The Pen Addict 649/transcript

The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript
Episode:	649
Title:	Better Than Sightseeing
Release Date:	January 22nd, 2025
Hosts:	Brad Dowdy Myke Hurley
Guests:	No guests this episode
Additional Information
Official page:	Episode 649
Audio File:	Audio Episode 649
Podcast page:	The Pen Addict 649
Length:	5252 min <br />0.867 h <br /> minutes
Previous Transcript	Next Transcript

• From Relay, this is The Pen Addict, episode 649. Today's show is brought to you by Enigma Stationery and Squarespace. My name is Myke Hurley and I am joined by Mr. Brad Dowdy. Hi, Brad. Hello, Myke Hurley. How are you doing today? I'm good, man. How are you? I'm pretty good. I'm feeling good. I'm staring at once every, I don't know, five to ten years, two inches of snow on the ground here where I live in middle Georgia. Okay. You know, so we got the snow, we got, you know, schools being cancelled, the world ending down here. Like, this is not a thing that happens in my area. So, like, literally everything shuts down. So, we're in shutdown mode today, but it's certainly beautiful. Is it a lot for you? Yeah. That's a lot of snow. I mean, I assume it would be. Yeah, that's a lot. Like, two inches that sticks is a lot, right? Normally, we might get, like, a dusting and it never sticks, but yeah, we're, like, a solid, like, frozen two inches of snow now, which is, like, that's probably, like, a ton. So, yeah. Yeah, that's enough. So, once every five to ten years. That's enough. Like, I just did the inches to centimeters, five centimeters. If we have five centimeters in London, that's going to start causing some problems and big problems. That's going to cause some problems. We're not, we can't, cars can't drive through that here, and we don't have plows. You know, like, it's just not a thing that exists. It's one of these things that, like, I always find so funny where people are, like, oh, how could we not have the infrastructure? It's, like, for what? Like, for the once every five years? You know? Like, it would be such a huge public cost. It's, like, we also don't prepare for hurricanes in the UK. Right, right, right. Yeah, but, like, literally the interstates going through our town right now are closed because they're just, like, it's just ice. It's just ice. We don't have that infrastructure. I mean, I don't know because I don't work in the corporate world, but I would expect that in a post-COVID world, these things are dealt with a lot easier. Like, people know how to work at home. They can work at home, you know, like, where possible. Well, like, you know, previously, if you're working in a corporate job and it was snow day, it's snow day. You're off, right? Like, you're off. But now it's, like, all right, just log on from home. That's what happens now. To your point, my high school age son has just had school from home now, right? Oh, that sucks. That's not fair. I know. They don't get days off. That's not fair for the kids. I don't agree with that. I don't agree with that. It's literally what just happened from what you said. It's, like, oh, they learned how to do it during COVID and now we can just have school from home. Yep. Yep. No, that's a shame. I think schools should get the day off. The kids should go play in the snow, you know? Exactly. I mean, Tyler was out making snowmen last night and doing snow angels, so he's good. Yeah, but still, I don't know, man. That's just a little fair to me at all, I've got to say. Yeah.

Travel to Philadelphia and weather conditions

• Well, speaking of snow, Myke, I was up in Philadelphia for a few days last week and over the weekend.
• And when I traveled to the great state of Pensylvania, from Atlanta to Pensylvania, Philly Airport, it was snowing when I landed. So, that's the norm up there. They can handle that. Like, the amount of snow up there that they got would have shut us down and they're just like, yeah, this is basic. Like, this is like any other day. So, I wanted to do a little Philly show recap. And I was thinking as I was writing this up, I was like, wow, I really want to talk about this a lot. And I think it's that first show of the season type of vibe. Like, I don't know if I'll have, like, every show that I go to this year will have so many details. I probably will because I obsess over this stuff. But I just kind of thought I'd go through it and let people know what Philly was like and what a pen show is like. And this is probably a good point to mention if you have any feedback and are curious. Like, a lot of people were at their first pen show in Philadelphia. If you have questions about first pen shows, where can people send in their feedback?

Listener feedback and engagement

• Penaddictfeedback.com. You can always send in your questions, your follow-up, everything there. We get it and look through it every week. Like, yep, and we'll add them to the STPA or break them into other segments. And you can also email me, hello at penaddict.com. But I like, like, again, I've said this for years. I really like helping people out at pen shows. Like, that's kind of the move I've been working on ever since. Like, I'm not doing, like, a knock table or working for another vendor at a show. So, got in Thursday. It was snowy. Got in about four. Headed down to the Philly Hotel. Had a nice carpool with good friends, Lord Hibachi, Fountain Pen News, and Crystal from Pen Realm. So, it was quite the journey. Right from the jump, Myke, we're meeting pen people in the airport, and we're hitching a ride to the show, which was great. So, it was pretty chill. Thursdays were pretty chill. I did knock the cheesesteak requirement off the list that evening. I don't know that I got, like, the purest traditional, you know, Philly cheesesteak ever from, like, one of the OGs. But there was this really nice place right on the backside of... I feel like if you eat something called a cheesesteak in Philadelphia, that's a Philly cheesesteak, right? Yeah. So, this place that I went to was called Shea Steaks. They were right behind the hotel. Like, it was nasty out. It was snowing. So, like, it was, like, a 50-yard walk to this place. It was great. And they were kind of, like, I call it, like, the bougie cheesesteak place, right? Yeah, let's go. Like, it was nice. You know, they had, like, you know, they had, like, a Kobe beef option, right, and stuff like that. So, it was excellent. It was out of bounds. So, still thinking about that. So, that was really good. But, you know, Thursdays, shockingly, are pretty quiet unless some shows, some of the bigger shows will have, like, a trading day where some people might get in a little bit earlier. But there was really not a lot going on. We got to see our friends starting to mingle in. A lot of the vendors are rolling in, but they're actually working on setup that night. So, I didn't really get to hang out with them too much. Plus, I was tired from traveling. And that was an early night on Thursday. But I knew going into it, like, Friday and Saturday were going to be the day. Since I was going to be there all the way until Sunday morning, right, that was my game plan. I didn't need to be up late Thursday hanging out, you know, burning the midnight oil at all on Thursday. There are other days for that. So, with Philadelphia being a smaller pin show, Friday got off to a really smooth start, right? It wasn't, like, overwhelmed or anything. The weekend pass holders could get an hour early. So, that's one of your benefits if you're looking at day passes versus weekend passes. You're going to be there. You get to go in an hour early if you want. And some shows, that's vitally important. Like, if you're really, like, into, like, what some certain vendor has, like, at the San Francisco pin show. And they've traveled from Japan and they only brought so much. Yeah, that might be, like, vital. But on smaller shows, like, Philly, Atlanta, maybe even, like, a Baltimore or something like that, there's no mad dash to get in at 9 a.m. Like, I went down about 9.15, 9.30, walked straight in. People are mingling around. Vendors are still getting some of their setup in when the public hours start at 10. So, Friday, like, it never got overly busy. And a lot of the smaller city-based shows, I'll keep referring to Philadelphia and Atlanta a lot because they are so similar in size and just feel.
• You know, you might get busy for, like, an hour or two mid-afternoon on Friday. But, like, by Friday evening, it's pretty quiet. But that's good if you're going to spend multiple days there because you can get some work done, right? Like, literally. Like, shopping, like, if there's something on your list, you can go find it and have the time to spend with the vendor. Like, always people ask, what's the best day to go, Friday or Saturday? I'm pretty much universally going to go for Friday if that's an option for you. Just because you will have a bit more time to spend if you're looking for a certain pin and you want to have a discussion with someone. And you want to test it out and not feel pressured, you know, from the crowd to the left and the crowd to the right, right? And just the flow moving through the room and the overwhelming noise. Friday is definitely, like, the best day, I think, to go to most pin shows just for overall pressure of the room, right?
• So, yeah, it was nice. You know, some vendors were having a good day. Something I did this time, which I've never done before, is I had a video call with a friend at the shown design table to help them pick out a pin that they were going to purchase. Oh, so they were calling you and you were buying the pin on their behalf and it was being done over FaceTime or whatever. Yes. Wow. Yeah. It was pretty fun. We had a good time doing it. And the issue, which I didn't think about beforehand, is I have yet to really find a hotel with great reception of either Wi-Fi or, you know, cellular network, right? So we had, you know, there's always some technical troubles. The images may not always come clear. But we got there and we got a good feed because, like, when you're looking at something like a shown design pin where, you know, we wanted to look at some of the colors of the full-size aluminum barrels, well, you want to make sure you pick out a good color, right? Like, they're very visually appealing pins. So we got there, got a pin picked out. So that was fun. I'd never done that before. I've muled things for people before. Hey, will you pick me up X at Y? Yeah, all the time. Sure. But this one is like, I really want a pin, but there's so much variety. I need to see it. And it's easier. It was easier to just jump on a video call. We actually did it through Instagram video call, which I'd never done before.
• And so we, instead of sending, like, pictures or something, doing something live to where you can, like, look at it. It shockingly worked well. So that worked out well.

Nib work and maintenance at pen shows

• Friday's also a great day for your nib work or maintenance work. If you're going to a show where you need to take care of some maintenance issues or just have some work done. And there's, you know, there were several nib grinders. How many nib grinders were there? Let's see. One, two, three, four, five, I think, nib grinders were there. Plenty. Yeah. Four of them sat. They busy the whole time, all five of them. It looked like it. Wow. As best as I could tell, every time I went to that corner of the room. So four of them were together. And then one of them was separate. And that was Kirk Spear. And he was only separate because he also has, like, a retail operation, right? He has, like, pen tables. And then has, like, sits his nib work at the end where the four other nib grinders were only doing nib grinds, right? So they just had all their tables together. And every time you walk by that area of the room, it looked like they were working. Like, there was, you know, not a lot of downtime for them. And a lot of them do online scheduling. So, like, I got a nib grind from JJ Lacks. So Joshua has, like, online scheduling. I just went online, booked a time, 1130 a.m. Friday. You know, the little app that he used. It might have been, like, connected directly through Stripe, if I'm not mistaken. Would text me, like, reminders. Hey, at 1130, you have this appointment. I was like, oh, yeah, cool. Because I am prone to forget things, as we have learned in the past. So, yeah, that went great. Got my nib grind.
• And then, so what I do is I just spend the Friday morning just kind of getting a lay of the land. Walk around the room, see who's where. See what's what. Get some scheduled things done. And then by that, I just kind of start maybe picking up a few things, you know, if I want to get some things to review, some things to give away. You know, I didn't have a shopping list for me, which we'll get to in a second later.
• It was good. Like, it was just great to be able to walk around and get to talk to people on Friday. That's what I like about Friday that much. Yeah. But I did want to go ahead and get a few things, save from, like, Sugar Turtle Studio. Always has great stuff. And I wanted to pick up a few things from him that might, you know, vanish through the weekend. And just go ahead and get them. Knock it out. Bring it up to my room. Stash it away. And be done with that stuff. And really, really just hang out. So, that was kind of Friday. It was really chill. It got kind of quiet by, you know. They closed at 5, like, by 4. You could tell it was, like, winding down a little bit. So, it was just a chill night. That night at the bar was popping. I like the layout of the current hotel that they're at. It's the Sheraton downtown.
• They've been there for a while. And I think that plays a big... The hotel scene plays a big role. Yeah. Like, Atlanta is one of the worst for hangout space. It's so tiny and compact and not really... It doesn't really flow very well. Whereas, like, Philadelphia has, like, a huge bar that's, like, well-staffed and operational compared to somewhere like Atlanta. And then, like, huge seating areas, like, just off to the side of that where there was always room and there was always people hanging out. So, I spent a while there just hanging out Friday night, just talking to people. Which is a true highlight, right? Like, you know, we can all do the show and we can all buy the stuff. But hanging out with friends, just chit-chatting, it's shocking. We'll just continue the pen talk at the bar. It's like... It's actually a reason to go to a weekend show. Like... Yeah. Just go to a day show if you want to buy stuff, right? Like, I'll go for a day. But if you want to go for a weekend, it's because you want to do the social aspect of it, too. Yep. And it's a great social aspect. It's so chill. You can literally just walk up to, like, any table, anyone. Just grab a seat. People are checking out their pens or paper or stickers or whatever they're doing. Some people are sitting there journaling. Some people are just sitting there having a drink or eating dinner. And, you know, but everyone's happy to just hang out together.
• Especially, like, at a show like this where we haven't... Maybe a lot of us haven't seen each other. Like, a lot of these people I've known for over a decade. But, you know, sometimes I only get to see them or talk to them on the road. So, it's pretty cool. So, I do like the Philadelphia Hotel for their internal non-show layout. So, it's pretty cool. So, Friday, I kind of check off a lot of things on the list from, like, non-personal stuff. So, like, I do break things down from, like, work stuff. You know, what do I need for, like I said, reviews and, you know, giveaways and other things like that. Discovery, right? Telling new stories, things like that. But, Saturday, since I got a lot of that done, I just kind of browse around, right? And, on Friday, I kind of got an idea of maybe a pen that I wanted to pick up if I had the opportunity.

Discussion of the Narwhal Plonjour pen

• So, like, on Friday, I got to check out... One of my friends brought me the Narwhal Plonjour that we talked about before. Which is the all-titanium barrel Narwhal piston filler based on a submarine design, right? And it's just kind of a neat pen. And I got to... That's something I got to check out and hold. And it's like, oh, this is actually... Would work pretty well for me. I like the size and the shape and the weight and all of that worked. And so, I was like, well, maybe if I see one at the show, like, they weren't... They didn't make that many of them. It was a limited-ish run that was all sold out. But I found one at the show and I bought that. So, like, that was the pen I bought for me. So, we'll talk about that more in a minute because I got it inked up as of this morning.
• So, like, that's another good thing about pen shows is... And having the time to spend, like, multiple days is... You might get to try something that you're interested in and have that opportunity to get it in the hand, write with it, test it out. Not at a vendor table, maybe from a friend or something like that or someone who has something similar. You can find out and test. Like, this is all, like, important, like, information stuff. So, Saturday at the show was great. Like, the weather was really nice on Saturday. There was no snow or rain issues. It was beautiful.
• It was just a really good vibe all day. Like, that's kind of the word I kept coming back to. Like, it was very positive. It was a little bit buzzy. You know, the crowds were nice. I think all the vendors were having a good day, as, you know, best as I could tell just in my conversations randomly.
• And, yeah, it was just a really happy, fun day, which, like, I don't know what more you can ask for, really. Right? Like, stuff and all is great. But just to be in, like, a cool, fun environment where everyone's there for a reason and we're all there because of stationery. We all kind of get along and just have these great conversations and discussions around all this stuff that we love. It was really cool. It was just kind of cool to just hang out Saturday. So, yeah, I bought a few more things. Like, nothing, no big deal or anything like that. And then I, late Saturday afternoon, I took a class. I took Kimberly, who writes for the Pen Addict, does a handwriting improvement class. And it was thoroughly enjoyable. Like, I didn't, I, of course, I expected it to be. But it really struck me just, like, the importance of classes. If you're there for multiple days, to take, it gives you, it forces you to take a break and to sit down. Like, I realized when I got to that class at 4 o'clock, like, I hadn't really sat down most of the days. I did go grab a quick bite, I think. I don't even remember. Did I even eat? No, I didn't even eat lunch Saturday. So, yeah, I hadn't even really sat down. I think I really, I think I got a Snickers from the vending machine. Like, that was, that was a bad move. But, yeah, like, it didn't hit me until I sat down. I was like, oh, I'm going to sit down. Number one, I'm going to forcibly rest. And then I get to learn something about handwriting. And I really think people should take a chance on some classes that they might not be comfortable with. And I'm saying this for myself as well. Like, if I'm there for multiple days, I should take one class a day. Just to force myself to give myself a break and then to learn something new. So, it's just this awesome reboot of your day that I just found to be, like, super invaluable. And then, like, I'm still thinking about the things that she was teaching in class. Like, it was really, really interesting how I assess my handwriting.
• So, that was cool. You absolutely need things to break up the day, too. Because you can only, you know, tour the floor enough times. Like, you know, you're going to get to a point where you've seen the tables enough. So, like, having another activity to do that is also related to the thing that you're there for is, like, that's really good. That's better than sightseeing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I'm, like, I'll admit, like, I'm one to get caught up in it, right? Like, I literally just said I didn't eat lunch Saturday. Like, that's just because I get caught up in talking to people and saying hi. It's easier than the average person going to a pen show, though, you know? Yeah, yeah. Like, people want your attention and stuff like that.
• Yeah, but I enjoy it. It's twofold. I want other people's attention, too. Like, I'm trying to learn things and figure things out. Like, you know, I got to talk to some of the, you know, distributors. Like, when are things coming? What is the plan here? You know, like, I got to talk to luxury brands about the Benu Pixie, which we talked about last week. And they're, like, oh, yeah, that looks like it's going to be a very, very popular release. It's that little guy, right? Yeah, the little guy. We're going to get it in a few weeks, and I'll make sure you get them and, you know, stuff like that. So, like, I got a lot to do aside from just, like, one and a round. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But it's fun. But giving myself those force breaks of classes is something I should do for myself. But I think it's valuable for anyone, honestly. Like, I failed not forcing myself to go sit down and have lunch, right? But then I recouped that by taking the class and going, oh, yeah, you're a big dummy. You should do this more often.

Saturday activities and social interactions at the pen show

• So, that was cool. Saturday, you know, being a really busy day. A lot of people just came into town for the day, but spent, like, the full day there. Like, the morning and the evening. Like, went out to dinner. I got to hang out with my friends, Aziza from Gourmet Pens and Drew from now Farnie's Pens. So, went out to dinner with them, you know, plotted on a few things, you know. But really, honestly, we talk less about pens and stationery stuff when we go out like that because we have a lot of other opportunities to talk about stationery. We really just, like, chilled out, ate, had a good time. And then back at the hotel, Saturday, was just, like, so many people were just hanging out, sitting. Like, I literally, like, sat on the floor next to this couch area, like, where a bunch of people, other people were sitting. And we just sat and talked about pens. It was, like, super fun, super chill. So, my move now is to get home by Sunday afternoon, if at all possible. So, I was out early morning Sunday. My flight was, like, at 9.30 Sunday. And that was just fortunately planned months ago because the storm, the snowstorm was coming in that afternoon. But it ended up not being that bad of a storm for a lot of people. So, it was supposed to be, like, four inches of snow, and it was, like, one. So, it wasn't too bad. But then the – it's also Philadelphia is a huge sports town. And their football team, the Eagles, were having a playoff game at 3 p.m. that afternoon. So, I talked to people at the show, said it was just, like, ghost town Sunday afternoon on the show. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That makes sense. Between the weather, the weather being bad, the forecast being bad, and then the playoff football, like, extreme high-importance game, if you're into that, like, no one was going to be at the show. So, people did say that it was pretty quiet Saturday afternoon. But that was it. Sport or church. That's the reason why no one goes to pensions on Sunday. Just depending on where you are, really. Exactly. Exactly. So, Sundays can be tough. For smaller shows, it's tough. For big shows, like a DC or San Fran, it's not that much different than, like, a Friday, right? They can be pretty busy. But for, like, the smaller shows, Sundays tend to be quieter. Yeah. But, yeah, it was fantastic. If you couldn't tell, I had a really good time. You did. I can tell. Yeah. So, we'll leave it there. We'll talk about a few things I came home with. We definitely have more to recap, talk more about the pleasure. The pleasure. Okay. Well, here's the thing, right? The thing about the pen show experience is it's in two. You have the kind of the community aspect, the hanging out, the chat, and having a good time, and then also the products. Now, coming to, like, the having a good time, having a good conversation, you get that with us, right? You're hearing us now. You're enjoying that. But what about the buying? Well, let me tell you about our first sponsor of this episode. Yeah. That is Enigma Stationary. They offer unique items made from in-house designs along with the top brands and hard-to-find imports. You're not going to find anywhere else. And I'd like to introduce Enigma's newest product, which I got sent one of these. Genius idea. The Ink Towel. Yeah. A 100% cotton tea towel featuring colorful original artwork by Enigma family member Michelle with a pre-stained ink splotch look. You can use this towel for cleaning pens with no worries and not having to worry about it. You know, because, well, I mean, I've had that before. It's like a microfiber. And they eventually get like this, but it takes time. So, like, what I like is this is already done for me. I don't need to worry about making it inky. And I don't have to hurry to make it inky because it's already done. But this is a great idea. I genuinely recommend this for anybody. Like, if you use fountain pens and you don't have, like, a dedicated ink towel, this is a perfect product for that. I love that they made it. The artwork is so good. I was really excited with this when they sent me one of these. I think this is a very, very smart idea. And it's just a good thing to have, like, along with where you keep your inks. Like, you've just got your little towel there and you can take care of the pens. You can just do it. And they look like they chose some great inks. What I'd love to know that I didn't know from an inks is if the colors that they chose are actually based on specific ink or not. I think that would be fun to know. Yeah. I don't know. I got the towel, too. And, like, when I opened up the envelope, I just went, yes. Like, this is perfect. So, I get very excited about this. Plus, I mean, I'm inking so many pens, I always throw down a towel and it's just a microfiber cloth that's, you know, very well stained. And this is just going to get even better the more I use it. So, yeah, fly your ink flag, man. This thing is great. But there's always tons of stuff over at Enigma's Day Show. What I really like about Enigma is that they have things that you expect and things that you don't. So, it's always a good time to go and look at what they've got on offer. If you want free U.S. shipping or discounted international shipping on orders of $50 or more plus a free gift, go to enigmastationery.com slash penaddict and use the code penaddict25 at checkout. That is enigmastationery.com slash penaddict to get your hands on all of Enigma's latest stock. Plus, a free gift and free U.S. shipping on orders of $50 or more with the code penaddict25. Our thanks to Enigma Stationary for their support of this show and relay. Random thing. I just flipped the tile over and I didn't notice this, but they have a little hang tag in the corner. So, it's their label. It's in one of the corners and you can hang it. So, it's great. Love it. So, this now lives on my desk here. So, it's great. Shout out of the week, Myke. Shout out of the week. Nice. That was like a very modernized version. Yeah. I don't know what I'm going for there, but I went for something. Yeah. I'm in. So, Ink Dependence. My friend Myke Madison was at the show this weekend. And if you're not familiar with Ink Dependence, you should follow them on YouTube. And one of the things for the pen shows that Myke goes to, not Myke Hurley, Ink Dependence Myke, every Friday afternoon, he does like a walk and talk through the show. And it's always like a good hour, sometimes two hours, depending on the show and how busy it is and how many people he can get to talk. Go watch those videos. So, I have a link to the Ink Dependence channel. I have a link to the walkthrough of the show, of the Philadelphia Pen Show. So, if you have not been to a pen show, this is a great way to kind of get a good experience of what it's like and, you know, get a good visual. And Myke gets to talk. Some of the vendors will talk to Myke. You know, he'll hand them the microphone and they'll do a little mini interview, talk about products. So, it's really, really great if you are not there or interested in what a pen show is like. Myke does a great job with these videos.
• All right. So, we talked about what I bought for myself, the Navalur Plonjour. So, it's a titanium piston filler. So, the worry for me, as someone who doesn't normally, doesn't do a lot of big heavy pins was, is it too big and too heavy? So, I have a familiarity with the Nautilus shape that they do. So, they've done a lot of Ebonite Nautilus. They've done some Marushi Nautilus. It's really, like, if you're familiar with their pens at all, like, this is one that you've seen with the little portholes around the barrel where you can see, like, the ink and the piston. So, this is an all-titanium version of that. And I thought it was really cool looking. And until I got it in my hand, I didn't know if it was going to be good for me. And it turns out it was. And there was one available at the show. And I picked it up from Federalist Pens. So, shout out Frank and one of the locals there. Frank and Mark. They're at a lot of the shows. So, they had one on the table. I said, how much? They said, this much? And I said, yes, please. I will have it. So, that came home with me. And that was my only, like, personal pen purchase. Like, again, I categorize these things, right? Like, I bought other pens and I bought other things. But they're not necessarily something I'm planning to review. Or, you know, I might review this pen. I might not. But it wasn't bought for a specific reason other than I wanted this pen. So, we'll talk about what I inked it up here with in a minute. I also bought a Franklin Christophe Model 3. So, this is a show special pen. I'll have to do some pictures of this because they do some neat engraving on these pens. And they did it for the Philadelphia Pen Show. It's kind of like a lattice isn't the right word. But it's a very unique, neat pattern. But, like, I buy that for giveaway, right? That's going to be a member's giveaway this month. And the show special link, like, that goes along with it.
• And then I was given a pen for my personal use. And this I will actually definitely review because I love this pen. And I've just never gotten around to getting it. The Retro 51 Sprinkle Ops Fountain Pen. Have you seen this, Myke? Yeah. You've seen the original, like, rollerball. Yeah. Yeah, I've seen it. I adore this. I love it. I don't understand it. And I don't think I ever could. But I want it. Yes. So I talked to Marty a lot about this pen. So I got this from Marty, AVL Marty, Marty Henderson, who does a lot of work with Retro 51 and Drum Ghouls and Rickshaw. And you'll see him and his wife, Kimberly, in a lot of shows. And he gifted this to me. He had a part in designing this. And he explained it to me before the pens, like, this was a thing in the EDC world. Yeah, yeah. Like, bags and knives and all kinds of different things with this pattern. I've looked into this before because I liked the pattern and didn't understand where it was coming from. And I looked into it and I was like, I still don't understand. I love it, but I don't know. Like, I'd love to know more about where it came from, you know? Yeah. Yep. Yep. So it's really cool. I've inked it up this morning as well. Again, we'll talk about the inks in a moment. Because I've seen, like, knives and other things in this style. Accessories. And, like, it's just very interesting to me. I think it's cool. Yeah. Yep. I love it. I love it. It's really nice. I'm surprised I just haven't randomly bought one by now. But, hey, you know, I held out and Marty hooked me up. So I appreciate that. If you're Brad Dowdy, hold out long enough and someone will give it to you.
• But, like, I'm... It's a very unique thing. I'm totally reviewing this pen, right? Yeah. Like, this is... Actually, and probably the plonjour, too. Even though, like, you can't buy the plonjour anymore. Like, it's not that common. I think it's probably still worth a review because it's a... I would be keen. Because I don't remember the last time you reviewed a Retro 51 fountain pen. But I would be very keen to know how they hold up today. Because I know that they've changed them a bunch over the years. So, like, just on its own. Like, what is the Retro 51 fountain pen like today would be interesting to me. Yep. I reviewed one last year. Not to bring up any bad memories. But it was kind of coffee bean related. We don't talk about that. It wasn't that one. That was a race from memory. Yeah. That was a race from memory. It wasn't that particular one. But it was, you know, somewhat ancillary related. Now, me and you have been on a journey recently where... We've been on a journey recently where I've been, like, really excited about Retro 51 and everything that they're doing. So, let's not talk about that again. All right. Because I get upset. All right. All right. Inks. Sugar Turtle Studio Slowpoke Set No. 1. Kimberly just reviewed that last week. Tom had those there at the show. I really like that combination of colors. They're really, really nice.
• Some Japanese inks that... A shop called Helen's Creations, who I also bought in some pen kimonos from. They're a smaller maker that have started coming to, like, some of the pen shows. They were at Stationery Fast last year. And this is the first time I bought anything from them. I bought, like, three of the little pen kimonos. They have them for pocket pen size and full pen size. And bought one, gave it away on stream yesterday. I was on Front Page yesterday, Myke. I had almost 2,000 viewers. How did it go? Just shout out me. How did it go? Yeah? Really smooth. Not hardly any band hammers required. And it was just a good vibe. I had a good day yesterday. That's so good. Very fun. Very fun. So, like, I gave one of those away on stream. One of the little pocket pen kimonos. 2,000 viewers, Brad. That's amazing, man. Almost. Almost. That's so cool. Like, 1978, I think, is where we peaked. I'm so happy that it worked. Yeah. We did get a lot of followers, like, saying, oh, I didn't know this was a thing. I'm into this. But, like, I don't know. Twitch Front Page, in theory, it should work, right? But it doesn't mean these things will work. And I'm happy that people came along with you. Brad, that's so good, man. I'm so pleased. It was good. It was fun. It was fun. We had a good day. Very good vibes. Good vibes. Yeah, I have it. So, Ink Dependence, that I mentioned before, also has a shop. He has some new Pannonia inks in. I got some samples from him. And then Aziza from Gourmet Pens must have given me... Let's see if I can count real quick. One, two, three, four, five. He's doing a lot of counting, guys. 12 inks, I think, that she sells in her shop with collaborations with Ink Institute. And I had a Pannonia one. And there were some other ones as well. So, that's what I've been using to ink up my pens this morning. So, the Plonjour. Myke, I would like to inform you that it has Gourmet Pens Ink Institute Saskatoon Berry Pie inked in, which is a beautiful, like, magenta-y, berry-colored ink, which is gorgeous in this pen. And then we inked up the Sprinkle Ops with Gourmet Pens Ink Institute Tobermory Rack, which is a teal. And these are all Canadian themes. Gourmet Pens being from Canada, living in Canada, and taking some of the Canadian themes. I'll have to wiki the Tobermory Rack, but people were talking about it yesterday. I did wiki the Saskatoon Berry Pie, and I shouldn't have because it looks amazing, and I want it. So, yeah. So, those are the inks I have got inked up so far. She also hooked me up with a rare Pannonia ink as a joke.
• The script is showing this year was Niagara Peach, and I kind of made a point of saying I just don't like peach inks. So, of course, she gave me that ink to force my hand and make me love it. And you know what? I inked it up yesterday. It's not that bad, Myke. So, to be determined. Not that bad, he said.
• Ringing endorsement there. Well, we have some work to do. Like, it's an aggressively shimmery peach ink, and I think it has its place. So, I'm committed to the bit to at least see what I really think of it and if it's going to make the list, but I like it. So, that was about it. But the only other, the most random thing I bought, and which is why I like going to pen shows, was a notebook from a small bookbinder named Pull-Upsest Design. I have their Etsy link in the shop. And I met them in Atlanta, Phoebe. I met her in Atlanta at last year's show and bought some hand-bound books. So, there was this one that she has. She does some small, she does everything from like real small, almost like A7-ish to practically like A4-sized books. This, and uses like really unique fabrics and styles. Well, there's this one fabric that I couldn't get over and I really liked it. But the internals were a guest book layout. Like, literally, guest, date, time, date, date. And I sat there because I love the cover. And I was like, how can I use this? How can I use this? Like, I have to buy this, right? It's beautiful. So, I'm going to use it, I think, so far. I have not started yet. I have not put the first bit of ink in there. To get the most use out of it, I think I'm going to use it as my album review notebook. So, I can put like day, date, album, artist, and like what I think about it, like my little rating in there. So, that'll be a good way to fill it up. And it'll be a fun way. I was thinking you could do it as a way to check in pens and inks. I know. That was someone else's suggestion. And I'm kind of, I might be leaning towards that too. That might be more fun.
• Like, I just have two new inks, two new pens inked up today. Yeah. And I might switch. That's why I haven't started yet because I'm not totally committed to that. Yeah. And it might be a better, let's check in with our currently inked. So, we'll see.
• That might be a better solution. So, we'll work on that. All right. This episode is brought to you by our friends over at Squarespace, the all-in-one website platform for entrepreneurs to stand out and succeed online. Whether you're just getting started or managing an existing company, a growing brand, you can stand out with a beautiful website, engage with your audience directly, and sell your products, services, even the content that you create. Because Squarespace has everything you need, all in one place, and all on your terms. It's so easy to get started with a Squarespace website. It's the main reason that I've been using them for 15 years, is that I can go from idea to site in such a fast amount of time. And it is only getting better and better and better as the years go on. Like now they have design intelligence, where Squarespace have combined their two decades of industry-leading design expertise of cutting-edge AI technology to unlock your strongest creative potential. Design intelligence empowers anyone to build a beautiful, more personalized website tailored to your unique needs and to craft a bespoke digital identity to use across your entire online presence. Once you've got your Squarespace website set up and you're ready and it's out to the world, you can use their integrated SEO tools to make sure that people are finding you. Every Squarespace website is optimized to be indexed with meta descriptions and an auto-generated sitemap, so you show up more often to more people in global search engine results. I don't even know what half of those words mean. How would I do that on my own? I don't know. So I just let Squarespace take care of it for me because I know they're going to help me out. And it is why both me and Brad have used them for years. You know, I've used them for websites. I have my personal kind of like bio page on Squarespace right now. Brad has the pen addict and the store all on Squarespace. We've just been fans of them forever because they really are the best. Go to squarespace.com. Don't just take our word for it. Sign up for their free trial and build your website today. You can build your entire website in the free trial. And then when you're ready to launch it to the world, you sign up for a plan. Go to squarespace.com slash pen addict. And you'll save 10% of your first purchase of a website or domain. That is squarespace.com slash pen addict. When you sign up, you'll get 10% of your first purchase and show your support for the show. A thanks to Squarespace for the continued support of this show and all of relay.

Lamy rollerball and jet stream refill discussion

• All right. You want to hit some ass TPA? You know, I do. The first one comes from Andrew, and this is kind of follow up from last week a little bit. Do you think the Lamy rollerball will get a jet stream refill upgrade as well as the ballpoint? So I think this is the farthest stretch of any like, hey, what do both companies currently make that we can make better?
• The Lamy rollerball is a liquid ink. The jet stream is a hybrid, right? It's supposed to be ballpointy refill, but it's really like, it's just technically a ballpoint. So I don't know that they're going to use the jet stream for the rollerball. So then you start thinking about, well, does Uniball have any other options for the rollerball and the liquid ink? And that's probably like the least thing that they're known for, right? Their rollerball ink, it mostly only comes in, I think they're calling it, what are they calling it these days? The Uni-1. It's the old, it's actually the pen that like Sam Altman was using when we did that recap. It's a very, very old Uniball stick pen, very inexpensive.
• And it's like the ink's fine. Like you're not really going to buy anything switching an ink that Uniball doesn't even market as like a really like premier product. Like they do the jet stream or any of the Signo stuff. Which brings me to what I would hope is that maybe Lamy does a gel pen and adds that into the lineup. That would be a real modernization of the lineup. Could you do a Lamy 2000 gel? Like I don't see why not. And then use the Signo refill? Good grief. Like that would be, that would be the dream scenario. That would be an amazing pen. Or like I was saying, you know, when we were talking about it before, just swap in the Signo refills into the lower end stuff like the Tipo. So the Lamy rollerball, I don't know. I think that's probably like the least likely to get touched just from the ink properties. But I don't, I would love to be very, very wrong about that. But even if they switch it into, it won't switch into a Jetstream. But even if they switch it into Uniball's rollerball ink, it's not really an upgrade. It's pretty, that'd be a pretty like sideways move. So I hope that we get more gel ink options in Lamy pens. And then we'll see. But I would love to be proven wrong on this one. But this would not be on my radar.
• All right. This is a longer question. So that's some setup. This comes from Alman who says, So I hate cleaning out piston fillers. I run the nib and the feed underwater. I draw in clean water from a glass. I flush the pen out. I run the nib on feed underwater. Rinse and repeat until everything runs clear. Then I leave it out to dry, nib down in a cup of a cloth underneath. The next morning, I'll ink up the theoretically clean pen, only to find that there is somehow still some old ink left somewhere. And my new ink and old ink create a new Frankenstein color. For example, my Lamy 2000 currently has a combination of Diamine Sherwood Green and Sailor Manu Yamabuki. My first question is, what am I doing wrong? Let's start with that, Brad. What's going on? Okay. All right. So to start, you're doing nothing wrong, right? Like you're doing a really good job. You could add something. And this is something I do to pens that are not fully disassemblable easily, like the Lamy 2K.
• And, you know, it's really hard to get the nib. And like most people don't recommend taking the nib and the feed out of the 2K, right? You can unscrew it from the barrel. You can rinse out both sides. So two things you can do in addition to what you're doing to maybe help is completely fill that Lamy 2K. After you thought you've cleaned it well, fill it with water. completely and let it sit overnight. Just let that water sit in there and work. And then the next day, clean it out and let it dry. So you're basically, you're going to have to add in some time to this, like if you're not in a hurry. And you just keep that water in the barrel, just like you would leave an ink in the barrel when you're using it, right? Leave water in the barrel, a full barrel of water overnight. Is there some kind of chemical, like a degreaser? Is there anything you could add?
• Yeah, there's like pen cleaning fluids. Oh, yeah, I have some. I do have some. Yeah, yeah, that you could use. The problem is, I think, is the feed of the Lamy 2K doesn't get like beautifully clean. Like it doesn't get pristinely clean. So if you're going through the steps that Armand's doing and you're doing the right things, I would add in the leave it soaking in water overnight. Not the whole barrel in water, like fill it with water. And see if you can just break up anything just from having it sit. Then flush it again and let it dry. That's like one extra step you could take. Then you could try like the different pen cleaners. The other thing is you could force water through the nib and feed with a nasal aspirator, right? If you're just rinsing. So this is Lamy 2000 specific, right? If I take the Retro 51 I have here, the Sparkle Ops. It has a Yovo feed and nib. I can fully disassemble that real easy. Just take that apart, soak it, done. Like you're just done. The Lamy 2K is very particular in the way it's designed to where it is a little bit harder to clean. You can't fully disassemble it, can you? I mean you can, but I just don't think you want to, right? It's not just great for that. It's not an easy one to do. Yeah, it's just not straightforward. I wouldn't feel super comfortable disassembling my Lamy 2000. Yeah, yeah. So I don't think this is all piston fillers. I think this is a Lamy 2000 specific question. So I think it's just more challenging than like literally. Like this Narwhal plonjour, like I will just unscrew the nib, you know, rinse out the barrel, and then I can take the nib apart, soak it, and then I'm done. Like I know it's clean already. Like it's a Lamy 2K thing, not an all piston filler thing. There's more. Okay. This is the second question from Arman. Oh, this is a good follow-up, yeah. My second question is whether there is any reason to be worried about different inks mixing anyway. When I'm switching inks in a piston filler, if inks are going to mix regardless of my cleaning, then why clean? And why not allow for one piston's worth of new fun ink color before the next piston will be entirely new color? Though fair warning, if you say this is fine, I may take it to the logical conclusion and decide I never need to clean any pens that I will use regularly.
• It's fine if you've done the full cleaning and you're seeing a little bit of remnants. It's not fine if you just go straight into the next fill, right? Because you're going to contaminate a lot of stuff because you're only filling that Lamy 2K by the bottle. I actually think the biggest issue... You're going to be putting old ink in the bottle. Yeah, the biggest issue is you're going to actually ruin the next ink more than what you're going to do to the pen and the ink experience you're going to have. Because as soon as you dip that in there, especially if you go dark to light, you have now changed the color of that ink permanently. The bottle. The bottle. What's in the bottle. Yeah, because there's always going to be wet or dry ink on the nib and in the feed. And that is going to come out. If you want an example of what this looks like, just take some clear water and dip your pen into it first and you'll see how much comes off. Right.
• Even me, the guy who notoriously doesn't ever really want to clean his pens, I don't do this. It's why I actually very rarely switch ink between pens. Yeah. So. Yeah, I will say though, like the other part where sometimes it is fine, if I've done my due diligence and like done my cleaning properly, sometimes there's just going to be ink somewhere, but that's going to be so minuscule. I'm fine. I'll just. It's a tiny amount. You'll basically just overwrite that, you know, within a few minutes of writing and you'll just be good to go. So. But yeah, I am. Yeah, I'm not going to do that without cleaning it in between. But, you know, as Jan is pointing out in the discord, you could syringe fill it or you could fill it in another way. But my next point is I don't really like that. For me, I wouldn't want to do this because why am I going to do this? Why am I changing ink then? Right. Like if I'm not going to get the new color for me, like I don't want to mix between the two colors. Like if I'm changing ink from pen to pen, I want to try and clean that ink out as much as possible from the pen. Otherwise, in my opinion, what is the point of changing the ink in the first place? Yep. Victor writes in and says, after being an avid fan of the show in 2015 to 2017, life got busy and I had to take a break from stationery as a whole. Things are back on track. So I'm able to listen again and partake in the joys of fountain pens once more. Welcome back, Victor. I'm happy you're here. It's been a while, though, says Victor. And there's a lot of companies and pens I'm unfamiliar with. I'm learning about and looking into Bennu, for example, which inspired this question. Are there any newer fountain pens that you'd suggest to a returning pen enjoyer? That's a great question. I love this question, Brad. Yeah. This actually has me thinking about the top five lists and why there's not a lot of change right in this list because there's not a lot of innovation. Innovation is the wrong word. There's just not a lot of new companies breaking in. But the first one I would point to, Victor, is Leonardo, for sure. Like they really just only had their come up since the past few years.
• It's a pen company that has really high quality, even on their entry-level pens. And now entry-level pens being $160, right? That's not a $40 pen, like a Twisby or something. But they do really, really great work in that price bracket. So once you're starting to look into Bennu, you're getting into the Leonardo price points pretty quickly. So that would be at the top of my list, honestly. Outside of that, it's a lot of some of the same companies doing... Some of them are doing the same things. Some of them are doing the same things, but better. I would say, you know, like the Japanese brands that are like, Sailor and Platinum, those are doing the same thing. And Pilot's doing the same thing. And they're not doing a lot of interesting things with pin barrel design, but they are doing interesting things with nibs. Can I make a slight addendum to that? Because you mentioned Platinum. If you've never owned a 3776 because you thought they looked boring, since 2017, they stopped that. And they now make good-looking ones that aren't just like all black, right? That's true. That's one of the biggest things that changed for me over this time. It was like, 3776, I think is my favorite pen, right? Like, just bar none. That's the nib I got worked on. The 3776 is just, it's God tier. And if you've never owned one, like me, I never own it because I do not want a black pen with gold furniture. I'm just not interested in it. Right. Or just like a very simple, solid acrylic. Well, now they do lots of really interesting designs very frequently, actually. So there might be something new for you in there if you'd never gone down that route before. Yep, yep. And then what I was going to say with Pilot is they've gone for maybe like your five stock nibs, extra fine, fine, medium, broad, and something else, double broad. They now have like 15 nibs in their lineup. So you can get a wide range of Pilot nibs. Not every pen lineup, not every product lineup has the nib range, but they're becoming more and more commonplace. That's not something I ever thought I'd see, to be perfectly honest. Like, that's a huge, huge investment and commitment. So that's a pretty neat thing. Outside of that... Clearly Narwhal slash Navalure, however you say it. Yeah. They're a new brand that like people really dig and they're new. So it could be worth checking out. And the other thing, even with companies you've already may have loved in the past, they're starting to... You're starting to see like a lot of companies work with smaller makers materials, right? So instead of your standard stock materials that you might see from, you know, company X or Y, like Leonardo's one, you know, then on the higher end like Visconti, but really a whole range of pens working with smaller, unique materials. So that's a change from that timeframe to where we're not just getting... We're not just getting standard pen barrel design created over and over by every company. They're all like branching out a little bit into some more unique materials and design.
• Very cool. Yeah. Also, there was a pen with abs a couple years back. You should probably check that one out. Make sure you don't miss the pen with abs. You would really like regret it if you'd missed that. And so we recommend that you go and check that out. It's actually very, very important that you go check that out. It is. It was a turning point. Yeah. It was big for all of us. If you'd like to send in a question of your own for a future episode of the show, you have any feedback or follow up on today's episode, go to penaddictfeedback.com. If you want to find Brad online, go to penaddict.com, twitch.tv slash penaddict. And you can find Brad also at spokedesign.com. You can find me here on Relay. You can go to relay.fm. You can find our shows here. If you maybe want to pick up something new, you should do that. Obviously, add. Don't replace the penaddict. What are you? Wild? Don't do that. You can also find me at cortexbrand.com. I want to thank our sponsors for this week's episode, Squarespace and Enigma Stationery. But most of all, as always, I want to thank you for listening. And we'll be back next time. Until then, say goodbye, Brad. Goodbye, Brad.