Editing The Pen Addict 232/transcript (section)

== Shower Pen ==


'''Anna:''' It's a serious question, Myke. We need an answer. So, I went with stainless steel pen from Shone Design with the space pen refill. So, we'll have to think about it. I'll have to put some more thought in it. You know, like a clutch pencil would be good, but I bet some of the parts on that would rust. They're not going to be waterproof. I bet that would not end well. So, anyway. No. How would these next products hold up in the shower, Myke? What do you think? Um,

'''Myke Hurley:''' I think, I think you might end up with some of the situation that we have with the wood case pencil. Like, I don't know if you'd want to take them in the shower. Maybe we can consider if they're approved for use. So, Myke Dudek, if you can let us know, like, will your products work in the shower? You know, maybe the metal one, but I don't think that one's available anymore, right?

'''Anna:''' The cube. The cube, yeah. I have no idea if it's still available and I'm certainly glad I have two of those because those are bad to the bone. So, let's talk about Mr. Dudek and his modern goods because they're the perfect Christmas gift for our listeners.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Myke Dudek is back sponsoring this week's episode. You know Myke Dudek. We've had, we've had many conversations. Dudek's been on the show, right? Yeah. Twice, I think. Okay. At least once. So many episodes now, I can't keep up. But I know that we talk about him. He is a mainstay character of the pen addict because he makes incredible products, handmade stuff in Arizona, USA. He takes beautiful solid walnut and he carves pen storage solutions out of these. Products like the cube, the block, the groove. This is how all of these were born because he takes these beautiful walnut pieces and he makes them using his own pen addict knowledge to make them the perfect complements to store and display your most valuable pieces with the wood that he picks. It's going to look amazing on your desk now. It's going to look amazing in a year. It's probably going to look amazing in 30 years because these things are built to last. Dudek Modern Goods has 12 designs that you can choose from with several options to fit your needs. Whether you have large pens in your collection and need a space to hold your notebooks or journal anything. Anything you want to hold. Any of your writing equipment. They have the succulent series which is a newer thing which can add a little greenery to your desk because all of these there's three different modes here. Three different lines in this product. Three different products in this line. The greenery, the sprout, and the planter. They all include these little stainless steel planting dishes so you can add a bit of nature to your desk and just brighten up your day as well as storing your most valuable pens. But one of the products that I'm most interested in I think I need to get my order in for one of these is the Stationer. This is perfect for journalists. It can hold up to seven of your favorite writing instruments. It's a lovely long single line there and also an A5 sized notebook as well. You just slide it in the back. So on your desk it's ready at all times for you to bust out and write down your most precious thoughts. Myke ships internationally with reasonable shipping rates. Walnut is heavy. He does his best to keep those shipping rates down and therefore he has shipped to more than 20 countries around the world. Now, the reason that Myke is sponsoring right now is because it's the holiday season. This is his busy time and this type of stuff. It's a good gift, right? All these things are really great gifts. They're great gifts for you personally. You can ask for them or you can give them to other people in your life that you think might enjoy them. But because of that, he's super busy and all of this stuff is handmade. So, the holidays are approaching. If you're thinking about buying this as a gift or asking for this as a gift, seriously, get your order in right now. Because if you don't get it in right now, you might not get it before the holiday season. I know this seems early, but these things take a lot of time to make and plus, Myke is super busy this time anyway. So, if you want one of Myke Dudek's incredible products and if you don't have any, trust me, you want one. All of my most precious pens are kept displayed in one of these products and I trust the Dudek to do this for me. Go to DudekModernGoods.com That's D-U-D-E-K-M-O-D-E-R-N-G-O-O-D-S DudekModernGoods.com There'll be a link in the show notes. You can find out more there and if you use the code PENADDICT or one word, you'll get 10% off any of Myke's amazing products. The code is available through the month of November, so act fast. Thank you so much to Dudek Modern Goods for supporting this show and Relay FM.

'''Anna:''' His stuff is legitimately awesome. You should very much consider getting something from him for yourself for the holidays, asking for it, gifting it. There's a whole range of products. It's hard to even recommend one. Probably the one that I don't have that I want the most is one of the succulent ones because I'm still working on my new desk setup and that would be ideal because I do not have any foliage out there and I would like that. So I might look at that myself. So thank you, Mr. Dudek, for sponsoring us and really get those orders in. Like within this next week, he makes all this stuff himself and he does such an amazing job, but it takes time. As you know, anyone who makes anything, he wants to make it right, so it's going to take a little bit of time, so get those orders in.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Mm-hmm.

'''Anna:''' All right, so I got my order in for the Steel and Flint Kickstarter project. It's a new pen on the Kickstarter. It's been talked about a little bit around the pen blogosphere. It's a pocketable pen made out of aluminum. It has a long sheath type cover, like you remember the pen type B that I love, Myke. It has that long sleeve. It's similar in that aspect, but it's nothing like the pen type B at all. And I got my hands on this pen. This is a pretty legitimate pocket pen contender, Myke. Have you checked this out at all?

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, I've read your stuff. Some people sent it to me anyway. I do want to very quickly address the pen type B thing. Yeah. Because you said this in your review as well. You're like, this is nothing like this, right? Mm-hmm. And I'm just wondering why you say that. I mean, they look similar.

'''Anna:''' That's it. Right. I mean, that's where it stops. If I put those two pens side by side and said, Myke, check out these two pens, by the time you finished handling them, picking them up, uncapping them, using them, you would not relate these pens even in look by the time you were done using them.

'''Myke Hurley:''' But why is that? Like, what differentiates them?

'''Anna:''' So, the steel and flint pen is far lighter, like a third of the weight. The brass sleeve on the pen type B has some weight to it. It's about three quarters of an inch shorter. It's narrower in diameter. It has a large, knurled grip section. Uh-huh. The sleeve action is nothing like pen type B's. This is a literal cap where a pen type B has that tolerance fit, that zero tolerance fit. Yeah, it's for a challenge, right? Yeah, where it just, you know, pops on and off because the air has to escape. The fit's so tight. This is just a long cap, if you will. Does it clip in or does it just sit on it? There's a magnet on each end of the pen, so let me see if you can hear this. I'm going to put the pen on and you'll just hear metal on metal at first.

'''Anna:''' And then you can hear it like catch the magnet.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, I hear the click at the end. So. Okay, I see what you're saying. Like, there are, I can see why people compare them because they're, I can. They have a lot of similarities in design, but it looks like that there is differences not just because they couldn't make it to the quality of the pen type B or whatever. It seems like there's just very different design, different choices, like the magnets and the knurl grip and stuff. That seems like this is the way I want to make it as opposed to this is all I could do. Does that make sense? That is correct. Because every now and then you'll see a pen where it's like you look just like this pen and it's different because you couldn't manufacture it the same way. Right. But okay, I buy it. I see what you're saying. It's because you mention it and it's like I wanted to just dig into that a little bit.

'''Anna:''' Well, no, a bunch of people mentioned it before I even did my review. It was all up in the comments section of the Steel and Flint Kickstarter. You know how much I love that pen type B.

'''Anna:''' Literally, if I gave someone both of these pens and say, you know, look how similarly these pens are but then had you pick them up and test them out, by the time you were done you wouldn't think they were similar at all. Completely different feel and honestly, completely different aesthetic even though they're similarly shaped. They are nothing alike except the cap happens to sleeve the entire barrel for the most part for both of these pens. That's the only thing. They are really not alike at all in my opinion.

'''Anna:''' So, there's that. And I mean, I love the pen type B. That's one of my all-time favorite pens. They're just not alike. They feel completely different. I mean, to me, they look completely different. They function completely different. The cap is nothing like the pen type B going on and off the pen. So, to me, they're nothing alike. Which is good.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So, I, I, I don't like this. Why? There is a design choice in this pen, which I've seen in a bunch of pens that I just can't, I just can't get behind, which is why it goes from, like, a cylinder to, like, straight flat, right? Like, it's just like, it's been cut off and then there's just like, a little bit stuck at the end. I really, I just really, really don't like that. Like, it's kind of brutal in design in a way that doesn't appeal to me. Like, every other pen, well, not every other pen, but like, you've got that picture of pens, right? Just where it tapers off into a point, that is appealing to me. Right. When a pen just kind of, just like, stops dead, the barrel just stops dead. I don't like that. I really don't.

'''Anna:''' That's the one comment I've gotten on this pen. How do you like that? You know, design aspect of it. And honestly, with this pen, I never considered it because it works well. Like, you can see everything properly. Everything's the right length away from where the barrel cuts off. You know, the tip's not hidden from your line of sight when you're writing. So, I didn't even consider that because it was such a non-issue for me, but I have had people bring that up. Just like I brought it up the first time I had the, the TI2, TI2, I get all those names mixed up. That pen I didn't like because it kind of had that abrupt stop at the end and just the needle of the refill stuck out. And I was like, boy, I really don't like that. Turns out, I do like it. And this one, I didn't even consider, I guess because I have enough pens that are like this style. It didn't even register with me, but I can understand why people would not like that. From a functionality perspective, it's a complete non-issue. You have line of sight completely with this pen.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. It's just aesthetics.

'''Anna:''' Yeah. No, I understand it. Hey, it's not for everybody.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Like if that went off into like a, like if it tapered into the tip, I think this would be a really great looking pen. Yeah. I really just don't like that. I just don't like that choice.

'''Anna:''' Yeah. I wonder how the, how the length of the pen would, would change. I'd have to think about that, but it could probably be done because like the shown design pocket pen that I always use, it's the far right one in that, in that picture that you're referring to. It's a shorter pen, but it actually has the, the conical taper towards the end of the tip. So yeah, it can be done.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. It's just one of those things where I look at it and it really just, I think to myself, why would you design it that way? Like this is just something that I am like vehemently against from a design perspective. Wow. Like I see a few pens like this, they pop up on Kickstarter. This is like a trend that I've been seeing and, and I don't get it. Like I look at it, it's like, is it because it's, is it cheaper to make this way? Like I, I have to like try

'''Anna:''' and rationalize it in my head. Right. I wonder if there's some machining costs involved. I have no idea. I don't machine pens. So yeah, I don't know.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I just really don't like it, Brad. Yeah.

'''Anna:''' Well, I really like this pen. It's very cool. It's been, it's been hanging out in my pocket. I have the black matte one so far so good on the finish. That's one thing. One thing I'm, my two concerns are one is the finish going to wear in a strange way by taking on and off the cap because of the long sleeve design and the black finish. Like, is it going to scrape eventually metal on metal? So far it hasn't. And then two, the after Kickstarter price, I think is going to be too high, but we'll see what he does afterwards. I think he's talking like over a hundred dollars after Kickstarter and I wouldn't pay that for this pen. But I'm, I paid 69, I think for this and that's feels about right.

'''Anna:''' But I could see like, I would really like this pen like in a titanium. That'd be really nice.

'''Myke Hurley:''' There is one line in your review that I have to read because I think it's the single greatest line you've ever written.

'''Anna:''' Well, I don't know. that's not saying a lot.

'''Myke Hurley:''' As far as being the world's finest soft-close magnetic pen, okay, I guess so when it's a competition of one. I can caveat myself into being the world's finest Bradley Stephen Dowdy too, which doesn't tell you much. So good, right? Because they say that this is, as you said, the world's finest soft-close magnetic pen, but there isn't anything to compare it to. Nobody else does, says this. Right. Yeah,

'''Anna:''' that's ridiculous. I don't like marketing speak and being someone that sells stuff online, it's a very difficult, it's a challenge because you want to say, you know, when you make something, you're like, this is the best thing ever, right? You probably believe it

'''Myke Hurley:''' or at least you should.

'''Anna:''' Yeah. Yeah, but I'm never going to absolute myself that way, right? That's an absolute and there's, you can't do that. I'm just, I'm just against that type of writing and this comes from someone who is extremely hyperbolic like myself. That's, it's nonsensical because it doesn't mean anything, right? There is no meaning to a statement of that nature.

'''Myke Hurley:''' No, not in this way. Like, if this was a, an actual category of pens that is, you know, like tons of people make and you are voted as such, then yeah, you can be that. Sure. It's possible to have that statement, but I don't think in this instance it makes any sense.

'''Anna:''' Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, interesting, but yes. All right. Anyway, hey, before we go on, Joe brings up a good point, Mr. Gentleman Stationer, which I forgot about, which we always talk about with drafting pencils, like the rotary, that, that clearance in that design is made for a lot of engineering usage so it can be used well with a straight edge, you know, type of, you know, ruler. I mean, sure,

'''Myke Hurley:''' I can see that, but I, again, I wonder if that is the decision people are actually making. Like, I'm sure it does help and there are some pens that are made that way. Like, maybe the pen type B was because of, like, the people that made it. yeah,

'''Anna:''' they purposefully said that, yes.

'''Myke Hurley:''' But I don't know if all of these pens are made to be that way.

'''Anna:''' Agreed.