Editing The Pen Addict 396/transcript (section)

== Kuro Togo Advanced Upgrade Model ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' No, they do the very best, Pergius. They just do. Yeah.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Speaking of something, Myke. Another thing, Twitter's been really good to me recently with lots of new Japanese links. And this one is a new Kuro Togo, which normally I wouldn't care too, too much about, right? It's Kuro Togo. They're great. They're one of the best, you know, mechanical pencils on the market. But the pictures of this made me do a double take, because it might be one of the ugliest pens I've ever seen. Or pencils I've ever seen.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' It is just terrible. I don't understand why it looks the way it does. So, you've all seen mechanical pencils. You may have all seen Kuro Togos. They tend to be pretty thin. This thing looks like a permanent marker, like a dry erase marker.

'''Myke Hurley:''' It's a torpedo shape, right?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' But it's so thick.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Right. Well, I want you to read the click in the translate from Twitter. This is one of the greatest. So, let's have it.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' All right. Mitsubishi Kuro Togo Advanced Upgrade Model, 1000 yen. Introduced last night. The design is solid, but the shaft itself is lightweight. The punched grip has a thick axis for a low center of gravity balance and good finger touch. Equipped with core brake prevention and core automatic rotation mechanism. Full of good functions. Limited colors are already in stock. Full of good functions. Full of good functions. So, something's going on here, right? They appear to have developed a new technology.

'''Myke Hurley:''' They've added a technology to their good technology, right? So, they're the twist mechanism people, right? Oh, I know that. The best. Oh, I know. I'm just explaining. Okay, cool. It legitimately works, right? It is not a fluke technology. No. Right? The Kuro Togo is successful because of how that mechanism works.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, so basically every time you put the pencil lead down onto the paper, something moves inside of the pen. When you lift it off, the lead rotates slightly. And what that does is it keeps the thickness of your line consistent. Because usually with a graphite mechanical pencil, you will wear down one side of the graphite. So, you end up with a very flat edge, which produces a thicker line, and a sharp edge, which produces a thinner line, which is frustrating. And what's great about the Kuro Togo is that does not happen. And you think to yourself, that's such a great idea. Why don't I see it everywhere? Well, I assume that Mitsubishi have that patented through the roof because it is, in my opinion, like, okay, so I'm a Rotring guy. Like, I just love the Rotring 600. It's just perfect for me. But really, the only, in my opinion, like, the only mechanical pencil mechanism that works is the Kuro Togo. Right. Because it is so much better of an experience. Like, I really wished that Mitsubishi spent less time creating torpedoes and more time creating bodies that are like Rotrings.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. Oh, the Roulette was one of the best they've ever done. I don't even know if that's still made. It was the first premium Kuro Togo barrel, and it's still the best.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, I've never liked any of their premium ones, even. Like, they're good. They are nice. They're nicer. But they're still missing something. Right. Because, like, the Roulette is still available, but it's, like, $7. No, like, Mitsubishi, I will pay you, like, $50. Right. Make me a very good barrel. Yes. That's what I want. Yeah.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. I think they're having trouble fitting the mechanism in, you know, something like you would prefer, like, to use over a Rotring. True. I mean, I think that's what you're running up against. Mm-hmm. And then when they double down, trying to put in a pipe sleeve protector on this pen, pencil, I don't know what they're doing here. Like, it looks like half, it's like a half-baked idea.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' There are, like, four steps, like, down from the grip to the pipe.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. It's not a good-looking pencil. This one. I will try one.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' This is the thick pencil. The THI double C pencil. That's what we have here. Yeah.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I'll try one. It'll definitely be, like, the teal or the orange because the gray is hideous. So, yeah. We'll let that one bake a little bit more. Yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I need to see some better pictures of this because, like, I think it's a little tricky to actually understand if maybe the pictures are just bad, right? And it's not as thick as it looks. Mm-hmm. I can't tell yet.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Right. Right.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. So, yeah. That's interesting. I'll grab one when I get the chance because, like, sometimes it's just so bad I need to test it out for myself. So, speaking of baking, what about a Bakelite fountain pen? Myke, do you even know what that is?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I've heard of Bakelite in the sense of being used to make, like, dishes and stuff. Right.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I think that's what it was used for in the past. And that's the extent of my knowledge.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Like, dishware type deal, right? You know, like, cooking. Yeah. A thicker, heavier duty.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. It was used for, you know, like, dishware and serving ware.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' You could make, I guess it was, like, at a certain time. I think probably between the 60s and the 80s, maybe. Because you could make nice colors and stuff. Yeah.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I think even earlier, like, in the earlier 1900s, like, wartime. Okay. I mean, like, from a fashion perspective, maybe.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. But it could be going back that far, too. You could put it right. I don't know the exact time frame. But, like, I'm familiar with Bakelite dishware, basically.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So, anyway, back in those early 1900s, they tried to make pens out of that. And they did really well. Except they didn't have the long-term durability, right? As, you know, the ebonites and the other acrylics and, you know, other materials that pens were made from. They cracked and shattered pretty easily. So, no one's really used Bakelite. But Wancher just launched a Kickstarter using this material and a fountain pen. And I got to say, I'm pretty impressed with the style and the look of this. I do not have one yet. I do have one on the way to test. So, I'm interested to see. It looks, the material looks nice. Like, I don't, this is, like, the, if you pull up this Kickstarter page, there's no way any human being can read the entirety of this page. It is so long. I just got exhausted reading it. And I was trying to find, I was trying to just read all the Bakelite parts, right? To read what they're saying about the product. And they're talking about how durable and strong it is. And, like, I believe that up front. So, we'll just have to see. Like, no one's going to know how it ages, you know, for a while.

'''Myke Hurley:''' But what impressed me the most was it's a unique design. Unique enough, right? It's a traditional fountain pen look. But it has enough design cues to make it look unique. Like, it's got interesting finial work done, you know, either with, you know, different materials on the top.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' They spend a lot of time talking about that in their video. Like, even more than it being made in Bakelite. Yeah. They have, like, a renowned artist who's creating the finials out of this, like, very specific type of work, right? Like, it's not make work, but, like, that kind of idea is called shippoyaki. Mm-hmm. And it's, like, this particular way of, like, creating these beautiful handmade pieces. And that relates to it being called seven treasures, which refers to gold, silver, emerald, coral, giant, clamshell, glass, and pearl. Those are the seven treasures. And these design elements are used and or evoked in the end pieces. I thought they were going to make seven pens, but they're not. They're making three. But there will be four total designs, I think, if I'm following you correctly.

'''Myke Hurley:''' The fourth design is the, like, the unlock, right? The one of the Kickstarter.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Is that a different color, though?

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. It's a different color. Okay. So they have four total designs that they'll be making. Yep.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I thought the price was good. Like, this seems like.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Oh, the price is fantastic.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. Like, there's no wonder, like, this, I don't even know what the number is. I don't have it pulled up. But, I mean, like, yesterday afternoon when I was looking after it launched, it was already, like, around 70 grand. It's probably over 100.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I'm seeing 73,000 pounds. Okay. Pounds. So it's going to be more.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. But, yeah. I mean, pretty good. I'm interested in trying this out. So I have it on the way. They said it'll be here before the campaign's over. Other people have reviewed it. Drees at the Pencil Case blog, Fig Boot, and Aziza all have their reviews on them. That seems to be, you know, pretty positive for what the pen is. And I like seeing this. Like, this is unique enough to, like, move the needle for me, like, in a Kickstarter campaign. So it seems good.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. I'm, like, reserving judgment again. I was, like, very, very hesitant about the first one. Right? Like, in so much that I never thought it was actually ever going to be made.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' But, and then really, like, it ended up being that when people got them, and most people actually got them, it was kind of like, I don't feel cheated for the price that I paid, but I was maybe hoping for more. Sure. I think it's probably a fair assessment of the overall. So I am really interested to see what you feel about this one. Yeah. I would say, like, I'm close to liking it. You know?

'''Myke Hurley:''' Like, this has a better chance of broader success purely because of the price point.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' The price point, for sure. But, like, it's just, like, the design of it. It's a piston filler, which is cool. But, like, the design, I really love the cheapo art. But I am, just the body design doesn't do it for me. It's a bit, like, old-fashioned in not a good way.

'''Myke Hurley:''' It's very traditional.