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'''Speaker 02:''' From RelayFM, this is The Pen Addict, episode 387. Today's show is brought to you by Squarespace. Moo and hello, my name is Myke Hurley and it is that time of year. We're in the peak shopping season as the holidays are about to begin, so there is no better time than right now to do The Pen Addict Gift Guide. I think we're earlier than we usually do this thing in December, but Brad will be back to the Pen Addict Gift Guide. We're really on it this year and we're doing it before the end of November. Hi, Brad Dowdy. Hello, Myke Hurley. How are you? I'm fine and dandy, my friend. Yeah, I was looking just before we recorded today because I was checking that we do a pen holiday gift guide to the title of every episode that we do this on. And last year we did it in December. The year before was the end of November. So we got back into the swing of things this year.
== Pen Addict Podcast ==


'''Myke Hurley:''' Well, and I still feel like it's late. I feel like we should be like mid-November at the latest for a gift guide because people shop early.


'''Speaker 02:''' This is shopping time. This is it. You've got the discounts going on. But anyway, if we are doing our big special episode, then we have to have the third and most wonderful host of The Pen Addict. That is Anna Reiner. Welcome to the show, Anna.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' From RelayFM, this is The Pen Addict, episode 387. Today's show is brought to you by Squarespace. Moo and hello, my name is Myke Hurley and it is that time of year. We're in the peak shopping season as the holidays are about to begin, so there is no better time than right now to do The Pen Addict Gift Guide. I think we're earlier than we usually do this thing in December, but Brad will be back to the Pen Addict Gift Guide. We're really on it this year and we're doing it before the end of November. Hi, Brad Dowdy. Hello, Myke Hurley. How are you? I'm fine and dandy, my friend. Yeah, I was looking just before we recorded today because I was checking that we do a pen holiday gift guide to the title of every episode that we do this on. And last year we did it in December. The year before was the end of November. So we got back into the swing of things this year.
 
'''Brad Dowdy:''' Hi, how are you guys?


'''Myke Hurley:''' Well, and I still feel like it's late. I feel like we should be like mid-November at the latest for a gift guide because people shop early.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' This is shopping time. This is it. You've got the discounts going on. But anyway, if we are doing our big special episode, then we have to have the third and most wonderful host of The Pen Addict. That is Anna Reiner. Welcome to the show, Anna.


== Budget Guidelines ==
'''Anna Reiner:''' Hi, how are you guys?


 
'''Brad Dowdy:''' Very good. Very good indeed. Now, Brad, you like to try and mix things up on us every year and you have, I think, quite a good idea for how we're going to do the gift guide this year, right?
'''Speaker 02:''' Very good. Very good indeed. Now, Brad, you like to try and mix things up on us every year and you have, I think, quite a good idea for how we're going to do the gift guide this year, right?


'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, and I like to have a gift guide that kind of plays loose with the rules. So it's just not the standard answers for all the questions you would expect for a gift guide. Now, there's some of that in there, but I just kind of, you know, try to freshen it up every year because...
'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, and I like to have a gift guide that kind of plays loose with the rules. So it's just not the standard answers for all the questions you would expect for a gift guide. Now, there's some of that in there, but I just kind of, you know, try to freshen it up every year because...


'''Speaker 02:''' We've got some rules this time.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' We've got some rules this time.


'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, got a few rules. So we have some standard, you know, keep it under this price rules and we have some standard general topic rules. But I think it came out pretty fun, you know, looking at all the answers that we filled out. And I think we're going to have a good time with this episode.
'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, got a few rules. So we have some standard, you know, keep it under this price rules and we have some standard general topic rules. But I think it came out pretty fun, you know, looking at all the answers that we filled out. And I think we're going to have a good time with this episode.


'''Speaker 02:''' So we have a bunch of categories. The first category that we have for the 2019 Pen Addict Gift Guide is to build a stationary starter kit under $30. Brad, can you talk us through the thinking behind this and then tell us yours?


'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, so this category is basically two categories. You want...


== Stationery Starter Kit ==




== Starter Kits ==
'''Brad Dowdy:''' So we have a bunch of categories. The first category that we have for the 2019 Pen Addict Gift Guide is to build a stationary starter kit under $30. Brad, can you talk us through the thinking behind this and then tell us yours?


'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, so this category is basically two categories. You want...


'''Speaker 02:''' Like all good categories. Multiple. Like all good categories, there's two. We have one category, it's actually two categories.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' Like all good categories. Multiple. Like all good categories, there's two. We have one category, it's actually two categories.


'''Myke Hurley:''' But I think there's kind of, there's pretty clear price breaks in gift giving, right? So there's the smaller gift that you're going to give, you know, maybe, you know, an adjacent family member or a co-worker or a close friend where you're going to, you want it to be meaningful, but you don't want to break the bank on it. So like under $30 is like a good price range. And then later we'll have, okay, let's ramp that up to like the $100 price point. So I felt like those are kind of the two guidelines.
'''Myke Hurley:''' But I think there's kind of, there's pretty clear price breaks in gift giving, right? So there's the smaller gift that you're going to give, you know, maybe, you know, an adjacent family member or a co-worker or a close friend where you're going to, you want it to be meaningful, but you don't want to break the bank on it. So like under $30 is like a good price range. And then later we'll have, okay, let's ramp that up to like the $100 price point. So I felt like those are kind of the two guidelines.


'''Speaker 02:''' What's good about a starter kit under $30 is there's going to be multiple products in this list of stuff. So depending on how much you like a co-worker, you might spend $9 or you may go all the way up to the $30, right? Like if you're looking at Secret Santa. Because this isn't like pick one item under $30. This is multiple items that we say is like a starter set for somebody under $30, which is, that's, I think that's good. You've got lots of options in there, right?
'''Brad Dowdy:''' What's good about a starter kit under $30 is there's going to be multiple products in this list of stuff. So depending on how much you like a co-worker, you might spend $9 or you may go all the way up to the $30, right? Like if you're looking at Secret Santa. Because this isn't like pick one item under $30. This is multiple items that we say is like a starter set for somebody under $30, which is, that's, I think that's good. You've got lots of options in there, right?


'''Myke Hurley:''' And I think it's more useful than saying what's the best pen under $25. I just think it's more useful in a gift giving, you know, theme that we're having.
'''Myke Hurley:''' And I think it's more useful than saying what's the best pen under $25. I just think it's more useful in a gift giving, you know, theme that we're having.


'''Speaker 02:''' And plus those constraints should give some interesting options, right? That's the thing.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' And plus those constraints should give some interesting options, right? That's the thing.


'''Myke Hurley:''' Yep. Yep. All right. So we'll, we'll rotate all the answers in, and I'm up first in this because I typed up the list and I felt like I was like the best. You have the ego that means you want to go number one. Yeah.
'''Myke Hurley:''' Yep. Yep. All right. So we'll, we'll rotate all the answers in, and I'm up first in this because I typed up the list and I felt like I was like the best. You have the ego that means you want to go number one. Yeah.


'''Speaker 02:''' I mean, I understand. I've worked with you for long enough now. Yeah. Yeah.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' I mean, I understand. I've worked with you for long enough now. Yeah. Yeah.


'''Myke Hurley:''' I'm sure I'm, I know Anna will have some things to say about, about my choices and that's really what I'm here for. So let's get to it. She, she will have no arguments with, with these picks. I'm pretty certain, Myke. So I went with the right notepads, copper anniversary edition. It's a three pack of notebooks. It's $12. Everything right notepads makes is fantastic. It's super high quality. They are great for beginners. They're great for, you know, experienced users, people who want to use fountain pens in their pocket notebooks. These are perfect. And I think they're great. Like I said, they're 12 bucks. They're really, really nice looking. It's like a, um, burgundy or deep red, um, and copper stamping. It's just very, very classy. And I thought the thing to pair with that was the Zebra Sarasa Vintage Clip color set. So they came out with a new color.
'''Myke Hurley:''' I'm sure I'm, I know Anna will have some things to say about, about my choices and that's really what I'm here for. So let's get to it. She, she will have no arguments with, with these picks. I'm pretty certain, Myke. So I went with the right notepads, copper anniversary edition. It's a three pack of notebooks. It's $12. Everything right notepads makes is fantastic. It's super high quality. They are great for beginners. They're great for, you know, experienced users, people who want to use fountain pens in their pocket notebooks. These are perfect. And I think they're great. Like I said, they're 12 bucks. They're really, really nice looking. It's like a, um, burgundy or deep red, um, and copper stamping. It's just very, very classy. And I thought the thing to pair with that was the Zebra Sarasa Vintage Clip color set. So they came out with a new color.


'''Speaker 02:''' That is a good visual pairing. Yes. I think.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' That is a good visual pairing. Yes. I think.


'''Myke Hurley:''' Yes. Yeah. So they came out with a new set this year that has like a couple of different colors than that they've released in the past. Like a yellow and a red, um, that look really, really nice. The only kicker with that one is that one's been a little bit tough to procure. Like JetPens is out of it. I found them on Amazon. Like Tokyo pen shop has some of the colors, but not all of them. And some of the shops have them broken out where you can't buy them in sets. So like, if you can like corral this set, I think it's kind of a good deal. And then, yeah, I, I just felt that was a good combo. And, uh, this is probably like one of the selections right out the gate that I'm most happy with in the entire list. Like I want this for myself because I don't have either of those sets and I should buy them.
'''Myke Hurley:''' Yes. Yeah. So they came out with a new set this year that has like a couple of different colors than that they've released in the past. Like a yellow and a red, um, that look really, really nice. The only kicker with that one is that one's been a little bit tough to procure. Like JetPens is out of it. I found them on Amazon. Like Tokyo pen shop has some of the colors, but not all of them. And some of the shops have them broken out where you can't buy them in sets. So like, if you can like corral this set, I think it's kind of a good deal. And then, yeah, I, I just felt that was a good combo. And, uh, this is probably like one of the selections right out the gate that I'm most happy with in the entire list. Like I want this for myself because I don't have either of those sets and I should buy them.


'''Speaker 02:''' I hadn't seen this right notepad set. And that is a really good looking notebook. Like really, really good looking.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' I hadn't seen this right notepad set. And that is a really good looking notebook. Like really, really good looking.


'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. So I'll, I'll fess up. I did order that for myself. The notebooks. They come with baseball cards. Do they? How? Yes.
'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. So I'll, I'll fess up. I did order that for myself. The notebooks. They come with baseball cards. Do they? How? Yes.


'''Speaker 02:''' Oh, it's like they made it for you. Really?
'''Brad Dowdy:''' Oh, it's like they made it for you. Really?


'''Myke Hurley:''' I, they did. I even bought extra baseball cards. So anyway, yeah, that's my pick. All right, Myke, you're up. Oh, it's me. Ooh. Okay.
'''Myke Hurley:''' I, they did. I even bought extra baseball cards. So anyway, yeah, that's my pick. All right, Myke, you're up. Oh, it's me. Ooh. Okay.


'''Speaker 02:''' Uh, I am going to go with, I had to get it in there and this is a category I could get it in. The retro 51 tornado. Uh, I genuinely stand by and will always stand by. And I don't think I have a lot of people disagree with me. This is a pen that can turn someone from slightly interested into moderately interested in pens, right? Like you can turn someone on the retro 51 because of how good the barrel, sorry, how good the refill is. And the barrels are super fun. I was able to find, um, this is important for me with my budgeting here. I was able to find the retro 51 classic lacquers for about $21. Um, they're between 21 to 25 usually, depending on where you go, depending on what discounts you can find. But that was important because it was $21. We should say that Brad's set, uh, came to $24 total. So you get $6 change, which is pretty good.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' Uh, I am going to go with, I had to get it in there and this is a category I could get it in. The retro 51 tornado. Uh, I genuinely stand by and will always stand by. And I don't think I have a lot of people disagree with me. This is a pen that can turn someone from slightly interested into moderately interested in pens, right? Like you can turn someone on the retro 51 because of how good the barrel, sorry, how good the refill is. And the barrels are super fun. I was able to find, um, this is important for me with my budgeting here. I was able to find the retro 51 classic lacquers for about $21. Um, they're between 21 to 25 usually, depending on where you go, depending on what discounts you can find. But that was important because it was $21. We should say that Brad's set, uh, came to $24 total. So you get $6 change, which is pretty good.


'''Myke Hurley:''' So I'm going to need that $6 later, apparently.
'''Myke Hurley:''' So I'm going to need that $6 later, apparently.


 
'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, you will. Um, so the retro to one's $21 and then for $8 and 75 cents, uh, I would recommend the Rodia R premium notepad. Basically, I was just trying to find any Rodia paper that I could fit within my remaining budget of $9. And this did it. Um, and the reason I'll pick it is I just think that like, uh, really I was also thinking about Leuchtturm as well, but either of these, I think for me personally, these brands are interchangeable to serve the purpose of this paper is better paper than the paper you're currently using. If you're not interested in pens, right? You're probably losing like whatever paper you find in the office, or maybe you've gone to Monskine, but Rodia and Leuchtturm, and I won't remember Rodia in this instance, it's going to give you a better performance. And I think that with the typical smoothness of Rodia's paper, uh, paired with the retro 51, that's going to make somebody very happy, I think.
 
== Experienced User Kit ==
 
 
'''Speaker 02:''' Yeah, you will. Um, so the retro to one's $21 and then for $8 and 75 cents, uh, I would recommend the Rodia R premium notepad. Basically, I was just trying to find any Rodia paper that I could fit within my remaining budget of $9. And this did it. Um, and the reason I'll pick it is I just think that like, uh, really I was also thinking about Leuchtturm as well, but either of these, I think for me personally, these brands are interchangeable to serve the purpose of this paper is better paper than the paper you're currently using. If you're not interested in pens, right? You're probably losing like whatever paper you find in the office, or maybe you've gone to Monskine, but Rodia and Leuchtturm, and I won't remember Rodia in this instance, it's going to give you a better performance. And I think that with the typical smoothness of Rodia's paper, uh, paired with the retro 51, that's going to make somebody very happy, I think.


'''Myke Hurley:''' And as a bonus with the R, you can go matchy-matchy with the colors. They do color covers for... They sure do. ...the R lineup. So, yes.
'''Myke Hurley:''' And as a bonus with the R, you can go matchy-matchy with the colors. They do color covers for... They sure do. ...the R lineup. So, yes.


'''Speaker 02:''' That's my, that's my set. So, I come in at, uh, $29.75.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' That's my, that's my set. So, I come in at, uh, $29.75.


'''Myke Hurley:''' All right, Anna, give, give us the goods and tell us how wrong we are.
'''Myke Hurley:''' All right, Anna, give, give us the goods and tell us how wrong we are.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' I won't tell you how wrong you are. I knew Myke was going to, uh, go with the, uh, retro 51.
'''Anna Reiner:''' I won't tell you how wrong you are. I knew Myke was going to, uh, go with the, uh, retro 51.


'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, shock Pikachu face, right?
'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, shock Pikachu face, right?


'''Brad Dowdy:''' You had that on. Absolutely.
'''Anna Reiner:''' You had that on. Absolutely.


'''Speaker 02:''' Look, I had to get it in somewhere. I feel like if I didn't, people would have been frustrated at me, you know? That's, that's how, that's how I write it off to myself.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' Look, I had to get it in somewhere. I feel like if I didn't, people would have been frustrated at me, you know? That's, that's how, that's how I write it off to myself.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' And you went with it as your first choice. So, after this, you're going to have, you're going to have to surprise us.
'''Anna Reiner:''' And you went with it as your first choice. So, after this, you're going to have, you're going to have to surprise us.


'''Speaker 02:''' There are no more retro 51s in my, in my picks today, believe it or not.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' There are no more retro 51s in my, in my picks today, believe it or not.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' So, um, since both of you chose, um, uh, gel pen, roller balls, I went ahead and found a fountain pen for our first under 30 option. And I picked the, uh, the Caveco Perkyo, which you can get for $16. Um, it takes a full size cartridge or converter. Um, so as an option for an, uh, a low priced fountain pen, I thought it was a really good option. Um, and then I picked the Rhodia web notebook, which on, uh, jet pens was, uh, coming in at $18. So, I actually went $2 over on this one at $32, but it was a full sized A5 notebook.
'''Anna Reiner:''' So, um, since both of you chose, um, uh, gel pen, roller balls, I went ahead and found a fountain pen for our first under 30 option. And I picked the, uh, the Caveco Perkyo, which you can get for $16. Um, it takes a full size cartridge or converter. Um, so as an option for an, uh, a low priced fountain pen, I thought it was a really good option. Um, and then I picked the Rhodia web notebook, which on, uh, jet pens was, uh, coming in at $18. So, I actually went $2 over on this one at $32, but it was a full sized A5 notebook.


'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. Hard cover.
'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. Hard cover.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Hard cover. Um, and a, basically a matching pen. It is a full, you know, black as night noir set.
'''Anna Reiner:''' Hard cover. Um, and a, basically a matching pen. It is a full, you know, black as night noir set.


'''Myke Hurley:''' I love it. I forget about the Perkyo. I'm not going to lie because that is an awesome pen and it's an awesome gift pen.
'''Myke Hurley:''' I love it. I forget about the Perkyo. I'm not going to lie because that is an awesome pen and it's an awesome gift pen.


'''Speaker 02:''' It just looks like a sport, right? It's like, you know, with a lot of the, the, the accents of it are really nice looking.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' It just looks like a sport, right? It's like, you know, with a lot of the, the, the accents of it are really nice looking.


'''Myke Hurley:''' I just like that it's full size and it's inexpensive. Like, I think this is a killer gift.
'''Myke Hurley:''' I just like that it's full size and it's inexpensive. Like, I think this is a killer gift.


'''Speaker 02:''' I know. I do have you in at $33.95. Ah, dang. I'm going to say.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' I know. I do have you in at $33.95. Ah, dang. I'm going to say.


'''Myke Hurley:''' Peek out the boy over there.
'''Myke Hurley:''' Peek out the boy over there.


'''Speaker 02:''' I know.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' I know.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. Kind of went over just a little bit, but I feel like if you were, this is the kind of thing where if you were trying to convince someone to try a fountain pen, this would be the way to do it. It's a really nice notebook. It's a really nice pen. And still, you know, if you were to purchase this from pretty much the same, uh, um, online retailer, you're probably really close to getting it in for free shipping from somebody. So.
'''Anna Reiner:''' Yeah. Kind of went over just a little bit, but I feel like if you were, this is the kind of thing where if you were trying to convince someone to try a fountain pen, this would be the way to do it. It's a really nice notebook. It's a really nice pen. And still, you know, if you were to purchase this from pretty much the same, uh, um, online retailer, you're probably really close to getting it in for free shipping from somebody. So.


'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. And put like your set, like it goes really good together. Like you said, like the all black, like it looks like a complete gift. Here is all the things you need to be awesome. Like all in one shot.
'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. And put like your set, like it goes really good together. Like you said, like the all black, like it looks like a complete gift. Here is all the things you need to be awesome. Like all in one shot.


'''Speaker 02:''' Yeah. That is a good, that's a good pair. Thanks. All right. So that's category number one. Uh, yeah.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. That is a good, that's a good pair. Thanks. All right. So that's category number one. Uh, yeah.


'''Myke Hurley:''' That was a $30 budget. You know, we can play around there. It doesn't have to be strict and totally black and white on the dollar amount. We're in the ballpark. I see you setting yourself up there for later on. Yeah.
'''Myke Hurley:''' That was a $30 budget. You know, we can play around there. It doesn't have to be strict and totally black and white on the dollar amount. We're in the ballpark. I see you setting yourself up there for later on. Yeah.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' I think you're fixing that. Yeah. And the, and the, with the, um, the Rodia A5s, I think if you switched to one of the soft covers, I think those come in closer to like $14.95. That's true. But it's that whole thing of like, if you're willing to spend the extra $3, you could get the hard cover, which was on sale. So a little noodling.
'''Anna Reiner:''' I think you're fixing that. Yeah. And the, and the, with the, um, the Rodia A5s, I think if you switched to one of the soft covers, I think those come in closer to like $14.95. That's true. But it's that whole thing of like, if you're willing to spend the extra $3, you could get the hard cover, which was on sale. So a little noodling.


'''Speaker 02:''' So just a tad, our next one is to build a stationary kit for an experienced user. I think that part's key for under $100.


'''Myke Hurley:''' I mean, the idea was you're not going to generally speaking, it's going, it's more helpful to have like a baseline. If you're going to spend this much money on someone, you know, they're going to have some type of experience with stationary, right? This isn't, this isn't, Hey, let's surprise somebody with a hundred dollars worth of pen stuff that you don't know whether they're going to like or not. Like I, that's just kind of the basis I had of it.


'''Speaker 02:''' Yep. So I'm first up this time. So I was thinking along this lines, right? Like as I know people to be, if you're experienced, it means you, A, may have not owned a fountain pen yet, or B, you may have just only dabbled in cartridge fountain pens, right? Like you just haven't gone into ink yet. Like I know that that's a, it's an extra ramp up, right? To go down the method of you buying a bottle of ink and filling with a converter or with a piston filler or whatever. So I have started with the main item in my kit here is the TWSBI Eco. Just a fantastic pen. You know, like we've, we've, the love affair of TWSBI has been on and off over years, but I think that the Eco is a great pen. And I, I think that it is for a $30 product, an absolutely fantastic product. And it brings you into the vacuum filler world, right? Like you get like a cool, sorry, the piston filler world, right? Like you're in with a, you know, you've got something cool going on. It gets made a little bit different and they're clear, right? So you get the demonstrator thing. You can see the ink's washing around, which is a nice way to go. If you're going to go into starting using bottles of ink. Um, and then from there I decided to go with my favorite ink that you can use in professional scenarios, which is in my opinion, which is the robot Ulster Fire and Ice because it's blue, but you get a little bit of extra out of it. You know, you get a little bit of color, especially if you go for something with a broader nib with the TWSBI, then you're going to end up with something a little bit, a little bit fun there. Right. So that was kind of where I was going with that one. Um, I then thought, okay, you're going to need some paper in this kit. And I think again, if you're experienced, but maybe wanting to branch out a little bit more, if you've yet to try Tomoe River Paper, you need to. And my favorite Tomoe River Paper product is the Nanami Crossfield A5 Journal. Um, you can get it in a bunch of different, I think you can get it in like dot, you can get it in plain lined. Um, I really, really love this book. It is very well made. It's super, um, it is super like low key, which I like. It's not screaming. It's not doing anything wild. It's just a nice cover. It's a simple cover. Very plain. And it's a thick book, right? Like you get a lot of paper in this book. Uh, I don't remember the exact page count. So I'm looking at 480 pages, 240 leaves. Sorry. So, which I love. And in A5, I just think it is an absolutely fantastic book that I've, I've used multiple of these now and I love it. And then I thought I had a bit of money left over, uh, quite a little bit of money left over actually. Um, and so I thought to go for something a little bit weird, uh, which is my favorite product that I've encountered in the last year for just pure weirdness, which is the Lamy balloon rollerball pen. Just a super strange. I'm so happy to see this. Cute little pen. And of course you can't buy it in the U S so with the extra money you have left over because my kit comes to $86 total out of my hundred, you can pay for the more expensive shipping to get it to come over to you from Europe. There you go.
== Experienced User Stationery ==


'''Myke Hurley:''' Love it. Yeah. I think that's awesome. And I love the addition of the balloon in there.


'''Speaker 02:''' Yeah. I was, I was. I was actually pretty pleased when I thought, Oh, I know what to go in there. Like, cause it's like a really weird little pen that I love. All right, Anna, what you got for us?
'''Brad Dowdy:''' So just a tad, our next one is to build a stationary kit for an experienced user. I think that part's key for under $100.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' I like the ad of having like the roller, some sort of roller ball or ballpoint in everybody's collection. Um, I was, I was at my chiropractor a couple of weeks ago and the woman who works at front desk handed me up two pens and one was blue and one was pink. And the blue one said, she loves me. And the pink one said, he loves me. And she said, once for you and once for Bob, this is so you guys will always remember. And it was like, it was just a, they were just little crappy clicker ballpoint pens, but they just totally cracked me up. And it's like, and I think on the other side, it says just something about always remember to forgive each other or something like that. And I don't know where she got them or why she had them, but I've been carrying these stupid pens. Like the one she gave me in my bag for like when I have to sign a receipt or somebody asked to borrow a pen and they look at it and they're like, what is up with this pen? And I have to tell this story because they, most people know that I always have like nice pens. And so now I don't like people, you know, always freak out when I hand them a nice pen because they're like, I don't know how to write with a fountain pen. So now I have this cheap ballpoint with a stupid story attached to it. Like, yeah, my chiropractor gave it to me. That's the best though. Okay. Yeah. It's hysterical. It actually writes pretty well too. Super weird. Amazingly.
'''Myke Hurley:''' I mean, the idea was you're not going to generally speaking, it's going, it's more helpful to have like a baseline. If you're going to spend this much money on someone, you know, they're going to have some type of experience with stationary, right? This isn't, this isn't, Hey, let's surprise somebody with a hundred dollars worth of pen stuff that you don't know whether they're going to like or not. Like I, that's just kind of the basis I had of it.


'''Speaker 02:''' Like that's just like a weird story.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yep. So I'm first up this time. So I was thinking along this lines, right? Like as I know people to be, if you're experienced, it means you, A, may have not owned a fountain pen yet, or B, you may have just only dabbled in cartridge fountain pens, right? Like you just haven't gone into ink yet. Like I know that that's a, it's an extra ramp up, right? To go down the method of you buying a bottle of ink and filling with a converter or with a piston filler or whatever. So I have started with the main item in my kit here is the TWSBI Eco. Just a fantastic pen. You know, like we've, we've, the love affair of TWSBI has been on and off over years, but I think that the Eco is a great pen. And I, I think that it is for a $30 product, an absolutely fantastic product. And it brings you into the vacuum filler world, right? Like you get like a cool, sorry, the piston filler world, right? Like you're in with a, you know, you've got something cool going on. It gets made a little bit different and they're clear, right? So you get the demonstrator thing. You can see the ink's washing around, which is a nice way to go. If you're going to go into starting using bottles of ink. Um, and then from there I decided to go with my favorite ink that you can use in professional scenarios, which is in my opinion, which is the robot Ulster Fire and Ice because it's blue, but you get a little bit of extra out of it. You know, you get a little bit of color, especially if you go for something with a broader nib with the TWSBI, then you're going to end up with something a little bit, a little bit fun there. Right. So that was kind of where I was going with that one. Um, I then thought, okay, you're going to need some paper in this kit. And I think again, if you're experienced, but maybe wanting to branch out a little bit more, if you've yet to try Tomoe River Paper, you need to. And my favorite Tomoe River Paper product is the Nanami Crossfield A5 Journal. Um, you can get it in a bunch of different, I think you can get it in like dot, you can get it in plain lined. Um, I really, really love this book. It is very well made. It's super, um, it is super like low key, which I like. It's not screaming. It's not doing anything wild. It's just a nice cover. It's a simple cover. Very plain. And it's a thick book, right? Like you get a lot of paper in this book. Uh, I don't remember the exact page count. So I'm looking at 480 pages, 240 leaves. Sorry. So, which I love. And in A5, I just think it is an absolutely fantastic book that I've, I've used multiple of these now and I love it. And then I thought I had a bit of money left over, uh, quite a little bit of money left over actually. Um, and so I thought to go for something a little bit weird, uh, which is my favorite product that I've encountered in the last year for just pure weirdness, which is the Lamy balloon rollerball pen. Just a super strange. I'm so happy to see this. Cute little pen. And of course you can't buy it in the U S so with the extra money you have left over because my kit comes to $86 total out of my hundred, you can pay for the more expensive shipping to get it to come over to you from Europe. There you go.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' It's so weird. But now, now you guys have heard the story and I'm sure she'll be delighted to know that I told the story.
'''Myke Hurley:''' Love it. Yeah. I think that's awesome. And I love the addition of the balloon in there.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. I was, I was. I was actually pretty pleased when I thought, Oh, I know what to go in there. Like, cause it's like a really weird little pen that I love. All right, Anna, what you got for us?


'''Anna Reiner:''' I like the ad of having like the roller, some sort of roller ball or ballpoint in everybody's collection. Um, I was, I was at my chiropractor a couple of weeks ago and the woman who works at front desk handed me up two pens and one was blue and one was pink. And the blue one said, she loves me. And the pink one said, he loves me. And she said, once for you and once for Bob, this is so you guys will always remember. And it was like, it was just a, they were just little crappy clicker ballpoint pens, but they just totally cracked me up. And it's like, and I think on the other side, it says just something about always remember to forgive each other or something like that. And I don't know where she got them or why she had them, but I've been carrying these stupid pens. Like the one she gave me in my bag for like when I have to sign a receipt or somebody asked to borrow a pen and they look at it and they're like, what is up with this pen? And I have to tell this story because they, most people know that I always have like nice pens. And so now I don't like people, you know, always freak out when I hand them a nice pen because they're like, I don't know how to write with a fountain pen. So now I have this cheap ballpoint with a stupid story attached to it. Like, yeah, my chiropractor gave it to me. That's the best though. Okay. Yeah. It's hysterical. It actually writes pretty well too. Super weird. Amazingly.


== Unique Design Pens ==
'''Brad Dowdy:''' Like that's just like a weird story.


'''Anna Reiner:''' It's so weird. But now, now you guys have heard the story and I'm sure she'll be delighted to know that I told the story.


'''Myke Hurley:''' Well, now you have to bring those pens with you because I need to see them the next time I see you.
'''Myke Hurley:''' Well, now you have to bring those pens with you because I need to see them the next time I see you.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Absolutely. I will make sure, unless of course at some point they get lost because I have carried them everywhere. I will. I will. Okay. So for my kit for a hundred dollars, I kind of took the same tact that Myke did in regards of thinking about this from the standpoint of someone who might be getting more into ink. Maybe they've gotten a pen or two or they've been into pens, but maybe haven't sort of fully embraced. So, you know, so that maybe finding them things that are more, more unique, interesting things that maybe they haven't touched yet. Um, so, um, I picked the Twisby, um, six color ink set that has just come out. Um, so that's the six bottles for $36. Um, which I think is a great, like if you haven't gotten into ink, that would be a great way to get into it.
'''Anna Reiner:''' Absolutely. I will make sure, unless of course at some point they get lost because I have carried them everywhere. I will. I will. Okay. So for my kit for a hundred dollars, I kind of took the same tact that Myke did in regards of thinking about this from the standpoint of someone who might be getting more into ink. Maybe they've gotten a pen or two or they've been into pens, but maybe haven't sort of fully embraced. So, you know, so that maybe finding them things that are more, more unique, interesting things that maybe they haven't touched yet. Um, so, um, I picked the Twisby, um, six color ink set that has just come out. Um, so that's the six bottles for $36. Um, which I think is a great, like if you haven't gotten into ink, that would be a great way to get into it.


'''Myke Hurley:''' They're great looking bottles too. Like they're super fun. Just cute little set. Yeah. Yeah. And a storage box for all of them. Yeah. It's perfect.
'''Myke Hurley:''' They're great looking bottles too. Like they're super fun. Just cute little set. Yeah. Yeah. And a storage box for all of them. Yeah. It's perfect.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. Super giftable. And if you're going to have that many inks, you're going to need something to document your inks. So let's plug the perm. I think they're going to need a color ring. Yeah. Don't you? Oh, definitely. So that's a whopping $10.
'''Anna Reiner:''' Yeah. Super giftable. And if you're going to have that many inks, you're going to need something to document your inks. So let's plug the perm. I think they're going to need a color ring. Yeah. Don't you? Oh, definitely. So that's a whopping $10.


'''Myke Hurley:''' It's a perfect setup.
'''Myke Hurley:''' It's a perfect setup.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Perfect setup. I think that's a stocking stuffer for everybody. So if that's not on your list, add one of those today. Um, and then, um, I thought that one of the most underrated fountain pens is the Caran Dosh 849 fountain pen. It's one of the ones that I think people have kind of forgotten about. It came out about a year or so ago, but it's one of the ones that I tend to really like. I tend to go to over and over again. And I thought if somebody's into pens, but maybe hasn't, it's one that they might not have picked up, but it's, you know, it's got the, um, the slip cap. So it's like a click cap. So it's a great fiddly pen. They come in really great colors and they come in at about $52. Um, that's the price that I found on pen chalet for them. And they, you can get them in really bright neons or really subtle, like black or navy blue, you know? So if somebody is more reserved to taste, uh, you could get them in a, in a dark, plain color, or you can get the like bright neon yellow or the bright neon pink. Um, and then I threw in the, uh, converter, uh, for that, which put it slightly over the hundred dollar mark. Um, you could probably find a cheaper converter, but the, the Caran d'Ache one was $8. You could probably find one a little cheaper and hit it right at the hundred dollar mark.
'''Anna Reiner:''' Perfect setup. I think that's a stocking stuffer for everybody. So if that's not on your list, add one of those today. Um, and then, um, I thought that one of the most underrated fountain pens is the Caran Dosh 849 fountain pen. It's one of the ones that I think people have kind of forgotten about. It came out about a year or so ago, but it's one of the ones that I tend to really like. I tend to go to over and over again. And I thought if somebody's into pens, but maybe hasn't, it's one that they might not have picked up, but it's, you know, it's got the, um, the slip cap. So it's like a click cap. So it's a great fiddly pen. They come in really great colors and they come in at about $52. Um, that's the price that I found on pen chalet for them. And they, you can get them in really bright neons or really subtle, like black or navy blue, you know? So if somebody is more reserved to taste, uh, you could get them in a, in a dark, plain color, or you can get the like bright neon yellow or the bright neon pink. Um, and then I threw in the, uh, converter, uh, for that, which put it slightly over the hundred dollar mark. Um, you could probably find a cheaper converter, but the, the Caran d'Ache one was $8. You could probably find one a little cheaper and hit it right at the hundred dollar mark.


'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. Yeah. We're going to talk about that pricing in a minute because my, my, uh, my grouping here for this gift went slightly over and I have a little highlight on my name, uh, in, in the show notes and an exclamation point by the dollar amount that I spent. Um, so we're, we're going to talk about that in a minute, but I, I kind of went like with honest thought and Myke's thought where, you know, you kind of know what you're doing with the pens, but let's have a little fun experimentation kit to, you know, explore some other things out there. So like the core of my set is the, the recently released Ackermon gourmet pens pink, um, which you can get at Venice pens. Our good friend Aziza has this ink now with, uh, Ackermon and it's this really neat pink color. And I think it looks awesome. And it comes in the cool Ackermon bottle, which is like a very giftable ink bottle. So that's super nice.
'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. Yeah. We're going to talk about that pricing in a minute because my, my, uh, my grouping here for this gift went slightly over and I have a little highlight on my name, uh, in, in the show notes and an exclamation point by the dollar amount that I spent. Um, so we're, we're going to talk about that in a minute, but I, I kind of went like with honest thought and Myke's thought where, you know, you kind of know what you're doing with the pens, but let's have a little fun experimentation kit to, you know, explore some other things out there. So like the core of my set is the, the recently released Ackermon gourmet pens pink, um, which you can get at Venice pens. Our good friend Aziza has this ink now with, uh, Ackermon and it's this really neat pink color. And I think it looks awesome. And it comes in the cool Ackermon bottle, which is like a very giftable ink bottle. So that's super nice.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' And I want to show me to the pink color. She beat me to the pink ink.
'''Anna Reiner:''' And I want to show me to the pink color. She beat me to the pink ink.


'''Myke Hurley:''' Right. Right. So I don't, I don't have any, I don't have to fight anyone for orange. I don't think I'll have to think about that. Maybe someone out there, but yeah, she beat you to the pink. Um, and it's a good looking color. It looks great. I don't have it yet, but like I want it. So I will pick that up at some point and I want to see that ink. So like all three of us have picked a TWSBI product. I went with the diamond 580 and silver. So it's a demonstrator barrel with silver trim and will look really, really good with the pink ink sloshing around in there. And I went with a broad nib because I want to throw it around on some Tomoe river paper. So I picked up the A5 loose sheets, which you can get a jet pins just for play. Like this is a very playful set. Load up your broad nib pen with pink ink and throw it around on Tomoe river paper. And I just felt like that's a good fun combination for someone who's, you know, into these types of things and into stationary. And this would get them a little bit more the experimental route. So my total came up to 102. And according to Ana, that deserved a note in the document and an exclamation point next to the $102 for going over the budget. Can you tell me again how much yours was, Ana?
'''Myke Hurley:''' Right. Right. So I don't, I don't have any, I don't have to fight anyone for orange. I don't think I'll have to think about that. Maybe someone out there, but yeah, she beat you to the pink. Um, and it's a good looking color. It looks great. I don't have it yet, but like I want it. So I will pick that up at some point and I want to see that ink. So like all three of us have picked a TWSBI product. I went with the diamond 580 and silver. So it's a demonstrator barrel with silver trim and will look really, really good with the pink ink sloshing around in there. And I went with a broad nib because I want to throw it around on some Tomoe river paper. So I picked up the A5 loose sheets, which you can get a jet pins just for play. Like this is a very playful set. Load up your broad nib pen with pink ink and throw it around on Tomoe river paper. And I just felt like that's a good fun combination for someone who's, you know, into these types of things and into stationary. And this would get them a little bit more the experimental route. So my total came up to 102. And according to Ana, that deserved a note in the document and an exclamation point next to the $102 for going over the budget. Can you tell me again how much yours was, Ana?


'''Brad Dowdy:''' 106.
'''Anna Reiner:''' 106.


'''Myke Hurley:''' Okay. Just checking. Okay.
'''Myke Hurley:''' Okay. Just checking. Okay.


'''Speaker 02:''' I'm the only one that stayed under budget. So I came in at a total of grand total of $86 versus your 106 on a 102, Brad. So I think I'm winning right now. I think that's what that means.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' I'm the only one that stayed under budget. So I came in at a total of grand total of $86 versus your 106 on a 102, Brad. So I think I'm winning right now. I think that's what that means.


'''Myke Hurley:''' I don't know. But I think we're close enough, right? Close enough for arguments. I'm the only one of all of us that stayed under budget so far.
'''Myke Hurley:''' I don't know. But I think we're close enough, right? Close enough for arguments. I'm the only one of all of us that stayed under budget so far.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Absolutely.
'''Anna Reiner:''' Absolutely.


'''Myke Hurley:''' No, I went under the first time. So I'm a one for two. Okay. Yeah, true. True.
'''Myke Hurley:''' No, I went under the first time. So I'm a one for two. Okay. Yeah, true. True.


'''Speaker 02:''' I think I got the most money saved up. That $14 that I saved this time. Yeah. We'll need it for some of these other things.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' I think I got the most money saved up. That $14 that I saved this time. Yeah. We'll need it for some of these other things.
 
'''Anna Reiner:''' You're making people pay for shipping. People are having to pay for multiple shipping.
 
'''Brad Dowdy:''' They can get it in there, you know? I don't know. Maybe there's someone on eBay selling those Lamy balloons. I don't know. Maybe. Maybe that's a business we should get into. All right. Today's episode is brought to you in part by Squarespace. You can make your next move with Squarespace to let you easily create a website for your next idea or project. You can get and register a domain name super easily. You can customize award-winning templates to make your work shine and so much more. Squarespace is the all-in-one platform that will let you build any type of website that you want. If you want to make a site for your blog, maybe you want to create a portfolio, maybe you have a band or a business that you want to promote. Maybe you want to make an online store to sell your goods for the holiday season. Or maybe you have an event coming up. Maybe a wedding, a big party or something like that. And you want to be able to direct your guests to a website. Squarespace is really great for that stuff too. That's what I use for my wedding. We use Squarespace. They have like templates, pre-built templates that you can pick from and customize. And it makes it really, really easy. There is nothing to install or patch or upgrade. They've got you covered and back it all up with award-winning 24-7 customer support. So if you need any help, Squarespace has got your back. Their plans start at just $12 a month. But you can sign up for a free trial today with no credit card required by going to squarespace.com. You can build your website, make it look exactly the way that you want. And when you're ready to launch it to the world, sign up for one of their plans. And use the offer code PENADDICT to get 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain and show you support for this very show. That is squarespace.com slash PENADDICT and the code PENADDICT for 10% off your first purchase. Our thanks to Squarespace for the continued support of this show and RelayFM, Squarespace. Make your next move, make your next website.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' You're making people pay for shipping. People are having to pay for multiple shipping.


'''Speaker 02:''' They can get it in there, you know? I don't know. Maybe there's someone on eBay selling those Lamy balloons. I don't know. Maybe. Maybe that's a business we should get into. All right. Today's episode is brought to you in part by Squarespace. You can make your next move with Squarespace to let you easily create a website for your next idea or project. You can get and register a domain name super easily. You can customize award-winning templates to make your work shine and so much more. Squarespace is the all-in-one platform that will let you build any type of website that you want. If you want to make a site for your blog, maybe you want to create a portfolio, maybe you have a band or a business that you want to promote. Maybe you want to make an online store to sell your goods for the holiday season. Or maybe you have an event coming up. Maybe a wedding, a big party or something like that. And you want to be able to direct your guests to a website. Squarespace is really great for that stuff too. That's what I use for my wedding. We use Squarespace. They have like templates, pre-built templates that you can pick from and customize. And it makes it really, really easy. There is nothing to install or patch or upgrade. They've got you covered and back it all up with award-winning 24-7 customer support. So if you need any help, Squarespace has got your back. Their plans start at just $12 a month. But you can sign up for a free trial today with no credit card required by going to squarespace.com. You can build your website, make it look exactly the way that you want. And when you're ready to launch it to the world, sign up for one of their plans. And use the offer code PENADDICT to get 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain and show you support for this very show. That is squarespace.com slash PENADDICT and the code PENADDICT for 10% off your first purchase. Our thanks to Squarespace for the continued support of this show and RelayFM, Squarespace. Make your next move, make your next website.
 
== Single Item Gifts ==
 


'''Myke Hurley:''' All right. These next two topics are similar to the first in the price points, but they are one singular item under a certain price point. So the first price point is $25. I felt that it could be a little bit less of a total price because we're just buying one thing and the other one would be a single PENGIFT under $100. Sometimes you just want to buy the one cool thing and not have to put together the gift. And yeah, so I thought these would, you know, go in conjunction with those two other ones as a different type of option. So single PENGIFT under $25. Ana, what do you have for this one?
'''Myke Hurley:''' All right. These next two topics are similar to the first in the price points, but they are one singular item under a certain price point. So the first price point is $25. I felt that it could be a little bit less of a total price because we're just buying one thing and the other one would be a single PENGIFT under $100. Sometimes you just want to buy the one cool thing and not have to put together the gift. And yeah, so I thought these would, you know, go in conjunction with those two other ones as a different type of option. So single PENGIFT under $25. Ana, what do you have for this one?


'''Brad Dowdy:''' I picked the Faber-Castell Grip, which is available in a bunch of different colors. But as a fountain pen, there, you know, we've, a lot of people, you know, we've talked about some of the other sort of lower priced fountain pen options, but I felt like this is one that, again, people tend to forget about, but it's a really good option. It has a really good nib. It's available. I found it in extra fine, fine, and medium. I think I have a couple of them. I really like them. Again, it's a snap cap instead of a twist. Takes standard international cartridges or a converter, and it comes in at about $20.
'''Anna Reiner:''' I picked the Faber-Castell Grip, which is available in a bunch of different colors. But as a fountain pen, there, you know, we've, a lot of people, you know, we've talked about some of the other sort of lower priced fountain pen options, but I felt like this is one that, again, people tend to forget about, but it's a really good option. It has a really good nib. It's available. I found it in extra fine, fine, and medium. I think I have a couple of them. I really like them. Again, it's a snap cap instead of a twist. Takes standard international cartridges or a converter, and it comes in at about $20.


'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, and it comes in a bunch of colors and like the Faber-Castell, they just make good pens, don't they? Like everything is pretty good from Faber-Castell. So yeah, and I am super guilty of forgetting about them a lot, despite like talking them up all the time. So I think that's an awesome choice. I think that's a really, really good pen. And it would, it like looks good as a gift. I went with the Lamy Safari ballpoint. So a little bit of a switch up there. This was a pen that surprised me earlier this year. And as I was browsing around, like what single pen can I do that is, you know, maybe something a little bit different that I think people would enjoy as a gift. And the Lamy Safari is such a unique design. It looks really, really sharp. It comes in, you know, eight or ten different colors, like all your base colors, you know, white, red, blue, yellow, black, things like that. There's some special colors out there too. And they run about $17. They, the one that I tested out earlier this year, I was just impressed with how sturdy and fun it was to use. And it wrote really well for a ballpoint pen, which, you know, doesn't always happen. And I just think it's a really, really neat pen. And I would love to get one as a gift myself. So I think they're my choice for that.
'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, and it comes in a bunch of colors and like the Faber-Castell, they just make good pens, don't they? Like everything is pretty good from Faber-Castell. So yeah, and I am super guilty of forgetting about them a lot, despite like talking them up all the time. So I think that's an awesome choice. I think that's a really, really good pen. And it would, it like looks good as a gift. I went with the Lamy Safari ballpoint. So a little bit of a switch up there. This was a pen that surprised me earlier this year. And as I was browsing around, like what single pen can I do that is, you know, maybe something a little bit different that I think people would enjoy as a gift. And the Lamy Safari is such a unique design. It looks really, really sharp. It comes in, you know, eight or ten different colors, like all your base colors, you know, white, red, blue, yellow, black, things like that. There's some special colors out there too. And they run about $17. They, the one that I tested out earlier this year, I was just impressed with how sturdy and fun it was to use. And it wrote really well for a ballpoint pen, which, you know, doesn't always happen. And I just think it's a really, really neat pen. And I would love to get one as a gift myself. So I think they're my choice for that.


'''Speaker 02:''' You're talking about unique design. I think I've got you beat because I'm picking the Twisby Go. Twisby Go comes in three colors right now, I believe. Clear, blue, and they call it smoke, but it's like a dark gray. This is one of the weirdest looking pens I have ever come across from a major company because they have decided to make the filling system a huge spring. It's a huge spring. It takes up like half the body of the pen and it has this big plastic plunger. And it's like a really fun little filling system, like this piston filling mechanism that I really love. It doesn't hold a lot of ink, but it doesn't matter because this is like just one of the most satisfying pens that I own to refill. Because it's just this little like plunger you press down with your thumb and you've refilled it. And I love this pen as a pen to play around with different inks because it's so easy to clean as well. Like the system, because it's not a large ink reservoir anyway, and the system is really easy to just like push, push, push, push, and you flush a lot of water through it. I really love it. I love that they decided to make the body of this pen clear so you could see the spring and the plunger inside. I think this is a super weird pen. I remember when we first saw it, we were both all like confused and intrigued by it. And then when I bought one, I was super, super happy with it. This is one of the weirdest looking pens in my collection for a number of reasons. But I think that it is a fantastic one and a really great gift for somebody who doesn't own one too.
 
 
== Twisby Go ==
 
 
'''Brad Dowdy:''' You're talking about unique design. I think I've got you beat because I'm picking the Twisby Go. Twisby Go comes in three colors right now, I believe. Clear, blue, and they call it smoke, but it's like a dark gray. This is one of the weirdest looking pens I have ever come across from a major company because they have decided to make the filling system a huge spring. It's a huge spring. It takes up like half the body of the pen and it has this big plastic plunger. And it's like a really fun little filling system, like this piston filling mechanism that I really love. It doesn't hold a lot of ink, but it doesn't matter because this is like just one of the most satisfying pens that I own to refill. Because it's just this little like plunger you press down with your thumb and you've refilled it. And I love this pen as a pen to play around with different inks because it's so easy to clean as well. Like the system, because it's not a large ink reservoir anyway, and the system is really easy to just like push, push, push, push, and you flush a lot of water through it. I really love it. I love that they decided to make the body of this pen clear so you could see the spring and the plunger inside. I think this is a super weird pen. I remember when we first saw it, we were both all like confused and intrigued by it. And then when I bought one, I was super, super happy with it. This is one of the weirdest looking pens in my collection for a number of reasons. But I think that it is a fantastic one and a really great gift for somebody who doesn't own one too.


'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, all that weirdness is what makes it a good gift, right? Because you can discuss it and talk about it and, you know, say what is going on here? Like it's a good story pen.
'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, all that weirdness is what makes it a good gift, right? Because you can discuss it and talk about it and, you know, say what is going on here? Like it's a good story pen.


'''Speaker 02:''' I also think the weird look of it means it's a pen that not a lot of people would buy for themselves. But I genuinely feel that if you own one, you get it, like you understand it. But you've kind of got to see it and play with it to get what makes this a fun pen to use. Yeah, totally get that. So prices, I was $18.99. Brad was $17. And Anna was $20. So we were all under on that round. Yay, all of us.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' I also think the weird look of it means it's a pen that not a lot of people would buy for themselves. But I genuinely feel that if you own one, you get it, like you understand it. But you've kind of got to see it and play with it to get what makes this a fun pen to use. Yeah, totally get that. So prices, I was $18.99. Brad was $17. And Anna was $20. So we were all under on that round. Yay, all of us.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Myke, I appreciate what you said about the Twisby Go because I find it the most hideous looking pen. But I appreciate the functionality that you talked about.
'''Anna Reiner:''' Myke, I appreciate what you said about the Twisby Go because I find it the most hideous looking pen. But I appreciate the functionality that you talked about.


'''Speaker 02:''' Oh, it's like by all conventions of nice design, it fails on all of them. But I kind of love its charm, you know? It's a really super weird pen. But it is. This is a 100% function over form pen in every stretch of the imagination.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' Oh, it's like by all conventions of nice design, it fails on all of them. But I kind of love its charm, you know? It's a really super weird pen. But it is. This is a 100% function over form pen in every stretch of the imagination.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' But yeah, the first time I saw it, I'm pretty sure I was quoted as saying it's the acid wash genes of pens.
'''Anna Reiner:''' But yeah, the first time I saw it, I'm pretty sure I was quoted as saying it's the acid wash genes of pens.


'''Speaker 02:''' I could stand behind that. I don't know if acid wash genes have as much function as this pen does, though. So it looks redeemed in that regard.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' I could stand behind that. I don't know if acid wash genes have as much function as this pen does, though. So it looks redeemed in that regard.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' True, true. There is a purpose for it being as ugly as it is.
'''Anna Reiner:''' True, true. There is a purpose for it being as ugly as it is.


'''Myke Hurley:''' Yes. Yes. What's our next category, Brad? Single pen gift under $100. This is always a brutal category. Like the $50 to $100 range in pens can be very, very tough if you're looking for something for yourself or something for a gift. And I didn't really go outside of my wheelhouse on this one because I think the Kaweco AL Sport makes for a great gift. It's a pocket fountain pen. That when you unscrew the cap and post it, it becomes a full-size writer. It's a metal barrel, in this case aluminum, that can be anodized in several different colors. Like there's a really pretty red one that would make a perfect Christmas gift. They run about $70 to $80 depending on the finish. There's like a stonewashed finish and a raw aluminum finish. There's probably eight choices in colors for this. And I just find that this pen is one I go back to over and over and over again over the years and always thoroughly enjoy it. Whenever I ink it up with a short international cartridge, I wouldn't bother with the Kaweco converters. And it's just an enjoyable pen that I feel like shouldn't be as good as it is, but it's actually great. Like I love this pen so much and I think it's kind of like in the perfect gift category just in style, in price point, and in functionality. It's going to last you forever. Like this is a really, really solid gift in my opinion.
'''Myke Hurley:''' Yes. Yes. What's our next category, Brad? Single pen gift under $100. This is always a brutal category. Like the $50 to $100 range in pens can be very, very tough if you're looking for something for yourself or something for a gift. And I didn't really go outside of my wheelhouse on this one because I think the Kaweco AL Sport makes for a great gift. It's a pocket fountain pen. That when you unscrew the cap and post it, it becomes a full-size writer. It's a metal barrel, in this case aluminum, that can be anodized in several different colors. Like there's a really pretty red one that would make a perfect Christmas gift. They run about $70 to $80 depending on the finish. There's like a stonewashed finish and a raw aluminum finish. There's probably eight choices in colors for this. And I just find that this pen is one I go back to over and over and over again over the years and always thoroughly enjoy it. Whenever I ink it up with a short international cartridge, I wouldn't bother with the Kaweco converters. And it's just an enjoyable pen that I feel like shouldn't be as good as it is, but it's actually great. Like I love this pen so much and I think it's kind of like in the perfect gift category just in style, in price point, and in functionality. It's going to last you forever. Like this is a really, really solid gift in my opinion.


'''Speaker 02:''' Yeah, I'm not going to argue with that. I mean, it's never really done it for me, the AL Sport. I like the fun of the regular Sport, the acrylic one, but I get where you're coming from with it.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, I'm not going to argue with that. I mean, it's never really done it for me, the AL Sport. I like the fun of the regular Sport, the acrylic one, but I get where you're coming from with it.


'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah.
'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Oh, I was going to say, I like all of the Sport, so.
'''Anna Reiner:''' Oh, I was going to say, I like all of the Sport, so.


'''Myke Hurley:''' Right. I think I have them all. Like I was like, should I do the brass or the stainless steel or whatever? And then they start getting over $100. And I was like, well, I have them all. So let's just pick the one that's in the good price range. But yeah, I have them all from the plastic barrel all the way up into, you know, the higher end ones. Except the carbon fiber one. Those don't do it for me. No, no. They have carbon fiber inlay ones, even orange and green and stuff like that. They're like $140, but those have never done it for me. So I never owned one of those.
'''Myke Hurley:''' Right. I think I have them all. Like I was like, should I do the brass or the stainless steel or whatever? And then they start getting over $100. And I was like, well, I have them all. So let's just pick the one that's in the good price range. But yeah, I have them all from the plastic barrel all the way up into, you know, the higher end ones. Except the carbon fiber one. Those don't do it for me. No, no. They have carbon fiber inlay ones, even orange and green and stuff like that. They're like $140, but those have never done it for me. So I never owned one of those.


'''Speaker 02:''' So when I was approaching this as the under $100 price point, I was trying to think about what would a good pen be for the... This is like my... I wanted to try and think like, what's my new answer for the, hey, my son's graduating, I want to buy him a pen. Or my daughter just got a new job, I want to congratulate her. Like, this is what I'm trying to fill now with this pen, which made me stay away from fountain pens. Because I think it should be something that's a little bit more approachable. And I have decided that my new personal entrant into this category is the Studio Neat Mark I. I think, and we've said this many times, for $65, you are getting an absolute bargain on the quality of this product. It is stupendously made. And they have a couple of color options, right? You can get it black or white with a copper or nickel knock. And it uses the best, one of the best refills that you can find, right? It uses the same Schmidt refill as the Retro 51, but with one of the most satisfying mechanisms that you will come across in a pen of any kind, I think. So the Mark I continues to be a favorite of mine, and I think is a really, really solid entrant in this category.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' So when I was approaching this as the under $100 price point, I was trying to think about what would a good pen be for the... This is like my... I wanted to try and think like, what's my new answer for the, hey, my son's graduating, I want to buy him a pen. Or my daughter just got a new job, I want to congratulate her. Like, this is what I'm trying to fill now with this pen, which made me stay away from fountain pens. Because I think it should be something that's a little bit more approachable. And I have decided that my new personal entrant into this category is the Studio Neat Mark I. I think, and we've said this many times, for $65, you are getting an absolute bargain on the quality of this product. It is stupendously made. And they have a couple of color options, right? You can get it black or white with a copper or nickel knock. And it uses the best, one of the best refills that you can find, right? It uses the same Schmidt refill as the Retro 51, but with one of the most satisfying mechanisms that you will come across in a pen of any kind, I think. So the Mark I continues to be a favorite of mine, and I think is a really, really solid entrant in this category.


'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, totally agree. The word that comes to mind when I use this pen is delightful. It delights me to use. I notice how good the pen is every time I pick it up to write with, right? It's just, yeah, this is good.
'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, totally agree. The word that comes to mind when I use this pen is delightful. It delights me to use. I notice how good the pen is every time I pick it up to write with, right? It's just, yeah, this is good.


'''Speaker 02:''' Something that, like it says about the popularity of this pen in my household, I just went to pick mine up to make the sound, and it is not on the desk anymore. So I think it has been stolen. My Mark one has been stolen.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' Something that, like it says about the popularity of this pen in my household, I just went to pick mine up to make the sound, and it is not on the desk anymore. So I think it has been stolen. My Mark one has been stolen.


'''Myke Hurley:''' Yes.
'''Myke Hurley:''' Yes.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Well, I was the one who went, again, with a fountain pen. Sorry about that, guys.
'''Anna Reiner:''' Well, I was the one who went, again, with a fountain pen. Sorry about that, guys.
 
 
 
== Single Pen Gift Under $100 ==
 


'''Myke Hurley:''' I went with one.
'''Myke Hurley:''' I went with one.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' And I keep picking things that I feel like have not been getting a lot of attention lately.
'''Anna Reiner:''' And I keep picking things that I feel like have not been getting a lot of attention lately.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' So I chose the Opus 88 Coloro. I know a lot of the larger Opus 88 pens have been more popular recently, but I feel like the Coloro was sort of their flagship pen that really sort of got them a lot of attention over the last year or two. And really brought their sort of filling mechanism a lot of attention in terms of being their sort of Japanese-style eyedropper filler. It holds a ton of ink. I'm pretty sure most ink samples that you get from most of the online retailers, you can just pour the whole thing in there. The whole thing, not a problem. It holds like at least three, maybe four milliliters of ink in one of them. But the colors are really pretty. And if I'm not mistaken, they may be discontinuing the Coloro. So the prices on them have been discounted to about $75. So this is sort of the last opportunity you might have to get one of them. And it's considered one of their, quote, smaller pens. And it's pretty much a full-sized pen. So I feel like this would be a good opportunity to sort of get someone to try one of these. It's that great combination of clear and opaque material. They're just, I really like them. I think I have two, maybe three of them. As well as like the Picnic, which is a little bit larger. And then one of their smaller ones. It's an interesting pen and I really like it. And I think it's something that is different from a lot of other pens.
'''Anna Reiner:''' So I chose the Opus 88 Coloro. I know a lot of the larger Opus 88 pens have been more popular recently, but I feel like the Coloro was sort of their flagship pen that really sort of got them a lot of attention over the last year or two. And really brought their sort of filling mechanism a lot of attention in terms of being their sort of Japanese-style eyedropper filler. It holds a ton of ink. I'm pretty sure most ink samples that you get from most of the online retailers, you can just pour the whole thing in there. The whole thing, not a problem. It holds like at least three, maybe four milliliters of ink in one of them. But the colors are really pretty. And if I'm not mistaken, they may be discontinuing the Coloro. So the prices on them have been discounted to about $75. So this is sort of the last opportunity you might have to get one of them. And it's considered one of their, quote, smaller pens. And it's pretty much a full-sized pen. So I feel like this would be a good opportunity to sort of get someone to try one of these. It's that great combination of clear and opaque material. They're just, I really like them. I think I have two, maybe three of them. As well as like the Picnic, which is a little bit larger. And then one of their smaller ones. It's an interesting pen and I really like it. And I think it's something that is different from a lot of other pens.


'''Myke Hurley:''' Totally agree. I think the Coloro is the best opus, like across the lineup. And it would stink if it was going away. Hopefully maybe it'll be redone. But like if you're wanting to get a fun fountain pen gift, the colors are awesome. The quality is awesome. It feels great when you're writing with it. Like it's just a great pen. And you're right. It doesn't quite get enough love. Totally love that pick.
'''Myke Hurley:''' Totally agree. I think the Coloro is the best opus, like across the lineup. And it would stink if it was going away. Hopefully maybe it'll be redone. But like if you're wanting to get a fun fountain pen gift, the colors are awesome. The quality is awesome. It feels great when you're writing with it. Like it's just a great pen. And you're right. It doesn't quite get enough love. Totally love that pick.


'''Speaker 02:''' I feel like I've never seen this pen before.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' I feel like I've never seen this pen before.


'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, they're really good. I mean, you know, they get a lot of love. They make a bigger eyedropper that seems to get, you know, more of the hype. It's in the like $110, $125 range, something like that. It might have a bigger nib on the larger one. I'm not too sure. I'd have to look at it. But it's just this one kind of sprung out of nowhere, like Anna said, a couple years ago. And they've been just known for their quality and style ever since. They've done a good job. All right. Next up, we are getting into some interesting topics now. Some interesting gifts we're trying to fill here. So this one is, what specialty stationary product would you buy for the person who has everything? In parentheses, no budget. So I thought this would be interesting to just drop a question like this in there. Like if you could just pick anything for anyone stationary or wise, what would you get them? Like price doesn't matter. You know, you just want to just get them something cool or interesting or expensive or outrageous. Like if you could just do anything for someone, what would that be? Michael Hurley, what would you do?
'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, they're really good. I mean, you know, they get a lot of love. They make a bigger eyedropper that seems to get, you know, more of the hype. It's in the like $110, $125 range, something like that. It might have a bigger nib on the larger one. I'm not too sure. I'd have to look at it. But it's just this one kind of sprung out of nowhere, like Anna said, a couple years ago. And they've been just known for their quality and style ever since. They've done a good job. All right. Next up, we are getting into some interesting topics now. Some interesting gifts we're trying to fill here. So this one is, what specialty stationary product would you buy for the person who has everything? In parentheses, no budget. So I thought this would be interesting to just drop a question like this in there. Like if you could just pick anything for anyone stationary or wise, what would you get them? Like price doesn't matter. You know, you just want to just get them something cool or interesting or expensive or outrageous. Like if you could just do anything for someone, what would that be? Michael Hurley, what would you do?


'''Speaker 02:''' Sailor Pro Gear, King of Pen.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' Sailor Pro Gear, King of Pen.


'''Myke Hurley:''' That's crazy.
'''Myke Hurley:''' That's crazy.


'''Speaker 02:''' I'm not playing this gift for someone.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' I'm not playing this gift for someone.


'''Myke Hurley:''' That's great. That's great. No, this is what this category is for.
'''Myke Hurley:''' That's great. That's great. No, this is what this category is for.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Would you really get me a King of Pen? Do you know how ridiculous that would look in my hand?
'''Anna Reiner:''' Would you really get me a King of Pen? Do you know how ridiculous that would look in my hand?


'''Myke Hurley:''' I would get you a King of Pen. It would be amazing.
'''Myke Hurley:''' I would get you a King of Pen. It would be amazing.


'''Speaker 02:''' You could use it with both hands, you know, if you had to. It's fine. But I genuinely, I cannot say enough good things about the King of Pen line. I absolutely adore the two models that I own. They are truly fantastic pens in every stretch of the imagination. They have all of the things that I love about sailor design. And they are incredibly well performing. And the nibs are absolutely fantastic. And, like all Pro Gears, like all sailor pens, if you're lucky, you can come across something interesting. They're limited. You can find stuff that's fun. I wanted to turn everybody's attention to a good old friend over at Pensachi. They have a few King of Pens available right now that I've not seen before and are stunning. Nope. I'm not clicking the link. Click the link. Nope. They have three that are of interest to me. But I have not purchased and I'm not going to buy any of them. One is a King of Pen Pro Gear in teal green, which is a demonstrator. I saw that one. With gold furniture. They have a King of Pen Prophet, which is a 1911 shape. I don't know what the Prophet means. I don't know.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' You could use it with both hands, you know, if you had to. It's fine. But I genuinely, I cannot say enough good things about the King of Pen line. I absolutely adore the two models that I own. They are truly fantastic pens in every stretch of the imagination. They have all of the things that I love about sailor design. And they are incredibly well performing. And the nibs are absolutely fantastic. And, like all Pro Gears, like all sailor pens, if you're lucky, you can come across something interesting. They're limited. You can find stuff that's fun. I wanted to turn everybody's attention to a good old friend over at Pensachi. They have a few King of Pens available right now that I've not seen before and are stunning. Nope. I'm not clicking the link. Click the link. Nope. They have three that are of interest to me. But I have not purchased and I'm not going to buy any of them. One is a King of Pen Pro Gear in teal green, which is a demonstrator. I saw that one. With gold furniture. They have a King of Pen Prophet, which is a 1911 shape. I don't know what the Prophet means. I don't know.


'''Myke Hurley:''' It's a regional name for the 1911 and Prophet are the same thing.
'''Myke Hurley:''' It's a regional name for the 1911 and Prophet are the same thing.


'''Speaker 02:''' Okay. That is dark green, but also slightly see-through. Then they have something which is very expensive. It's about $730. Incredibly expensive pen. Then they have another pen on Pensachi right now, which is $1,800. And it is the Sailor King of Pen Prophet fountain pen briar red. And it is this wild, beautiful red, I assume acrylic of some kind. Oh, it's wood. Oh my God. It's wood, Brad. I'm not clicking the link.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' Okay. That is dark green, but also slightly see-through. Then they have something which is very expensive. It's about $730. Incredibly expensive pen. Then they have another pen on Pensachi right now, which is $1,800. And it is the Sailor King of Pen Prophet fountain pen briar red. And it is this wild, beautiful red, I assume acrylic of some kind. Oh, it's wood. Oh my God. It's wood, Brad. I'm not clicking the link.


'''Myke Hurley:''' I swear to God. Look at the link. Just open the link. I'm not clicking it. Click the link. You can look at the document. You can see where our cursors are. Mine is nowhere near that link right now. Just click the link.
'''Myke Hurley:''' I swear to God. Look at the link. Just open the link. I'm not clicking it. Click the link. You can look at the document. You can see where our cursors are. Mine is nowhere near that link right now. Just click the link.


'''Speaker 02:''' You've already bought all your expensive pens. You're not going to buy one of these. You've got to take a look. But also, Pensachi, they have a few every now and then. There's always a few rolling around. Like, Penschalet have one that I really like, but I have yet to see it in person, which is the King of Pen Fire, the all red one with the gold trim. Yeah, that's one of the newest ones. That's one of the newer ones, yeah. And so, yeah. Again, I think-
'''Brad Dowdy:''' You've already bought all your expensive pens. You're not going to buy one of these. You've got to take a look. But also, Pensachi, they have a few every now and then. There's always a few rolling around. Like, Penschalet have one that I really like, but I have yet to see it in person, which is the King of Pen Fire, the all red one with the gold trim. Yeah, that's one of the newest ones. That's one of the newer ones, yeah. And so, yeah. Again, I think-


'''Brad Dowdy:''' I clicked the link.
'''Anna Reiner:''' I clicked the link.


'''Speaker 02:''' Me. Oh, come on.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' Me. Oh, come on.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' The red wooden one?
'''Anna Reiner:''' The red wooden one?


'''Speaker 02:''' Anyway, I think there is genuinely a thing that, like, this is a almost Bringles-like thing with the King of Pen. Once you've owned one and fallen in love with one, then you just want all of them. But I think it takes that first one. And if you don't get into it, you're never going to get it, right? Like, it's just not going to become a thing that you would- if you think this is not a pen for you, there probably is never going to be one that pushes you over that edge. But once you've kind of gotten into the King of Pen idea, like me and Brad have, unfortunately for us, every single King of Pen I see, I want.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' Anyway, I think there is genuinely a thing that, like, this is a almost Bringles-like thing with the King of Pen. Once you've owned one and fallen in love with one, then you just want all of them. But I think it takes that first one. And if you don't get into it, you're never going to get it, right? Like, it's just not going to become a thing that you would- if you think this is not a pen for you, there probably is never going to be one that pushes you over that edge. But once you've kind of gotten into the King of Pen idea, like me and Brad have, unfortunately for us, every single King of Pen I see, I want.


'''Myke Hurley:''' So- Yeah, yeah. That's a problem. I've also learned that you should be Myke's friend for the holidays.
'''Myke Hurley:''' So- Yeah, yeah. That's a problem. I've also learned that you should be Myke's friend for the holidays.


'''Speaker 02:''' Oh, really?
'''Brad Dowdy:''' Oh, really?


'''Myke Hurley:''' No one said I've got to buy this, right? I don't know. So, I mean, I think someone's getting this. Oh, look at that wood red one, man.
'''Myke Hurley:''' No one said I've got to buy this, right? I don't know. So, I mean, I think someone's getting this. Oh, look at that wood red one, man.
Line 281: Line 279:
'''Myke Hurley:''' All right, Anna. Like, let's help him out. He's going to- he needs a moment with that link. So, let's talk about what you got.
'''Myke Hurley:''' All right, Anna. Like, let's help him out. He's going to- he needs a moment with that link. So, let's talk about what you got.


'''Speaker 02:''' I'm just, like, scrolling through images right now. It comes in a box.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' I'm just, like, scrolling through images right now. It comes in a box.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Just put your mic on mute so we don't hear you drool.
'''Anna Reiner:''' Just put your mic on mute so we don't hear you drool.


'''Speaker 02:''' The box says the King of Pen on it. Like, I feel like I want that box in my life.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' The box says the King of Pen on it. Like, I feel like I want that box in my life.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Okay, that's Myke's new tattoo. His new tattoo just says King of Pen.
'''Anna Reiner:''' Okay, that's Myke's new tattoo. His new tattoo just says King of Pen.


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


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Mm-hmm. Yep.
'''Anna Reiner:''' Mm-hmm. Yep.


'''Myke Hurley:''' There you go.
'''Myke Hurley:''' There you go.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Okay. So, with your King of Pen collection, I'm pretty sure you're going to need a Misubi Labs bamboo notebook. Yes. Because if you're going to have a $1,000 pen, you're going to need to write in a notebook that costs $130.
 
 
== Misubi Notebooks ==
 
 
'''Anna Reiner:''' Okay. So, with your King of Pen collection, I'm pretty sure you're going to need a Misubi Labs bamboo notebook. Yes. Because if you're going to have a $1,000 pen, you're going to need to write in a notebook that costs $130.


'''Myke Hurley:''' Worth it.
'''Myke Hurley:''' Worth it.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Totally worth it. But if you've never had a Misubi notebook, whether it's their Labs notebook or one of their regular notebooks, this is- I mean, if you collect fountain pens the way we collect fountain pens and you have not gone down the Misubi rabbit hole, you got to do it once. Mm-hmm. So, you're also supporting a good cause. So, you know, sort of the double bonus. But they are stunningly beautiful. They use fantastic paper. They're covered with beautiful fabric. They come in, you know, slip cases and boxes. And, you know, so they look like a gift when you get them, whether you're giving them as a gift or keeping them for yourself. So, and this new one from the Misubi Labs, that's the bamboo paper, is the most unusual paper that I've ever seen. They are very limited based on the amount of paper that they're able to get to make these books. And will take all kinds of ink. So, if you like to play with ink and you want to experiment and you just want to throw ink on paper and try different things, like, this is the way to do it. And you'll have this wonderful keepsake when you're done. You know, this great, beautiful notebook with this lovely fabric on the cover. And they're just, I mean, what he does is just...
'''Anna Reiner:''' Totally worth it. But if you've never had a Misubi notebook, whether it's their Labs notebook or one of their regular notebooks, this is- I mean, if you collect fountain pens the way we collect fountain pens and you have not gone down the Misubi rabbit hole, you got to do it once. Mm-hmm. So, you're also supporting a good cause. So, you know, sort of the double bonus. But they are stunningly beautiful. They use fantastic paper. They're covered with beautiful fabric. They come in, you know, slip cases and boxes. And, you know, so they look like a gift when you get them, whether you're giving them as a gift or keeping them for yourself. So, and this new one from the Misubi Labs, that's the bamboo paper, is the most unusual paper that I've ever seen. They are very limited based on the amount of paper that they're able to get to make these books. And will take all kinds of ink. So, if you like to play with ink and you want to experiment and you just want to throw ink on paper and try different things, like, this is the way to do it. And you'll have this wonderful keepsake when you're done. You know, this great, beautiful notebook with this lovely fabric on the cover. And they're just, I mean, what he does is just...


'''Speaker 02:''' What do I need to know about bamboo paper? Because I've never come into contact with bamboo paper before.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' What do I need to know about bamboo paper? Because I've never come into contact with bamboo paper before.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' You come into contact with bamboo...
'''Anna Reiner:''' You come into contact with bamboo...


'''Speaker 02:''' It's not like stone paper or anything like that. No. No, no, no.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' It's not like stone paper or anything like that. No. No, no, no.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Here's a secret. You come into contact with bamboo paper every time you use Tomoe River.
'''Anna Reiner:''' Here's a secret. You come into contact with bamboo paper every time you use Tomoe River.


'''Speaker 02:''' Oh, okay. Cool.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' Oh, okay. Cool.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' It's actually made out of bamboo as well.
'''Anna Reiner:''' It's actually made out of bamboo as well.


'''Speaker 02:''' Didn't know that.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' Didn't know that.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' So, yeah. So, from that standpoint, I mean, bamboo paper is also much more environmentally friendly from that standpoint because bamboo grows like a weed. And is much more... But this particular paper is made from different, I think, different types of bamboo and material than what Tomoe is. So, this is like a darker tone and color. So, it's just going to have a very different effect. And the way that it's been, the paper's been treated. So, the ink sits up on the paper a lot more than other papers. But I got one of these notebooks. I haven't even taken it out of the wrapper yet. I'm like, I'm waiting for an opportunity to like actually get to sit and like have an hour of uninterrupted time to really play with it and experience it instead of just like, you know, that sort of like half distracted, you know, moment that we usually have to handle our notebooks. But yeah. Yeah.
'''Anna Reiner:''' So, yeah. So, from that standpoint, I mean, bamboo paper is also much more environmentally friendly from that standpoint because bamboo grows like a weed. And is much more... But this particular paper is made from different, I think, different types of bamboo and material than what Tomoe is. So, this is like a darker tone and color. So, it's just going to have a very different effect. And the way that it's been, the paper's been treated. So, the ink sits up on the paper a lot more than other papers. But I got one of these notebooks. I haven't even taken it out of the wrapper yet. I'm like, I'm waiting for an opportunity to like actually get to sit and like have an hour of uninterrupted time to really play with it and experience it instead of just like, you know, that sort of like half distracted, you know, moment that we usually have to handle our notebooks. But yeah. Yeah.


'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. And if nothing else, you should go look at the Musubi links, read through the site, read what Daryl does, and read the work that Musubi does. They're awesome. So, yeah. Definitely go check these out.
'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. And if nothing else, you should go look at the Musubi links, read through the site, read what Daryl does, and read the work that Musubi does. They're awesome. So, yeah. Definitely go check these out.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Totally. And if you, if you, one of the other things that I, that I found while we were doing this was very unusual and goofball things that if you have a friend who has everything, you know. I found the dolphin pen rest. It's a little ceramic dolphin. It costs a whopping $6.50. It's just goofy and fun. And I think like, that's the kind of thing that I, I almost want to get like 10 of them and give them to different friends because it's like, that's something that I can give like all of my pen friends. They also have, they also had on a gold spot, the crab pen rests. Yeah. Are freaking hysterical. And it's like also very inexpensive. And it's like the things that you can give to your friends who are pen geeks as well. And they would not probably buy for themselves or have ever seen. Okay.
'''Anna Reiner:''' Totally. And if you, if you, one of the other things that I, that I found while we were doing this was very unusual and goofball things that if you have a friend who has everything, you know. I found the dolphin pen rest. It's a little ceramic dolphin. It costs a whopping $6.50. It's just goofy and fun. And I think like, that's the kind of thing that I, I almost want to get like 10 of them and give them to different friends because it's like, that's something that I can give like all of my pen friends. They also have, they also had on a gold spot, the crab pen rests. Yeah. Are freaking hysterical. And it's like also very inexpensive. And it's like the things that you can give to your friends who are pen geeks as well. And they would not probably buy for themselves or have ever seen. Okay.


'''Speaker 02:''' The crab one is incredible.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' The crab one is incredible.


'''Myke Hurley:''' They're in a bunch of different colors. I've been seeing them all over Instagram. And I asked someone like, where do they get these? And they said gold spot had them. But I went and looked at them. And I was like, I am, I'm getting some of those. They're great. That is fantastic. I hadn't seen the dolphin yet though. That's super neat.
'''Myke Hurley:''' They're in a bunch of different colors. I've been seeing them all over Instagram. And I asked someone like, where do they get these? And they said gold spot had them. But I went and looked at them. And I was like, I am, I'm getting some of those. They're great. That is fantastic. I hadn't seen the dolphin yet though. That's super neat.


'''Speaker 02:''' The crab, the crab is the one for me because it's like holding out the pen for you. Yeah. Yeah.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' The crab, the crab is the one for me because it's like holding out the pen for you. Yeah. Yeah.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' I think the crab's just plastic. The dolphin is ceramic. So the dolphin's a little more upscale. The crab's like goofy and plastic and fun. But I think like next time you place an order with gold spot, like have them throw it in with your order. Throw a crab in.
'''Anna Reiner:''' I think the crab's just plastic. The dolphin is ceramic. So the dolphin's a little more upscale. The crab's like goofy and plastic and fun. But I think like next time you place an order with gold spot, like have them throw it in with your order. Throw a crab in.


'''Myke Hurley:''' Yup. Yup.
'''Myke Hurley:''' Yup. Yup.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' And then in honor of Myke, I threw in a sailor.
'''Anna Reiner:''' And then in honor of Myke, I threw in a sailor.


'''Myke Hurley:''' Thank you.
'''Myke Hurley:''' Thank you.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' It's the pro gear. Angel's Delight. Have you seen this yet?
'''Anna Reiner:''' It's the pro gear. Angel's Delight. Have you seen this yet?


'''Speaker 02:''' It's really pretty. I've seen it. Because here's the thing. If I'm not looking for them, they get sent to me.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' It's really pretty. I've seen it. Because here's the thing. If I'm not looking for them, they get sent to me.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' People are sending them to you. Oh, all the time.
'''Anna Reiner:''' People are sending them to you. Oh, all the time.


'''Speaker 02:''' I see all of them. I'm sure you do. I have seen this one and I like it. That's kind of where I am with it. Because I recently picked up a pen, right, from Pensacce, which is purple in its body with the white cap, but it also has sparklies in it. And, you know, that one's the one for me. The Royal something or other. I'll find out and put it in the show notes.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' I see all of them. I'm sure you do. I have seen this one and I like it. That's kind of where I am with it. Because I recently picked up a pen, right, from Pensacce, which is purple in its body with the white cap, but it also has sparklies in it. And, you know, that one's the one for me. The Royal something or other. I'll find out and put it in the show notes.


'''Myke Hurley:''' But that was one that I got recently and absolutely loved. Yeah. Angel's Delight is a love for me. Not a like. I will not be buying it, but it is a love. It is just about perfect. I think it's fantastic.
'''Myke Hurley:''' But that was one that I got recently and absolutely loved. Yeah. Angel's Delight is a love for me. Not a like. I will not be buying it, but it is a love. It is just about perfect. I think it's fantastic.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' If it were a slim, my credit card would be screaming at me right now. Yeah.
'''Anna Reiner:''' If it were a slim, my credit card would be screaming at me right now. Yeah.


'''Speaker 02:''' You're more in the slim than the regular size? Yeah.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' You're more in the slim than the regular size? Yeah.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Just because I have the hands of a toddler.
'''Anna Reiner:''' Just because I have the hands of a toddler.


'''Speaker 02:''' I like this. I mean, I've said this before, but I love the slim. I think I honestly, a lot of the time, don't even realize which one I'm using. Like it isn't so small. It's, you know, it's not like a Vaco size, right? Like it's just right. It's just a little bit more petite. Yeah. Yeah. I love this.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' I like this. I mean, I've said this before, but I love the slim. I think I honestly, a lot of the time, don't even realize which one I'm using. Like it isn't so small. It's, you know, it's not like a Vaco size, right? Like it's just right. It's just a little bit more petite. Yeah. Yeah. I love this.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' In this case, I might make the exception and just get a full size. Yeah. Yeah.
'''Anna Reiner:''' In this case, I might make the exception and just get a full size. Yeah. Yeah.


'''Myke Hurley:''' So I went, again, right up my alley, but the weirdness of this pen just does it for me. In every way that Ian Schoen has ever made a pen, the Pocket 6 is so cool that I just think it's such a unique item. And when he first launched these earlier this summer, he was just doing, you know, the basic, you know, raw aluminum types of finish and maybe a black anodized here and there. And he has ramped up the design of these pens to do all kinds of weird anodization, which is, I know, a thing that we love him for in our ballpoint pens and has added in different grip sections, you know, whether aluminum or brass and different color grip sections and different barrel materials. And just the colors of these are so unique. And like the Kawekos that I love, this is a pocket fountain pen that you uncap and post the cap on the back of the pen and it becomes a full length writing pen. It's got a big number six nib, which the Kawekos don't handle. Those are all number five nibs outside of the Supra. And I'm enamored by this pen. I fidget with this pen. I just hold it. I twist it. It's sitting here on my desk. This is the pen I brought in to do the show with today. I have the material. I think mine's called Deep Sea or Deep Space, something like that. Deep Space, maybe. Yeah, that's the one I have.
'''Myke Hurley:''' So I went, again, right up my alley, but the weirdness of this pen just does it for me. In every way that Ian Schoen has ever made a pen, the Pocket 6 is so cool that I just think it's such a unique item. And when he first launched these earlier this summer, he was just doing, you know, the basic, you know, raw aluminum types of finish and maybe a black anodized here and there. And he has ramped up the design of these pens to do all kinds of weird anodization, which is, I know, a thing that we love him for in our ballpoint pens and has added in different grip sections, you know, whether aluminum or brass and different color grip sections and different barrel materials. And just the colors of these are so unique. And like the Kawekos that I love, this is a pocket fountain pen that you uncap and post the cap on the back of the pen and it becomes a full length writing pen. It's got a big number six nib, which the Kawekos don't handle. Those are all number five nibs outside of the Supra. And I'm enamored by this pen. I fidget with this pen. I just hold it. I twist it. It's sitting here on my desk. This is the pen I brought in to do the show with today. I have the material. I think mine's called Deep Sea or Deep Space, something like that. Deep Space, maybe. Yeah, that's the one I have.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' But that was the first one I clicked on.
'''Anna Reiner:''' But that was the first one I clicked on.


'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. There's like 15 different anodization colors. And then you can mix and match the grip sections on them. It's just cool. Like, I really appreciate the work that Ian does on this pen. It's really good quality. It just feels great. And like, if I just had like a no budget, no budget random gift that I just wanted to drop on someone that I think would like get it, like this would be the one that I'd go to. And they range in price like from, I think it's $114 to the most expensive one I could build was like $142. So they're not that expensive, all things considered. Yeah, I just think they're great. So yeah, good job. Good job, Ian. And I love mine and I'll be reviewing it. But I would give this as a gift in a heartbeat. Like if I knew the right person to give this to, I think it's just neat.
'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. There's like 15 different anodization colors. And then you can mix and match the grip sections on them. It's just cool. Like, I really appreciate the work that Ian does on this pen. It's really good quality. It just feels great. And like, if I just had like a no budget, no budget random gift that I just wanted to drop on someone that I think would like get it, like this would be the one that I'd go to. And they range in price like from, I think it's $114 to the most expensive one I could build was like $142. So they're not that expensive, all things considered. Yeah, I just think they're great. So yeah, good job. Good job, Ian. And I love mine and I'll be reviewing it. But I would give this as a gift in a heartbeat. Like if I knew the right person to give this to, I think it's just neat.


'''Speaker 02:''' Yeah, I'm really pleased that he's selling his wild anodized bodies for these pants. I think that really can push it over the edge for a lot of people.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, I'm really pleased that he's selling his wild anodized bodies for these pants. I think that really can push it over the edge for a lot of people.


'''Myke Hurley:''' I was waiting for him. Like he told me it was coming. I was like, okay, I'll wait. I'll wait. I'll wait. So yeah, love them. Very cool.
'''Myke Hurley:''' I was waiting for him. Like he told me it was coming. I was like, okay, I'll wait. I'll wait. I'll wait. So yeah, love them. Very cool.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' I might have to get one of the rollerball ones for Bob for Christmas.
'''Anna Reiner:''' I might have to get one of the rollerball ones for Bob for Christmas.


'''Speaker 02:''' Nice. Nice. I recommend the Dexter one. Dexter one that I own and I love that pen. It's super weird looking. He gets some looks using that one. Yes, for sure. All right. Today's episode is also brought to you by a new sponsor and that is Hello. This is one of my very favorite products that I have in my household. Hello make insanely comfortable buckwheat pillows. I don't know if you've ever tried a buckwheat pillow. You may have never even heard of what a buckwheat pillow is before. It is very different to regular fluffy pillows. It gives you a lot of support. Your head and neck won't like it's going to be nice and like very comfortable but supported. The pillow doesn't collapse under the weight of your head like a traditional pillow because it's not feathers or foam. It's actually buckwheat hulls. So these little, it almost feels like a bean bag. It's probably the closest thing to describe it if you've never seen one of these before. It turns out people have been sleeping on these types of pillows for years. They're very popular in Japan. When you go to some fancy hotels, you do get an option for these sometimes. One of the brilliant, brilliant advantages of buckwheat pillows is that they breathe better. Air circulates through them more easily so they don't get warm and humid. There's no more flipping over to the cool side of the pillow because the pillow is always cool. And also because it is a filling, you can add and remove it to suit your own needs. So the pillow can be just the size that you want. I have been sleeping on a buckwheat pillow for a year and a half. I'm never going back. Now when I go to hotels, I have regular pillows. If I stay for like a few days, I start to feel stiff. I absolutely love the support that I get from my pillow. And now I use one pillow. I always used to use multiple pillows because I can never get the thickness that I wanted. But these don't compress that much. I absolutely love hollow pillows. They're made in the USA. Quality construction and materials. They have a certified organic cotton case, which is cut and sewn for durability. The buckwheat is grown and milled in the US as well. You're probably curious to try out one of these by now. And you can. You can sleep on it for 60 nights. And if hollow isn't right for you, you can just send it back for a refund. So go to hollowpillow.com slash penaddict right now to get your own buckwheat pillow. That's H-U-L-L-O-P-I-L-L-O-W.com slash penaddict. Links in the show notes. You can get your own buckwheat pillow. Hollowpillow.com slash penaddict. If you buy more than one, they have a special discount to give you up to $20 off, depending on the size that you opt for. They have fast free shipping of every order. 1% of all profits are donated to the Nature Conservancy. Give it a try. If you love it, you keep it. If you don't, you just send it back. Our thanks to hollow for their support of this show and Relay FM.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' Nice. Nice. I recommend the Dexter one. Dexter one that I own and I love that pen. It's super weird looking. He gets some looks using that one. Yes, for sure. All right. Today's episode is also brought to you by a new sponsor and that is Hello. This is one of my very favorite products that I have in my household. Hello make insanely comfortable buckwheat pillows. I don't know if you've ever tried a buckwheat pillow. You may have never even heard of what a buckwheat pillow is before. It is very different to regular fluffy pillows. It gives you a lot of support. Your head and neck won't like it's going to be nice and like very comfortable but supported. The pillow doesn't collapse under the weight of your head like a traditional pillow because it's not feathers or foam. It's actually buckwheat hulls. So these little, it almost feels like a bean bag. It's probably the closest thing to describe it if you've never seen one of these before. It turns out people have been sleeping on these types of pillows for years. They're very popular in Japan. When you go to some fancy hotels, you do get an option for these sometimes. One of the brilliant, brilliant advantages of buckwheat pillows is that they breathe better. Air circulates through them more easily so they don't get warm and humid. There's no more flipping over to the cool side of the pillow because the pillow is always cool. And also because it is a filling, you can add and remove it to suit your own needs. So the pillow can be just the size that you want. I have been sleeping on a buckwheat pillow for a year and a half. I'm never going back. Now when I go to hotels, I have regular pillows. If I stay for like a few days, I start to feel stiff. I absolutely love the support that I get from my pillow. And now I use one pillow. I always used to use multiple pillows because I can never get the thickness that I wanted. But these don't compress that much. I absolutely love hollow pillows. They're made in the USA. Quality construction and materials. They have a certified organic cotton case, which is cut and sewn for durability. The buckwheat is grown and milled in the US as well. You're probably curious to try out one of these by now. And you can. You can sleep on it for 60 nights. And if hollow isn't right for you, you can just send it back for a refund. So go to hollowpillow.com slash penaddict right now to get your own buckwheat pillow. That's H-U-L-L-O-P-I-L-L-O-W.com slash penaddict. Links in the show notes. You can get your own buckwheat pillow. Hollowpillow.com slash penaddict. If you buy more than one, they have a special discount to give you up to $20 off, depending on the size that you opt for. They have fast free shipping of every order. 1% of all profits are donated to the Nature Conservancy. Give it a try. If you love it, you keep it. If you don't, you just send it back. Our thanks to hollow for their support of this show and Relay FM.


'''Myke Hurley:''' That's good timing. I'm shopping for new pillows. I need to give this a try.
'''Myke Hurley:''' That's good timing. I'm shopping for new pillows. I need to give this a try.


'''Speaker 02:''' Give it a try. Seriously. It's like you get over the first night, right? Because it's like, what is happening? Like, this is such a weird thing. I find it so comfortable. And the sound, it almost sounds to me like the waves going over stones on the beach. Because if you move your head, you hear all the little holes moving inside. Oh, man. Love my pillow. Love it.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' Give it a try. Seriously. It's like you get over the first night, right? Because it's like, what is happening? Like, this is such a weird thing. I find it so comfortable. And the sound, it almost sounds to me like the waves going over stones on the beach. Because if you move your head, you hear all the little holes moving inside. Oh, man. Love my pillow. Love it.


'''Myke Hurley:''' All right. All right. I got to try this. And we have more.
'''Myke Hurley:''' All right. All right. I got to try this. And we have more.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' I get the pun of the name, too. Hull.
'''Anna Reiner:''' I get the pun of the name, too. Hull.


'''Myke Hurley:''' Hull. Oh. Hull. I like it.
'''Myke Hurley:''' Hull. Oh. Hull. I like it.


'''Speaker 02:''' Hull. Yeah?
'''Brad Dowdy:''' Hull. Yeah?
 
 
 
== Ink Kits ==
 


'''Myke Hurley:''' Hulls. Hulls. Hulls. Hulls. Hulls. Hulls. Hulls. Hulls. And Anna's going to get us some ink now. So these next few topics are some very specific. So I said, what is your favorite inky gift? If you just had to give someone a gift of ink, what would you do?
'''Myke Hurley:''' Hulls. Hulls. Hulls. Hulls. Hulls. Hulls. Hulls. Hulls. And Anna's going to get us some ink now. So these next few topics are some very specific. So I said, what is your favorite inky gift? If you just had to give someone a gift of ink, what would you do?


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Okay. This was one of those where I was like, do I have to narrow it down to just one? Yes. So I didn't. It's hard.
'''Anna Reiner:''' Okay. This was one of those where I was like, do I have to narrow it down to just one? Yes. So I didn't. It's hard.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' So the first one I picked was the Three Oysters Doming the Sea of Notions ink kit. And I'm sure you're saying, what the hell did she just say? Yeah, that was totally a thing. I totally am. That was a mouthful. Okay. So this comes from Shiguri Inks. Oh, yeah. Whoa.
'''Anna Reiner:''' So the first one I picked was the Three Oysters Doming the Sea of Notions ink kit. And I'm sure you're saying, what the hell did she just say? Yeah, that was totally a thing. I totally am. That was a mouthful. Okay. So this comes from Shiguri Inks. Oh, yeah. Whoa.


'''Myke Hurley:''' I've seen this. I've seen this. Yes. Thank you.
'''Myke Hurley:''' I've seen this. I've seen this. Yes. Thank you.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' That was the reaction I was hoping for. It is a, I mean, first off, it's totally giftable because it is a kit. It comes in this cool box. And what it is is allows you to mix the colors to make your own shade of blue. And it's a little hokey and funky and everything, but it just looks really cool. It's really pretty. It comes from Three Oysters and we know they make really good ink. The box is very cool and it has this whole like sort of water mermaid theme. And it just is super cool. And I was like, yes, if I was. This is the kind of thing that I would buy for Jessie, who is also an ink nerd, but she's probably already bought it. She's listening.
'''Anna Reiner:''' That was the reaction I was hoping for. It is a, I mean, first off, it's totally giftable because it is a kit. It comes in this cool box. And what it is is allows you to mix the colors to make your own shade of blue. And it's a little hokey and funky and everything, but it just looks really cool. It's really pretty. It comes from Three Oysters and we know they make really good ink. The box is very cool and it has this whole like sort of water mermaid theme. And it just is super cool. And I was like, yes, if I was. This is the kind of thing that I would buy for Jessie, who is also an ink nerd, but she's probably already bought it. She's listening.


'''Myke Hurley:''' She's listening. She's listening.
'''Myke Hurley:''' She's listening. She's listening.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' She's already bought it. I think she sent me the link first anyway. But yeah, I mean, this is the kind of stuff that she and I like send back and forth like all week long. Like, have you seen this? Yeah, I saw this. Did you see this? I saw that. So yeah, but super cool. And it's, I'm seeing more and more of these sort of sets and kits of like ink collections, which I think are great to get people started or to get people interested in like playing around with ink and mixing ink and thinking about ink for more than just putting in a fountain pen. Like this is something that if you wanted to play with a water brush or use it for painting or in like the pilot parallel pens or something like that, this would be a great kit to play with.
'''Anna Reiner:''' She's already bought it. I think she sent me the link first anyway. But yeah, I mean, this is the kind of stuff that she and I like send back and forth like all week long. Like, have you seen this? Yeah, I saw this. Did you see this? I saw that. So yeah, but super cool. And it's, I'm seeing more and more of these sort of sets and kits of like ink collections, which I think are great to get people started or to get people interested in like playing around with ink and mixing ink and thinking about ink for more than just putting in a fountain pen. Like this is something that if you wanted to play with a water brush or use it for painting or in like the pilot parallel pens or something like that, this would be a great kit to play with.


'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. For a gift guide, this is how you win, right? This is winning right here. That's a gift. This is a gift. Like this is, and it's, it's $45 and I'm looking at the site right now. They have free shipping over $40 in the US and Canada. So like this is a gift.
'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. For a gift guide, this is how you win, right? This is winning right here. That's a gift. This is a gift. Like this is, and it's, it's $45 and I'm looking at the site right now. They have free shipping over $40 in the US and Canada. So like this is a gift.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' And there are going to be Black Friday deals, you know, starting, you know, Thursday, Friday. So if you hold off a couple days, you'll be good. And then the other one that I found, and this will, you'll be hot on my heels with your answer as well. Yes. On this theme.
'''Anna Reiner:''' And there are going to be Black Friday deals, you know, starting, you know, Thursday, Friday. So if you hold off a couple days, you'll be good. And then the other one that I found, and this will, you'll be hot on my heels with your answer as well. Yes. On this theme.


'''Myke Hurley:''' We were thinking the same.
'''Myke Hurley:''' We were thinking the same.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Is Gold Spot has a limited edition set of Colorverse ink called Solar Wind and Magnetosphere, which is also designed to be two colors that could be mixed together if you wanted to try to like mix your own shade, which I also thought was very cool. You can use the colors separately or you can mix them together. But again, you know, like there are two bottles of ink, you know, we both know that, you know, Colorverse, just the way they package their inks is so beautiful that, you know, it's a gift in itself. Just getting the box with, you know, the little tiny bottles and all the decoration on the box, you know, it's kind of a done deal.
'''Anna Reiner:''' Is Gold Spot has a limited edition set of Colorverse ink called Solar Wind and Magnetosphere, which is also designed to be two colors that could be mixed together if you wanted to try to like mix your own shade, which I also thought was very cool. You can use the colors separately or you can mix them together. But again, you know, like there are two bottles of ink, you know, we both know that, you know, Colorverse, just the way they package their inks is so beautiful that, you know, it's a gift in itself. Just getting the box with, you know, the little tiny bottles and all the decoration on the box, you know, it's kind of a done deal.


'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. That was totally the path that I went down. And when I wrote this, I wrote the header, what's your favorite inky gift? It wasn't with Colorverse in mind. But once I went down the path, I was like, oh, well, Colorverse is the obvious choice because it's essentially a gift in a box, right? So the packaging is exquisite. The bottles are super cool. The colors are really great. And I picked, similar to you, a shop limited edition. So they did the Penn Chalet limited edition, Monsoon Storm and Monument Valley. And I just think the color mixture of these, although these aren't mixable, I don't believe. I mean, I'm sure technically you could, but it'd probably make like doo-doo brown or something because it's like a green and a yellow. It'd probably not, let's do not mix those. But the colors like complement each other super well. The box and packaging is cool. They're on a really big sale right now at Penn Chalet. I think I might have to get these for myself and just wrap it up and stick it under the tree and be surprised like on Christmas morning when I open these up. The colors are really, really great. So yeah, that was, we were totally thinking along the same lines with the Colorverse. They're just kind of like a perfect gift setup.
'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. That was totally the path that I went down. And when I wrote this, I wrote the header, what's your favorite inky gift? It wasn't with Colorverse in mind. But once I went down the path, I was like, oh, well, Colorverse is the obvious choice because it's essentially a gift in a box, right? So the packaging is exquisite. The bottles are super cool. The colors are really great. And I picked, similar to you, a shop limited edition. So they did the Pen Chalet limited edition, Monsoon Storm and Monument Valley. And I just think the color mixture of these, although these aren't mixable, I don't believe. I mean, I'm sure technically you could, but it'd probably make like doo-doo brown or something because it's like a green and a yellow. It'd probably not, let's do not mix those. But the colors like complement each other super well. The box and packaging is cool. They're on a really big sale right now at Pen Chalet. I think I might have to get these for myself and just wrap it up and stick it under the tree and be surprised like on Christmas morning when I open these up. The colors are really, really great. So yeah, that was, we were totally thinking along the same lines with the Colorverse. They're just kind of like a perfect gift setup.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' So everybody buy lots of knock product and lots of color rings so that we can buy all this ink and all these pens. Right, right.
'''Anna Reiner:''' So everybody buy lots of knock product and lots of color rings so that we can buy all this ink and all these pens. Right, right.


'''Myke Hurley:''' I'm totally going shopping from our own gift guide when we're done.
'''Myke Hurley:''' I'm totally going shopping from our own gift guide when we're done.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' I know, me too. It's so bad. This is why when we do these, it costs me money every time.
'''Anna Reiner:''' I know, me too. It's so bad. This is why when we do these, it costs me money every time.


'''Myke Hurley:''' Oh, I ordered the right notepads when I, like I said, the very first thing. As soon as I found those, I hadn't seen them before and I ordered them for myself. So Myke, I don't have to order this one because I like it so much. I bought multiple variants of what you're suggesting here. That's how much I like this. So what did you pick?
'''Myke Hurley:''' Oh, I ordered the right notepads when I, like I said, the very first thing. As soon as I found those, I hadn't seen them before and I ordered them for myself. So Myke, I don't have to order this one because I like it so much. I bought multiple variants of what you're suggesting here. That's how much I like this. So what did you pick?


'''Speaker 02:''' One of my very best friends in the world, Brad Dowdy, made a wonderful orange ink, right? Fire on fire. It's a great ink. My very favorite orange ink is Mont Blanc Lucky Orange. Yeah, I can't argue with that. I absolutely adore it. It's so, so good. And, I mean, talk about giftable. The bottle that it comes in is a real stunner. It's a small bottle, but huge cap with the Mont Blanc logo on it. Very pretty. Look very good on a desk. Mont Blanc know what they're doing. It's just an incredibly vibrant orange that really performs very differently in different nibs as well, which I enjoy. You know, the thicker than there, the darker it is, and it really changes the color, but the vibrancy remains. I absolutely love Mont Blanc Lucky Orange. I'm so pleased that I picked up a bottle because it really is special.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' One of my very best friends in the world, Brad Dowdy, made a wonderful orange ink, right? Fire on fire. It's a great ink. My very favorite orange ink is Mont Blanc Lucky Orange. Yeah, I can't argue with that. I absolutely adore it. It's so, so good. And, I mean, talk about giftable. The bottle that it comes in is a real stunner. It's a small bottle, but huge cap with the Mont Blanc logo on it. Very pretty. Look very good on a desk. Mont Blanc know what they're doing. It's just an incredibly vibrant orange that really performs very differently in different nibs as well, which I enjoy. You know, the thicker than there, the darker it is, and it really changes the color, but the vibrancy remains. I absolutely love Mont Blanc Lucky Orange. I'm so pleased that I picked up a bottle because it really is special.


'''Myke Hurley:''' I have it in bottle and cartridge form. That's how much I like it.
'''Myke Hurley:''' I have it in bottle and cartridge form. That's how much I like it.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' And it comes in that same, like, drawer box that the ladies edition pearl came in.
'''Anna Reiner:''' And it comes in that same, like, drawer box that the ladies edition pearl came in.


'''Myke Hurley:''' It comes in the fancy packaging.
'''Myke Hurley:''' It comes in the fancy packaging.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, that Jacqueline did a review of recently, and she took pictures of how it comes in the little sliding drawer box and everything if people want to see. It does come in lovely packaging.
'''Anna Reiner:''' Yeah, that Jacqueline did a review of recently, and she took pictures of how it comes in the little sliding drawer box and everything if people want to see. It does come in lovely packaging.
 
 
 
== Graphite Pencils ==
 


'''Myke Hurley:''' Yes. Yeah, super great. Very, very much approve that orange ink as a purveyor of orange. That's one of the best. Next up, what is your favorite graphite gift? So I wanted to mix it up a little bit. It's not all pens and ink around here. We all like graphite as well. And I did have to go with one of my favorites that I can't speak highly enough about, and that's the Cron Dash Fix Pencil. Now, I put this in there before I even looked at what's currently available, and they have done two things with the Fix Pencil. One, they've limited the colors all of a sudden, which I'm concerned about. We'll talk about that, you know, at future dates the more I figure out what is going on here. To black. They have a black barrel. It's really nice. But I like the Fix Pencil and Cron Dash's goods because they usually have wild, vibrant colors. This one just comes in black. But they added a 3mm lead option, which is wider than their standard 2mm lead option, which I thought is interesting. All the ones I use in the past have been 2mm, 3mm is new to the club this year. So that's just kind of my go-to pencil for just general writing, sketching, taking it on the go. It's got the built-in sharpener and the cap. I just think it's super functional. I'm a little disappointed in the color choices, though, so I'm going to try to figure out what's going on there, and hopefully they'll ramp that back up. So in lieu of that, I did kind of cheat and do two things, and even though this is not technically graphite, it's clay, the Tombow Orojitan colored pencil set is my favorite, and they just came out with a 36 colored pencil set. Even though the ones that they make now are individual 12-pack sets, sold as three, so it's 36 pencils. This, they did an all-in-one 36 colored pencil set, which I think is better than the individual 36 pencil sets. I know that's confusing. This is a big, wide-ranging. I'm not going to lie. This is a big, wide-ranging, you know, big catalog volumes of colored pencils, but this is kind of, let's call it the greatest hits of the Orojitan set, and it's 36 pencils. They're 60 bucks. It's not cheap, but it's a glorious set. I highly, highly recommend these.
'''Myke Hurley:''' Yes. Yeah, super great. Very, very much approve that orange ink as a purveyor of orange. That's one of the best. Next up, what is your favorite graphite gift? So I wanted to mix it up a little bit. It's not all pens and ink around here. We all like graphite as well. And I did have to go with one of my favorites that I can't speak highly enough about, and that's the Cron Dash Fix Pencil. Now, I put this in there before I even looked at what's currently available, and they have done two things with the Fix Pencil. One, they've limited the colors all of a sudden, which I'm concerned about. We'll talk about that, you know, at future dates the more I figure out what is going on here. To black. They have a black barrel. It's really nice. But I like the Fix Pencil and Cron Dash's goods because they usually have wild, vibrant colors. This one just comes in black. But they added a 3mm lead option, which is wider than their standard 2mm lead option, which I thought is interesting. All the ones I use in the past have been 2mm, 3mm is new to the club this year. So that's just kind of my go-to pencil for just general writing, sketching, taking it on the go. It's got the built-in sharpener and the cap. I just think it's super functional. I'm a little disappointed in the color choices, though, so I'm going to try to figure out what's going on there, and hopefully they'll ramp that back up. So in lieu of that, I did kind of cheat and do two things, and even though this is not technically graphite, it's clay, the Tombow Orojitan colored pencil set is my favorite, and they just came out with a 36 colored pencil set. Even though the ones that they make now are individual 12-pack sets, sold as three, so it's 36 pencils. This, they did an all-in-one 36 colored pencil set, which I think is better than the individual 36 pencil sets. I know that's confusing. This is a big, wide-ranging. I'm not going to lie. This is a big, wide-ranging, you know, big catalog volumes of colored pencils, but this is kind of, let's call it the greatest hits of the Orojitan set, and it's 36 pencils. They're 60 bucks. It's not cheap, but it's a glorious set. I highly, highly recommend these.


'''Speaker 02:''' All right, is it my turn? All you. Go. Rotary 600. I don't have a lot to say, other than it's the best mechanical pencil I've ever owned. I actually found today, not found, like I took it out of my drawer today, because I was thinking about it. I got that lava limited edition one that they did a long time. I'm so jealous. I have both the mechanical pencil and the fountain pen in this material.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' All right, is it my turn? All you. Go. Rotary 600. I don't have a lot to say, other than it's the best mechanical pencil I've ever owned. I actually found today, not found, like I took it out of my drawer today, because I was thinking about it. I got that lava limited edition one that they did a long time. I'm so jealous. I have both the mechanical pencil and the fountain pen in this material.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Okay, now I'm really jealous.
'''Anna Reiner:''' Okay, now I'm really jealous.


'''Speaker 02:''' Super weird material, but really beautiful. So, yeah. It's, you know, it is a, it's the classic, right? Like, I don't, I don't really know what more to say about it. Yeah.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' Super weird material, but really beautiful. So, yeah. It's, you know, it is a, it's the classic, right? Like, I don't, I don't really know what more to say about it. Yeah.


'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. So, I was saving this for a future episode, because it's not going to be out before Christmas. It doesn't come out until February. But they're doing the 600 in a red barrel and a blue barrel. And they look exquisite.
'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. Yeah. So, I was saving this for a future episode, because it's not going to be out before Christmas. It doesn't come out until February. But they're doing the 600 in a red barrel and a blue barrel. And they look exquisite.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yay! That's very exciting.
'''Anna Reiner:''' Yay! That's very exciting.


'''Myke Hurley:''' So, I will share the link with that. We'll, we'll probably talk about it next week. We'll just put it in the, as a topic for future episodes. But we've, that is out and about now, out in the wild. It's coming in February 2020. Full red barrel and full blue barrel. And we think the third one, it looks black in the imagery, but people are saying it's dark green. So, we'll have to see. So, more to come on that, but it didn't make the gift guide because it's not out until next year. Yeah.
'''Myke Hurley:''' So, I will share the link with that. We'll, we'll probably talk about it next week. We'll just put it in the, as a topic for future episodes. But we've, that is out and about now, out in the wild. It's coming in February 2020. Full red barrel and full blue barrel. And we think the third one, it looks black in the imagery, but people are saying it's dark green. So, we'll have to see. So, more, more to come on that, but it didn't make the gift guide because it's not out until next year. Yeah.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' So, on the fixed pencil, a lot of times the, like, the similar design is also the 849 pencil. Which is, anytime the lead is like a 0.5, 0.7, or 0.9. So, maybe that might be where you see some of the more unusual, for the Caran d'Ache, where you might see the more unusual patterns and colors. And maybe they're saving the fixed pencil name specifically for the, like, 2mm, 3mm clutch style. It's the only thing I can think. Definitely. That's the only thing I can think.
'''Anna Reiner:''' So, on the fixed pencil, a lot of times the, like, the similar design is also the 849 pencil. Which is, anytime the lead is like a 0.5, 0.7, or 0.9. So, maybe that might be where you see some of the more unusual, for the Caran d'Ache, where you might see the more unusual patterns and colors. And maybe they're saving the fixed pencil name specifically for the, like, 2mm, 3mm clutch style. Definitely. It's the only thing I can think. That's the only thing I can think.


'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, that's exactly how they do it. But they've done the colors in the past. Like, I have limited edition barrels with, like, lines and, you know, different designs and patterns. So, I was a little disappointed. And they still sell the caps in the different colors. Like, you can buy a cap set with the sharpeners in it. Like, I've lost one of those before. So, yeah, I'd like to see more of the 849 colors in the fixed pencil set. So, hopefully we will.
'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, that's exactly how they do it. But they've done the colors in the past. Like, I have limited edition barrels with, like, lines and, you know, different designs and patterns. So, I was a little disappointed. And they still sell the caps in the different colors. Like, you can buy a cap set with the sharpeners in it. Like, I've lost one of those before. So, yeah. I'd like to see more of the 849 colors in the fixed pencil set. Yeah. So, hopefully we will.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. And I'm wondering, with a fixed pencil, because it tends to be targeted more towards professionals. Totally. If they just, it's like, we just do them in black because they're usually with graphite. And then the different colors are how people indicate what lead softness they put in them. Or if they use a different color lead. That's the only thing I can think.
'''Anna Reiner:''' Yeah. And I'm wondering, with a fixed pencil, because it tends to be targeted more towards professionals. Totally. If they just, it's like, we just do them in black because they're usually with graphite. And then the different colors are how people indicate what lead softness they put in them. Or if they use a different color lead. That's the only thing I can think.


'''Myke Hurley:''' And no matter how much I love it, it's probably not a big seller. Which is why it got stripped down. Right?
'''Myke Hurley:''' And no matter how much I love it, it's probably not a big seller. Which is why it got stripped down, right? Right.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. It's, you know, because there are so many lead holder options available through, like, because basically each manufacturer, Faber-Castell, Statler, they all make, like, a 2mm, 3mm lead holder. Yep. Might be cutting into the businesses. Not as many people are using them.
'''Anna Reiner:''' Yeah. It's, you know, because there are so many lead holder options available through, like, because basically each manufacturer, Faber-Castell, Statler, they all make, like, a 2mm, 3mm lead holder. Yep. Might be cutting into the businesses. Not as many people are using them.


'''Myke Hurley:''' Totally agree.
'''Myke Hurley:''' Totally agree.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' This is me nerding out on the art supplies. Sorry.
'''Anna Reiner:''' This is me nerding out on the art supplies. Sorry.


'''Myke Hurley:''' No, this is great. This is great.
'''Myke Hurley:''' No, this is great. This is great. Okay.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Okay. So, when I put my graphite item in, I, too, played fast and loose with the idea of graphite on this particular case. Because actually, I had a third item. Well, actually, I had a second item. And then the third item came in my email this morning before we started. But I put in the Caran d'Ache bicolor pencil set, which Tina reviewed recently. And, like, no sooner did she put the review up that I hit the buy it now button on CW pencils. Totally. Because it is basically the Caran d'Ache super color watercolor pencils. But they basically did them as, like, half. So, like, one half of the pencil is one color and one half of the pencil is another color. So, you can basically, in a little tin, you get, like, 20 colors. But it fits in a 10, like, 10 color box. And it's the same quality as their regular watercolor colored pencils. They're amazing. I love them. I'm so excited. And it's one of those things that Tina and I have been like, if Caran d'Ache would just do it, you know. Because it's, like, really you can only find, like, inexpensive, low-quality colored pencils that are double-ended like that. And if you want a travel set of colored pencils, you end up having to take, like, a lot of them to get a range of color. And so, now you get this great set. So, we're super excited about it.
'''Anna Reiner:''' So, when I put my graphite item in, I, too, played fast and loose with the idea of graphite on this particular case. Because actually, I had a third item. Well, actually, I had a second item. And then the third item came in my email this morning before we started. But I put in the Caran d'Ache bicolor pencil set, which Tina reviewed recently. And, like, no sooner did she put the review up that I hit the buy it now button on CW pencils. Totally. Because it is basically the Caran d'Ache super color watercolor pencils. But they basically did them as, like, half. So, like, one half of the pencil is one color and one half of the pencil is another color. So, you can basically, in a little tin, you get, like, 20 colors. But it fits in a 10, like, 10 color box. And it's the same quality as their regular watercolor colored pencils. They're amazing. I love them. I'm so excited. And it's one of those things that Tina and I have been, like, if Caran d'Ache would just do it, you know. Because it's, like, really you can only find, like, inexpensive, low-quality colored pencils that are double-ended like that. And if you want a travel set of colored pencils, you end up having to take, like, a lot of them to get a range of color. And so, now you get this great set. So, we're super excited about it.


'''Myke Hurley:''' I'm all in on those.
'''Myke Hurley:''' I'm all in on those.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. So, it's perfect. And the tin is really tiny. And, I mean, if you want to put them in something else, it would totally work as well. But price is fairly reasonable for Caran d'Ache, who is not known for being inexpensive. No. But this morning, my email chimed right away with the announcement of the Erasable Baron Fig Squire.
'''Anna Reiner:''' Yeah. So, it's perfect. And the tin is really tiny. And, I mean, if you want to put them in something else, it would totally work as well. But price is fairly reasonable for Caran d'Ache, who is not known for being inexpensive. No. But this morning, my email chimed right away with the announcement of the Erasable Baron Fig Squire.


'''Myke Hurley:''' It came out so good.
'''Myke Hurley:''' It came out so good.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' But they're doing it as a promotion to help fund to get all three of the Erasable gentlemen in Baltimore for the Baltimore pen show so that they can host their podcast together and do a live recording like the pen addict.
'''Anna Reiner:''' But they're doing it as a promotion to help fund to get all three of the Erasable gentlemen in Baltimore for the Baltimore Pen Show so that they can host their podcast together and do a live recording like the pen addict.


'''Speaker 02:''' See, I've heard of that method before. It's a good way to get people together.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' I've heard of that method before. It's a good way to get people together.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' It's a good way to get people together. So, they are, Baron Fig agreed to help them out by doing this pen for them. So, it went live this morning. And if you do a pre-order, they need to sell at least 100 of the pens in order to raise enough money to get all three of them in one place and make it so that they don't all have to sleep on Johnny's floor at his house. So, yeah.
'''Anna Reiner:''' It's a good way to get people together. So, they are, Baron Fig agreed to help them out by doing this pen for them. So, it went live this morning. And if you do a pre-order, they need to sell at least 100 of the pens in order to raise enough money to get all three of them in one place and make it so that they don't all have to sleep on Johnny's floor at his house. So, yeah.


'''Myke Hurley:''' The way the design came out, I've been talking to Andy about it for a while and he shared it with me. It is so good. It is really perfect.
'''Myke Hurley:''' The way the design came out, I've been talking to Andy about it for a while and he shared it with me. It is so good. It is really perfect.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' So, for people who are driving in their car right now, it is a Squire rollerball pen that looks like a number two pencil.
'''Anna Reiner:''' So, for people who are driving in their car right now, it is a Squire rollerball pen that looks like a number two pencil.


'''Speaker 02:''' Yeah. Yellow body with a big number two on it, which looks great. And then a pink eraser for the color for the little twist mechanism at the top. Really nice.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. Yellow body with a big number two on it, which looks great. And then a pink eraser for the color for the little twist mechanism at the top. Really nice.


'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. Andy said they had to have 100 to hit their budget goal. I said, you'll sell 200 easy. And he's like, you think? And he's like, I don't know if we'll sell 100. I'm like, dude, you'll sell 100 as soon as you launch them. Like, they are that good. And I know yesterday, they put out a link for their Patreon supporters yesterday and I tweeted that out to the shop. And I know they'd already sold over half of the 100 that they needed. So, they'll probably have that by the end of the day today. And anything you can do to support these guys to get to Baltimore to record their live show would be great. And I think it's a really, really cool idea for them to do this.
'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. Andy said they had to have 100 to hit their budget goal. I said, you'll sell 200 easy. And he's like, you think? And he's like, I don't know if we'll sell 100. I'm like, dude, you'll sell 100 as soon as you launch them. They are that good. And I know yesterday, they put out a link for their Patreon supporters yesterday and I tweeted that out to the shop and I know they'd already sold over half of the 100 that they needed. So, they'll probably have that by the end of the day today. And anything you can do to support these guys to get to Baltimore to record their live show would be great. And I think it's a really, really cool idea for them to do this.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' And not to toot my own horn, but they asked me to actually come on the show in Baltimore. So, if you guys want to hear me live on another podcast.
'''Anna Reiner:''' And not to toot my own horn, but they asked me to actually come on the show in Baltimore. So, if you guys want to hear me live on another podcast.


'''Speaker 02:''' Don't leave us.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' Don't leave us.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' I'm not leaving you guys. Okay, good.
'''Anna Reiner:''' I'm not leaving you guys. Okay, good.


'''Speaker 02:''' Get us just checking.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' Get a check in.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Nah. It's just a little hi, hello. You know, visit Baltimore. I've never been to the Baltimore show.
'''Anna Reiner:''' Nah. It's just a little hi, hello. You know, visit Baltimore. I've never been to the Baltimore show.


'''Myke Hurley:''' It's a good show. I'll be there. Maybe on this show as well.
'''Myke Hurley:''' It's a good show. I'll be there. Awesome. Maybe on this show as well.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Hey, wouldn't that. See, Myke, Brad's leaving you too.
'''Anna Reiner:''' Oh, hey. Wouldn't that. See, Myke? Brad's leaving you too.


'''Myke Hurley:''' That's right. We just need Baltimore to move to reschedule their show later in the year so we can do our Kickstarter campaign like we normally do.
'''Myke Hurley:''' That's right. We just need Baltimore to move to reschedule their show later in the year so we can do our Kickstarter campaign like we normally do. When is it?


'''Brad Dowdy:''' When is it? That'd be fun.
'''Anna Reiner:''' That'd be fun.


'''Myke Hurley:''' End of February.
'''Myke Hurley:''' End of February.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' End of February.
'''Anna Reiner:''' End of February.


'''Speaker 02:''' Oh, that's impossible. There's no way we could get things together in time.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' Oh, that's impossible. There's no way we could get things together in time.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' We can't pull it together that fast. No.
'''Anna Reiner:''' We can't pull it together that fast. No.


'''Myke Hurley:''' But speaking of our show, we have all been conspiring in the background to do something pretty cool this year.
'''Myke Hurley:''' But speaking of our show, we have all been conspiring in the background to do something pretty cool this year.


'''Speaker 02:''' Oh, we have big plans for 2020, right? It's not Japan. We've already said that's 2022. But 2020, we've got some cool plans.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' We have big plans for 2020, right? It's not Japan. We've already said that's 2022. But 2020, we've got some cool plans.


'''Myke Hurley:''' Yep. We also have a lot of cool gifts to get to. So we do have one more friend we want to talk about though, right, this week?
'''Myke Hurley:''' Yep. We also have a lot of cool gifts to get to. So we do have one more friend we want to talk about though, right, this week?


'''Speaker 02:''' We do. I want to thank Moo for their support of this show, the online print and design company that specializes in customizable business cards, postcards, stickers, and more for your business. If you're new to Moo, if you've never tried out their products before, at their website, moo.com, M-O-O.com, you can see exactly what their products look like by ordering a free sample pack. They offer a full suite of products, including business cards, postcards, invitations, letterheads, stickers, flyers, and so much more so you can seamlessly promote yourself and your brand. They do lots of other products too. They do wonderful notebooks. I love their hardcover. It features a Swiss binding, so every page lays flat. There may be premium paper that's protected by a tough tactile cover. I use that notebook a lot. I really like it. I love the covers. I love the colors that they do with them as well. It's really fantastic. Moo will also do, I mean, it's the holiday season. If you want to have some, like, really nice greeting cards made, you could do those with Moo too, so you can get your holiday stuff all done with them as well. And you can use wonderful finishing touches like gold and silver foil, raised spot gloss, letterpress. These are the little touches that make your product stand out. If you don't fancy designing your own business card, they have beautiful templates that are brand new for Moo. They are inspired by their most creative customers as well. So go to Moo.com, M-O-O.com, and use the code PRINTMOO, P-R-I-N-T-M-O-O, and check out. You'll get 15% off if you spend $50 or more. That's Moo.com and the code PRINTMOO for 15% off any order of $50 or more. Our thanks to Moo for their support of this show and RelayFM.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' We do. I want to thank Moo for their support of this show, the online print and design company that specializes in customizable business cards, postcards, stickers, and more for your business. If you're new to Moo, if you've never tried out their products before, at their website, moo.com, M-O-O.com, you can see exactly what their products look like by ordering a free sample pack. They offer a full suite of products including business cards, postcards, invitations, letterheads, stickers, flyers, and so much more so you can seamlessly promote yourself and your brand. They do lots of other products too. They do wonderful notebooks. I love their hardcover. It features a Swiss binding so every page lays flat. There may be premium paper that's protected by a tough tactile cover. I use that notebook a lot. I really like it. I love the covers. I love the colors that they do with them as well. It's really fantastic. Moo will also do, I mean, it's the holiday season. If you want to have some really nice greeting cards made, you can do those with Moo too. So you can get your holiday stuff all done with them as well. And you can use wonderful finishing touches like gold and silver foil, raised spot gloss, letterpress. These are the little touches that make your product stand out. If you don't fancy designing your own business card, they have beautiful templates that are brand new for Moo. They are inspired by their most creative customers as well. Go to Moo.com, M-O-O.com and use the code PRINTMOO, P-R-I-N-T-M-O-O. And check out, you'll get 15% off if you spend $50 or more. That's Moo.com and the code PRINTMOO for 15% off any order of $50 or more. Our thanks to Moo for their support of this show and RelayFM.
 
'''Myke Hurley:''' All right, so we have two more topics, then we have a few listener questions, and I know we've been going on long here, and we've got to give people time to actually go shopping. So let's burn through these pretty quickly, and then we'll wrap it up, and then people can go start clicking buttons and clicking links and buying all the gifts. So what do y'all think?
 
'''Speaker 02:''' Yeah, like they haven't already. So what's our next category?
 
'''Myke Hurley:''' I'm not going to lie. I have things in my cart from just clicking these links. Next category is what is your favorite paper gift? Along the lines of the graphite and inky gift, what is your favorite paper gift, Myke?
 


'''Myke Hurley:''' All right, so we have two more topics and we have a few listener questions. And I know we've been going on long here and we got to give people time to actually go shopping. So let's burn through these pretty quickly and then we'll wrap it up and then people can go start clicking buttons and clicking links and buying all the gifts. So what do y'all think?


== Favorite Stationery Items ==
'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, like they haven't already. So what's our next category?


'''Myke Hurley:''' I'm not going to lie, I have things in my cart from just clicking these links. Next category is what is your favorite paper gift? Along the lines of the graphite and inky gift, what is your favorite paper gift, Myke?


'''Speaker 02:''' I don't think you can beat for a gift for most people. Again, that's what I'm trying to think of, right? Like, I get gifts for people. The Studio Neat Panel Book. Because so many people work in front of keyboards, right? That is the way that many, many, many of our listeners will be working. They'll be working in offices in front of keyboards. And this notebook is made perfectly to sit beneath your keyboard, in between you and the keyboard, so you can take your notes. This is exactly how I use my Pano Book. I love it. I love it. I love Studio Neat's products, obviously. I mean, I love them so much. I made my own with their help, right? Like, you know, I really am a big fan. Oh, by the way, you know, a great gift for the holidays, if we can ever get them back in stock again, would be the Theme System Journal. The Cortex Theme System Journal.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' I don't think you can beat for a gift for most people. Again, that's what I'm trying to think of, right? Like gifts for people. The Studio Neat Panel Book. Because so many people work in front of keyboards, right? That is the way that many, many, many of our listeners will be working. They'll be working in offices in front of keyboards. And this notebook is made perfectly to sit beneath your keyboard, in between you and the keyboard, so you can take your notes. So this is exactly how I use my Pano Book. I love it. I love it. I love Studio Neat's products, obviously. I mean, I love them so much. I made my own with their help, right? Like, you know, I really am a big fan. Oh, by the way, you know, a great gift for the holidays, if we can ever get them back in stock again, would be the Theme System Journal. The Cortex Theme System Journal.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' That would be a lovely gift.
'''Anna Reiner:''' That would be a lovely gift.


'''Myke Hurley:''' Wouldn't it be amazing? Are they going to be? Give us the details. Are we going to be able to buy those before the holidays? Okay, maybe. Stay tuned.
'''Myke Hurley:''' Wouldn't it be amazing? Are they going to be? Give us the details. Are we going to be able to buy those before the holidays? Okay, maybe. Stay tuned.


'''Speaker 02:''' The plan is, the plan is yes. Sure. But, you know, snags. You know? You know? We know. We hit them all the time. And I've hit one. Anna and I know. We know how it is. In theory, there will be an amount of them to buy before the holiday season is over. Like, if, especially if you're like, if you live in America, you should be able to get one of these before, like, before Christmas. But I don't have them for sale today. Hopefully very soon. All right. Stay tuned.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' The plan is, the plan is yes. Sure. But, you know, snags. You know? You know? We know. We hit them all the time. And I've hit one. Anna and I know. We know how it goes. But, yes, in theory, there will be an amount of them to buy before the holiday season is over. Like, if, especially if you're like, if you live in America, you should be able to get one of these before, like, before Christmas. But I don't have them for sale today. Hopefully very soon. All right. Stay tuned.


'''Myke Hurley:''' Sign up for the email list. Yeah. Okay. I love the pano book. So, that's why. The pano book lives on my desk. Great. Great. Anna, what do you got?
'''Myke Hurley:''' Sign up for the email list. Yeah. Okay. I love the pano book. So, that's why. The pano book lives on my desk. Great. Great. Anna, what do you got?


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Well, if the pano book fits under your keyboard, do you know what fits next to your iPad? A color ring oversize.
'''Anna Reiner:''' Well, if the pano book fits under your keyboard, do you know what fits next to your iPad? A color ring oversize.


'''Myke Hurley:''' I think this is the best product you make.
'''Myke Hurley:''' I think this is the best product you make.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Thank you.
'''Anna Reiner:''' Thank you.


'''Myke Hurley:''' I'm going to say that out loud. I mean, I think the color ring is the smartest, most used product. I think this is my favorite product you make. Thank you.
'''Myke Hurley:''' I'm going to say that out loud. I mean, I think the color ring is the smartest, most used product. I think this is my favorite product you make.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' And the favorite way to say it is oversize.
'''Anna Reiner:''' Thank you. And the favorite way to say it is oversize.


'''Myke Hurley:''' Oversize.
'''Myke Hurley:''' Oversize.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' So, yeah. We love it. We use it all the time. It's great for sketching, doodling, writing notes, testing out your pens, testing out different ink colors, carrying around swatches of all your colors. Just using it for fun, for whatever you want. It's just a great way to get more mileage. We love it.
'''Anna Reiner:''' So, yeah. We love it. We use it all the time. It's great for sketching, doodling, writing notes, testing out your pens, testing out different ink colors, carrying around swatches of all your colors. Just using it for fun, for whatever you want. It's just a great way to get more mileage. We love it.


'''Myke Hurley:''' And you can't just order one. Like, this is like a three minimum. Like, you just need to go ahead and commit and do it because you're just going to shred through these things. So, yeah. Three is one.
'''Myke Hurley:''' And you can't just order one. Like, this is like a three minimum. Like, you just need to go ahead and commit and do it because you're just going to shred through these things. So, yeah. Three is one.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' You know what? I'll even put up a coupon code on the site. You order three, we'll give you free shipping. What? Yeah. All right. Look at that. Give me an hour. I'll get it up there. Do it live. Nice.
'''Anna Reiner:''' You know what? I'll even put up a coupon code on the site. You order three, we'll get you free shipping. What? Yeah. All right. Look at that. I'll do it. Give me an hour. I'll get it up there. Do it live.


'''Myke Hurley:''' Nice. Love it. All right. My pick is the Leuchtturm 1917 Bauhaus edition. I love this edition so much. I like Leuchtturm as it is. And they have, like, every color under the rainbow. But they did some special, you know, edge colors on these. Like, they did four color cover notebooks. Black, red, yellow, blue. And then they did, like, color edging. What's the term if you put the color on the edge of the paper besides gilding? Because it's not gilding. What would you call this, Anna? Edge painting. So, like, I have a red cover one with blue edge painting. And they have dot grids. And they just look so cool. I think they make a perfect gift for your notebook friends. It handles all kinds of ink well. They're just super cool. I kind of had to sneak in the Black Wings Volumes 155 Bauhaus edition.
'''Myke Hurley:''' Nice. Nice. Love it. All right. My pick is the Leuchtturm 1917 Bauhaus edition. I love this edition so much. I like Leuchtturm as it is. And they have, like, every color under the rainbow. But they did some special, you know, edge colors on these. Like, they did four color cover notebooks. Black, red, yellow, blue. And then they did, like, color edging. What's the term if you put the color on the edge of the paper besides gilding? Because it's not gilding. What would you call this, Anna? Edge painting. So, like, I have a red cover one with blue edge painting. And they have dot grids. And they just look so cool. I think they make a perfect gift for your notebook friends. It handles all kinds of ink well. They're just super cool. I kind of had to sneak in the Black Wings Volumes 155 Bauhaus edition.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' I was about to say, what goes really well with that notebook?
'''Anna Reiner:''' I was about to say, what goes really well with that notebook?


'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. Like, if you're into this thing, like, I think into, like, the style of the Bauhaus style, these pencils came out great. They do have the soft core, which is not my preferred core. But for this edition, it's the right core to choose. Yeah. It's a very soft, more artistic core that's going to be great for sketching and drawing more so than writing. So, it's kind of a good collaboration here that kind of came out at the right time. And these Bauhaus edition Leuchtturms are not the easiest to find, but you can search and find them. It's weird that not every Leuchtturm vendor carries these, but they're actually widely available in places like you wouldn't think. So, check them out. They're very cool. And, yeah, it's one of my favorite notebook releases probably of the year. All right. Last of our topics. What is your favorite accessory gift? Anna?
'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. Like, if you're into this thing, like, I think into, like, the style, the Bauhaus style, these pencils came out great. They do have the soft core, which is not my preferred core. But for this edition, it's the right core to choose. Yeah. It's a very soft, more artistic core that's going to be great for sketching and drawing. More so than writing. So, it's kind of a good collaboration here that kind of came out at the right time. And these Bauhaus edition Leuchterms are not the easiest to find. But you can search and find them. It's weird that not every Leuchterm vendor carries these. But they're actually widely available in places like you wouldn't think. So, check them out. They're very cool. And, yeah. It's one of my favorite notebook releases probably of the year. All right. Last of our topics. What is your favorite accessory gift? Anna?


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Matt Armstrong. Oh, wait. No. He's my everyday carry.
'''Anna Reiner:''' Matt Armstrong. Oh, wait. No. He's my everyday carry.


'''Myke Hurley:''' We love you, Matt.
'''Myke Hurley:''' We love you, Matt.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' We love you. We miss you. Miss you.
'''Anna Reiner:''' We love you. We miss you. Miss you.


'''Myke Hurley:''' No.
'''Myke Hurley:''' No.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Seriously.
'''Anna Reiner:''' Seriously. This took a while to think of, like, what would be, like, the best accessory gift. And then I realized it's, of course, the thing that's in my bag every day. And that is the Galen Leather three-pen case in any of the Crazy Horse finishes. Because they come sort of pre-scuffed. And then the more scuffs you get on them, the better they look. But I have, I've had one for over a year. And anytime I show people this case, they're like, where did you get that? I'm like, it's a Galen Leather. And it's, then they're like, oh, I have to have one of those. So, it's, they're only, like, about $39. They're just, I love it. And it's just the right number of pens or, you know, pen and pencil, pen, marker, sort of to carry around sort of on a daily basis. The zipper works great. I love them.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' This took a while to think of, like, what would be, like, the best accessory gift. And then I realized it's, of course, the thing that's in my bag every day. And that is the Galen Leather three-pen case in any of the Crazy Horse finishes because they come sort of pre-scuffed. And then the more scuffs you get on them, the better they look. But I have, I've had one for over a year. And anytime I show people this case, they're like, where did you get that? I'm like, it's a Galen Leather. And then they're like, oh, I have to have one of those. So they're only, like, about $39. They're just, I love it. And it's just the right number of pens or, you know, pen and pencil, pen, marker, sort of to carry around sort of on a daily basis. The zipper works great. I love them.
'''Myke Hurley:''' So, my choice for this, I'm a superior labor kind of fanatic. But just in looking at them, because they're very expensive, like all the products. But they have ramped up their styles of things that they make. And they have a product now called the Engineer Pouch, which is just your basic pouch. But in superior labor style, it's just very classy. It's very Japanese. It's very my aesthetic. And the Engineer Pouch is, like, a top canvas pouch with, like, a dyed leather bottom to the pouches. And they come in, like, sizes from tiny to a little bit bigger. There's four different sizes. There's five different leather colors. There's an orange and white canvas one that's just kind of calling my name. This is the thing I'm going to buy for myself for this Christmas. It's, like, 20 euros. So, you know, it's for the small one. Then it goes on up to the biggest one is, like, 36 euro on the site that I'm looking at, which is Nomato Store, which they carry a bunch of these. So, they're not the cheapest accessory. But, like, this is a fancy accessory. And I love the superior labor. And I'm buying this for me. That's why I put it in there. So, I'm getting the orange one.


'''Myke Hurley:''' So my choice for this, I'm a superior labor kind of fanatic, but just in looking at them because they're very expensive, like all the products. But they have ramped up their styles of things that they make. And they have a product now called the Engineer Pouch, which is just your basic pouch. But in superior labor style, it's just very classy. It's very Japanese. It's very my aesthetic. And the Engineer Pouch is like a top canvas pouch with like a dyed leather bottom to the pouches. And they come in like sizes from tiny to a little bit bigger. There's four different sizes. There's five different leather colors. There's an orange and white canvas one that it's just kind of calling my name. This is the thing I'm going to buy for myself for this Christmas. It's like 20 euros. So, you know, it's for the small one. Then it goes on up to the biggest one is like 36 euro on the site that I'm looking at, which is Nomato Store, which they carry a bunch of these.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' I've never heard of this brand before. Now I'm mesmerized looking on this page.


'''Myke Hurley:''' So they're not the cheapest accessory, but like this is a fancy accessory. And I love the superior labor. And I'm buying this for me. That's why I put it in there. So I'm getting the orange one.
'''Myke Hurley:''' It's the one that we bought the stuff at Wonder Pins in Toronto last year. Those leather, the dark leather cases. Oh, yeah.


'''Speaker 02:''' I've never heard of this brand before. Now I'm mesmerized looking on this page.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yes. It's that brand. Yes. So, they've ramped it up. Well, that pouch got stolen from me. No. Yes, at home. It was immediately stolen when it came home. So, I don't see the brand name very often because that one was taken.


'''Myke Hurley:''' It's the one that we bought the stuff at Wonderpens in Toronto last year. Those leather, the dark leather cases. Yeah.
'''Myke Hurley:''' They have turned it up to 11 as far as their production and styles go. So, there's all kinds of different accessories they offer now. I'm actually going to try a couple different things along with this engineer pouch.


'''Speaker 02:''' Yes. It's that brand. Yes. So they've ramped it up. Well, that pouch got stolen from me. No. Yes. At home. It was immediately stolen when it came home. So I don't see the brand name very often because that one was taken.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' They make really very, very beautiful products. Yes.


'''Myke Hurley:''' They have turned it up to 11 as far as their production and styles go. So there's all kinds of different accessories they offer now. I'm actually going to try a couple of different things along with this.
'''Myke Hurley:''' Yes. I'm going to get an A6 cover that instantaneous this in the chat is mentioning. So, I'm going to get a bunch of their products just to test out and see.


'''Speaker 02:''' They make really very, very beautiful products.
'''Anna Reiner:''' It looks like the zipper pouch, the bottom of it is just painted canvas, not leather. Just so you know.


'''Myke Hurley:''' Yes. I'm going to get an A6 cover that instantaneeth this in the chat is mentioning. So like I'm going to get a bunch of a bunch of their products just to test out and see.
'''Myke Hurley:''' Okay. I thought I was reading the description wrong then.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' It looks like the zipper pouch. The bottom of it is just painted canvas, not leather. Just so you know.
'''Anna Reiner:''' Yeah. The leather is just on the zipper pull.


'''Myke Hurley:''' Okay. I thought I thought that was I was reading the description wrong then.
'''Myke Hurley:''' The pull. Gotcha. Thank you. But, yeah. I'm in. They're great looking.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. The leather is just on the zipper pull.
'''Anna Reiner:''' Cool.


'''Myke Hurley:''' Pull. Gotcha. Thank you. But yeah, I'm in. They're great looking.
'''Myke Hurley:''' All right, Myke. Wrap up our portion of the gifts guide. Then we have a few listener questions we'll answer and then we'll get out of here.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Cool.
'''Anna Reiner:''' Yeah.


'''Myke Hurley:''' All right, Myke. Wrap up our portion of the gifts guide. Then we have a few listener questions we'll answer and then we'll get out of here.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah.


'''Speaker 02:''' I think it's one of my the classiest products that I've had in a while and I think is a super fun accessory are the good made better pen wells. I think it's a really fun little product to have on your desk. I love your little like pen just holder that looks like a classic pen well that you can just pop any pen into. You pop the cap into it and then you just rest your pen back in the cap. It's like a really fun, cute, but useful product. I'm a big fan of these.
== Good Made Better Penwells ==
 
 
'''Brad Dowdy:''' I think one of my, the classiest products that I've had in a while and I think is a super fun accessory are the Good Made Better Penwells. I think it's a really fun little product to have on your desk. A lovely little like pen, just holder that looks like a classic penwell that you can just pop any pen into. You pop the cap into it and then you just rest your pen back in the cap. It's like a really fun, cute, but useful product. I'm a big fan of these.
 
'''Myke Hurley:''' And what he's doing now with the materials, like it's not just like wood. There's like some inlays in there, like some turquoise inlays. He does like frosted acrylic. He does, they're really, really cool. I'm keeping my eye out for like some of the like acrylic styles, like some of the real ceramic and acrylic looking ones that look very, very cool. So yeah, a very good choice.
 
'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. Dan Keller runs Good Made Better and making really good stuff.
 
'''Myke Hurley:''' Good stuff. All right. And that's actually a really good gift item too. So very cool. All right. Let's hit a few of these listeners questions. And then I got shopping carts to complete. So the first one is from longtime listener Sebastian. Can you recommend an ink set for a person who has many fountain pens, both modern and vintage? I've seen Monteverde, Diamine, Pilot, Colorverse, and Ferris wheel sets online. And there are probably others that I've missed. I would like a set that is safe to use with any fountain pens with a mix of interesting colors, all presented in a box that looks good as a gift. My budget is between $100 and $200. Thank you. And happy holidays. So Ana, why don't you start with this? Because you had a little note in here, and I think you're very correct in what you're saying.


'''Myke Hurley:''' And what he's doing now with the materials, like it's not just like wood. There's like some inlays in there, like some turquoise inlays. He does like frosted acrylic. He does.
'''Anna Reiner:''' So I made a note here, and we did talk about a couple others sort of earlier on. But my instinct is to say that of all of the ones, if you're looking to put ink into a vintage pen, the only one that I would feel comfortable with would probably be Diamine. But I would not recommend putting any of the super sheening inks or any of the shimmer inks into a vintage pen. But Diamine, sort of across the board, is one of the inks that I most frequently recommend to people who kind of want to use an ink in all sorts of fountain pens. And I'm usually most comfortable with recommending it as least likely to stain pens or cause any sort of feed issues. It tends to be sort of in the middle in terms of wetness or dryness. But like some of those sets, like the ink vent calendar that they did, includes some of their super sheeners and some of the shimmer inks, which look really fun. But again, I probably would not recommend putting those into any of the vintage pens. Yep.


'''Myke Hurley:''' They're really, really cool. I'm keeping my eye out for like some of the like acrylic styles, like some of the real ceramic and acrylic looking ones that look very, very cool. So, yeah, a very good choice.
'''Myke Hurley:''' And I'll second that. And Diamine offers some sets currently that you can find, like the guitar set, like the Gibson set, the music, the other music set that they offer. There was a flower set recently. I don't know if those were scented or were they just basic colors? I can't remember.


'''Speaker 02:''' Yeah. Dan Keller runs good made better and making really good stuff.
'''Anna Reiner:''' I think those are just basic colors.


'''Myke Hurley:''' Good stuff. All right. And that's actually a really good gift item, too. So very cool. All right. Let's hit a few of these listeners questions. And then I got I got shopping carts to to complete. So the first one is from longtime listener Sebastian. Can you recommend an ink set for a person who has many fountain pens, both modern and vintage? I've seen Monteverde, Diamine, Pilot, Colorverse and Ferris wheel sets online. And there are probably others that I've missed. I'd like I would like a set that is safe to use with any fountain pens with a mix of interesting colors all presented in a box that looks good as a gift. My budget is between one hundred dollars and two hundred dollars. Thank you. And happy holidays. So, Anna, why don't you start with this? Because you had a little note in here and I think you're very correct in what you're saying.
'''Myke Hurley:''' But Diamine sets are very nice. And they're all like in that $100 price range. Like I would love to tell you, you can still get the Pilot 100th Anniversary ink set if you were only using modern pens. But I would be hesitant to use the Orochizuku in vintage pens with sacks. Not that there's been any like direct problem, but you hear things every now and then. Like I use Orochizuku in everything modern, but I'd be a little bit tentative. So I would stick with the Diamine, like Ana was saying. Yeah.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' So I made a note here and we did talk about a couple others sort of earlier on. But my instinct is to say that of all of the ones, if you're looking to put ink into a vintage pen, the only one that I would feel comfortable with would probably be Diamine. But I would not recommend putting any of the super sheening inks or any of the shimmer inks into a vintage pen. But Diamine sort of across the board is one of the inks that I most frequently recommend to people who kind of want to use an ink in all sorts of fountain pens. And I'm usually most comfortable with recommending it as like least likely to stain pens or cause any sort of like feed issues. It tends to be sort of in the middle in terms of wetness or dryness. But like some of those sets, like the ink, the ink vent calendar that they did includes some of their super sheeners and some of the shimmer inks, which look really fun. But again, I probably would not recommend putting those into any of the vintage pens.
'''Anna Reiner:''' And some of those, like the more modern inks, I will play with with a vintage pen, but I tend to just dip the nib. And it will pull up some of the ink into the feed. So you'll be able to write for a good half a page or a page. But then I will clean them out immediately because I don't want them in the feed. But I'm not using really expensive vintage pens. They're often things that I picked up at an auction. Usually one of those auctions where we've had a couple of beers and I'm like, sure, I'll pay $30 for that. Okay. And then I'm like, I wonder if this thing writes.


'''Myke Hurley:''' Yep. Now second that and Diamine offers some sets currently that you can find like the guitar set, like the Gibson set, the music, the other music set that they offer. There was a flower set recently. I don't know if those were scented or were they just basic colors? I can't remember.
'''Anna Reiner:''' So anyway. All right.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' I think those are just basic colors.


'''Myke Hurley:''' But Diamine sets are very nice and they're all like in that $100 price range. Like I would love to tell you, you can still get the Pilot 100th Anniversary ink set if you were only using modern pens. But I would be hesitant to use the Orochizuku in vintage pens with sacks. Not that there's been any like direct problem, but you hear things every now and then. Like I use Orochizuku in everything modern, but I'd be a little bit tentative. So I would stick with the Diamine, like Ana was saying.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. And some of those, like the more modern inks, I will play with with a vintage pen, but I tend to just dip the nib. And it will pull up some of the ink into the feed. So you'll be able to write for a good half a page or a page. But then I will clean them out immediately because I don't want them in the feed. But I'm not using really expensive vintage pens. They're often things that I picked up at an auction. Usually one of those auctions where we've had a couple of beers and I'm like, sure, I'll pay $30 for that. Okay. And then I'm like, I wonder if this thing writes.
== Mechanical Pencil ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' So anyway.


'''Speaker 02:''' All right. Who we got next, Myke? This next question comes from Penny. I'm looking for a very nicely weighted mechanical pencil for my daughter-in-law. She just loves her pencils. For Christmas, she asked for a Platinum Pro. Use mechanical pencil for Christmas. She's being frugal. She likes nice quality. The description of the pen reads very well. I would really appreciate it if you read the description and tell me if you can suggest or offer me anything that is more interesting and unique. I have a budget of around $50 but can't spend any more than $65. I thank you so very much for helping me find this fantastic woman a nice surprise. Also, if you would, in a few words, let me know if her requested pencil is okay only because I'm being curious. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you from Penny.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' Who we got next, Myke? This next question comes from Peny. I'm looking for a very nicely weighted mechanical pencil for my daughter-in-law. She just loves her pencils. For Christmas, she asked for a Platinum Pro. Use mechanical pencil for Christmas. She's being frugal. She likes nice quality. The description of the pen reads very well. I would really appreciate it if you read the description and tell me if you can suggest or offer me anything that is more interesting and unique. I have a budget of around $50 but can't spend any more than $65. I thank you so very much for helping me find this fantastic woman a nice surprise. Also, if you would, in a few words, let me know if her requested pencil is okay only because I'm being curious. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you from Peny.


'''Myke Hurley:''' Her requested pencil is absolutely amazingly well designed. I adore it. I love it. I think you might have a long-term issue with the grip section. It's a little slick. The way they build that pen, the pencil, excuse me. I have the pen model of that. It's fantastic. It is just great looking. I would put you on the Rotring 800. That's at the top end of your budget. You can get it for in the 50s. And you get it without the, not the 800 plus with the stylus tip. That one's not worth it. But the 800 is well-weighted like the 600 model that Myke recommended earlier. It looks cool. It's not flashy, right? But it's tradition, you know, German design. But it has a retractable pipe. And that is key if you're going to use a pencil for a long-term gift to have that retractable pipe in the pencil to protect it a little bit more. Especially if you're spending that much on a pencil, like around 50. I think you can get the 800 for around $50. It's cool looking. It's got a retractable tip. So you can protect that lead pipe from bending or breaking. And it's really good. I love the Pro Use. Because I don't think you will be as happy long-term with it as you would with the 800. Plus the Pro Use is a little bit wider diameter. And I think the wider you get on a mechanical pencil, the less enjoyable writing with one is. So that's my take. That's just me personally. And I feel pretty confident in that answer. That's like where you want to go as opposed to the Platinum Pro Use. But, you know, I wouldn't discount the Platinum Pro Use either. So, you know, I think the 800 would be my answer in that.
'''Myke Hurley:''' Her requested pencil is absolutely amazingly well designed. I adore it. I love it. I think you might have a long-term issue with the grip section. It's a little slick. The way they build that pen, the pencil, excuse me. I have the pen model of that. It's fantastic. It is just great looking. I would put you on the Rotring 800. That's at the top end of your budget. You can get it for in the 50s. And you get it without the, not the 800 plus with the stylus tip. That one's not worth it. But the 800 is well weighted, like the 600 model that Myke recommended earlier. It looks cool. It's not flashy, right? But it's tradition, you know, German design. But it has a retractable pipe. And that is key if you're going to use a pencil for a long-term gift to have that retractable pipe in the pencil to protect it a little bit more. Especially if you're spending that much on a pencil, like around 50. I think you can get the 800 for around $50. It's cool looking. It's got a retractable tip. So you can protect that lead pipe from bending or breaking. And it's really good. I love the Pro Use. I don't think you will be as happy long-term with it as you would with the 800. Plus the Pro Use is a little bit wider diameter. And I think the wider you get on a mechanical pencil, the less enjoyable. Um, writing with one is. So that's my take. That's just me personally. Um, and I feel pretty confident in that answer. That's like where you want to go as opposed to the Platinum Pro Use. But, you know, I, I wouldn't discount the Platinum Pro Use either. So, you know. Um, so, um, I think the, the 800 would be my answer in that.


'''Speaker 02:''' And I lost a question. Oh, go on, Anna.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' And I lost a question. Oh, go on, Anna.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Oh, I said I've read through the reviews of the Platinum Pro Use. And it mentioned that the pipe was retractable on it as well. And you could actually adjust the length of the pipe depending on sort of like what types of graphite you were using. So it sounds like there's good options with it. And so if she wanted something that was a little bit less expensive, it seems like probably a good like entry level into those sort of drafting pencils. But, yeah, my instinct was to go with the Rotring 600, which you can retract the pipe on that one too, right? Or is it just the 800?
'''Anna Reiner:''' Oh, I said, I've read through the reviews of the Platinum Pro Use. And it mentioned that the, um, pipe was retractable on it as well. Mm-hmm. And you could actually adjust the length of the pipe depending on sort of like what types of, um, graphite you were using. So it sounds like there's good options with it. And so if she wanted something that was a little bit less expensive, it seems like probably a good, like, entry level into, um, those sort of drafting pencils. But, yeah, I'm, I, my instinct was to go with the Rotring 600, which the, you can retract the pipe on that one too, right? Or is it just the 800?


'''Myke Hurley:''' The 600 you cannot. The 800 you can't. Okay, yeah.
'''Myke Hurley:''' The 600 you cannot. The 800 you can't. Okay, yeah.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' So then I would say the 800 as well.
'''Anna Reiner:''' So then I would say the 800 as well.


'''Myke Hurley:''' If you like the features like the adjustable pipe length, I think it's the – who makes the Pro Mecha? I think it's Statler. There's one called the Pro Mecha, M-E-C-H-A, where you can adjust every part of the length of the pipe and how far the lead extends. And it's in the $35-ish range. I'd have to look. I'm just doing this off the top of my head. We'll put that link in the show notes as well. So it's got those bells and whistles. I want to say Pro Mecha.
'''Myke Hurley:''' If you like the features, like the adjustable pipe length, the, the, um, I think it's the, who makes the Pro Mecha? I think it's Statler. Uh, there's one called the Pro Mecha, M-E-C-H-A, where you can adjust every part of the length. Of the pipe and, uh, how far the lead extends. And it's in the $35-ish range. I'd have to look. I'm, I'm just doing this off the top of my head. We'll put that link in the show notes as well. So it's got those bells and whistles. I want to say Pro Mecha. Yeah.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Mecha.
'''Anna Reiner:''' Mecha.


'''Myke Hurley:''' Mecha, sorry.
'''Myke Hurley:''' Mecha. Sorry.


'''Myke Hurley:''' So, yeah, it has all like the bell and whistle adjustments. And it's a very nice, durable mechanical pencil. I know Jeff uses that one a bunch because it has all these varying lengths of pipe and varying lengths of lead deployment that you can adjust all these things. It's pretty wild.
'''Myke Hurley:''' So, yeah, it has all, like, the bell and whistle adjustments. Um, and it's a very nice, durable, um, mechanical pencil. I know Jeff, uh, uses that one a bunch because it has all these varying lengths of pipe and varying lengths of, uh, lead deployment that you can adjust all these things. It's pretty wild.


'''Speaker 02:''' This one's wild looking.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' This one's wild looking.


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


'''Speaker 02:''' All right. So let's see if we can find an answer to this question. I'm not sure. I think we have the right person. I don't know. I don't know. We're going to have to hope somebody out there could know. Sarah asks, are there any holiday cards that were particularly Fountain Pendly? Fountain Pendly? Oh, my gosh. Wow. Fountain Pendly. Fountain Pendly? That is a brand right there. But anyway, Fountain Pendly-friendly paper. If you know of bulk or packs of cards that feature Fountain Pendly paper, that would be exceptionally helpful. Sarah didn't say Pendly. I did.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' All right. So let's see if we can find an answer to this question. I'm not sure. I think we have the right person. I don't know. I don't know. We're going to have to hope somebody out there could know. Sarah asks, are there any holiday cards that were particularly Fountain Pently? Fountain Pendly? Oh, my gosh. Wow. Fountain Pen Friendly. Fountain Pendly? That is a brand right there. But anyway, Fountain Pen Friendly paper. If you know of bulk or packs of cards that are, that feature Fountain Pendly paper, that would be exceptionally helpful. Sarah didn't say Pendly. I did.
 
'''Anna Reiner:''' I like Pendly. Fountain Pendly? FountainPendly.com? Somebody go out there and buy that one.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' I like Pendly. Fountain Pendly? Fountain Pendly. Fountain Pendly.com? Somebody go out there and buy that one.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' I could get that right now. Do it.


'''Speaker 02:''' I could get that right now. Do it.
'''Anna Reiner:''' So Skylab Letterpress, I don't know if you're familiar with that, does have a few holiday cards. They're a little skewed, but they do have to pass through my hands before they leave the shop. So we do test to make sure that they are Fountain Pen Friendly. There is a T-Rex holiday card that is quite charming and is available in a pack of four. It's on Etsy. And then there's a couple others. There's some that are very oddball. I don't know of a ton of people who go through the trouble of making sure that they use Fountain Pendly paper. We've gone through the trouble just because, you know, Bob has to suffer with me around and I'm like, give me that paper. Let me see if it works. Because, like, especially with letterpress, the qualities that work for letterpress, which is soft paper that will allow the pressure of the press to press into the paper, is not the same quality that we want for writing with fountain pen ink, which is harder paper with more surface material to keep the ink from settling into the paper. So it's, like, conflicting interests. So, like, things like letterpress, you know, the same thing with, like, digital offset paper. They want the ink to sit on the paper a certain way, which is not the same way that Fountain Pen Ink wants to sit on the paper. So it can be a challenge to find that, like, sort of perfect sweet spot. But I have to confess, I also work at this very large greeting card company. I don't know if you guys have ever seen or heard of it. It kind of has this crown logo. But I have tested a lot of things. Obviously, any of the coded cards are not going to work. That's going to require a ballpoint pen. But any of them that have the little lining sheet on the inside, those have been tested and work fairly well with fountain pens. Just saying I've actually tested this. And some of our newer cards are now printed on higher-end paper. So those are a little bit, they withstand a little bit better. But, of course, we do tend to put, like, shiny, sparkly stuff on the inside. And that starts to diminish the ability for it to hold ink and things. So, especially with, like, pack cards, I would recommend always having, like, at least one that you use to, like, test out pens and see if they work. Or, like, test on the back of the card, you know, where the logo and stuff is before you, like, write out your messages.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' So Skylab Letterpress, I don't know if you're familiar with that, does have a few holiday cards. They're a little skewed, but they do have to pass through my hands before they leave the shop. So we do tests to make sure that they are Fountain Pendly-friendly. There is a T-Rex holiday card that is quite charming and is available in a pack of four. It's on Etsy. And then there's a couple others. There's some that are very oddball. I don't know of a ton of people who go through the trouble of making sure that they use Fountain Pendly paper. We've gone through the trouble just because, you know, Bob has to suffer with me around and I'm like, give me that paper. Let me see if it works. Because, like, especially with letterpress, the qualities that work for letterpress, which is soft paper that will allow the pressure of the press to press into the paper, is not the same quality that we want for writing with fountain pen ink, which is harder paper with more surface material to keep the ink from settling into the paper. So it's, like, conflicting interests. So, like, things like letterpress, you know, the same thing with, like, digital offset paper. They want the ink to sit on the paper a certain way, which is not the same way that Fountain Pen Ink wants to sit on the paper. So it can be a challenge to find that, like, sort of perfect sweet spot. But I have to confess, I also work at this very large greeting card company. I don't know if you guys have ever seen or heard of it. It kind of has this crown logo. But I have tested a lot of things. Obviously, any of the coded cards are not going to work. That's going to require a ballpoint pen. But any of them that have the little lining sheet on the inside, those have been tested and work fairly well with fountain pens. Just saying I've actually tested this. And some of our newer cards are now printed on higher-end paper. So those are a little bit, they withstand a little bit better. But, of course, we do tend to put, like, shiny, sparkly stuff on the inside. And that starts to diminish the ability for it to hold ink and things. So, especially with, like, pack cards, I would recommend always having, like, at least one that you use to, like, test out pens and see if they work. Or, like, test on the back of the card, you know, where the logo and stuff is before you, like, write out your messages. Because that's, you know, you never want to, like, actually be writing, like, I love you, mom. And then have all the ink go everywhere. And you're like, crap. So, like, on the back, you know, just a couple little marks on the back to make sure that the ink's not going to spread beforehand. Or, you know, maybe write on your cards with rollerball or gel pen. You know, this may be the case where you're, like, for your Christmas cards and stuff. Like, find that lovely Lamy ballpoint pen that Brad recommended.
'''Anna Reiner:''' Because that's, you know, you never want to, like, actually be writing, like, I love you, Mom! And then have all the ink go everywhere. And you're like, crap! So, like, on the back, you know, just a couple little marks on the back to make sure that the ink's not going to spread beforehand. Or, you know, maybe write on your cards with rollerball or gel pen. You know, this may be the case where you're, like, for your Christmas cards and stuff. Like, find that lovely Lamy ballpoint pen that Brad recommended.


'''Myke Hurley:''' You know, go that route. We need to get you a cooler refill. At least get some sparkly gel.
'''Myke Hurley:''' You know, go that route. We need to get you a cooler refill. At least get some sparkly gel.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' There you go. Some of those fun gel pens. We all have a drawer full of them somewhere.
'''Anna Reiner:''' There you go. Some of those fun gel pens. We all have a drawer full of them somewhere.


'''Myke Hurley:''' We do. We do. And only pen addicts would ask these types of questions. Because these are the answers we need in all of our stationary usage. And we hope we provided some good answers for your gift-giving needs this holiday season. I think we did pretty good. Oh, yeah. Pat ourselves on the back on this one. Absolutely. I'm very happy with this episode.
'''Myke Hurley:''' We do. We do. And only pen addicts would ask these types of questions because these are the answers we need in all of our stationary usage. And we hope we provided some good answers for your gift-giving needs this holiday season. I think we did pretty good. Oh, yeah. Pat ourselves on the back on this one. Absolutely. I'm very happy with this episode.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' One more quick tip. If you're addressing your envelopes for the holidays, address them before you put your cards in them in case the ink leaks through. Or put a piece of paper inside the envelope so that it doesn't leak through to the other side.
'''Anna Reiner:''' One more quick tip. If you're addressing your envelopes for the holidays, address them before you put your cards in them in case the ink leaks through. Or put a piece of paper inside the envelope so that it doesn't leak through to the other side.


'''Myke Hurley:''' Very advanced tip right there that I can totally get behind. I love it.
'''Myke Hurley:''' Very advanced tip right there that I can totally get behind. I love it.


'''Speaker 02:''' All right. There are a lot of links in our show notes for this week's episode. You can sign them in your podcast app of choice or on the web at relay.fm slash penaddict slash 387. It's the best place to go and do that. If you want to find Brad online, you can go to penaddict.com, knock.co, where, of course, there are many other products to put in your stocking. Am I right, Brad?
'''Brad Dowdy:''' All right. There are a lot of links in our show notes for this week's episode. You can sign them in your podcast app of choice or on the web at relay.fm slash penaddict slash 387. It's the best place to go and do that. If you want to find Brad online, you can go to penaddict.com, knock.co, where, of course, there are many other products to put in your stocking. Am I right, Brad?


'''Myke Hurley:''' Very, very much. Go check out the Tallulah. The new color is awesome.
'''Myke Hurley:''' Very, very much. Go check out the Tallulah. The new color is awesome.


'''Speaker 02:''' All right. So there's one to go check out at nog.co. You can find Anna over at wellappointeddesk.com as well. And there's links there to buy all of Anna's wonderful wares. Also, this show is part of RelayFM. You can go to relay.fm slash shows where you can find many more podcasts which may tickle your fancy. I want to thank our sponsors again for this week's episode, which is Squarespace, Moo, and Hello. And we'll be back next time. Until then, say goodbye, everybody.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' All right. So, there's one to go check out at knock.co. You can find Anna over at wellappointeddesk.com as well. And there's links there to buy all of Anna's wonderful wares. Also, this show is part of Relay.fm. You can go to relay.fm slash shows where you can find many more podcasts which may tickle your fancy. I want to thank our sponsors again for this week's episode, which is Squarespace, Moo, and Hello. And we'll be back next time. Until then, say goodbye, everybody.
 
'''Anna Reiner:''' Goodbye, everybody.
 
'''Brad Dowdy:''' Goodbye, everybody.


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Goodbye, everybody. Wow, we did that way off time.
'''Anna Reiner:''' Wow, we did that way off time.


'''Speaker 02:''' Now we can fix it in the edit.
'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, we can fix it in the edit.


[[Category:Podcast Transcripts]]
[[Category:Podcast Transcripts]]
[[Category:The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript]]
[[Category:The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript]]

Latest revision as of 12:56, 22 June 2026

The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript
Episode: 387
Title: Costs Me Money Every Time - Holiday Gift Guide 2019
Release Date: November 27th, 2019
Hosts: Brad Dowdy

Myke Hurley

Guests: Ana Reinert
Additional Information
Official page: Episode 387
Audio File: Audio Episode 387
Podcast page: The Pen Addict 387
Length: 9696 min <br />1.6 h <br /> minutes
Previous Transcript Next Transcript


Pen Addict Podcast[edit]

Brad Dowdy: From RelayFM, this is The Pen Addict, episode 387. Today's show is brought to you by Squarespace. Moo and hello, my name is Myke Hurley and it is that time of year. We're in the peak shopping season as the holidays are about to begin, so there is no better time than right now to do The Pen Addict Gift Guide. I think we're earlier than we usually do this thing in December, but Brad will be back to the Pen Addict Gift Guide. We're really on it this year and we're doing it before the end of November. Hi, Brad Dowdy. Hello, Myke Hurley. How are you? I'm fine and dandy, my friend. Yeah, I was looking just before we recorded today because I was checking that we do a pen holiday gift guide to the title of every episode that we do this on. And last year we did it in December. The year before was the end of November. So we got back into the swing of things this year.

Myke Hurley: Well, and I still feel like it's late. I feel like we should be like mid-November at the latest for a gift guide because people shop early.

Brad Dowdy: This is shopping time. This is it. You've got the discounts going on. But anyway, if we are doing our big special episode, then we have to have the third and most wonderful host of The Pen Addict. That is Anna Reiner. Welcome to the show, Anna.

Anna Reiner: Hi, how are you guys?

Brad Dowdy: Very good. Very good indeed. Now, Brad, you like to try and mix things up on us every year and you have, I think, quite a good idea for how we're going to do the gift guide this year, right?

Myke Hurley: Yeah, and I like to have a gift guide that kind of plays loose with the rules. So it's just not the standard answers for all the questions you would expect for a gift guide. Now, there's some of that in there, but I just kind of, you know, try to freshen it up every year because...

Brad Dowdy: We've got some rules this time.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, got a few rules. So we have some standard, you know, keep it under this price rules and we have some standard general topic rules. But I think it came out pretty fun, you know, looking at all the answers that we filled out. And I think we're going to have a good time with this episode.


Stationery Starter Kit[edit]

Brad Dowdy: So we have a bunch of categories. The first category that we have for the 2019 Pen Addict Gift Guide is to build a stationary starter kit under $30. Brad, can you talk us through the thinking behind this and then tell us yours?

Myke Hurley: Yeah, so this category is basically two categories. You want...

Brad Dowdy: Like all good categories. Multiple. Like all good categories, there's two. We have one category, it's actually two categories.

Myke Hurley: But I think there's kind of, there's pretty clear price breaks in gift giving, right? So there's the smaller gift that you're going to give, you know, maybe, you know, an adjacent family member or a co-worker or a close friend where you're going to, you want it to be meaningful, but you don't want to break the bank on it. So like under $30 is like a good price range. And then later we'll have, okay, let's ramp that up to like the $100 price point. So I felt like those are kind of the two guidelines.

Brad Dowdy: What's good about a starter kit under $30 is there's going to be multiple products in this list of stuff. So depending on how much you like a co-worker, you might spend $9 or you may go all the way up to the $30, right? Like if you're looking at Secret Santa. Because this isn't like pick one item under $30. This is multiple items that we say is like a starter set for somebody under $30, which is, that's, I think that's good. You've got lots of options in there, right?

Myke Hurley: And I think it's more useful than saying what's the best pen under $25. I just think it's more useful in a gift giving, you know, theme that we're having.

Brad Dowdy: And plus those constraints should give some interesting options, right? That's the thing.

Myke Hurley: Yep. Yep. All right. So we'll, we'll rotate all the answers in, and I'm up first in this because I typed up the list and I felt like I was like the best. You have the ego that means you want to go number one. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: I mean, I understand. I've worked with you for long enough now. Yeah. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: I'm sure I'm, I know Anna will have some things to say about, about my choices and that's really what I'm here for. So let's get to it. She, she will have no arguments with, with these picks. I'm pretty certain, Myke. So I went with the right notepads, copper anniversary edition. It's a three pack of notebooks. It's $12. Everything right notepads makes is fantastic. It's super high quality. They are great for beginners. They're great for, you know, experienced users, people who want to use fountain pens in their pocket notebooks. These are perfect. And I think they're great. Like I said, they're 12 bucks. They're really, really nice looking. It's like a, um, burgundy or deep red, um, and copper stamping. It's just very, very classy. And I thought the thing to pair with that was the Zebra Sarasa Vintage Clip color set. So they came out with a new color.

Brad Dowdy: That is a good visual pairing. Yes. I think.

Myke Hurley: Yes. Yeah. So they came out with a new set this year that has like a couple of different colors than that they've released in the past. Like a yellow and a red, um, that look really, really nice. The only kicker with that one is that one's been a little bit tough to procure. Like JetPens is out of it. I found them on Amazon. Like Tokyo pen shop has some of the colors, but not all of them. And some of the shops have them broken out where you can't buy them in sets. So like, if you can like corral this set, I think it's kind of a good deal. And then, yeah, I, I just felt that was a good combo. And, uh, this is probably like one of the selections right out the gate that I'm most happy with in the entire list. Like I want this for myself because I don't have either of those sets and I should buy them.

Brad Dowdy: I hadn't seen this right notepad set. And that is a really good looking notebook. Like really, really good looking.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. So I'll, I'll fess up. I did order that for myself. The notebooks. They come with baseball cards. Do they? How? Yes.

Brad Dowdy: Oh, it's like they made it for you. Really?

Myke Hurley: I, they did. I even bought extra baseball cards. So anyway, yeah, that's my pick. All right, Myke, you're up. Oh, it's me. Ooh. Okay.

Brad Dowdy: Uh, I am going to go with, I had to get it in there and this is a category I could get it in. The retro 51 tornado. Uh, I genuinely stand by and will always stand by. And I don't think I have a lot of people disagree with me. This is a pen that can turn someone from slightly interested into moderately interested in pens, right? Like you can turn someone on the retro 51 because of how good the barrel, sorry, how good the refill is. And the barrels are super fun. I was able to find, um, this is important for me with my budgeting here. I was able to find the retro 51 classic lacquers for about $21. Um, they're between 21 to 25 usually, depending on where you go, depending on what discounts you can find. But that was important because it was $21. We should say that Brad's set, uh, came to $24 total. So you get $6 change, which is pretty good.

Myke Hurley: So I'm going to need that $6 later, apparently.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, you will. Um, so the retro to one's $21 and then for $8 and 75 cents, uh, I would recommend the Rodia R premium notepad. Basically, I was just trying to find any Rodia paper that I could fit within my remaining budget of $9. And this did it. Um, and the reason I'll pick it is I just think that like, uh, really I was also thinking about Leuchtturm as well, but either of these, I think for me personally, these brands are interchangeable to serve the purpose of this paper is better paper than the paper you're currently using. If you're not interested in pens, right? You're probably losing like whatever paper you find in the office, or maybe you've gone to Monskine, but Rodia and Leuchtturm, and I won't remember Rodia in this instance, it's going to give you a better performance. And I think that with the typical smoothness of Rodia's paper, uh, paired with the retro 51, that's going to make somebody very happy, I think.

Myke Hurley: And as a bonus with the R, you can go matchy-matchy with the colors. They do color covers for... They sure do. ...the R lineup. So, yes.

Brad Dowdy: That's my, that's my set. So, I come in at, uh, $29.75.

Myke Hurley: All right, Anna, give, give us the goods and tell us how wrong we are.

Anna Reiner: I won't tell you how wrong you are. I knew Myke was going to, uh, go with the, uh, retro 51.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, shock Pikachu face, right?

Anna Reiner: You had that on. Absolutely.

Brad Dowdy: Look, I had to get it in somewhere. I feel like if I didn't, people would have been frustrated at me, you know? That's, that's how, that's how I write it off to myself.

Anna Reiner: And you went with it as your first choice. So, after this, you're going to have, you're going to have to surprise us.

Brad Dowdy: There are no more retro 51s in my, in my picks today, believe it or not.

Anna Reiner: So, um, since both of you chose, um, uh, gel pen, roller balls, I went ahead and found a fountain pen for our first under 30 option. And I picked the, uh, the Caveco Perkyo, which you can get for $16. Um, it takes a full size cartridge or converter. Um, so as an option for an, uh, a low priced fountain pen, I thought it was a really good option. Um, and then I picked the Rhodia web notebook, which on, uh, jet pens was, uh, coming in at $18. So, I actually went $2 over on this one at $32, but it was a full sized A5 notebook.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. Hard cover.

Anna Reiner: Hard cover. Um, and a, basically a matching pen. It is a full, you know, black as night noir set.

Myke Hurley: I love it. I forget about the Perkyo. I'm not going to lie because that is an awesome pen and it's an awesome gift pen.

Brad Dowdy: It just looks like a sport, right? It's like, you know, with a lot of the, the, the accents of it are really nice looking.

Myke Hurley: I just like that it's full size and it's inexpensive. Like, I think this is a killer gift.

Brad Dowdy: I know. I do have you in at $33.95. Ah, dang. I'm going to say.

Myke Hurley: Peek out the boy over there.

Brad Dowdy: I know.

Anna Reiner: Yeah. Kind of went over just a little bit, but I feel like if you were, this is the kind of thing where if you were trying to convince someone to try a fountain pen, this would be the way to do it. It's a really nice notebook. It's a really nice pen. And still, you know, if you were to purchase this from pretty much the same, uh, um, online retailer, you're probably really close to getting it in for free shipping from somebody. So.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. And put like your set, like it goes really good together. Like you said, like the all black, like it looks like a complete gift. Here is all the things you need to be awesome. Like all in one shot.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. That is a good, that's a good pair. Thanks. All right. So that's category number one. Uh, yeah.

Myke Hurley: That was a $30 budget. You know, we can play around there. It doesn't have to be strict and totally black and white on the dollar amount. We're in the ballpark. I see you setting yourself up there for later on. Yeah.

Anna Reiner: I think you're fixing that. Yeah. And the, and the, with the, um, the Rodia A5s, I think if you switched to one of the soft covers, I think those come in closer to like $14.95. That's true. But it's that whole thing of like, if you're willing to spend the extra $3, you could get the hard cover, which was on sale. So a little noodling.


Experienced User Stationery[edit]

Brad Dowdy: So just a tad, our next one is to build a stationary kit for an experienced user. I think that part's key for under $100.

Myke Hurley: I mean, the idea was you're not going to generally speaking, it's going, it's more helpful to have like a baseline. If you're going to spend this much money on someone, you know, they're going to have some type of experience with stationary, right? This isn't, this isn't, Hey, let's surprise somebody with a hundred dollars worth of pen stuff that you don't know whether they're going to like or not. Like I, that's just kind of the basis I had of it.

Brad Dowdy: Yep. So I'm first up this time. So I was thinking along this lines, right? Like as I know people to be, if you're experienced, it means you, A, may have not owned a fountain pen yet, or B, you may have just only dabbled in cartridge fountain pens, right? Like you just haven't gone into ink yet. Like I know that that's a, it's an extra ramp up, right? To go down the method of you buying a bottle of ink and filling with a converter or with a piston filler or whatever. So I have started with the main item in my kit here is the TWSBI Eco. Just a fantastic pen. You know, like we've, we've, the love affair of TWSBI has been on and off over years, but I think that the Eco is a great pen. And I, I think that it is for a $30 product, an absolutely fantastic product. And it brings you into the vacuum filler world, right? Like you get like a cool, sorry, the piston filler world, right? Like you're in with a, you know, you've got something cool going on. It gets made a little bit different and they're clear, right? So you get the demonstrator thing. You can see the ink's washing around, which is a nice way to go. If you're going to go into starting using bottles of ink. Um, and then from there I decided to go with my favorite ink that you can use in professional scenarios, which is in my opinion, which is the robot Ulster Fire and Ice because it's blue, but you get a little bit of extra out of it. You know, you get a little bit of color, especially if you go for something with a broader nib with the TWSBI, then you're going to end up with something a little bit, a little bit fun there. Right. So that was kind of where I was going with that one. Um, I then thought, okay, you're going to need some paper in this kit. And I think again, if you're experienced, but maybe wanting to branch out a little bit more, if you've yet to try Tomoe River Paper, you need to. And my favorite Tomoe River Paper product is the Nanami Crossfield A5 Journal. Um, you can get it in a bunch of different, I think you can get it in like dot, you can get it in plain lined. Um, I really, really love this book. It is very well made. It's super, um, it is super like low key, which I like. It's not screaming. It's not doing anything wild. It's just a nice cover. It's a simple cover. Very plain. And it's a thick book, right? Like you get a lot of paper in this book. Uh, I don't remember the exact page count. So I'm looking at 480 pages, 240 leaves. Sorry. So, which I love. And in A5, I just think it is an absolutely fantastic book that I've, I've used multiple of these now and I love it. And then I thought I had a bit of money left over, uh, quite a little bit of money left over actually. Um, and so I thought to go for something a little bit weird, uh, which is my favorite product that I've encountered in the last year for just pure weirdness, which is the Lamy balloon rollerball pen. Just a super strange. I'm so happy to see this. Cute little pen. And of course you can't buy it in the U S so with the extra money you have left over because my kit comes to $86 total out of my hundred, you can pay for the more expensive shipping to get it to come over to you from Europe. There you go.

Myke Hurley: Love it. Yeah. I think that's awesome. And I love the addition of the balloon in there.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. I was, I was. I was actually pretty pleased when I thought, Oh, I know what to go in there. Like, cause it's like a really weird little pen that I love. All right, Anna, what you got for us?

Anna Reiner: I like the ad of having like the roller, some sort of roller ball or ballpoint in everybody's collection. Um, I was, I was at my chiropractor a couple of weeks ago and the woman who works at front desk handed me up two pens and one was blue and one was pink. And the blue one said, she loves me. And the pink one said, he loves me. And she said, once for you and once for Bob, this is so you guys will always remember. And it was like, it was just a, they were just little crappy clicker ballpoint pens, but they just totally cracked me up. And it's like, and I think on the other side, it says just something about always remember to forgive each other or something like that. And I don't know where she got them or why she had them, but I've been carrying these stupid pens. Like the one she gave me in my bag for like when I have to sign a receipt or somebody asked to borrow a pen and they look at it and they're like, what is up with this pen? And I have to tell this story because they, most people know that I always have like nice pens. And so now I don't like people, you know, always freak out when I hand them a nice pen because they're like, I don't know how to write with a fountain pen. So now I have this cheap ballpoint with a stupid story attached to it. Like, yeah, my chiropractor gave it to me. That's the best though. Okay. Yeah. It's hysterical. It actually writes pretty well too. Super weird. Amazingly.

Brad Dowdy: Like that's just like a weird story.

Anna Reiner: It's so weird. But now, now you guys have heard the story and I'm sure she'll be delighted to know that I told the story.

Myke Hurley: Well, now you have to bring those pens with you because I need to see them the next time I see you.

Anna Reiner: Absolutely. I will make sure, unless of course at some point they get lost because I have carried them everywhere. I will. I will. Okay. So for my kit for a hundred dollars, I kind of took the same tact that Myke did in regards of thinking about this from the standpoint of someone who might be getting more into ink. Maybe they've gotten a pen or two or they've been into pens, but maybe haven't sort of fully embraced. So, you know, so that maybe finding them things that are more, more unique, interesting things that maybe they haven't touched yet. Um, so, um, I picked the Twisby, um, six color ink set that has just come out. Um, so that's the six bottles for $36. Um, which I think is a great, like if you haven't gotten into ink, that would be a great way to get into it.

Myke Hurley: They're great looking bottles too. Like they're super fun. Just cute little set. Yeah. Yeah. And a storage box for all of them. Yeah. It's perfect.

Anna Reiner: Yeah. Super giftable. And if you're going to have that many inks, you're going to need something to document your inks. So let's plug the perm. I think they're going to need a color ring. Yeah. Don't you? Oh, definitely. So that's a whopping $10.

Myke Hurley: It's a perfect setup.

Anna Reiner: Perfect setup. I think that's a stocking stuffer for everybody. So if that's not on your list, add one of those today. Um, and then, um, I thought that one of the most underrated fountain pens is the Caran Dosh 849 fountain pen. It's one of the ones that I think people have kind of forgotten about. It came out about a year or so ago, but it's one of the ones that I tend to really like. I tend to go to over and over again. And I thought if somebody's into pens, but maybe hasn't, it's one that they might not have picked up, but it's, you know, it's got the, um, the slip cap. So it's like a click cap. So it's a great fiddly pen. They come in really great colors and they come in at about $52. Um, that's the price that I found on pen chalet for them. And they, you can get them in really bright neons or really subtle, like black or navy blue, you know? So if somebody is more reserved to taste, uh, you could get them in a, in a dark, plain color, or you can get the like bright neon yellow or the bright neon pink. Um, and then I threw in the, uh, converter, uh, for that, which put it slightly over the hundred dollar mark. Um, you could probably find a cheaper converter, but the, the Caran d'Ache one was $8. You could probably find one a little cheaper and hit it right at the hundred dollar mark.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. Yeah. We're going to talk about that pricing in a minute because my, my, uh, my grouping here for this gift went slightly over and I have a little highlight on my name, uh, in, in the show notes and an exclamation point by the dollar amount that I spent. Um, so we're, we're going to talk about that in a minute, but I, I kind of went like with honest thought and Myke's thought where, you know, you kind of know what you're doing with the pens, but let's have a little fun experimentation kit to, you know, explore some other things out there. So like the core of my set is the, the recently released Ackermon gourmet pens pink, um, which you can get at Venice pens. Our good friend Aziza has this ink now with, uh, Ackermon and it's this really neat pink color. And I think it looks awesome. And it comes in the cool Ackermon bottle, which is like a very giftable ink bottle. So that's super nice.

Anna Reiner: And I want to show me to the pink color. She beat me to the pink ink.

Myke Hurley: Right. Right. So I don't, I don't have any, I don't have to fight anyone for orange. I don't think I'll have to think about that. Maybe someone out there, but yeah, she beat you to the pink. Um, and it's a good looking color. It looks great. I don't have it yet, but like I want it. So I will pick that up at some point and I want to see that ink. So like all three of us have picked a TWSBI product. I went with the diamond 580 and silver. So it's a demonstrator barrel with silver trim and will look really, really good with the pink ink sloshing around in there. And I went with a broad nib because I want to throw it around on some Tomoe river paper. So I picked up the A5 loose sheets, which you can get a jet pins just for play. Like this is a very playful set. Load up your broad nib pen with pink ink and throw it around on Tomoe river paper. And I just felt like that's a good fun combination for someone who's, you know, into these types of things and into stationary. And this would get them a little bit more the experimental route. So my total came up to 102. And according to Ana, that deserved a note in the document and an exclamation point next to the $102 for going over the budget. Can you tell me again how much yours was, Ana?

Anna Reiner: 106.

Myke Hurley: Okay. Just checking. Okay.

Brad Dowdy: I'm the only one that stayed under budget. So I came in at a total of grand total of $86 versus your 106 on a 102, Brad. So I think I'm winning right now. I think that's what that means.

Myke Hurley: I don't know. But I think we're close enough, right? Close enough for arguments. I'm the only one of all of us that stayed under budget so far.

Anna Reiner: Absolutely.

Myke Hurley: No, I went under the first time. So I'm a one for two. Okay. Yeah, true. True.

Brad Dowdy: I think I got the most money saved up. That $14 that I saved this time. Yeah. We'll need it for some of these other things.

Anna Reiner: You're making people pay for shipping. People are having to pay for multiple shipping.

Brad Dowdy: They can get it in there, you know? I don't know. Maybe there's someone on eBay selling those Lamy balloons. I don't know. Maybe. Maybe that's a business we should get into. All right. Today's episode is brought to you in part by Squarespace. You can make your next move with Squarespace to let you easily create a website for your next idea or project. You can get and register a domain name super easily. You can customize award-winning templates to make your work shine and so much more. Squarespace is the all-in-one platform that will let you build any type of website that you want. If you want to make a site for your blog, maybe you want to create a portfolio, maybe you have a band or a business that you want to promote. Maybe you want to make an online store to sell your goods for the holiday season. Or maybe you have an event coming up. Maybe a wedding, a big party or something like that. And you want to be able to direct your guests to a website. Squarespace is really great for that stuff too. That's what I use for my wedding. We use Squarespace. They have like templates, pre-built templates that you can pick from and customize. And it makes it really, really easy. There is nothing to install or patch or upgrade. They've got you covered and back it all up with award-winning 24-7 customer support. So if you need any help, Squarespace has got your back. Their plans start at just $12 a month. But you can sign up for a free trial today with no credit card required by going to squarespace.com. You can build your website, make it look exactly the way that you want. And when you're ready to launch it to the world, sign up for one of their plans. And use the offer code PENADDICT to get 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain and show you support for this very show. That is squarespace.com slash PENADDICT and the code PENADDICT for 10% off your first purchase. Our thanks to Squarespace for the continued support of this show and RelayFM, Squarespace. Make your next move, make your next website.


Single Item Gifts[edit]

Myke Hurley: All right. These next two topics are similar to the first in the price points, but they are one singular item under a certain price point. So the first price point is $25. I felt that it could be a little bit less of a total price because we're just buying one thing and the other one would be a single PENGIFT under $100. Sometimes you just want to buy the one cool thing and not have to put together the gift. And yeah, so I thought these would, you know, go in conjunction with those two other ones as a different type of option. So single PENGIFT under $25. Ana, what do you have for this one?

Anna Reiner: I picked the Faber-Castell Grip, which is available in a bunch of different colors. But as a fountain pen, there, you know, we've, a lot of people, you know, we've talked about some of the other sort of lower priced fountain pen options, but I felt like this is one that, again, people tend to forget about, but it's a really good option. It has a really good nib. It's available. I found it in extra fine, fine, and medium. I think I have a couple of them. I really like them. Again, it's a snap cap instead of a twist. Takes standard international cartridges or a converter, and it comes in at about $20.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, and it comes in a bunch of colors and like the Faber-Castell, they just make good pens, don't they? Like everything is pretty good from Faber-Castell. So yeah, and I am super guilty of forgetting about them a lot, despite like talking them up all the time. So I think that's an awesome choice. I think that's a really, really good pen. And it would, it like looks good as a gift. I went with the Lamy Safari ballpoint. So a little bit of a switch up there. This was a pen that surprised me earlier this year. And as I was browsing around, like what single pen can I do that is, you know, maybe something a little bit different that I think people would enjoy as a gift. And the Lamy Safari is such a unique design. It looks really, really sharp. It comes in, you know, eight or ten different colors, like all your base colors, you know, white, red, blue, yellow, black, things like that. There's some special colors out there too. And they run about $17. They, the one that I tested out earlier this year, I was just impressed with how sturdy and fun it was to use. And it wrote really well for a ballpoint pen, which, you know, doesn't always happen. And I just think it's a really, really neat pen. And I would love to get one as a gift myself. So I think they're my choice for that.


Twisby Go[edit]

Brad Dowdy: You're talking about unique design. I think I've got you beat because I'm picking the Twisby Go. Twisby Go comes in three colors right now, I believe. Clear, blue, and they call it smoke, but it's like a dark gray. This is one of the weirdest looking pens I have ever come across from a major company because they have decided to make the filling system a huge spring. It's a huge spring. It takes up like half the body of the pen and it has this big plastic plunger. And it's like a really fun little filling system, like this piston filling mechanism that I really love. It doesn't hold a lot of ink, but it doesn't matter because this is like just one of the most satisfying pens that I own to refill. Because it's just this little like plunger you press down with your thumb and you've refilled it. And I love this pen as a pen to play around with different inks because it's so easy to clean as well. Like the system, because it's not a large ink reservoir anyway, and the system is really easy to just like push, push, push, push, and you flush a lot of water through it. I really love it. I love that they decided to make the body of this pen clear so you could see the spring and the plunger inside. I think this is a super weird pen. I remember when we first saw it, we were both all like confused and intrigued by it. And then when I bought one, I was super, super happy with it. This is one of the weirdest looking pens in my collection for a number of reasons. But I think that it is a fantastic one and a really great gift for somebody who doesn't own one too.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, all that weirdness is what makes it a good gift, right? Because you can discuss it and talk about it and, you know, say what is going on here? Like it's a good story pen.

Brad Dowdy: I also think the weird look of it means it's a pen that not a lot of people would buy for themselves. But I genuinely feel that if you own one, you get it, like you understand it. But you've kind of got to see it and play with it to get what makes this a fun pen to use. Yeah, totally get that. So prices, I was $18.99. Brad was $17. And Anna was $20. So we were all under on that round. Yay, all of us.

Anna Reiner: Myke, I appreciate what you said about the Twisby Go because I find it the most hideous looking pen. But I appreciate the functionality that you talked about.

Brad Dowdy: Oh, it's like by all conventions of nice design, it fails on all of them. But I kind of love its charm, you know? It's a really super weird pen. But it is. This is a 100% function over form pen in every stretch of the imagination.

Anna Reiner: But yeah, the first time I saw it, I'm pretty sure I was quoted as saying it's the acid wash genes of pens.

Brad Dowdy: I could stand behind that. I don't know if acid wash genes have as much function as this pen does, though. So it looks redeemed in that regard.

Anna Reiner: True, true. There is a purpose for it being as ugly as it is.

Myke Hurley: Yes. Yes. What's our next category, Brad? Single pen gift under $100. This is always a brutal category. Like the $50 to $100 range in pens can be very, very tough if you're looking for something for yourself or something for a gift. And I didn't really go outside of my wheelhouse on this one because I think the Kaweco AL Sport makes for a great gift. It's a pocket fountain pen. That when you unscrew the cap and post it, it becomes a full-size writer. It's a metal barrel, in this case aluminum, that can be anodized in several different colors. Like there's a really pretty red one that would make a perfect Christmas gift. They run about $70 to $80 depending on the finish. There's like a stonewashed finish and a raw aluminum finish. There's probably eight choices in colors for this. And I just find that this pen is one I go back to over and over and over again over the years and always thoroughly enjoy it. Whenever I ink it up with a short international cartridge, I wouldn't bother with the Kaweco converters. And it's just an enjoyable pen that I feel like shouldn't be as good as it is, but it's actually great. Like I love this pen so much and I think it's kind of like in the perfect gift category just in style, in price point, and in functionality. It's going to last you forever. Like this is a really, really solid gift in my opinion.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, I'm not going to argue with that. I mean, it's never really done it for me, the AL Sport. I like the fun of the regular Sport, the acrylic one, but I get where you're coming from with it.

Myke Hurley: Yeah.

Anna Reiner: Oh, I was going to say, I like all of the Sport, so.

Myke Hurley: Right. I think I have them all. Like I was like, should I do the brass or the stainless steel or whatever? And then they start getting over $100. And I was like, well, I have them all. So let's just pick the one that's in the good price range. But yeah, I have them all from the plastic barrel all the way up into, you know, the higher end ones. Except the carbon fiber one. Those don't do it for me. No, no. They have carbon fiber inlay ones, even orange and green and stuff like that. They're like $140, but those have never done it for me. So I never owned one of those.

Brad Dowdy: So when I was approaching this as the under $100 price point, I was trying to think about what would a good pen be for the... This is like my... I wanted to try and think like, what's my new answer for the, hey, my son's graduating, I want to buy him a pen. Or my daughter just got a new job, I want to congratulate her. Like, this is what I'm trying to fill now with this pen, which made me stay away from fountain pens. Because I think it should be something that's a little bit more approachable. And I have decided that my new personal entrant into this category is the Studio Neat Mark I. I think, and we've said this many times, for $65, you are getting an absolute bargain on the quality of this product. It is stupendously made. And they have a couple of color options, right? You can get it black or white with a copper or nickel knock. And it uses the best, one of the best refills that you can find, right? It uses the same Schmidt refill as the Retro 51, but with one of the most satisfying mechanisms that you will come across in a pen of any kind, I think. So the Mark I continues to be a favorite of mine, and I think is a really, really solid entrant in this category.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, totally agree. The word that comes to mind when I use this pen is delightful. It delights me to use. I notice how good the pen is every time I pick it up to write with, right? It's just, yeah, this is good.

Brad Dowdy: Something that, like it says about the popularity of this pen in my household, I just went to pick mine up to make the sound, and it is not on the desk anymore. So I think it has been stolen. My Mark one has been stolen.

Myke Hurley: Yes.

Anna Reiner: Well, I was the one who went, again, with a fountain pen. Sorry about that, guys.

Myke Hurley: I went with one.

Anna Reiner: And I keep picking things that I feel like have not been getting a lot of attention lately.

Anna Reiner: So I chose the Opus 88 Coloro. I know a lot of the larger Opus 88 pens have been more popular recently, but I feel like the Coloro was sort of their flagship pen that really sort of got them a lot of attention over the last year or two. And really brought their sort of filling mechanism a lot of attention in terms of being their sort of Japanese-style eyedropper filler. It holds a ton of ink. I'm pretty sure most ink samples that you get from most of the online retailers, you can just pour the whole thing in there. The whole thing, not a problem. It holds like at least three, maybe four milliliters of ink in one of them. But the colors are really pretty. And if I'm not mistaken, they may be discontinuing the Coloro. So the prices on them have been discounted to about $75. So this is sort of the last opportunity you might have to get one of them. And it's considered one of their, quote, smaller pens. And it's pretty much a full-sized pen. So I feel like this would be a good opportunity to sort of get someone to try one of these. It's that great combination of clear and opaque material. They're just, I really like them. I think I have two, maybe three of them. As well as like the Picnic, which is a little bit larger. And then one of their smaller ones. It's an interesting pen and I really like it. And I think it's something that is different from a lot of other pens.

Myke Hurley: Totally agree. I think the Coloro is the best opus, like across the lineup. And it would stink if it was going away. Hopefully maybe it'll be redone. But like if you're wanting to get a fun fountain pen gift, the colors are awesome. The quality is awesome. It feels great when you're writing with it. Like it's just a great pen. And you're right. It doesn't quite get enough love. Totally love that pick.

Brad Dowdy: I feel like I've never seen this pen before.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, they're really good. I mean, you know, they get a lot of love. They make a bigger eyedropper that seems to get, you know, more of the hype. It's in the like $110, $125 range, something like that. It might have a bigger nib on the larger one. I'm not too sure. I'd have to look at it. But it's just this one kind of sprung out of nowhere, like Anna said, a couple years ago. And they've been just known for their quality and style ever since. They've done a good job. All right. Next up, we are getting into some interesting topics now. Some interesting gifts we're trying to fill here. So this one is, what specialty stationary product would you buy for the person who has everything? In parentheses, no budget. So I thought this would be interesting to just drop a question like this in there. Like if you could just pick anything for anyone stationary or wise, what would you get them? Like price doesn't matter. You know, you just want to just get them something cool or interesting or expensive or outrageous. Like if you could just do anything for someone, what would that be? Michael Hurley, what would you do?

Brad Dowdy: Sailor Pro Gear, King of Pen.

Myke Hurley: That's crazy.

Brad Dowdy: I'm not playing this gift for someone.

Myke Hurley: That's great. That's great. No, this is what this category is for.

Anna Reiner: Would you really get me a King of Pen? Do you know how ridiculous that would look in my hand?

Myke Hurley: I would get you a King of Pen. It would be amazing.

Brad Dowdy: You could use it with both hands, you know, if you had to. It's fine. But I genuinely, I cannot say enough good things about the King of Pen line. I absolutely adore the two models that I own. They are truly fantastic pens in every stretch of the imagination. They have all of the things that I love about sailor design. And they are incredibly well performing. And the nibs are absolutely fantastic. And, like all Pro Gears, like all sailor pens, if you're lucky, you can come across something interesting. They're limited. You can find stuff that's fun. I wanted to turn everybody's attention to a good old friend over at Pensachi. They have a few King of Pens available right now that I've not seen before and are stunning. Nope. I'm not clicking the link. Click the link. Nope. They have three that are of interest to me. But I have not purchased and I'm not going to buy any of them. One is a King of Pen Pro Gear in teal green, which is a demonstrator. I saw that one. With gold furniture. They have a King of Pen Prophet, which is a 1911 shape. I don't know what the Prophet means. I don't know.

Myke Hurley: It's a regional name for the 1911 and Prophet are the same thing.

Brad Dowdy: Okay. That is dark green, but also slightly see-through. Then they have something which is very expensive. It's about $730. Incredibly expensive pen. Then they have another pen on Pensachi right now, which is $1,800. And it is the Sailor King of Pen Prophet fountain pen briar red. And it is this wild, beautiful red, I assume acrylic of some kind. Oh, it's wood. Oh my God. It's wood, Brad. I'm not clicking the link.

Myke Hurley: I swear to God. Look at the link. Just open the link. I'm not clicking it. Click the link. You can look at the document. You can see where our cursors are. Mine is nowhere near that link right now. Just click the link.

Brad Dowdy: You've already bought all your expensive pens. You're not going to buy one of these. You've got to take a look. But also, Pensachi, they have a few every now and then. There's always a few rolling around. Like, Penschalet have one that I really like, but I have yet to see it in person, which is the King of Pen Fire, the all red one with the gold trim. Yeah, that's one of the newest ones. That's one of the newer ones, yeah. And so, yeah. Again, I think-

Anna Reiner: I clicked the link.

Brad Dowdy: Me. Oh, come on.

Anna Reiner: The red wooden one?

Brad Dowdy: Anyway, I think there is genuinely a thing that, like, this is a almost Bringles-like thing with the King of Pen. Once you've owned one and fallen in love with one, then you just want all of them. But I think it takes that first one. And if you don't get into it, you're never going to get it, right? Like, it's just not going to become a thing that you would- if you think this is not a pen for you, there probably is never going to be one that pushes you over that edge. But once you've kind of gotten into the King of Pen idea, like me and Brad have, unfortunately for us, every single King of Pen I see, I want.

Myke Hurley: So- Yeah, yeah. That's a problem. I've also learned that you should be Myke's friend for the holidays.

Brad Dowdy: Oh, really?

Myke Hurley: No one said I've got to buy this, right? I don't know. So, I mean, I think someone's getting this. Oh, look at that wood red one, man.

Myke Hurley: All right, Anna. Like, let's help him out. He's going to- he needs a moment with that link. So, let's talk about what you got.

Brad Dowdy: I'm just, like, scrolling through images right now. It comes in a box.

Anna Reiner: Just put your mic on mute so we don't hear you drool.

Brad Dowdy: The box says the King of Pen on it. Like, I feel like I want that box in my life.

Anna Reiner: Okay, that's Myke's new tattoo. His new tattoo just says King of Pen.

Myke Hurley: Mm-hmm.

Anna Reiner: Mm-hmm. Yep.

Myke Hurley: There you go.


Misubi Notebooks[edit]

Anna Reiner: Okay. So, with your King of Pen collection, I'm pretty sure you're going to need a Misubi Labs bamboo notebook. Yes. Because if you're going to have a $1,000 pen, you're going to need to write in a notebook that costs $130.

Myke Hurley: Worth it.

Anna Reiner: Totally worth it. But if you've never had a Misubi notebook, whether it's their Labs notebook or one of their regular notebooks, this is- I mean, if you collect fountain pens the way we collect fountain pens and you have not gone down the Misubi rabbit hole, you got to do it once. Mm-hmm. So, you're also supporting a good cause. So, you know, sort of the double bonus. But they are stunningly beautiful. They use fantastic paper. They're covered with beautiful fabric. They come in, you know, slip cases and boxes. And, you know, so they look like a gift when you get them, whether you're giving them as a gift or keeping them for yourself. So, and this new one from the Misubi Labs, that's the bamboo paper, is the most unusual paper that I've ever seen. They are very limited based on the amount of paper that they're able to get to make these books. And will take all kinds of ink. So, if you like to play with ink and you want to experiment and you just want to throw ink on paper and try different things, like, this is the way to do it. And you'll have this wonderful keepsake when you're done. You know, this great, beautiful notebook with this lovely fabric on the cover. And they're just, I mean, what he does is just...

Brad Dowdy: What do I need to know about bamboo paper? Because I've never come into contact with bamboo paper before.

Anna Reiner: You come into contact with bamboo...

Brad Dowdy: It's not like stone paper or anything like that. No. No, no, no.

Anna Reiner: Here's a secret. You come into contact with bamboo paper every time you use Tomoe River.

Brad Dowdy: Oh, okay. Cool.

Anna Reiner: It's actually made out of bamboo as well.

Brad Dowdy: Didn't know that.

Anna Reiner: So, yeah. So, from that standpoint, I mean, bamboo paper is also much more environmentally friendly from that standpoint because bamboo grows like a weed. And is much more... But this particular paper is made from different, I think, different types of bamboo and material than what Tomoe is. So, this is like a darker tone and color. So, it's just going to have a very different effect. And the way that it's been, the paper's been treated. So, the ink sits up on the paper a lot more than other papers. But I got one of these notebooks. I haven't even taken it out of the wrapper yet. I'm like, I'm waiting for an opportunity to like actually get to sit and like have an hour of uninterrupted time to really play with it and experience it instead of just like, you know, that sort of like half distracted, you know, moment that we usually have to handle our notebooks. But yeah. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. And if nothing else, you should go look at the Musubi links, read through the site, read what Daryl does, and read the work that Musubi does. They're awesome. So, yeah. Definitely go check these out.

Anna Reiner: Totally. And if you, if you, one of the other things that I, that I found while we were doing this was very unusual and goofball things that if you have a friend who has everything, you know. I found the dolphin pen rest. It's a little ceramic dolphin. It costs a whopping $6.50. It's just goofy and fun. And I think like, that's the kind of thing that I, I almost want to get like 10 of them and give them to different friends because it's like, that's something that I can give like all of my pen friends. They also have, they also had on a gold spot, the crab pen rests. Yeah. Are freaking hysterical. And it's like also very inexpensive. And it's like the things that you can give to your friends who are pen geeks as well. And they would not probably buy for themselves or have ever seen. Okay.

Brad Dowdy: The crab one is incredible.

Myke Hurley: They're in a bunch of different colors. I've been seeing them all over Instagram. And I asked someone like, where do they get these? And they said gold spot had them. But I went and looked at them. And I was like, I am, I'm getting some of those. They're great. That is fantastic. I hadn't seen the dolphin yet though. That's super neat.

Brad Dowdy: The crab, the crab is the one for me because it's like holding out the pen for you. Yeah. Yeah.

Anna Reiner: I think the crab's just plastic. The dolphin is ceramic. So the dolphin's a little more upscale. The crab's like goofy and plastic and fun. But I think like next time you place an order with gold spot, like have them throw it in with your order. Throw a crab in.

Myke Hurley: Yup. Yup.

Anna Reiner: And then in honor of Myke, I threw in a sailor.

Myke Hurley: Thank you.

Anna Reiner: It's the pro gear. Angel's Delight. Have you seen this yet?

Brad Dowdy: It's really pretty. I've seen it. Because here's the thing. If I'm not looking for them, they get sent to me.

Anna Reiner: People are sending them to you. Oh, all the time.

Brad Dowdy: I see all of them. I'm sure you do. I have seen this one and I like it. That's kind of where I am with it. Because I recently picked up a pen, right, from Pensacce, which is purple in its body with the white cap, but it also has sparklies in it. And, you know, that one's the one for me. The Royal something or other. I'll find out and put it in the show notes.

Myke Hurley: But that was one that I got recently and absolutely loved. Yeah. Angel's Delight is a love for me. Not a like. I will not be buying it, but it is a love. It is just about perfect. I think it's fantastic.

Anna Reiner: If it were a slim, my credit card would be screaming at me right now. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: You're more in the slim than the regular size? Yeah.

Anna Reiner: Just because I have the hands of a toddler.

Brad Dowdy: I like this. I mean, I've said this before, but I love the slim. I think I honestly, a lot of the time, don't even realize which one I'm using. Like it isn't so small. It's, you know, it's not like a Vaco size, right? Like it's just right. It's just a little bit more petite. Yeah. Yeah. I love this.

Anna Reiner: In this case, I might make the exception and just get a full size. Yeah. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: So I went, again, right up my alley, but the weirdness of this pen just does it for me. In every way that Ian Schoen has ever made a pen, the Pocket 6 is so cool that I just think it's such a unique item. And when he first launched these earlier this summer, he was just doing, you know, the basic, you know, raw aluminum types of finish and maybe a black anodized here and there. And he has ramped up the design of these pens to do all kinds of weird anodization, which is, I know, a thing that we love him for in our ballpoint pens and has added in different grip sections, you know, whether aluminum or brass and different color grip sections and different barrel materials. And just the colors of these are so unique. And like the Kawekos that I love, this is a pocket fountain pen that you uncap and post the cap on the back of the pen and it becomes a full length writing pen. It's got a big number six nib, which the Kawekos don't handle. Those are all number five nibs outside of the Supra. And I'm enamored by this pen. I fidget with this pen. I just hold it. I twist it. It's sitting here on my desk. This is the pen I brought in to do the show with today. I have the material. I think mine's called Deep Sea or Deep Space, something like that. Deep Space, maybe. Yeah, that's the one I have.

Anna Reiner: But that was the first one I clicked on.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. There's like 15 different anodization colors. And then you can mix and match the grip sections on them. It's just cool. Like, I really appreciate the work that Ian does on this pen. It's really good quality. It just feels great. And like, if I just had like a no budget, no budget random gift that I just wanted to drop on someone that I think would like get it, like this would be the one that I'd go to. And they range in price like from, I think it's $114 to the most expensive one I could build was like $142. So they're not that expensive, all things considered. Yeah, I just think they're great. So yeah, good job. Good job, Ian. And I love mine and I'll be reviewing it. But I would give this as a gift in a heartbeat. Like if I knew the right person to give this to, I think it's just neat.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, I'm really pleased that he's selling his wild anodized bodies for these pants. I think that really can push it over the edge for a lot of people.

Myke Hurley: I was waiting for him. Like he told me it was coming. I was like, okay, I'll wait. I'll wait. I'll wait. So yeah, love them. Very cool.

Anna Reiner: I might have to get one of the rollerball ones for Bob for Christmas.

Brad Dowdy: Nice. Nice. I recommend the Dexter one. Dexter one that I own and I love that pen. It's super weird looking. He gets some looks using that one. Yes, for sure. All right. Today's episode is also brought to you by a new sponsor and that is Hello. This is one of my very favorite products that I have in my household. Hello make insanely comfortable buckwheat pillows. I don't know if you've ever tried a buckwheat pillow. You may have never even heard of what a buckwheat pillow is before. It is very different to regular fluffy pillows. It gives you a lot of support. Your head and neck won't like it's going to be nice and like very comfortable but supported. The pillow doesn't collapse under the weight of your head like a traditional pillow because it's not feathers or foam. It's actually buckwheat hulls. So these little, it almost feels like a bean bag. It's probably the closest thing to describe it if you've never seen one of these before. It turns out people have been sleeping on these types of pillows for years. They're very popular in Japan. When you go to some fancy hotels, you do get an option for these sometimes. One of the brilliant, brilliant advantages of buckwheat pillows is that they breathe better. Air circulates through them more easily so they don't get warm and humid. There's no more flipping over to the cool side of the pillow because the pillow is always cool. And also because it is a filling, you can add and remove it to suit your own needs. So the pillow can be just the size that you want. I have been sleeping on a buckwheat pillow for a year and a half. I'm never going back. Now when I go to hotels, I have regular pillows. If I stay for like a few days, I start to feel stiff. I absolutely love the support that I get from my pillow. And now I use one pillow. I always used to use multiple pillows because I can never get the thickness that I wanted. But these don't compress that much. I absolutely love hollow pillows. They're made in the USA. Quality construction and materials. They have a certified organic cotton case, which is cut and sewn for durability. The buckwheat is grown and milled in the US as well. You're probably curious to try out one of these by now. And you can. You can sleep on it for 60 nights. And if hollow isn't right for you, you can just send it back for a refund. So go to hollowpillow.com slash penaddict right now to get your own buckwheat pillow. That's H-U-L-L-O-P-I-L-L-O-W.com slash penaddict. Links in the show notes. You can get your own buckwheat pillow. Hollowpillow.com slash penaddict. If you buy more than one, they have a special discount to give you up to $20 off, depending on the size that you opt for. They have fast free shipping of every order. 1% of all profits are donated to the Nature Conservancy. Give it a try. If you love it, you keep it. If you don't, you just send it back. Our thanks to hollow for their support of this show and Relay FM.

Myke Hurley: That's good timing. I'm shopping for new pillows. I need to give this a try.

Brad Dowdy: Give it a try. Seriously. It's like you get over the first night, right? Because it's like, what is happening? Like, this is such a weird thing. I find it so comfortable. And the sound, it almost sounds to me like the waves going over stones on the beach. Because if you move your head, you hear all the little holes moving inside. Oh, man. Love my pillow. Love it.

Myke Hurley: All right. All right. I got to try this. And we have more.

Anna Reiner: I get the pun of the name, too. Hull.

Myke Hurley: Hull. Oh. Hull. I like it.

Brad Dowdy: Hull. Yeah?


Ink Kits[edit]

Myke Hurley: Hulls. Hulls. Hulls. Hulls. Hulls. Hulls. Hulls. Hulls. And Anna's going to get us some ink now. So these next few topics are some very specific. So I said, what is your favorite inky gift? If you just had to give someone a gift of ink, what would you do?

Anna Reiner: Okay. This was one of those where I was like, do I have to narrow it down to just one? Yes. So I didn't. It's hard.

Anna Reiner: So the first one I picked was the Three Oysters Doming the Sea of Notions ink kit. And I'm sure you're saying, what the hell did she just say? Yeah, that was totally a thing. I totally am. That was a mouthful. Okay. So this comes from Shiguri Inks. Oh, yeah. Whoa.

Myke Hurley: I've seen this. I've seen this. Yes. Thank you.

Anna Reiner: That was the reaction I was hoping for. It is a, I mean, first off, it's totally giftable because it is a kit. It comes in this cool box. And what it is is allows you to mix the colors to make your own shade of blue. And it's a little hokey and funky and everything, but it just looks really cool. It's really pretty. It comes from Three Oysters and we know they make really good ink. The box is very cool and it has this whole like sort of water mermaid theme. And it just is super cool. And I was like, yes, if I was. This is the kind of thing that I would buy for Jessie, who is also an ink nerd, but she's probably already bought it. She's listening.

Myke Hurley: She's listening. She's listening.

Anna Reiner: She's already bought it. I think she sent me the link first anyway. But yeah, I mean, this is the kind of stuff that she and I like send back and forth like all week long. Like, have you seen this? Yeah, I saw this. Did you see this? I saw that. So yeah, but super cool. And it's, I'm seeing more and more of these sort of sets and kits of like ink collections, which I think are great to get people started or to get people interested in like playing around with ink and mixing ink and thinking about ink for more than just putting in a fountain pen. Like this is something that if you wanted to play with a water brush or use it for painting or in like the pilot parallel pens or something like that, this would be a great kit to play with.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. For a gift guide, this is how you win, right? This is winning right here. That's a gift. This is a gift. Like this is, and it's, it's $45 and I'm looking at the site right now. They have free shipping over $40 in the US and Canada. So like this is a gift.

Anna Reiner: And there are going to be Black Friday deals, you know, starting, you know, Thursday, Friday. So if you hold off a couple days, you'll be good. And then the other one that I found, and this will, you'll be hot on my heels with your answer as well. Yes. On this theme.

Myke Hurley: We were thinking the same.

Anna Reiner: Is Gold Spot has a limited edition set of Colorverse ink called Solar Wind and Magnetosphere, which is also designed to be two colors that could be mixed together if you wanted to try to like mix your own shade, which I also thought was very cool. You can use the colors separately or you can mix them together. But again, you know, like there are two bottles of ink, you know, we both know that, you know, Colorverse, just the way they package their inks is so beautiful that, you know, it's a gift in itself. Just getting the box with, you know, the little tiny bottles and all the decoration on the box, you know, it's kind of a done deal.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. That was totally the path that I went down. And when I wrote this, I wrote the header, what's your favorite inky gift? It wasn't with Colorverse in mind. But once I went down the path, I was like, oh, well, Colorverse is the obvious choice because it's essentially a gift in a box, right? So the packaging is exquisite. The bottles are super cool. The colors are really great. And I picked, similar to you, a shop limited edition. So they did the Pen Chalet limited edition, Monsoon Storm and Monument Valley. And I just think the color mixture of these, although these aren't mixable, I don't believe. I mean, I'm sure technically you could, but it'd probably make like doo-doo brown or something because it's like a green and a yellow. It'd probably not, let's do not mix those. But the colors like complement each other super well. The box and packaging is cool. They're on a really big sale right now at Pen Chalet. I think I might have to get these for myself and just wrap it up and stick it under the tree and be surprised like on Christmas morning when I open these up. The colors are really, really great. So yeah, that was, we were totally thinking along the same lines with the Colorverse. They're just kind of like a perfect gift setup.

Anna Reiner: So everybody buy lots of knock product and lots of color rings so that we can buy all this ink and all these pens. Right, right.

Myke Hurley: I'm totally going shopping from our own gift guide when we're done.

Anna Reiner: I know, me too. It's so bad. This is why when we do these, it costs me money every time.

Myke Hurley: Oh, I ordered the right notepads when I, like I said, the very first thing. As soon as I found those, I hadn't seen them before and I ordered them for myself. So Myke, I don't have to order this one because I like it so much. I bought multiple variants of what you're suggesting here. That's how much I like this. So what did you pick?

Brad Dowdy: One of my very best friends in the world, Brad Dowdy, made a wonderful orange ink, right? Fire on fire. It's a great ink. My very favorite orange ink is Mont Blanc Lucky Orange. Yeah, I can't argue with that. I absolutely adore it. It's so, so good. And, I mean, talk about giftable. The bottle that it comes in is a real stunner. It's a small bottle, but huge cap with the Mont Blanc logo on it. Very pretty. Look very good on a desk. Mont Blanc know what they're doing. It's just an incredibly vibrant orange that really performs very differently in different nibs as well, which I enjoy. You know, the thicker than there, the darker it is, and it really changes the color, but the vibrancy remains. I absolutely love Mont Blanc Lucky Orange. I'm so pleased that I picked up a bottle because it really is special.

Myke Hurley: I have it in bottle and cartridge form. That's how much I like it.

Anna Reiner: And it comes in that same, like, drawer box that the ladies edition pearl came in.

Myke Hurley: It comes in the fancy packaging.

Anna Reiner: Yeah, that Jacqueline did a review of recently, and she took pictures of how it comes in the little sliding drawer box and everything if people want to see. It does come in lovely packaging.


Graphite Pencils[edit]

Myke Hurley: Yes. Yeah, super great. Very, very much approve that orange ink as a purveyor of orange. That's one of the best. Next up, what is your favorite graphite gift? So I wanted to mix it up a little bit. It's not all pens and ink around here. We all like graphite as well. And I did have to go with one of my favorites that I can't speak highly enough about, and that's the Cron Dash Fix Pencil. Now, I put this in there before I even looked at what's currently available, and they have done two things with the Fix Pencil. One, they've limited the colors all of a sudden, which I'm concerned about. We'll talk about that, you know, at future dates the more I figure out what is going on here. To black. They have a black barrel. It's really nice. But I like the Fix Pencil and Cron Dash's goods because they usually have wild, vibrant colors. This one just comes in black. But they added a 3mm lead option, which is wider than their standard 2mm lead option, which I thought is interesting. All the ones I use in the past have been 2mm, 3mm is new to the club this year. So that's just kind of my go-to pencil for just general writing, sketching, taking it on the go. It's got the built-in sharpener and the cap. I just think it's super functional. I'm a little disappointed in the color choices, though, so I'm going to try to figure out what's going on there, and hopefully they'll ramp that back up. So in lieu of that, I did kind of cheat and do two things, and even though this is not technically graphite, it's clay, the Tombow Orojitan colored pencil set is my favorite, and they just came out with a 36 colored pencil set. Even though the ones that they make now are individual 12-pack sets, sold as three, so it's 36 pencils. This, they did an all-in-one 36 colored pencil set, which I think is better than the individual 36 pencil sets. I know that's confusing. This is a big, wide-ranging. I'm not going to lie. This is a big, wide-ranging, you know, big catalog volumes of colored pencils, but this is kind of, let's call it the greatest hits of the Orojitan set, and it's 36 pencils. They're 60 bucks. It's not cheap, but it's a glorious set. I highly, highly recommend these.

Brad Dowdy: All right, is it my turn? All you. Go. Rotary 600. I don't have a lot to say, other than it's the best mechanical pencil I've ever owned. I actually found today, not found, like I took it out of my drawer today, because I was thinking about it. I got that lava limited edition one that they did a long time. I'm so jealous. I have both the mechanical pencil and the fountain pen in this material.

Anna Reiner: Okay, now I'm really jealous.

Brad Dowdy: Super weird material, but really beautiful. So, yeah. It's, you know, it is a, it's the classic, right? Like, I don't, I don't really know what more to say about it. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. Yeah. So, I was saving this for a future episode, because it's not going to be out before Christmas. It doesn't come out until February. But they're doing the 600 in a red barrel and a blue barrel. And they look exquisite.

Anna Reiner: Yay! That's very exciting.

Myke Hurley: So, I will share the link with that. We'll, we'll probably talk about it next week. We'll just put it in the, as a topic for future episodes. But we've, that is out and about now, out in the wild. It's coming in February 2020. Full red barrel and full blue barrel. And we think the third one, it looks black in the imagery, but people are saying it's dark green. So, we'll have to see. So, more, more to come on that, but it didn't make the gift guide because it's not out until next year. Yeah.

Anna Reiner: So, on the fixed pencil, a lot of times the, like, the similar design is also the 849 pencil. Which is, anytime the lead is like a 0.5, 0.7, or 0.9. So, maybe that might be where you see some of the more unusual, for the Caran d'Ache, where you might see the more unusual patterns and colors. And maybe they're saving the fixed pencil name specifically for the, like, 2mm, 3mm clutch style. Definitely. It's the only thing I can think. That's the only thing I can think.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, that's exactly how they do it. But they've done the colors in the past. Like, I have limited edition barrels with, like, lines and, you know, different designs and patterns. So, I was a little disappointed. And they still sell the caps in the different colors. Like, you can buy a cap set with the sharpeners in it. Like, I've lost one of those before. So, yeah. I'd like to see more of the 849 colors in the fixed pencil set. Yeah. So, hopefully we will.

Anna Reiner: Yeah. And I'm wondering, with a fixed pencil, because it tends to be targeted more towards professionals. Totally. If they just, it's like, we just do them in black because they're usually with graphite. And then the different colors are how people indicate what lead softness they put in them. Or if they use a different color lead. That's the only thing I can think.

Myke Hurley: And no matter how much I love it, it's probably not a big seller. Which is why it got stripped down, right? Right.

Anna Reiner: Yeah. It's, you know, because there are so many lead holder options available through, like, because basically each manufacturer, Faber-Castell, Statler, they all make, like, a 2mm, 3mm lead holder. Yep. Might be cutting into the businesses. Not as many people are using them.

Myke Hurley: Totally agree.

Anna Reiner: This is me nerding out on the art supplies. Sorry.

Myke Hurley: No, this is great. This is great. Okay.

Anna Reiner: So, when I put my graphite item in, I, too, played fast and loose with the idea of graphite on this particular case. Because actually, I had a third item. Well, actually, I had a second item. And then the third item came in my email this morning before we started. But I put in the Caran d'Ache bicolor pencil set, which Tina reviewed recently. And, like, no sooner did she put the review up that I hit the buy it now button on CW pencils. Totally. Because it is basically the Caran d'Ache super color watercolor pencils. But they basically did them as, like, half. So, like, one half of the pencil is one color and one half of the pencil is another color. So, you can basically, in a little tin, you get, like, 20 colors. But it fits in a 10, like, 10 color box. And it's the same quality as their regular watercolor colored pencils. They're amazing. I love them. I'm so excited. And it's one of those things that Tina and I have been, like, if Caran d'Ache would just do it, you know. Because it's, like, really you can only find, like, inexpensive, low-quality colored pencils that are double-ended like that. And if you want a travel set of colored pencils, you end up having to take, like, a lot of them to get a range of color. And so, now you get this great set. So, we're super excited about it.

Myke Hurley: I'm all in on those.

Anna Reiner: Yeah. So, it's perfect. And the tin is really tiny. And, I mean, if you want to put them in something else, it would totally work as well. But price is fairly reasonable for Caran d'Ache, who is not known for being inexpensive. No. But this morning, my email chimed right away with the announcement of the Erasable Baron Fig Squire.

Myke Hurley: It came out so good.

Anna Reiner: But they're doing it as a promotion to help fund to get all three of the Erasable gentlemen in Baltimore for the Baltimore Pen Show so that they can host their podcast together and do a live recording like the pen addict.

Brad Dowdy: I've heard of that method before. It's a good way to get people together.

Anna Reiner: It's a good way to get people together. So, they are, Baron Fig agreed to help them out by doing this pen for them. So, it went live this morning. And if you do a pre-order, they need to sell at least 100 of the pens in order to raise enough money to get all three of them in one place and make it so that they don't all have to sleep on Johnny's floor at his house. So, yeah.

Myke Hurley: The way the design came out, I've been talking to Andy about it for a while and he shared it with me. It is so good. It is really perfect.

Anna Reiner: So, for people who are driving in their car right now, it is a Squire rollerball pen that looks like a number two pencil.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Yellow body with a big number two on it, which looks great. And then a pink eraser for the color for the little twist mechanism at the top. Really nice.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. Andy said they had to have 100 to hit their budget goal. I said, you'll sell 200 easy. And he's like, you think? And he's like, I don't know if we'll sell 100. I'm like, dude, you'll sell 100 as soon as you launch them. They are that good. And I know yesterday, they put out a link for their Patreon supporters yesterday and I tweeted that out to the shop and I know they'd already sold over half of the 100 that they needed. So, they'll probably have that by the end of the day today. And anything you can do to support these guys to get to Baltimore to record their live show would be great. And I think it's a really, really cool idea for them to do this.

Anna Reiner: And not to toot my own horn, but they asked me to actually come on the show in Baltimore. So, if you guys want to hear me live on another podcast.

Brad Dowdy: Don't leave us.

Anna Reiner: I'm not leaving you guys. Okay, good.

Brad Dowdy: Get a check in.

Anna Reiner: Nah. It's just a little hi, hello. You know, visit Baltimore. I've never been to the Baltimore show.

Myke Hurley: It's a good show. I'll be there. Awesome. Maybe on this show as well.

Anna Reiner: Oh, hey. Wouldn't that. See, Myke? Brad's leaving you too.

Myke Hurley: That's right. We just need Baltimore to move to reschedule their show later in the year so we can do our Kickstarter campaign like we normally do. When is it?

Anna Reiner: That'd be fun.

Myke Hurley: End of February.

Anna Reiner: End of February.

Brad Dowdy: Oh, that's impossible. There's no way we could get things together in time.

Anna Reiner: We can't pull it together that fast. No.

Myke Hurley: But speaking of our show, we have all been conspiring in the background to do something pretty cool this year.

Brad Dowdy: We have big plans for 2020, right? It's not Japan. We've already said that's 2022. But 2020, we've got some cool plans.

Myke Hurley: Yep. We also have a lot of cool gifts to get to. So we do have one more friend we want to talk about though, right, this week?

Brad Dowdy: We do. I want to thank Moo for their support of this show, the online print and design company that specializes in customizable business cards, postcards, stickers, and more for your business. If you're new to Moo, if you've never tried out their products before, at their website, moo.com, M-O-O.com, you can see exactly what their products look like by ordering a free sample pack. They offer a full suite of products including business cards, postcards, invitations, letterheads, stickers, flyers, and so much more so you can seamlessly promote yourself and your brand. They do lots of other products too. They do wonderful notebooks. I love their hardcover. It features a Swiss binding so every page lays flat. There may be premium paper that's protected by a tough tactile cover. I use that notebook a lot. I really like it. I love the covers. I love the colors that they do with them as well. It's really fantastic. Moo will also do, I mean, it's the holiday season. If you want to have some really nice greeting cards made, you can do those with Moo too. So you can get your holiday stuff all done with them as well. And you can use wonderful finishing touches like gold and silver foil, raised spot gloss, letterpress. These are the little touches that make your product stand out. If you don't fancy designing your own business card, they have beautiful templates that are brand new for Moo. They are inspired by their most creative customers as well. Go to Moo.com, M-O-O.com and use the code PRINTMOO, P-R-I-N-T-M-O-O. And check out, you'll get 15% off if you spend $50 or more. That's Moo.com and the code PRINTMOO for 15% off any order of $50 or more. Our thanks to Moo for their support of this show and RelayFM.

Myke Hurley: All right, so we have two more topics and we have a few listener questions. And I know we've been going on long here and we got to give people time to actually go shopping. So let's burn through these pretty quickly and then we'll wrap it up and then people can go start clicking buttons and clicking links and buying all the gifts. So what do y'all think?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, like they haven't already. So what's our next category?

Myke Hurley: I'm not going to lie, I have things in my cart from just clicking these links. Next category is what is your favorite paper gift? Along the lines of the graphite and inky gift, what is your favorite paper gift, Myke?

Brad Dowdy: I don't think you can beat for a gift for most people. Again, that's what I'm trying to think of, right? Like gifts for people. The Studio Neat Panel Book. Because so many people work in front of keyboards, right? That is the way that many, many, many of our listeners will be working. They'll be working in offices in front of keyboards. And this notebook is made perfectly to sit beneath your keyboard, in between you and the keyboard, so you can take your notes. So this is exactly how I use my Pano Book. I love it. I love it. I love Studio Neat's products, obviously. I mean, I love them so much. I made my own with their help, right? Like, you know, I really am a big fan. Oh, by the way, you know, a great gift for the holidays, if we can ever get them back in stock again, would be the Theme System Journal. The Cortex Theme System Journal.

Anna Reiner: That would be a lovely gift.

Myke Hurley: Wouldn't it be amazing? Are they going to be? Give us the details. Are we going to be able to buy those before the holidays? Okay, maybe. Stay tuned.

Brad Dowdy: The plan is, the plan is yes. Sure. But, you know, snags. You know? You know? We know. We hit them all the time. And I've hit one. Anna and I know. We know how it goes. But, yes, in theory, there will be an amount of them to buy before the holiday season is over. Like, if, especially if you're like, if you live in America, you should be able to get one of these before, like, before Christmas. But I don't have them for sale today. Hopefully very soon. All right. Stay tuned.

Myke Hurley: Sign up for the email list. Yeah. Okay. I love the pano book. So, that's why. The pano book lives on my desk. Great. Great. Anna, what do you got?

Anna Reiner: Well, if the pano book fits under your keyboard, do you know what fits next to your iPad? A color ring oversize.

Myke Hurley: I think this is the best product you make.

Anna Reiner: Thank you.

Myke Hurley: I'm going to say that out loud. I mean, I think the color ring is the smartest, most used product. I think this is my favorite product you make.

Anna Reiner: Thank you. And the favorite way to say it is oversize.

Myke Hurley: Oversize.

Anna Reiner: So, yeah. We love it. We use it all the time. It's great for sketching, doodling, writing notes, testing out your pens, testing out different ink colors, carrying around swatches of all your colors. Just using it for fun, for whatever you want. It's just a great way to get more mileage. We love it.

Myke Hurley: And you can't just order one. Like, this is like a three minimum. Like, you just need to go ahead and commit and do it because you're just going to shred through these things. So, yeah. Three is one.

Anna Reiner: You know what? I'll even put up a coupon code on the site. You order three, we'll get you free shipping. What? Yeah. All right. Look at that. I'll do it. Give me an hour. I'll get it up there. Do it live.

Myke Hurley: Nice. Nice. Love it. All right. My pick is the Leuchtturm 1917 Bauhaus edition. I love this edition so much. I like Leuchtturm as it is. And they have, like, every color under the rainbow. But they did some special, you know, edge colors on these. Like, they did four color cover notebooks. Black, red, yellow, blue. And then they did, like, color edging. What's the term if you put the color on the edge of the paper besides gilding? Because it's not gilding. What would you call this, Anna? Edge painting. So, like, I have a red cover one with blue edge painting. And they have dot grids. And they just look so cool. I think they make a perfect gift for your notebook friends. It handles all kinds of ink well. They're just super cool. I kind of had to sneak in the Black Wings Volumes 155 Bauhaus edition.

Anna Reiner: I was about to say, what goes really well with that notebook?

Myke Hurley: Yeah. Like, if you're into this thing, like, I think into, like, the style, the Bauhaus style, these pencils came out great. They do have the soft core, which is not my preferred core. But for this edition, it's the right core to choose. Yeah. It's a very soft, more artistic core that's going to be great for sketching and drawing. More so than writing. So, it's kind of a good collaboration here that kind of came out at the right time. And these Bauhaus edition Leuchterms are not the easiest to find. But you can search and find them. It's weird that not every Leuchterm vendor carries these. But they're actually widely available in places like you wouldn't think. So, check them out. They're very cool. And, yeah. It's one of my favorite notebook releases probably of the year. All right. Last of our topics. What is your favorite accessory gift? Anna?

Anna Reiner: Matt Armstrong. Oh, wait. No. He's my everyday carry.

Myke Hurley: We love you, Matt.

Anna Reiner: We love you. We miss you. Miss you.

Myke Hurley: No.

Anna Reiner: Seriously. This took a while to think of, like, what would be, like, the best accessory gift. And then I realized it's, of course, the thing that's in my bag every day. And that is the Galen Leather three-pen case in any of the Crazy Horse finishes. Because they come sort of pre-scuffed. And then the more scuffs you get on them, the better they look. But I have, I've had one for over a year. And anytime I show people this case, they're like, where did you get that? I'm like, it's a Galen Leather. And it's, then they're like, oh, I have to have one of those. So, it's, they're only, like, about $39. They're just, I love it. And it's just the right number of pens or, you know, pen and pencil, pen, marker, sort of to carry around sort of on a daily basis. The zipper works great. I love them.

Myke Hurley: So, my choice for this, I'm a superior labor kind of fanatic. But just in looking at them, because they're very expensive, like all the products. But they have ramped up their styles of things that they make. And they have a product now called the Engineer Pouch, which is just your basic pouch. But in superior labor style, it's just very classy. It's very Japanese. It's very my aesthetic. And the Engineer Pouch is, like, a top canvas pouch with, like, a dyed leather bottom to the pouches. And they come in, like, sizes from tiny to a little bit bigger. There's four different sizes. There's five different leather colors. There's an orange and white canvas one that's just kind of calling my name. This is the thing I'm going to buy for myself for this Christmas. It's, like, 20 euros. So, you know, it's for the small one. Then it goes on up to the biggest one is, like, 36 euro on the site that I'm looking at, which is Nomato Store, which they carry a bunch of these. So, they're not the cheapest accessory. But, like, this is a fancy accessory. And I love the superior labor. And I'm buying this for me. That's why I put it in there. So, I'm getting the orange one.

Brad Dowdy: I've never heard of this brand before. Now I'm mesmerized looking on this page.

Myke Hurley: It's the one that we bought the stuff at Wonder Pins in Toronto last year. Those leather, the dark leather cases. Oh, yeah.

Brad Dowdy: Yes. It's that brand. Yes. So, they've ramped it up. Well, that pouch got stolen from me. No. Yes, at home. It was immediately stolen when it came home. So, I don't see the brand name very often because that one was taken.

Myke Hurley: They have turned it up to 11 as far as their production and styles go. So, there's all kinds of different accessories they offer now. I'm actually going to try a couple different things along with this engineer pouch.

Brad Dowdy: They make really very, very beautiful products. Yes.

Myke Hurley: Yes. I'm going to get an A6 cover that instantaneous this in the chat is mentioning. So, I'm going to get a bunch of their products just to test out and see.

Anna Reiner: It looks like the zipper pouch, the bottom of it is just painted canvas, not leather. Just so you know.

Myke Hurley: Okay. I thought I was reading the description wrong then.

Anna Reiner: Yeah. The leather is just on the zipper pull.

Myke Hurley: The pull. Gotcha. Thank you. But, yeah. I'm in. They're great looking.

Anna Reiner: Cool.

Myke Hurley: All right, Myke. Wrap up our portion of the gifts guide. Then we have a few listener questions we'll answer and then we'll get out of here.

Anna Reiner: Yeah.


Good Made Better Penwells[edit]

Brad Dowdy: I think one of my, the classiest products that I've had in a while and I think is a super fun accessory are the Good Made Better Penwells. I think it's a really fun little product to have on your desk. A lovely little like pen, just holder that looks like a classic penwell that you can just pop any pen into. You pop the cap into it and then you just rest your pen back in the cap. It's like a really fun, cute, but useful product. I'm a big fan of these.

Myke Hurley: And what he's doing now with the materials, like it's not just like wood. There's like some inlays in there, like some turquoise inlays. He does like frosted acrylic. He does, they're really, really cool. I'm keeping my eye out for like some of the like acrylic styles, like some of the real ceramic and acrylic looking ones that look very, very cool. So yeah, a very good choice.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Dan Keller runs Good Made Better and making really good stuff.

Myke Hurley: Good stuff. All right. And that's actually a really good gift item too. So very cool. All right. Let's hit a few of these listeners questions. And then I got shopping carts to complete. So the first one is from longtime listener Sebastian. Can you recommend an ink set for a person who has many fountain pens, both modern and vintage? I've seen Monteverde, Diamine, Pilot, Colorverse, and Ferris wheel sets online. And there are probably others that I've missed. I would like a set that is safe to use with any fountain pens with a mix of interesting colors, all presented in a box that looks good as a gift. My budget is between $100 and $200. Thank you. And happy holidays. So Ana, why don't you start with this? Because you had a little note in here, and I think you're very correct in what you're saying.

Anna Reiner: So I made a note here, and we did talk about a couple others sort of earlier on. But my instinct is to say that of all of the ones, if you're looking to put ink into a vintage pen, the only one that I would feel comfortable with would probably be Diamine. But I would not recommend putting any of the super sheening inks or any of the shimmer inks into a vintage pen. But Diamine, sort of across the board, is one of the inks that I most frequently recommend to people who kind of want to use an ink in all sorts of fountain pens. And I'm usually most comfortable with recommending it as least likely to stain pens or cause any sort of feed issues. It tends to be sort of in the middle in terms of wetness or dryness. But like some of those sets, like the ink vent calendar that they did, includes some of their super sheeners and some of the shimmer inks, which look really fun. But again, I probably would not recommend putting those into any of the vintage pens. Yep.

Myke Hurley: And I'll second that. And Diamine offers some sets currently that you can find, like the guitar set, like the Gibson set, the music, the other music set that they offer. There was a flower set recently. I don't know if those were scented or were they just basic colors? I can't remember.

Anna Reiner: I think those are just basic colors.

Myke Hurley: But Diamine sets are very nice. And they're all like in that $100 price range. Like I would love to tell you, you can still get the Pilot 100th Anniversary ink set if you were only using modern pens. But I would be hesitant to use the Orochizuku in vintage pens with sacks. Not that there's been any like direct problem, but you hear things every now and then. Like I use Orochizuku in everything modern, but I'd be a little bit tentative. So I would stick with the Diamine, like Ana was saying. Yeah.

Anna Reiner: And some of those, like the more modern inks, I will play with with a vintage pen, but I tend to just dip the nib. And it will pull up some of the ink into the feed. So you'll be able to write for a good half a page or a page. But then I will clean them out immediately because I don't want them in the feed. But I'm not using really expensive vintage pens. They're often things that I picked up at an auction. Usually one of those auctions where we've had a couple of beers and I'm like, sure, I'll pay $30 for that. Okay. And then I'm like, I wonder if this thing writes.

Anna Reiner: So anyway. All right.


Mechanical Pencil[edit]

Brad Dowdy: Who we got next, Myke? This next question comes from Peny. I'm looking for a very nicely weighted mechanical pencil for my daughter-in-law. She just loves her pencils. For Christmas, she asked for a Platinum Pro. Use mechanical pencil for Christmas. She's being frugal. She likes nice quality. The description of the pen reads very well. I would really appreciate it if you read the description and tell me if you can suggest or offer me anything that is more interesting and unique. I have a budget of around $50 but can't spend any more than $65. I thank you so very much for helping me find this fantastic woman a nice surprise. Also, if you would, in a few words, let me know if her requested pencil is okay only because I'm being curious. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you from Peny.

Myke Hurley: Her requested pencil is absolutely amazingly well designed. I adore it. I love it. I think you might have a long-term issue with the grip section. It's a little slick. The way they build that pen, the pencil, excuse me. I have the pen model of that. It's fantastic. It is just great looking. I would put you on the Rotring 800. That's at the top end of your budget. You can get it for in the 50s. And you get it without the, not the 800 plus with the stylus tip. That one's not worth it. But the 800 is well weighted, like the 600 model that Myke recommended earlier. It looks cool. It's not flashy, right? But it's tradition, you know, German design. But it has a retractable pipe. And that is key if you're going to use a pencil for a long-term gift to have that retractable pipe in the pencil to protect it a little bit more. Especially if you're spending that much on a pencil, like around 50. I think you can get the 800 for around $50. It's cool looking. It's got a retractable tip. So you can protect that lead pipe from bending or breaking. And it's really good. I love the Pro Use. I don't think you will be as happy long-term with it as you would with the 800. Plus the Pro Use is a little bit wider diameter. And I think the wider you get on a mechanical pencil, the less enjoyable. Um, writing with one is. So that's my take. That's just me personally. Um, and I feel pretty confident in that answer. That's like where you want to go as opposed to the Platinum Pro Use. But, you know, I, I wouldn't discount the Platinum Pro Use either. So, you know. Um, so, um, I think the, the 800 would be my answer in that.

Brad Dowdy: And I lost a question. Oh, go on, Anna.

Anna Reiner: Oh, I said, I've read through the reviews of the Platinum Pro Use. And it mentioned that the, um, pipe was retractable on it as well. Mm-hmm. And you could actually adjust the length of the pipe depending on sort of like what types of, um, graphite you were using. So it sounds like there's good options with it. And so if she wanted something that was a little bit less expensive, it seems like probably a good, like, entry level into, um, those sort of drafting pencils. But, yeah, I'm, I, my instinct was to go with the Rotring 600, which the, you can retract the pipe on that one too, right? Or is it just the 800?

Myke Hurley: The 600 you cannot. The 800 you can't. Okay, yeah.

Anna Reiner: So then I would say the 800 as well.

Myke Hurley: If you like the features, like the adjustable pipe length, the, the, um, I think it's the, who makes the Pro Mecha? I think it's Statler. Uh, there's one called the Pro Mecha, M-E-C-H-A, where you can adjust every part of the length. Of the pipe and, uh, how far the lead extends. And it's in the $35-ish range. I'd have to look. I'm, I'm just doing this off the top of my head. We'll put that link in the show notes as well. So it's got those bells and whistles. I want to say Pro Mecha. Yeah.

Anna Reiner: Mecha.

Myke Hurley: Mecha. Sorry.

Myke Hurley: So, yeah, it has all, like, the bell and whistle adjustments. Um, and it's a very nice, durable, um, mechanical pencil. I know Jeff, uh, uses that one a bunch because it has all these varying lengths of pipe and varying lengths of, uh, lead deployment that you can adjust all these things. It's pretty wild.

Brad Dowdy: This one's wild looking.

Myke Hurley: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Brad Dowdy: All right. So let's see if we can find an answer to this question. I'm not sure. I think we have the right person. I don't know. I don't know. We're going to have to hope somebody out there could know. Sarah asks, are there any holiday cards that were particularly Fountain Pently? Fountain Pendly? Oh, my gosh. Wow. Fountain Pen Friendly. Fountain Pendly? That is a brand right there. But anyway, Fountain Pen Friendly paper. If you know of bulk or packs of cards that are, that feature Fountain Pendly paper, that would be exceptionally helpful. Sarah didn't say Pendly. I did.

Anna Reiner: I like Pendly. Fountain Pendly? FountainPendly.com? Somebody go out there and buy that one.

Brad Dowdy: I could get that right now. Do it.

Anna Reiner: So Skylab Letterpress, I don't know if you're familiar with that, does have a few holiday cards. They're a little skewed, but they do have to pass through my hands before they leave the shop. So we do test to make sure that they are Fountain Pen Friendly. There is a T-Rex holiday card that is quite charming and is available in a pack of four. It's on Etsy. And then there's a couple others. There's some that are very oddball. I don't know of a ton of people who go through the trouble of making sure that they use Fountain Pendly paper. We've gone through the trouble just because, you know, Bob has to suffer with me around and I'm like, give me that paper. Let me see if it works. Because, like, especially with letterpress, the qualities that work for letterpress, which is soft paper that will allow the pressure of the press to press into the paper, is not the same quality that we want for writing with fountain pen ink, which is harder paper with more surface material to keep the ink from settling into the paper. So it's, like, conflicting interests. So, like, things like letterpress, you know, the same thing with, like, digital offset paper. They want the ink to sit on the paper a certain way, which is not the same way that Fountain Pen Ink wants to sit on the paper. So it can be a challenge to find that, like, sort of perfect sweet spot. But I have to confess, I also work at this very large greeting card company. I don't know if you guys have ever seen or heard of it. It kind of has this crown logo. But I have tested a lot of things. Obviously, any of the coded cards are not going to work. That's going to require a ballpoint pen. But any of them that have the little lining sheet on the inside, those have been tested and work fairly well with fountain pens. Just saying I've actually tested this. And some of our newer cards are now printed on higher-end paper. So those are a little bit, they withstand a little bit better. But, of course, we do tend to put, like, shiny, sparkly stuff on the inside. And that starts to diminish the ability for it to hold ink and things. So, especially with, like, pack cards, I would recommend always having, like, at least one that you use to, like, test out pens and see if they work. Or, like, test on the back of the card, you know, where the logo and stuff is before you, like, write out your messages.

Anna Reiner: Because that's, you know, you never want to, like, actually be writing, like, I love you, Mom! And then have all the ink go everywhere. And you're like, crap! So, like, on the back, you know, just a couple little marks on the back to make sure that the ink's not going to spread beforehand. Or, you know, maybe write on your cards with rollerball or gel pen. You know, this may be the case where you're, like, for your Christmas cards and stuff. Like, find that lovely Lamy ballpoint pen that Brad recommended.

Myke Hurley: You know, go that route. We need to get you a cooler refill. At least get some sparkly gel.

Anna Reiner: There you go. Some of those fun gel pens. We all have a drawer full of them somewhere.

Myke Hurley: We do. We do. And only pen addicts would ask these types of questions because these are the answers we need in all of our stationary usage. And we hope we provided some good answers for your gift-giving needs this holiday season. I think we did pretty good. Oh, yeah. Pat ourselves on the back on this one. Absolutely. I'm very happy with this episode.

Anna Reiner: One more quick tip. If you're addressing your envelopes for the holidays, address them before you put your cards in them in case the ink leaks through. Or put a piece of paper inside the envelope so that it doesn't leak through to the other side.

Myke Hurley: Very advanced tip right there that I can totally get behind. I love it.

Brad Dowdy: All right. There are a lot of links in our show notes for this week's episode. You can sign them in your podcast app of choice or on the web at relay.fm slash penaddict slash 387. It's the best place to go and do that. If you want to find Brad online, you can go to penaddict.com, knock.co, where, of course, there are many other products to put in your stocking. Am I right, Brad?

Myke Hurley: Very, very much. Go check out the Tallulah. The new color is awesome.

Brad Dowdy: All right. So, there's one to go check out at knock.co. You can find Anna over at wellappointeddesk.com as well. And there's links there to buy all of Anna's wonderful wares. Also, this show is part of Relay.fm. You can go to relay.fm slash shows where you can find many more podcasts which may tickle your fancy. I want to thank our sponsors again for this week's episode, which is Squarespace, Moo, and Hello. And we'll be back next time. Until then, say goodbye, everybody.

Anna Reiner: Goodbye, everybody.

Brad Dowdy: Goodbye, everybody.

Anna Reiner: Wow, we did that way off time.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, we can fix it in the edit.

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