Editing The Pen Addict 288/transcript (section)

== AL Star Color ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' So, big news always is what Lamy color is going to end up in the AL Star and the Safari lineups for 2018.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' The AL Star is called Vibrant Pink, and it's kind of amazing. It's really, really bright in a magenta-y kind of way. I love it.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' This could convert me into an AL Star fan. I don't know. Everything about this pen is perfect, really. I mean, this is what these special editions should be.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Well, there's one thing wrong with it. It's not Safari.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' It's not a Safari, right? So, the section is, you know, the clear, the smoked clear gray. It doesn't have the full barrel Safari. You know, you're going to get dings and dents on the aluminum barrel.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I'm very interested to see the ink.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, that would be great. Yeah. Yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So, matching fountain pen ink and cartridges are coming in. Lamy doesn't already have a pink, so we don't already know the color. Like, what was it? Pacific Blue last year?

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, it's just a remix.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. Not even a remix. It was just a repackaging.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Mm-hmm.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' The Safari 2018 limited edition has shown up on a couple of sites, but not Fanta Pluma. So, I have this link from Fanta Pluma. So, Frank wrote about the Vibrant Pink, and in the questions or comments on his post, they asked him about the 2018 Safari limited edition, and he says, I don't have confirmation on that yet, so I'm not posting. Other sites have put it up, Myke?

'''Myke Hurley:''' Mm-hmm.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' As black.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I hope that's not for real. Sounds a bit boring.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Surely they already make a black one.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Surely they make a black one. Well, they have a stock black with a silver clip as part of their stock lineup. With the blackout. They've sold a charcoal matte black, you know, a non-glossy barrel with a black nib. So, is this going to be glossy barrel, black clip, black nib Safari? If so, that's a terrible idea. I mean, as good as the pen will look, that's just not right. Yeah.

'''Myke Hurley:''' The one you're thinking of, they did one called the Umber, which is like a gray with a black nib. Like, that's kind of all it would be. Like, I don't... Yeah. I'm not so sure about that. I'm not so sure about that.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So, I... I mean, a couple of sites are saying, like, the sites... There was one site... I forget the exact shop. But it had, like, the Pico being lime green, you know, for its limited edition. The Lamy... But then, it had the Lamy Joy limited edition being white. Well, they already have a white Lamy Joy. And they already have a black Lamy Safari. So, I'm gonna hold off on Safari commentary. But I know if it's black, it's gonna be a long year for Team Safari. It just is. We're gonna have to live with the AL Star Vibrant Pink versus Safari Black all year. That's not a life I wanna live, Myke. Yeah. That will be a bad year for Team Safari if we're going this route. And just for those asking, and I know a bunch of you have asked Anna already, we're gonna make new buttons for this year for Team Safari and Team AL Star. But we're gonna wait until the colors are finalized and we'll make them the colors of the special editions. And we hand those out at pen shows and, you know, just have a fun... It's a fun conversation with that. So, I'm concerned, though, for Team Safari in 2018 if this proves to be the case. It's gonna be a huge letdown. What kind of limited edition ink are we gonna get?

'''Myke Hurley:''' The blackest black or the non-blacker than, like, it'll be, I don't know, like, the hot black Desiato or something. Yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Vanta Black. Yeah, Vanta Black.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Now, see, that would be cool, right? Now... But they're not allowed to use it. If they found a way to do that, like, invisible black stuff, I would go for that. Right? That you can't even see the logo, but you can feel it. You know? That I would go for. Lamy, if that's what you've done, I'll buy a hundred of them.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Mm-hmm.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So, we'll hold judgment. I guess we'll probably know pretty soon, because those usually come out in the spring, so... We'll wait for confirmation on the Safari. Okay. Yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Um... I am a little bit concerned. I'm not gonna lie. A little concerned. Gonna be a long year, if that's the case, but, you know...

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, but one special edition does not a better pen make.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I agree with that. It doesn't change, but... I'm gonna have to hear it all year. Mm-hmm. So, I'll just need... Along with the buttons, I'm gonna have to get, like, a laminated card printout on why the Safari's better. Yeah. Just so I can hand out, like, a business card. Yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' All right. I'm gonna switch it up a little bit, because we have a lot more to get to, Myke. And, um... We'll see how much we can actually get to. And this one, we can keep pretty short and sweet. But I wanted your thoughts on desk pens. And the reason I'm asking is I've noticed in the past year, this has become more of a thing in our community. Now, it's... Desk pens are really probably one of the most traditional writing setups, you know, in the history of writing. You know, you have a... You have a desk. You have an inkwell. And you have a pen holder. And you dip your pen in there. And, you know, the desk sets, you know, morph from there through times. You know, you end up with eyedropper pens and cartridge pens, you know, through the years and decades. And all have this desk set up. Mm-hmm. Well, as we got more mobile in our lifestyles, you know, the desk pen kind of went away. No one has the one necessarily just a spot where they sit and write and grab that pen. That is in a base on their desk and is essentially uncapped, right? It's a capless pen that uses the desk base as a cap. So, last year, Retro 51 started doing them. They've probably done them before. They've probably done them for years. And I've missed it. Last year was the first time I noticed they did a lot of colors in them. And then that kind of piqued my interest. I never got one. But I kind of always wanted one. I was like, well, I don't need more stuff on my desk. I have a lot of stuff on my desk. And then Y Studio came out with one. And, you know, I love their pens, the Brassing Fountain Pens. They have a Brassing desk set or a Brassing Fountain Pen desk pen with a nice base and the beautiful pen. You know, their pens are kind of a work of art. So, it shows off really well on a desk. And then you have a product called the Penwell that's come out to rave reviews, which will turn mostly any pen into a desk pen. So, are desk pens a thing, Myke? Is this something that you can buy into as a thing? And it's something we're going to continue to see going forward?