Editing The Pen Addict 738/transcript (section)

== General Gel Pens ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Well, let's do the specific gel, the general gel category. Because I think they nailed this.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Even then, they don't have a general gel category. It's best smudge-free gel pen. Yeah. That's a stupid category. Why is it so specific with gel pens? Yeah. Why can't they just have a gel pen? Why is it like the best smudge-free gel pen and the best gel pen only if you like fine tips? It's interesting.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' You know, I said I like this list, but it's getting more and more questionable.

'''Myke Hurley:''' No, I'm just kidding. Well, none of these, no lists, no lists are perfect.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' They at least have good answers. They do have good answers. Yeah, they're all good products. They are, except the Dr. Grip. The best smudge-free gel pen, agreed, stupid category name, because it's literally the best gel pen on the market, is the Pentel Energel RTX. It just is. Like, if you're going, if the normies are going out to buy their colorful 0.7 gel ink pens, this is the one you want 100% of the time. It's better than the G2. It's better than the Signo 207s and 307s. It's better than the Zebra Ciracis. In the 0.7 gel ink category, it's the best. Like, I don't think it's even a question. Like, my category is back to the Signo RT category. That's where the Energel doesn't play. It's not in that realm because of the tip sizes. But, yeah, the Energel and the Jetstream are, like, the two best pens on the store shelf. Just every time, just walk into a store. If you pick an Energel or if you pick a Jetstream, you're going to be in good shape. You've made a good decision. Last one, is the best fineliner? I'm honestly surprised that they got this right.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Because it's, I will say that the Secura Pygma Micron is the best fineliner. It's also kind of pricey. And they don't necessarily, they don't consider price in here, which is good. These lists never choose the Secura Pygma Micron for this category. So, I'm actually very pleased. It's just such a well-known, great product that's been around for decades and remains the best.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Has it got a status now in that it would be surprising if you didn't pick it?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' No, because I think this is where the list makers will zig.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' And just because, oh, everyone knows the Micron, let's do something else. Yeah, but they didn't know this scenario, right? Which I appreciate.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, because it's like I wonder, like, has it got a kind of recognition amongst just stationary enthusiasts as opposed to, like, addicts or lovers like us, right? Like, people who like a nice pen are aware of it. In the same way that if you were doing, like, best coloring pens, the Copics would be there. Because people just know them.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. And this, the Micron's interesting because I think it really only has one competitor and then it's everything else. I think the one competitor is the Statler pigment liner. Right. Which just has way fewer options. Yeah. Right. I think it's just as good.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' But I just prefer the Micron in the black. Yeah. Black Micron versus the pigment liners in black. I always prefer the Microns. And then everything else is after that, like your UniPens. Like, UniPen makes this list a lot because it's, like, a dollar per pen cheaper. It just has very few options compared to, like, the Micron. Yeah. And the Micron's just better. So, anyway. That's the entirety of the list, which I appreciate. It seems like it had a lot of things, but it really didn't compared to, like, a lot of these lists that'll just go run on to 20 different items and all that stuff. So, I think very good, honestly, stuff from Wirecutter, which, you know, y'all should go check out that list. And, yeah, I mean, I think it's stuff that, if you're listening to this podcast, it's stuff you know. And, you know, no real disagreements, which is fun.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I mean, it's just good because it's, like, obviously they get a lot of traffic. And so, we just, all we want is them. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They're doing a good job, you know, and they're doing a great job. They do. They do.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' And, honestly, Melanie works at it. She will email Anna or she'll email, you know, other people in the community just to say, hey, what am I missing? Like, I haven't, didn't talk to her this year, but in the past she'll say, you know, we've done this before. Am I missing something? Yeah. And I was like, that's cool. Like, you know, I know that she's talked to Anna a bunch. And it's like, yeah, like, let me tell you about X that came out. Yeah. And it's, they do a good job instead of just, like, throwing a bunch of links up there and saying why they're good.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. Should be part of the research, right? Makes sense. Yep. Totally. All right. This episode is brought to you by our friends over at Enigma Stationery. Enigma Stationery offers unique items made from in-house designs along with top brands and hard-to-find imports. Brad, what is catching your eye over at Enigma right now?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' The Enigma Stationery app. Myke, did you know?

'''Myke Hurley:''' I was going to mention this in case you didn't, actually. I didn't know if you knew, but, yes, they've got an app now. Yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So I'm on the app right now. It's really great. It is so fast. I went through, like, every page on this just to see, like, is everything working? I was, like, Dan didn't, like, have me beta test, nor did he need to. But I was just like, I'm going to be a beta tester. I'm going to check everything. And, like, this site just, like, whips through every page. It's really well done. And it has, like, the same organization you would get on the website. But it's very easy to use. I appreciate that if you go to the App Store on iOS, the Apple App Store, one of the images is the hot dog pen, which I can appreciate. I can appreciate that. So, anyway, go check out the app. I have it downloaded. And it's just great to browse through. Like, you can check. Like, they have a whole exclusive section, which I was browsing through. The desk accessories, which is funny when I look at this. I was like, man, I have a lot of these things. I like all the Enigma stuff, like the desk mats and the ink towels and hot dog pen. Then they have their exclusive fountain pens, which are glorious. Some of my favorite pens that I use on a regular basis. They have their mystery boxes. They have nib holders that are made for them by River City Pen Co. They have their pride collection, which I bet I have, like, at least half of this stuff on here. Then the newest one, and we talked about this one before, is the collaborations. Their Secure Dragon collaboration, art collaboration, is spectacular. The artwork on that one is stunning and really, really good and really cool. So, then you can just drop in, shop by brand. I'm not going to go through everything. But they have these categories are just laid out super, super well. Even shop by character, which we know that Enigma does good at. And I just ran into a Business Frog acrylic keychain, and I don't have that yet, and I'm going to need to order it. Oh, look at that. Oh, and look, there's an Eevee Game Boy lenticular enamel pen, so that's for you.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Well, no, that is amazing. I actually have one of these pens. I have a different, oh, I don't remember what Pokemon I have, but I have one of these lenticular pens. Is it behind me?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Man, there's a Business Frog rubber stamp, too. All right, we're going to have to update the Business Frog category, at least at my house. Oh, what is this pen case?

'''Myke Hurley:''' We've lost him now, folks. He's gone.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Lit Lab tray. It looks like a banana. Good. But it's... Oh, okay. So, what this is, I've seen these before. It's like a lay-flat silicone, but it has a zip. So, if you zip it like a banana, but then you unzip it, it lays completely flat on the desk. It's almost like it goes from pen tray to pen case. That's kind of cool, like if you're mobile. I haven't used one of these. I've seen this concept before. It's like a lay-flat pen tray, but then you could just zip it up and throw it in the bag. Okay, that's cool. What is it called? Lit Lab Altna, A-L-T-N-A, tray. Okay.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Interesting. I'll make sure it's...

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So, it's like a very... It's a very simple design. So, it's not that expensive. It's like 18 bucks. Because it's not saying like this is like your pouch, right? This is like your mobile, portable, like pen tray situation, right? You just open it up. You can use it like a pouch and not unzip it all the way, but the idea is for it to lay flat on your desk and it's not that big. So, that's pretty cool. I like that. It's a very simple design. Anyway. Here's my recommendation. And it looks like a banana.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Something I found that I think is fun. The Max Silicone Cat Stapler. What? It's stapler. Looks like a cat. No. Yeah. I haven't seen this. Pretty good. They got a calico cat. It's a good cat color.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Mm-hmm. And they have gray stripe. They got the gray stripe. Let me see. Let me see. Let me look at this one. Pretty good, Brad. Oh, man. It's like the cat's just, the cat's basically doing a loaf on the top. Yep. Just 20 bucks. Yeah. Can have a cat stapler. All right. Sick. Okay. I need to stop. It's good stuff. Enigma Stationery app.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yep. And website, of course. Because you want to go and get $10 off on orders of $50 or more by going to enigmastationery.com slash penaddict and using the code TPA26 at checkout. I would expect that the code would probably work in the app, too, but don't quote me on that. That is enigmastationery.com slash penaddict. And you'll get $10 off on orders of $50 or more with the code TPA26. So thanks to Enigma Stationery for their support of this show and relay. I did a stream yesterday, Brad, where I was modifying an iPod. And Dan from Enigma was in the chat, both encouraging and heckling me, which was perfect. Yeah, that's correct. That's how it should be.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yes. That seems right.