Editing The Pen Addict 698/transcript (section)

== Maker Pens and Community Focus ==

* And yeah, it's,
* I think that's going to be important, Mike,
* because we can transition
* right into this topic.
* I call this topic
* Now is Our Time to Shine.
* And I don't,
* I'm not saying you and I,
* I'm saying as a community.
* Not you and I.
* So, sorry,
* I didn't want to knock you down
* a little bit there, Mike.
* Not you.
* Not you specifically.
* But no,
* what my point is,
* and I think you'll agree,
* is now is the time,
* especially for us
* that have been in this hobby
* for more than a few years.
* Now is our time
* to really define
* what we like
* and what we use
* and what is the most important thing
* in this hobby, right?
* Because this is a luxury hobby, right?
* Even your $5 gel pens,
* like,
* no one needs that, right?
* So, we're all spending,
* like, this luxury hobby money
* that has gotten,
* that budget's gotten lower and lower
* for a lot of people
* over the past few years,
* for sure.
* And so, now's our time
* to think about
* how we're using things
* more than ever,
* to focus on
* the most important stuff
* that you like,
* and just really, like,
* dig into those types of things.
* You know,
* I know a lot of people are,
* and this is a consistent thing,
* like, when
* New Year's rolls around,
* okay, this year is,
* I'm going to have a no-buy
* for pens,
* or this year,
* I'm going to shop
* my own closet, right?
* Those types of concepts.
* But,
* even a little bit broader
* than that,
* I think
* the market overall,
* with these
* huge, huge numbers
* of price increases,
* we're going to see
* a larger focus
* on maker pens,
* right?
* because now I get to go
* not only acquire
* a fun,
* new,
* cool pen,
* I get to talk
* to the person
* that makes it.
* I can maybe have
* some input
* into making this product
* more personal for me.
* And,
* you can really have
* this connection
* that sometimes
* gets lost
* in just the,
* the,
* in the mass
* market type
* of situation,
* right?
* And,
* I'm not saying,
* you know,
* that stuff's bad,
* this stuff's good,
* that's not it at all.
* But,
* I'm saying is,
* now's the time
* to be thinking about,
* you know,
* what's really important
* to you,
* what do you want
* to see,
* and does that exist
* out there from
* a maker?
* And,
* it could be a pen maker,
* it could be a sticker maker,
* it could be a notebook maker.
* There's so many individual
* makers in this space,
* and small goods manufacturers
* in this space,
* that we are not
* spoiled for choice.
* We have it here.
* Like,
* it's crazy,
* crazy good stuff.
* So,
* yeah,
* I think the maker space,
* and I didn't want to be,
* I've gotten a couple comments
* over the past couple weeks
* about talking about makers.
* I think I just,
* I more did it in passing
* as just an assumption
* that that should be the focus.
* And,
* I just wanted to
* just correct and,
* correct that
* and just be very direct
* on what I think about,
* you know,
* individual makers.
* You know,
* I bought a pen case yesterday
* that I'll put a link
* in the show notes
* because it's one of my friends
* working on a design,
* creating their art,
* and,
* you know,
* collaborating with Rickshaw
* to get their art
* on a Sinclair,
* and that's the thing
* I want to buy.
* Yeah.
* Right?
* So,
* that's important to me.
* So,
* we'll put a link
* into the Cloudy Desk
* cases that she's doing
* pre-sales on.
* So,
* like,
* that's the stuff
* that's important to me
* is supporting my friends,
* supporting the community,
* and just making sure
* that,
* you know,
* we don't have to be,
* like,
* super down
* about these price increases,
* right,
* where we can kind of look
* inside ourselves
* a little bit more
* and supporting,
* like,
* other makers
* in the community.
* Yeah.