Editing The Pen Addict 671/transcript (section)

== Tier list videos and pen comparisons ==

* Yeah. You know, it's the tier list videos. I thought they're really fun. Like I've watched them for like watch content. Like, and I thought about how I could do that for pens. Um, and you know, it's a little bit like pens, I feel like in a way are a little bit less complicated than, than watches, but it was something I, I spend a lot of time thinking about. And I was like, you know, I know this is going to upset some people. Um, but as I said multiple times in the videos, like, this is just for fun. This is off the top of my head and this is subjective. This isn't, you know, fact at all. Right. Um, but people were really nice. You know, I, after talking to people, it's like, well, I could probably move some of the brands around a bit. Um, I've been convinced, but you know, I think it'll be something I probably do every year because it is, it was pretty fun. But the point I brought up when I was talking to Myke about this was I thought it was really cool because you presented it and you did a good job of, of laying all this out, like in the beginning. And like you said, mentioning through the, um, through the video, like this is your rating, right? Like this is very personal. And sometimes that gets lost that you're saying this as, oh, this is like factually correct that, you know, this pen is this tier and this pen, pen brand is this tier. And people like, it's, it's hard for people sometimes that don't have a lot of background or the context around like what you're trying to do that they'll take this definitively, you know, it's like, oh no, but my favorite pen is X. Why is it rank so low? It's like, well, you're missing the point. But I mean, that's what the YouTube comment section is for us to yell at you for that. Um, but I thought it was very good how you laid that out. And I took it after, after we're going to talk about some specifics here. Um, but like, I listened to your, to your video, like every bit of it. And I'm just going, I'm just like nodding my head with like literally everything. And I told Myke, like the only thing I can disagree with in is only a personal thing, but it's the exact type of commentary that should be on this video is like you ranked. So you're, let me lay out the categories and I'll have a link in this, the show notes. Y'all should all go watch this video. And if you're familiar with tier lists, like the format will look familiar. Um, number one, your tiers were pretty funny. So let me read the tier. So you have the top tier is like the very top. And then these go in order down to the worst, if you will. So top and then class and then excellent. Next is value. Then maybe, and then overhyped. And then history, which there's a lot of ways you can take that word, uh, there in that category. And then the last one is hilarious. Total Schmidt, which you said the first time you said that, I was like, what did he just say? And I had to go look at the chart. I was like, oh, he did say that. Yeah. I love it.
* And I, I, you know, I thought about like, should I not do that? Cause you know, Schmidt does make some good nibs and I I've had plenty of pens with good nibs that, you know, are by Schmidt, but I don't know that, that brand for whatever reason is always dunked on in the fountain pen community. So I was like, let's just do it. Yeah. See, I like, I like, I didn't even think of it as like a dig on Schmidt. I just thought it was hilarious. It was like, oh yeah, this is great. This is great. So like literally the only argument I had, and it's not even a direct argument. I think it's why this type of list should exist is like you had a poor customer service experience with Leonardo, like repeatedly. And just like, it makes you want to pull your hair out. And these are the types of experiences that a lot of people have with a lot of different brands. And I think it's good information to put out there. Like I like Leonardo, I would rank them higher. I've also never had an issue with them. Right. So like all of these little things play into where you put these products on a list like this. So I don't want to cover every brand here, but I do want to like talk about the, the, the two brands that, you know, rose to the top and these, these, um, these types of tier lists should be very like middle heavy, right? The top should be very exclusive. So you got two brands at the top. Why don't you tell us what those are and why? Yeah. So at the top I put Montblanc, that one was, you know, the easiest for me. Um, I know people don't love Montblanc always, uh, in the, in the community, but they, I really feel like, you know, as a fountain pen user, um, you know, they've been in business forever, just making like nonstop, like great pens. They've been doing their custom, like nib program, which is pretty sweet. And recently we've been getting like their calligraphy curve nib, their flex nib. Like they're not just doing stuff for, you know, people that want to buy some kind of like fashion accessory there. They're, they do it. They do a great job and they do a great job for collectors. And I think, uh, Montegrappa, I know some people don't agree with this, but I, I think that they, um, their build quality is extremely high. They use no injection molding. They take a lot of risks. So like they have some of like the most polarizing pens out there, like love it, hate it. Um, and, but the quality is just excellent. And for me as a collector, like their pens are just so much fun and they're, they're taking risks, which a lot of brands don't do. So I just wanted to give the prop them up and they had great customer service. Um, and very responsive, which a lot of pen brands, I would say most pen brands are not. At least not the big ones. Um, you know, some of the smaller companies are, are responsive. Yeah. So I, I wouldn't say that the Montegrappa was a surprise, but I imagine it was, but I am someone who has come around on them right at the timeline where they switched over from like using Bach to using Yovo for their base steel nibs. It matched up with a, like kind of a design shift. I feel like, you know, without knowing like all the details, but I don't know, things just started to line up for me around them. And there's some, they make some of my favorite pens, um, these days as well. Um, you know, I have a few that I just really like, and I like their overall just aesthetic. I even like, like the outrageous pens. We might talk about one, uh, here later in this episode, if we have time, uh, that you might own. Um, but I, I just think for, I guess what's, I mean, would you consider them a small maker? I don't know. They're like, everything's in house, right? Like I don't, I don't think so. Yeah. Only they don't make the actual nib. They make their own feeds. Yeah. But everything else is in house. Like they even like their cap liners are like all like turned. They're like not injectionable. They just, they, they do a great job and they're, you know, I don't know what their production numbers are like, but I have seen some great factory tours. Um, Apple boom did one and then like style of ZOO did one. And it's just what they're like. The technology that they use is incredible. I have this one pen that they made with like this six access laser machine. It's like, it's just the stuff they're doing is, is nuts. And like, they'll do hand painted pens. Like if you want a picture of your dog on a pen, they'll do that for you. I mean, it won't be cheap, but they'll do it. Yeah. None of these are cheap. And like, but even their, even their baseline pens are, I would say relatively expensive, like to like the direct competition, like in the entry level price points. They, they're a little bit. They were in it. And I was definitely late to the Montegrappa game. Like I always thought they were like, this is just too much for, for what it is. But I eventually bought like a, a Fortuna, which they had like on sale for like a hundred dollars at, I think it was like called shop worn or something like that. And I was just blown away with how nice this pen was. Like, I mean, it was just like a, a white resin pen, but then it had like incredible, incredibly nice, like machined threading. And then the grip section matched the body, but it was white lacquered metal. I was like, whoa, they really, the build quality is just really good.
* And same, like, I don't have a lot of experience with Montblanc, but I respect the heck out of them as a fountain pen company. I think they, they do a good job as like, yes, they're a premium luxury brand and they do have a lot of, you know, you play, pay a premium for the name and things like that. But I do think, I do think they really care about their, their fine writing lineup and it shows, uh, like you were saying, like in the results, like, I, I think there's like no doubt that should be, should be at the top of the list as someone who I like, I literally own one. I own a Bohem, like the little small, little small, only one I own and I love it. And like, I will get a mom, another Montblanc one day. And there's some that I really like, but I just, I just haven't yet. And, you know, but I do respect them a lot as, as a brand. Um, what I want to talk about, and it's in the maybe category, and I think this is a really good pen to talk about in this. And it's, it's Kaweco as a brand. I really think that's a love, hate brand. Like that's a, not a lot of middle ground brand just because of the style of their pens, it's like 90% of what they make is like a pocket size pen. And that just eliminates so many people from the conversation. Right. Yeah. Yeah. No, I mean, I think I don't, Kaweco isn't one that like instantly comes to my mind necessarily as a, as a recommendation anymore. I mean, back in the, back in the day, like an affordable, like nice pen was, was like the, the sport. Um, but it's a classic design. And I do like like their metal pens, like the Supra is a great pen, but I feel like that, like more entry level, not entry level, but like in the a hundred dollar to like $50 price range, we've gotten so many, like just fantastic new pens that Kaweco is more of a maybe for me. Right. Yeah. I totally feel that. And like, I wanted to like the super more than I did, but I think it's just like over designed. Like, I think it's like one step too far from away from like what they could have made for that pen. But like, again, this is why we love talking about, we could literally have done the whole podcast and just gone through this list and argued, argued about them. Um, tell me why I need a graph on Faber-Castell. So that's one, that's one pen that's been a pen brand that's been on my list for years that I'm missing like that experience. And I know I would like it and I just haven't ponied up for one yet, but you, you have several, right? I have. Yeah. I have three of them and I would never tell someone that they need a graph on Faber-Castell because literally nobody needs one. Yeah. No one needs a Kaweco. You know, no one needs all this stuff. No one needs a graph on Faber-Castell pen with abs, which we have talked about many, many times. Oh my God. Yeah. That was really for such like a, what I would consider like a sober brand. It's like, what, what happened?
* I was waiting. That was so embarrassing. I was, we're going to talk about another video next, your favorite pens. And we started pulling that out. I was like, please don't pull out the pen with abs. Please don't pull out the pen with abs. You did good. But what is it about graph on Faber-Castell that I like so much, but they haven't made me like spend the money on it because they're expensive. Sure. Yeah. They're, they're expensive. And, you know, I, you know, go used if you can. I always try to when I can.
* I think they just, they have like a very unique style, like where I look at a pen and I'm like, that's a graph on Faber-Castell. Um, the fit and finishes is really nice. And I really love this pen that they made. Unfortunately, they don't make it anymore. It was called the, uh, intuition Platino wood. And it has this fluted wood body, um, which also acts as the grip section. So it's kind of rare to have a wood grip section and then to have that extra, you know, haptic experience of the fluting is really, really nice. And then they always do a great job with their nibs. They, I believe they're, they're either Bach or Yovo. They might be Yovo now, but they do their own like tipping. Like they adjust the tipping to make it, you know, special to them. And they really, I've never had a bad writing one, you know, knock on wood. Yeah. Yeah. Um, yeah. How would you compare the writing experience to like a Pelican gold nib? Say like, um, I don't know if they even get up as big as like the 1000, but like an 800.
* Yeah. Uh, so the 800 is, is interesting. Like I think Pelican nibs typically are softer. And especially if you get the ones with the Pelican fabric hallmark, those are really soft. Um, whereas the Graflon Fabric Estelle, they're like, they're very smooth. They're very wet. Um, they do have a little bit of bounce, but I would say not quite as much as Pelican. Okay. Yeah. That's kind of from the reviews I've watched and seen people write with them and like getting to use some of them that it feels like more in line with what I would enjoy. Like I, I, again, Pelican is one of those brands. I absolutely love Pelican, but I almost can't use them because of the nibs. Like the way I write and their nibs just don't work with me, but there's some of the best nibs in the world, I think. Right. I mean, you, you clearly think they're ranked at the same right under the top level is, you know, Aurora, Graflon Fabric Estelle, Pelican, you know, all that stuff. Yeah. And like the Graf compared to an Aurora and Aurora is like a nail. So like the Graf is definitely softer than that. Yep. That's why I like the Aurora so much. Exactly. So yeah. Yeah. So many, so many good things. All right. Well, this is a good, uh, this is a good jumping point into another video. I think people should watch, which is your entire fountain pen collection.
* Yeah.
* Was that literally the entire, like you started pulling like, well, I'm like, here's the cup on my desk. And like the things just kept coming out. I think, I think that was everything. The one I missed was there was a Kaweco that I had. I can't remember what it's called, but it was like designed to put like clay on it. And then you actually like would bake the pen. I didn't show that one. I mean, I never used it. Yeah. Is that a real thing? I have never heard of that. I can't remember. It's like something with an F Fimo clay. It's like a German thing, but it was like, you could make your own pen a body and you would bake the pen and then you would have, you know, your own custom pen. Oh, wow. Yeah. I got to look this up. Yeah. I think it's called Fimo clay, but I don't remember what the pen was called. But anyway, it was everything. Yeah. And I, I had a lot of trepidation about like putting out like my whole collection. People asked for it for a long time and it was just like, this isn't going to look good, but here we go. And well, it ended up good. Like I thought it, I thought it was good. And I wanted to bring up a point that you made like right in the beginning. You did a good introduction on, you know, why you buy these pens and how, you know, the personal aspects of it and that you think of, you know, like this pen collection, you think of it more as like a consumption idea concept versus a collection. Like you're buying this stuff to use, right? Like you're using these pens and that's kind of like, I believe like a really important part of this whole thing that we do. Yes. We might buy some expensive pens, but I'm not building a museum collection. That's never going to be used. Right. Sure. Yeah. I mean, I won't keep anything that, that doesn't get used. I mean, unless it's like really cheap or something, but. Or there's some sentimental stuff that could be like, you know. That's true. I do have one. Yeah. Fair, fair enough. And, you know, I don't, if you want to have like your museum collection and you get enjoyment and value out of that, like that's totally valid too. But for me, I, I have to use everything except for maybe some of those sentimental pens that don't work that well. Yeah. You had like a good, a good bit of context that you were talking about like watches and cars and like, you know, you're saying like the coolest car is, is the one that gets used. It's, it's, it's the car that you love and you think it's cool. And it has a hundred thousand miles on it, not eight, you know? Right. Right. Like, because it's just, it, it imparts a different meaning on the product. I think like, if I'm going to use this Namiki or this Nakaya and like, you know, it might have a scratch on it or, you know, you can start to see the wear of the Urushi is like, that's cooler than if, to me, if it sat there like in a glass case on display. Right. Right. Yeah. You're not, you're not making any memories with the pen. Yeah. There's less of a connection. It's just like, Oh, that's a beautiful object, which is fine. Yeah. Yeah. All right. So now I have to, I have to pin you down on a couple of these, the Montegrappa pirate. Oh yeah. I haven't seen this before. And I, I try to follow like all of their like really like unique, you know, designs that they do, which they, they do, they do so many of these, like in a good way, like they might do like four a year of like these just wild things, but that's a lot. That is a ton. And I love the concept of these pens. So we used to, for years, we would talk about the chaos pen, the Montegrappa chaos pen. Yeah. And this one reminds me of just like a bigger, more awesomer version. And until I got the chaos pen in my hand, it took me until that point to get it. And I got it. Like, I was like, okay, I was like, I'm making fun of this pen. I am like, kind of like, you know, looking at it sideways. Like, I don't know what to make of this over the top design. And then I met someone in person who had this literally carried it in a lanyard around their neck and let me use it. And I was like, I actually want this pen now. Like, I get it. So tell me about the Montegrappa pirate pen and what you think of a pen that like, that's big. And like, you know, for lack of a better word, ostentatious, like it's, it's, it's a, it's a kind of a shock to the system and what we normally think of as a fountain pen. Totally. Totally. Yeah. And I mean, my collecting has definitely evolved. Like this was a pen that I would have just like never, ever considered like years ago. Like it would be like, that's ridiculous.
* But, but my tastes changed. And I'm like, yeah, I would never bring that to like a meeting like that. It would be like just crazy. But like the amount of like detail, like on the pirates pen, like I've looked at a lot of different Montegrappas and like just the quality of like the workmanship and the details insane. This is like one of their most detailed pens. And I saw it, you know, at a brand new at a, at a very good discount. And I was like, let's just see what this is like. Cause I don't have any other pen that's, you know, quite as crazy as that. And it writes so nicely. It's got like, you know, a bouncy, um, it's a Bach nib because I think back then they were, they were Bach, but like the, the, the clip is like the, like a skull's like head with like a sword. And it's just crazy. Like the whole thing's articulated. And when you're holding the pen on the back of the pen, there's like, you know, like a mermaid who is topless and like, I'm being like poked by her. I'm like, there's no other pen with this kind of experience. It's like, it's not necessarily a complaint, but it's, uh, it's interesting. And I never thought I could use such big heavy pens, but like I, I journal with that all the time. I write thank you notes with it all the time. And the same thing goes for, I have a Graff on Fabric Estelle Knights pen, which is my heaviest pen. That's like a hundred grams. And I still write with it. Yeah. Yep. Yep. For some reason, when I got to use that chaos pen, I could not believe how well, how nicely it fit in my hand and that I could write with it. And I was like, okay, fine. Y'all win. Like I need something like this one day. And that the pirate falls into that category for some reason it works and it just kind of blows my mind. How many of these, how many of these pens do you think you have inked up at any time? Like, do you keep like a rotation going, like just kind of go with the flow? Do you have five inked up? Do you have 20 inked up? What's, what's kind of like the usage? Yeah. So in my desk drawer, I have like a pen tray that holds 12. So I'm typically 12 plus, you know, maybe five overflow, which is, is more than I like, but sometimes I need to ink a pen to like compare it to something or somebody's asking me about something and it's like, okay, I got to ink this up or somebody wants to borrow a pen. So I always end up inking more than I want. But yeah, I would say probably 15 is the average. Yeah. Yeah. That, that, once I hit that number, that's when I start to panic. Like I got to keep it closer to 10, but I would love to have like three. Yeah. I would like it to be like, I would, I would even give into like five or six, but it just, it's just, Oh, one more thing. One more thing. Oh, I haven't used the pirate pen in a while. Look at this. Look at this ink. Those will go good in the pirate pen. All right. I'm going to get you out of here and cause a little bit more trouble for you on the way out. I noticed going through this video that several of your pens still had the stickers on them. Granted they were vintage, but are you keeping? Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You were, there was a, I mean, a couple of Mont Blancs, there was a Pelican, I think with a sticker on it. Do you keep the stickers on the pens? Is it just a vintage thing? Like, so for the Mont Blanc 149s, I have, I have four so far of the exact same pen and they, you know, they were two of them are that have stickers are the calligraphy nib pens. And so if I leave the sticker on there, I know that one's the flex, that one's the curved. Fair enough. And then I have a Pelican M600 from 1988 and it came with the sticker on it. It's like, am I really going to pull that off? I don't know.
* Whereas the Mont Blancs are new and, you know, the stickers are falling off and eventually they'll come off and it'll be fine. But I know, I always think it's like, you know, the hats with like the stick, you keep the sticker on the hat. I'm like, I'm doing this with the pen. I'm like, oh, what's happening? All right. I feel like I can let you off the hook on those. It's like, that's fair and reasonable. It's like, geez, I was like, I can't give you too hard a time on that, but we always enjoy having fun with stickers on pens. Blake, this was a fun and amazing conversation. We could talk for hours more about pens and paper. That's for sure.