago. It was probably two months ago. Like, maybe it was Thomas. You know, that Thomas, he just like pokes you. And it's like, hey, you should look over here. And you're like, no, no, I shouldn't. Okay. I looked. I looked. I looked. And then it sort of spirals from there. Yeah. So, I ended up actually getting a Murex and was completely fascinated by it. Just some history, right, about the Murex or the Mu. I'm not even sure really how to pronounce it. Is it Mu? Is it Mayu? Is it M-Mu? Mu? We'll just kind of go with Mu then. Yeah, I like that. These are vintage Pilot pens that came out in the 1970s. So, you know, 40 years, 45 years, these pens. The Mu 701 actually came out in 1971. The first one did. And it has this really crazy, you know, space-age kind of integral nib. Just the entire grip section and the nib are made from one solid piece of stainless steel. Which is just, it's a work of art, is what it is. You know, it's just fantastic. And there's not really anything else that's like it. The Murex was actually a later model that came out like seven years after, six, seven years after the Mu. And it's a bigger, slightly longer pen. It's got some grip section, the rings in it, you know. But both of them share that same sort of integral nib. And I don't quite understand, like, what happened, you know, with me as far as why I got so excited about them. But it's that idea of there's nothing really else there in the market that fits sort of that box. And so when I jump in, you're absolutely right. I feel like I want to just consume as much of this in a short amount of time as I can. Which is probably really bad. But I try and get my hands on as much. And part of it, too, is so that I can see, well, what do I like? What will stick over a long period of time? What of these pens am I going to hang on to? Is it the fine nibs? Is it the medium nibs? Do I like the Mu better than the Murex? You know, so there's a few different things that go into it. But, yeah, hopefully I haven't triggered too many people to go out and start hunting vintage pilots yet.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Well, I remember when me and Brad first spoke about this, I wanted one. And now, watching you, I really want one. And I fear that I will be buying one very soon. Like how I ended up buying their broach ring lava, which I still love. I found that in a pen case the other day. I was like, I forgot about you, you beautiful thing.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, I bought that last time you were on the show. Like before you even left.

'''Mike Dudek:''' Yeah, I'm sure we could arrange some post-call shopping.

'''Mike Dudek:''' Although, you just bought the Edison, so we might have to hold off. Yeah, probably should. So, similar to the idea of the broach ring, though. You know, I mean, the price point. Some additional history on these is what makes them, I think, right now so sought after is the fact that they were never imported directly to the United States. Like during the 70s, they were only released, from my understanding, in Japan. And so, any ones that have come over to the United States or other countries have been imports. Like secondary sales, I guess you could say, at a later time. The original price point on these pens, you know, they were, I think, 5,000 yen back in 1973 or 75. Which, if you do the calculation, equates to like $23 United States, you know, dollars. Back in the 1970s, equated with inflation, it's like maybe 75 or 80 bucks. Now those same pens go for, you know, they can be upwards of 300. And in some cases, some models, 500 bucks. You know, so it's, to see that kind of demand is absolutely crazy. But the deals are there. That's the thing. Like if you really, really are interested in getting one, you have to be patient and keep your eyes out. And like almost be on the hunt at all times to sort of snatch one up when it arrives, if you're really, really interested. But they are fantastic. They're just cool. There's not really, like I said, there's not anything like it. And being pilots, even with a stainless steel, like all stainless steel nib, they write wonderfully. Like the mediums are really, really generous mediums. So, it just depends on what you like. So, well, now with the Mew.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I'm just looking on eBay now.

'''Mike Dudek:''' Yeah. Be careful. Yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. So, the funny thing is they, Pilot, actually saw fit to reissue the Mew in a limited edition.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' It's about five or six years ago. I think it's called the M90. Yep. 2008. The M90. 2008. 2008. So, the Pilot M90 came out and they only made, you remember the number on that? I think it's about 9,000 of them. Yeah. So, they, I think the original retail was about 180. And I remember looking at the time, that's when I wasn't into fountain pens at all. I was like, well, that's just insane. Why would you pay that for a fountain pen? And now those are probably the most expensive out of all of this collection of the vintage style stainless steel. And it's the newest one. And those go for about 500.

'''Mike Dudek:''' They can. Yeah. The M90. I was able to acquire an M90 as well. Of course. Of course you did. I know. I know. For a decent price. And the difference, actually, they've done, like, really such a good job in sort of remaking. There are some subtle differences from the Mew. It's slightly bigger. Like, slightly bigger, slightly heavier. But it's, the build quality on it, it's phenomenal. And I've talked to a couple people. Like, I have a local pen shop I go to. And the first place I ever saw the M90 is, that's what he uses as his everyday writer. You know? So, I just walk in and he whips it out. And I'm like, oh my gosh. You know, what is this? And he's like, yeah, they sold these a few years ago. And they're discontinued. And, but, from what I understand is Pilot redid those for their 90th birthday. So, that's Pilot's 90th birthday was 2008. So, my hope is, fingers crossed, right? That in 2018, for their 100th birthday, maybe they'll, you know, come back with something new. But I'd imagine they'll probably be more expensive the second time around. But, yeah, there's, there's, actually, there's a newer, there's this whole genre of pocket pens, I guess you could say, that Pilot made back in the 1970s. There's one called the Pilot Elite. And there's another one called the Volex. Those ones didn't have the integral nib, you know, the solid stainless steel. They had kind of what's considered, like, the thumbnail nib, similar to that of, like, the Pilot Custom. Pilot redid, I'm not sure when they reissued it, but they actually have currently for sale. It's called the Pilot Elite 95S.

'''Mike Dudek:''' And what it is, is it's kind of a reissue, I think, of the original Pilot Elites from 19, around 1975. And they're, like, spot on, as far as the design and style. And they come with a 14-carat nib. And from the reviews I've seen, they are totally worth their price point. You know, they're, I think, about $130. But it's, if you kind of want that vintage Pilot throwback style, you know, it's got gold trim and stuff. So if that's not your bag, then it might not fit. But it's, they're, this to me is a good sign that Pilot's maybe transitioning back to some of their roots of those kind of 70s releases, which is cool. So hopefully they'll keep going.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, I really like, I really like the path they're on. And that Elite has been, the new Elite, I have an old Elite, the old Pocket, small Elite. But the new Elite with the 14-carat gold nib. Yeah, the only thing holding me back from getting that is the gold. But I will probably break down eventually just because it's such a good-looking pen. I mean, it's really, really beautiful. And these old Pilot designs are great. And, you know, I'm just fascinated by these designs. And when you hold something like the Murex and you're writing with it, you're just like, man. The Murex could be, like, the one pen for me. Like, if I got rid of everything and had that, I would be happy. That says a lot about the pen. So, yeah. All right. I've got a couple more questions around these pilots. But we want to take care of another sponsor, if you'd like to, Mr. Hurley.