Editing The Pen Addict 732/transcript (section)

== Ode Talks Pens ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Oh, shout out of the week. Shout out of the week. Ode Talks Pens, Myke. Okay. So I've just started, I don't know, maybe in the past year following Ode and she has a great taste in pens, I must say. Very similar to mine. That's a little, I don't know, that's something I should say. I was like, oh, I follow them because they have great taste and it looks like everything that I like. But that's what gets you. That's what gets you when you see them on Instagram. They have, Ode has a YouTube channel as well, which I didn't realize I wasn't following because I just mostly follow her on Instagram. She has some Pelican stuff, Myke. This is interesting. It's not just a US issue. Like the Pelican hubs are worldwide. And she is actually in Norway and, you know, has going through like the same challenges. Everyone else is trying to figure this out.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yep.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Have you heard of Tromso, Norway, Myke?

'''Myke Hurley:''' I have not, Brad.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' You know, not to doxode, but that's, you know, that's literally in her post.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Tromso is home to the northern most professional football club in the world. Did you know that? You didn't know Tromso. I'm feeling like you didn't know that.

'''Myke Hurley:''' You can assume I don't know that based on the fact that I'd never heard of the place before.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' And the reason I know that, Myke, is because I'm now a Brighton Hove Albion fan. Since the Wolves got demoted, I need to have a new Premier League team. And they just played, finished a home and away for the FA Cup qualifiers with Tromso. So there you go. That's all the Tromso details I have. So now, like one other person listening to the show will go, oh, yeah, I know what Brad's talking about. But anyway, y'all go follow O. She does great work, has a killer Instagram feed, and does great pin reviews on the YouTubes. Very nice. And will keep us up to date with all of the Pelican Hub goings on in Norway.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' All right. Let's hit a few more news and notes that I found interesting this week. Number one, did you see the Retro 51 Collectors Club, Myke?

'''Myke Hurley:''' I did see this.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. So what it is, and it's, you know, a lot of companies do this, quarterly Collectors Club subscription box. And I think it's interesting in someone like Retro 51 as opposed to, say, a Field Notes or a Black Wing who have, like, a lower entry point for, like, their subscriptions, right? Field Notes being, you know, around $100 a year, $114 a year. Black Wing being a little bit more than that. This is literally an $89 per quarter Retro 51 Club. But the more I read this, the more I think this is kind of a deal. And I'm not trying to, like, get anyone on the FOMO bandwagon here. I am not subscribing to this. I don't need four Retro 51s a year that I'm not picking out. But if you're a Retro 51 super fan, the short version of the sales pitch to this is they make a 300-pin run every quarter, and you get one of those.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' And for $89, that's not much more. And you get a lot of other accessories and other things with that. That's not much more than what their normal, like, limited editions go for. Or if you're, like, the person who buys all the Retro 51s, this will be one that no one has except the 300 people in this club.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Or at least the first edition. I mean, I'm sure if they get, you know, more people, they'll do it, you know, 400 units. But I don't know. It seems pretty well set up to me. Like, not all of these things, like, inspire me and think, oh, this is actually kind of a good value. It's more like, oh, someone's going to try to get rid of things that didn't sell. Like, you know, if you get, like, a mystery box. Honestly, that was what I thought it was at first.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I thought it was, like, a mystery box.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' A hundred percent. Before I started reading this, that's what I thought it was. Like, a mystery box.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Because that would make sense for Retro, right? Sure. Because they do so many. Yeah. You know, this would be a way to get rid of some additional inventory. And I think that would have been fine. Sell them at a discount, put it in a blind box, throw in some extra stationary stuff, and people will be happy.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, I'm down with that. Like, that's fine. Like, you know, but you also, like, I don't know that I would subscribe to that. I'd pick up, you know, a mystery box here, a mystery box there. I don't want just one just randomly showing up. But, you know, this is, every box is an exclusive Retro 51.

'''Myke Hurley:''' With extra bits in it. I think a bit more field notesy. There'll be stickers, an assortment of theme-inspired goods, and some surprises, they said. Yeah. So, again, I think this is amazing, honestly. Yeah. This is, like, the perfect way for them to do something like this, I think.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, and I think that's the right number, right? It's a big ask. Like, that's $89 a quarter, right? Yes. So, you know, like, $360 a year.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' But if you're already in that ecosystem where you're buying most of the limited editions, like, this is a no-brainer. You know? Like I said, like, I'm not interested whatsoever. But there's going to be one that comes through, and I'm going to go, oh, yeah, that's pretty sick. I like that. So, yeah. Anyway, like, this isn't something I'd normally talk about, but I actually feel like you don't always, like, think about, like, value these days when you see these types of things. That makes them not worth talking about. But this one just felt like, good job, Retro 51. Yeah. They're like, they know their customers, and that's pretty good.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I'm really keen to see what the first designs are.