Editing The Pen Addict 382/transcript (section)

== Robert Oster Inks ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' All right. We're going from bright to muddy, Myke. And I wanted to bring this up. This is the Robert Oster mud pack, which the my friends on Twitch sent me this link and said, hey, what do you think about this? I'm like, oh, I didn't know this. And I don't necessarily want to talk about the inks as much as much as the idea of the Robert Oster shop. So this is a new thing. Y'all know I love Robert Oster inks. And, you know, full disclosure, you know, I have my own ink through the pen addict, you know, that I've made with Robert Oster. And, you know, so we've done business together. But he's pretty well loved as an ink manufacturer. I think a lot of people love Robert Oster inks and they're fun. They're good color. So he has decided to make or launch his own shop for Robert Oster exclusive inks. So I wanted to talk more about that than necessarily the inks, which we will cover the mud pack. I mean, come on, Myke. You know, you need seven bottles of ink in the mud pack series, right? But I'm just wanting to... Seven brown inks. No. So it's a little bit hard on the site to see. So if you click on the inks and you keep scrolling right, you will actually get to these swatches of the color. It took me a while to discover.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Because I had a complaint about this website that there were no colors. But I feel like they still need to do a better job because, like... Definitely. There's just a bunch of swatches. I would like... Like, just like a bunch of, like, splodges. Like, I want to see them labored properly. Yep. But it's like a bunch of really interesting shimmery inks, obviously, because it's Robert Oster. And I do like the name. Now I see that it's not seven brown inks, which is what I thought it was. I'm a little bit more intrigued.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. And they're not all shimmer inks. They're sheeny inks. And, you know, it's Muddy Crown, Muddy Wine, Muddy Swamp, Muddy Water, Muddy Swamp. Muddy Sand, Muddy Bucket, Myke, and Muddy Dragon. So these are the colors. But I think... So there's only 100 of these seven packs. So there's not a lot of inks. And it's fairly priced. Like, it's not much more than his normal retail price. Or it actually might even be less. Because you can only buy it in this seven pack. But the idea that he's opened his own direct-to-consumer shop for his madness-type creations, I think is pretty cool. Like, I don't know. Retailers may not like it. But... Because they can't get them. It looks like he's just selling them directly to his shop. But I like it. So he has this little about section. In there, there's three little things. And I'm not going to read all of them. But I like what he says. Especially his... He has a section called In the Beginning. Talks about his background. He has a section called Dastardly and Creative. Which, you know, if you've seen his inks, that is very accurate. And then the last one, he has Guarantee. And this really hit home for me. I think this is, like, the most important thing in what I do. And you may feel the same way. My name is important to me. It appears on things in which I take pride. Therefore, your satisfaction is paramount. Original quality products and service. My name is important to me. I think that really hits home. It's like, we have these online businesses. But if I don't have my name or the reputation that comes with that, I don't have anything. And to put that in writing like that, I think that's pretty cool. So I really appreciated that he just laid it out there like that.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Well, it's even more so to somebody like Robert Oster. Because his name is...

'''Brad Dowdy:''' His name is the brand.

'''Myke Hurley:''' The brand. Which is even more than, right? Like, a poor relationship or a poor experience with Robert Oster is quite literally a poor experience with the man, Robert Oster. Right. I think this is very clever because it is showing that Oster is aware of his ability. And that people find his products to be exciting or interesting. And he is watching people like yourself capitalize on his ability to create interesting inks that you sell and do well with. So why shouldn't he do it himself?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Right. Right. So that's how I thought. It reminded me like of Knock a lot. Like, he's not pulling back, but he's doing something extra. Right. He's like, hey, I'm really good at what I do.

'''Myke Hurley:''' And there's also built a name recognition and a brand recognition now, which means that people are not just going to Pen Chalet, Van Ais, Strongholds, etc. And looking for inks and finding this color. And it's like, oh, this is interesting. No, people are paying attention to the next Robert Oster ink. Right. Right. And so, yeah, I think that that's really great.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yep. So I just thought this was all around cool and was worth a mention. And, you know, something to check. Like, if you're really into inks and you want to get all the things, like, this is probably a site you should pay attention to. You know, I don't need, like, every limited edition ink on the market. But I think it's cool to watch and see happen. So, yeah. All right. A couple quick hits before we get into our last break and then some Ask TPA. Myke, I'm a little sad that we're not going to be in Toronto this weekend. It's Scriptus this weekend, Toronto Pen Show this Sunday. Okay.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' That was one of the best trips I've ever taken, I think. It was wonderful. I thought that was just a great experience all the way around. And, like, I'm looking at it going, I wish I was there a little bit.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' But we have some links. Put some links in the show notes. If you're in and around the Toronto area, you should make the attempt to go. It's a Sunday-only show. It's a fantastic space. It does get crowded. And, like, you want to make, like, open to close, like, your goal if you're going to go. Because if you're going to try to pop in for an hour, you'll probably be disappointed.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' There is a pre-show meetup on Saturday. We'll have a link in the show notes to the Writing Pay It Forward Canada group. I think it's at the same place we were at last year. Which is a cool pump. Yeah. Very, very cool. Space is limited. You need to sign up early for that. It was getting mostly full. And then, good friend of the show, Alexander, he's working his vendor map, Magic Myke. Have you seen this? He's done this recently, like, for the San Francisco Pen Show. Made these little interactive maps where you can see all the vendors. So, we'll have a link to that in the show notes. So, I don't know. I just wanted to give them a shout-out because they are super awesome. We had the best time. And that's just, you know, a perfect picture of Pen Show's done right. Even though it's only for six hours on a Sunday, they crush it. So, it's very cool.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Well, like, if you want an example of why this is a Pen Show done right, that map that Alexander created is actually on the Scripps website. Not just on the website he made himself.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Right. Right. Like, they're working together to give you a better experience. Mm-hmm. Right. Like, they are concerned with, hey, let's make the best experience we can. And, you know, doing something like that is really, really great. So, that's cool. Last thing, Myke, it's almost Fountain Pen Day time again. It's an everyday Fountain Pen Day. It's pretty much every day is Fountain Pen Day. But, we like to celebrate thanks to our man, Kerry Yeager, at Fountain Pen Day. The 2019 Fountain Pen Day is November 1st. So, that's a week from Friday. So, if you're a Fountain Pen fan and user, which you're listening to the show, you probably are.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' You want to check out your stores, your favorite stores, your favorite vendors, your favorite blogs, and see what everyone's doing for Fountain Pen Day. I'll do a cool giveaway next week for Fountain Pen Day. Try to do something neat. I don't even know what that's going to be yet. Maybe I'll find something special at Drum Ghouls this weekend to give away for Fountain Pen Day. So, yeah, we'll do something cool around that. And, I just wanted everyone to know about Fountain Pen Day. Check the link in the show notes to see who all is participating in various Fountain Pen Day activities. And, enjoy. It's a great thing that Kerry has built for this community.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Mm-hmm. All right. Should we take our second break?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' We should. I'm pretty sure this next sponsor is participating big time in Fountain Pen Day. What do you think?

'''Myke Hurley:''' I have no doubt about that. Because it is our friends over at Pen Chalet. Because Pen Chalet, they sell authentic, amazing rollerballs, fountain pens, ballpoints, mechanical pencils, and so much more. And, they have products from your favorite brands. They're always adding new styles of pens every single month. They also sell all of the paraphernalia that you may require for your new pen hobby. I'm talking carrying cases, pen holders, ink, converters for fountain pens, refills, so much more. Pen Chalet believe in fast and reliable customer service and do free shipping on orders of over $50 in the United States. They also sell internationally with great shipping rates. They have low prices on high quality pens. And, they offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee. So, go right now to penchalet.com. P-E-N-C-H-A-L-E-T dot com. And, click the podcast link at the top of the website. And, enter the password penaddict for this week's special offer. And, to get the code you need to save 10% on anything at any time at Pen Chalet. So, we have, I was told that right when we have a pen and some inks on sale this week. That's what he told me.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Am I allowed to talk about it? Sometimes I'm allowed. Sometimes I'm not.

'''Myke Hurley:''' He didn't tell me that we couldn't.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So, let me say this. So, I started scrolling at the top. I went, uh-huh. Next one, uh-huh. Next one, uh-huh. Next one, uh-huh. And, it never stopped. It just kept going. I was like, wow, that's cool. Wow, that's cool. Wow, that's cool.

'''Myke Hurley:''' This is a great selection this week. We've got some mommy stuff. Yeah. Yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Robert Oster that we were just talking about at crazy prices. Lamy at crazy prices. Retro 51 Invader, which is a fountain pen. They did a rollerball. I will say I have the rollerball of this one from, gosh knows when, eight years ago maybe. Something like that. Pilot 100th Anniversary inks. Like, this is a lot of good stuff. So, definitely check out Pen Chalet.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Damn, that's a great price in the Pilot inks. Yep. Wow. Okay, you gotta go. Pen Chalet.com. Click the podcast link at the top of the website and enter the password Pen Addict to get your hands on these special offers. Our thanks to Pen Chalet for their support of this show and Relay FM. Should we do some Ask TPA?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, yeah. You want to try to hit all of them? I think we maybe can. It's a little reading, but I don't think we have any, like, crazy long answers. Let's see what we got. You go first.

'''Myke Hurley:''' All right. So, our first question this week on Hashtag Ask TPA is from Grace, and Grace says, I am a newbie who is looking for a black bottled ink for the first time. I've been doing my research. There's so many options that it is making my head spin. I want one suggestion that can be bought easily and cheaply. Pilot Black. All right. Next question. No, I will expand.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' It's a really, so, cheaply and easily and accessible and good quality. Yeah. And a little bit of added features, like, it's kind of waterproof-ish. You know, it's, you know, it's a really great black ink. And you want, if, you know, most black inks, you're just going to want, like, the standard pen brand ink, like, from the pen companies is what I prefer. And Pilot Black is it for me. So, there you go.

'''Myke Hurley:''' All right. John's question is, I wonder if you have any tips for cleaning out a cartridge converter when the ink gets behind the piston. And I have included in the show notes John's actual tweet so you can see an image in case you're not familiar with what I'm saying.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. So, I think anyone that's used a converter has run into this where the ink gets a little either on, like, the piston itself or it gets a little bit behind it. And what you can do, and I answered this for John on Twitter already, is you can, a lot of times, you can just unscrew the back end of the piston and clean it out completely. Like, those are, you are able to be disassembled. And you can get behind there, clean it out. I never thought it out before. Just screw it right. Yep. Never thought to try it out. Which I'm surprised because sailors are notoriously prone to falling apart. They twist very easily. So, you can just take apart the back of them, clean out, remove the piston completely, clean it, and then just pop it right back in. No big deal.