Editing The Pen Addict 312/transcript (section)

== Retro 51 Paris Skyline ==


'''Madison:''' So they did New York Skyline. Now this is Paris Skyline.

'''Myke Hurley:''' It is a beautiful Retro 51. It glows in the dark. I always love that kind of stuff and those details. It has a French bulldog on the finial. It's beautiful. It's not for me, but I really appreciate the design of it. I think it's a wonderful looking pen. It's not one that I'm going to buy, but I wanted to mention it because I know that there are going to be many people listening to this show. It's just right up their alley, right? Because it is a great looking pen. And it's just like, again, I own so many of these now. I pick and choose. I'm like the weirdest collector in the world, right? Like I collect something. I don't think so. Or at least by general standards of being a collector of something in that like my collection is based purely upon my own tastes, which is kind of a funny thing. But I like it a lot. I think it's really nice looking, but it's not going to enter my drawer of Retro 51s.

'''Madison:''' Yeah, I looked at the image. I'm like, oh, man, that is super cool. They did a great job. And like the end, like I'm not going to buy it. Like I have too many, like I'm not getting burnt out on Retro 51s, but I pose the question to you and to others out there. Or are there products that you do get burnt out on because you just see the churn and the hype train and the constant product and bombardments? And I say this as a massive fan.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I think it's possible. I'm a fan. But the reason that I am not burned out on Retro 51 and I think that the industry as a whole is not is because they keep making incredible pens. Like if they made stuff at the pace that they're making it at and they were missing, you know, they were a bunch of misses. Because that's not like say, for example, that they decided that the Kiss thing was such a success for them. They were just good. All they were going to make now was every single month or every three weeks they were going to do some other hair metal band. I think that that might eventually like people would get tired of that. But there's so much variety in the design that it feels almost impossible, right? Because if you want to get a Kiss pen, you can get that. If you want to get one with the solar system on it, you can get that. If you want to get one with a Paris Scalding, you want to get one that looks like a cigar. You want to get one that looks like a baseball. Like they have so many different designs that the burnout feels less likely for me because you appeal to more people over a longer period of time.

'''Madison:''' Yep. Yep. So, yeah, I'm with you. I was like, and I buy like a quarter of what you buy. And, you know, I just buy the ones that I like and, you know, move on from the other ones. And, you know, it's pretty cool. And I just sent you the picture of the Panatic prototype that I should have in my hands for later this year. And I'm pretty excited about that. That'll be the one that sinks the ship for sure. Like, you know, that's going to be the one that's like, oh, my God, what did they do here? And, you know, they'll be buried forever. So, I appreciate them working with me and my crazy ideas.

'''Myke Hurley:''' All right. Should we take a break?

'''Madison:''' Let's.

'''Myke Hurley:''' All right. I need to shave. Yeah. Well, then this is the perfect time for you because we're going to talk about Harry's. We're all about a great shave at a fair price, which is over 3 million, which is why over 3 million people have switched to Harry's. And you should, too. You should go join them because Harry's make great products. Their founders, Jeff and Andy, decided to create their company because they were fed up of overpriced razors and they wanted to fix it. They knew a great shave comes down to great blades made of sharp, durable steel that lasts. And they also cut out the unnecessary costs, allowing them to deliver you one perfect razor at an amazing price. They offer high quality blades at just half the price that you'd pay elsewhere at $2 per blade. Harry's bought a factory that's been making some of the highest quality blades in the world for over 95 years. So, you know they're good. And they offer a 100% quality guarantee. If for any reason you don't love your shave, just let Harry's know within 30 days and you'll get a full refund. Brad, why would people not want their full refund, though? Why are they going to be so excited and happy?

'''Madison:''' So, it's the one product I seem the most consistent packing with. So, this is what I mean. So, the last two trips I've taken were the Raleigh Pen Show and then I went to the beach this weekend. So, I packed my little Harry's Dopp kit and I never forget my Harry's razor because I know that's how good it is and I would be hosed if I forgot it. Those last two trips, I forgot my toothbrush on both of those trips. Wow. And that's kind of an important thing. I always remember my Harry's razor. I 100% forget my toothbrush. So, I need Harry's to make a toothbrush so I will stop forgetting to pack what is really, really good.

'''Myke Hurley:''' That's so good.

'''Madison:''' So, thank you, Harry's, for not allowing me to forget my razor because it's so good I would be devastated. But apparently, I don't care about my teeth as much as I do my neck.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Fair enough. Harry stands behind the quality of their blades. But they know that switching razors is not an easy decision. So, they want to give you a trial offer. You can get a $13 value trial set that comes with everything that you need for a close, comfortable shave. A weighted ergonomic razor handle. Five precision engineered blades with lubricating strip and a trimmer blade. Rich lathering shave gel. And a travel blade cover as well. Just go to harrys.com slash penaddict right now and redeem your special offer and let them know that we sent you. Thank you so much to Harry's for their support of this show and RelayFM. That's harrys.com slash penaddict. Thanks, Harry's.

'''Madison:''' All right. We got a good batch of Ask TPA this week. I want to tackle the first one from the tiny badge.

'''Madison:''' The Nib section, which is a wonderful podcast you should all go listen to. We'll make sure we put a link in the show notes. You bet. I know everyone on that show does a fantastic job and I really enjoy their content. You should listen to it. So, it says, the Nib section recently spoke of resale of fountain pens being comparable to guitars running a certain percentage of original cost. Any thoughts on a formula to determine resale price? So, good question. Tough question. Impossible to answer. But I will say, so Chuck on the Nib section is a musician or I don't know if he's a musician, but he plays music and buys a lot of instruments. So, he was talking about guitars and relating fountain pens, selling fountain pens after they've been purchased on as a resale to guitars. So, he was saying, when you purchase a guitar and right after you purchase it, you can just go ahead and mark it off 30% if you're trying to resell it like right away. Like, that's the immediate, you know, markdown and then about 10% less per year, which the pen industry, I don't think is like that per se. You know, if you buy a pen, especially a limited edition pen, I don't know that it's going to increase in value, but you can probably get close to 90 to 100% of your value back probably within that first six months or year. You know, while people are still interested in that pen, looking for that pen, things like that. I think after that first, like six months to a year, it's just going to depend on the pen, right? You know, does the brand continue to be held within high regard? You know, does, you know, did, you know, did the brand fall off some, you know? How do changes in the brand, you know, affect the prices of the older pens, like when Visconti went from gold nibs to palladium nibs? So, there's all kinds of different things that come into that. I think for most of the pens that are from major companies that are the limited edition style, they'll pretty much hold their value. If not, go up maybe a little bit. There's not like a 30% discount right off the top right after purchase. I think the stock pens from those same big brands, like the mainline pens that are just always there, I do see where they would be just like, you're just going to chop something right off the top right after you purchase it. If six months from now, if I buy a Pilot Custom 912, which was one of my favorite pens on the planet, it's just not special enough to hold its full value as a used pen six months from when I buy it. So, it would probably be, you know, like 30% discount right off the top. So, it just depends. Diana made a good comment on that show as well. She said, I would never buy a new Mont Blanc. And I see that as well. Because they make so many pens, especially their core lineups. Like, this is what I was talking about. Their core lineups, like the 146 and 149. I think I paid 300 or 350 for my 149 used. And that's like an $800 pen, new or more. It's just like, you don't have to pay these premium prices for some of these pens. So, it just really depends on the volume of the pen in the market. You know, how many people want it. There's so many variables. But it's really tough to have just like a hard, fast rule. But I do think for standard lineup pens, you know, your base lineups, there is going to be a discount right off the top if you're going to resell shortly after purchase. Where limited editions, you're probably not going to see that as well. So, you know, it's the fountain pen market. It's a good market to buy used in. I've had very good experiences buying used in some of my favorite pens. I've bought used.

'''Madison:''' So, you know, it's just something you don't want to jump into blindly. Do your research. You know, do your homework. Check prices. Kind of get a feel for what those things go for. And yeah, don't hesitate to look in the resale market for something you've been looking for. So, I thought this was a great question. Yeah.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. I'm always and continue to be a little bit hesitant of some of the used stuff. Sometimes for these reasons, like, am I paying the right price? How much should it be? You know, could it go up over time? Like, that's also another part of it, right? Like, a used pen is not like a used car. Although used car can go up over time, I guess, for the same reason, right? But, you know, like, I would, like many other people, would pay probably over asking price for something like a M90. Sure. Right? So, it's a tricky business, but there is some cool stuff in it, I think.

'''Madison:''' Yeah. It's an entirely different conversation when you start to get into collectible slash investment versus using. And I know, I think TJ and Stuart on 1857 podcast, I think they talked about that this week. I haven't had a chance to listen, but that looked like it was in the show notes for this week to talk about that. So, I'll have to give that a listen and report back as well.

'''Myke Hurley:''' All right.

'''Madison:''' All right. So, this next one from Amit Yariv says, hey, I got the new Pelican M205 with an M nib. It is too fine for my taste, but the B nib is too broad. Is it me, or did Pelican make their stainless steel M nibs finer, and what can be done about it? If they did, I'll be dancing a jig because I find Pelican nibs to be on the wide side of the spectrum. So, I'm actually shocked to find that someone finds a Pelican, even the steel nibs, an M nib to be too fine in relative to other Pelican steel M nibs. I have not heard anything about this. If anyone else has, I would love to hear what you think. I have not bought a new Pelican steel nib pen in a while, so I don't know, you know, what their feel is like these days. If there's changed, I would be shocked if there was any change in their nib sizing because they're kind of known for that. You know, Pelican kind of do their own thing as far as nibs. You know, they put a stamp on it, and it's basically the Pelican size. You have to quantify the EF nib, like Sarah's saying in the chat room. You have to quantify and say that it's a Pelican EF. So, that way, you know, the person you're talking with goes, okay, so it's about a medium line, right? It's just Pelican's not known for their very fine nib sizing. So, I'd be interested to see if anyone else has had experience with the newest, you know, steel nib series, whether it's the, you know, the, whatever, the blue one, that blue one that just came out with, one of the new 205s. And they're always coming out with new ones. To me, it's extra finer, nothing in Pelican, so I haven't tried the M steel nibs. But, yeah, so we'll see. I'd be interested to know if anyone has any experience with that. Soaps and Ropes asks one of the hardest questions we get. What sort of fountain pen should I buy myself for a nine-year anniversary at work? 200 USD budget.

'''Madison:''' This is the range of everything. So, it depends. Do you want to go classic style? Like, my classic style pen in that range is the Pilot Custom 912 or a Sailor Pro Gear. Sailor Pro Gears maybe run you a little bit more than that. 912 is right around that ballpark. If you want to really get something that speaks to, like, a style you have or a color you like, you know, you look at something like Franklin Kristoff or Edison, which I think are great choices. In that price range, there's steel nibs where the Pilot and the Sailor would be gold nibs. So, it depends on what you like. 200, you can get a lot of choice in that range depending on style of pen that you want, type of writing experience that you want. So, feel free to reach out to me with more specifics if you want me to narrow it down for you. But that's where I'm starting in that range. Either the Pilot 912 or Sailor Pro Gears for something classic or Franklin Kristoff and Edison. And I'm leaving out another 20 pens we could pick in that range. So, yeah, that's a great, great price range to fit anything to your tastes.

'''Madison:''' This one's for you, Myke.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, okay.