Editing The Pen Addict 672/transcript (section)

== Uniball Zento signature pen ==

* Way, way, way under four figures, Myke, is the Uniball Zento signature pen. We've talked about the Uniball Zento on here a lot. Well, I have. I've reviewed the standard Zento. But this is the model, this is the Kuretoga Dive model of the Zento, Myke. This is the one that sold out immediately and you couldn't get it. Now they're starting to come, become available again. But I've had one en route from Japan for months from my friend Jacob at Fude Fan. We'll have a link in the show notes. Y'all should all be following Jacob's work on YouTube. He has a video on this pen as well. But this is the one that, when they product launched the Zento, this was the high-end barrel. So it's an aluminum barrel.
* It's, in the U.S., price is like $27, $28.
* And this was the, like, the hype pen for the Zento that sold out so quickly. Probably because they didn't make as many, right? Because it's a more expensive pen. The barrel of this pen is a 10 out of 10. This is so good. Like, I get, like, the feel of this barrel. Like, it's a magnet clip. I didn't realize any of it. So it's a magnet cap and a magnet closure and a magnetic posting. It's really, really nice. It's not overly big. It is ultra light for aluminum. It's balanced perfectly. The grip feels great. I adore this barrel.
* Now we've got to figure out, do I adore the refill? And I still say that's a maybe. Like, I wish I could wrap my head around the Zento more. And people are probably tired of me, like, being wishy-washy about the Zento refill. But I think that it comes from Uniball's marketing is giving me a problem. So on the Zento box of the signature pen, which Jacob sent me from Japan, it says Rollerball on it. Right? It doesn't ever call it a gel. But, like, in... We've talked in other shows, like, some of the marketing shows listed as gel. When I use it, it reminds me of a gel pen. But maybe that's what the Zento is. I've done a whole show and review on this. I'm not going to relitigate all of that. It's a good refill. I really like it. But what I really like about this is the barrel. And it should be swappable if you like the RT refills or something like that. Like the Signal RT refills. You could swap it into this barrel. But I...
* This is going to make me like the Zento even more because I have this fancy barrel. And again, it's $27. That sounds expensive. I mean, relative to people shopping in the $3 gel pen aisle, it is expensive. But for what it is and the quality it is, it's probably a deal. I'd pay twice as much for this pen barrel. It's that well done. It's just super clean, really well made. It looks nice. Functions perfectly. Yeah. One of the interesting things about the design, and if you're going to swap refills in this, there is no...
* How would you describe this? Because it is specifically fit to the exact refill size, meaning there's no spring in it or no back end to the refill, right? It fits exactly into the size, which is difficult to do because there is variance, which we learned at SpokePen. There's variance in the refill itself, right? That's going to be... You know, there could be very, very fractional changes in the plastic end of a refill. And changing the length. But this one goes right into the end of the pen. So there's no extra, you know, springs or anything on the internal to make this work. And it's just really well done. I'm a fan of it. So I'm going to keep using it. I'm going to keep using this refill. I'm going to play around with it a little bit more. I really enjoy it. So I think it's going to be good.
* Jacob also sent me the Kuro Togo wood, which we talked about a couple weeks ago. Um, this is the wood grip section Kuro Togo. And it's really nice. Um, I'm going to start using this. I'm a little bit curious about the balance of this, if I'm going to like it as much, because it's weird when you pick up this aluminum Zento right next to this Kuro Togo. The Kuro Togo is heavier, uh, at least it, you know, in the way it's balanced, right? It might not be heavier overall, but it's a little bit more back balanced. And I'm trying to see if that's a, if that's a thing as I use it. Sometimes you can't tell until you really use a pen. I can, it feels one way when I'm just holding it, but it feels differently when you write with it. So I want to spend some time with it. Um, but it's, it's beautiful. Um, it looks like it's almost looks like a matching set. Uh, the colors I have with the Zento. Um, he also sent me one of the Uniball Jetstream light touch 0.5 blue black refills. And I got to find a pen to put this in, but I just been dabbling with the refill. This is going to be one of my favorite refills out there better than the Zento. Uh, it doesn't fit in this Zento barrel, by the way, we tested that out. And then the last penny sent me, I had never seen, but apparently has been out for a while. Uh, maybe a year or two, maybe if not more, it's called the platinum meteor. And I'll have to, I could not even find like a really good link, like outside of like eBay or AliExpress or something. It must be a pen that really has never made it out of Japan, but it's basically a pilot Kakuno looking platinum preppy, if you will. It's like a $6 pen, $6 fountain pen, supposedly like in that preppy, the base preppy price range, but without a clip, it has a little bit more style than the preppy. It's like if they turn the preppy into what the Kakuno looks like with like a transparent barrel and then like a color transparent cap, a super lightweight. It feels almost like a water brush, like that type of weight. Like it's an ultra light plastic fountain pen. Um, that's about $6 and I haven't inked it up yet. I haven't tried it, but it looks like a decent preppy option if you want, uh, just a little bit different style. So good stuff from Jacob. I always appreciate getting a surprise package from Japan. Uh, even if this one took a world tour to get to me.
* All right. If you would like to send in some feedback or follow up about this week's episode, or maybe even a question for us to answer and ask TPA in the future, just go to penaddictfeedback.com where you can leave us your feedback. If you want to find Brad online, go to penaddict.com. He is penaddict on Instagram and social media. Uh, you can find him at twitch.tv slash penaddict. Um, you can find this show here on relay. Go to relay.fm. You can find this show and more. If you want to find show notes for this episode, they'll be in your podcast app or relay.fm slash penaddict slash 671. Two. 672. 672. So close. 672. That's where we are. Uh, if you want to find me online, you can go to theenthusiast.net. You can also find me on social media too and at cortexbrown.com. Uh, thanks to Pen Chalet and Squarespace for their support of this week's episode. Most of all, thank you for listening. Until next time, say goodbye, Brad. Goodbye, Brad.

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[[Category:The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript]]