The Pen Addict 575/transcript

The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript
Episode:	575
Title:	SUPERSHOW
Release Date:	August 2nd, 2023
Hosts:	Brad Dowdy Myke Hurley
Guests:	No guests this episode
Additional Information
Official page:	Episode 575
Audio File:	Audio Episode 575
Podcast page:	The Pen Addict 575
Length:	4747 min <br />0.783 h <br /> minutes
Previous Transcript	Next Transcript

Myke Hurley: From RelayFM, this is The Pen Addict, episode 574. Today's show is brought to you by Ooni Pizza Ovens. My name is Myke Hurley and I'm joined by the District of Columbia himself, Brad Dowdy.

Brad Dowdy: Oh, wow. That is a large area that I'm covering all by myself.

Myke Hurley: You are the District of Columbia, yep.

DC Pen Show week

Brad Dowdy: I am in full District of Columbia mode. It is DC Pen Show week, which is going to compromise the majority of our show today. Talking about my excitement level heading into this show, which I'll go ahead and spoil it. It's pretty high. Like, I'm feeling pretty, pretty positive about this, which those words don't always line up with DC. So we will talk about that later. But first, Myke, I have to wonder, how many episodes in a row can we report in on the Muji polycarbonate fountain pen?

Myke Hurley: I guess until it ends, Claire from Toronto could not find a Muji polycarbonate on their visit to their Muji store. Matt from Tokyo, who was in Tokyo, was saying at the Shinjuku Station Lumine Muji store, there was both the polycarbonate and aluminium fountain pen. And at the Shibuya Muji store, they had the polycarbonate.

Brad Dowdy: All right. So y'all know where to go now. Toronto? No. Tokyo. At least two shops. Yes. I don't know how many Mujis are in Tokyo, I imagine. Many, many, many, many shops. But they're there in Tokyo. Makes sense, given that they're coming from Platinum. Although, yeah, gosh, I would like, is there an interview out there with the people behind Muji? I just want to hear from the Muji stationery people. It's like, how do they coordinate all this with all these different vendors and getting these barrels made and making all this stuff happen?

Myke Hurley: Well, I think you're seeing it's with difficulty.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Yeah. Like, I totally just distracted myself thinking about this. It's like, okay, they're the Japanese stores. They're obviously getting this platinum pen. So let's just focus on this one specifically. It is a platinum shape, which makes me think that the white barrel comes from a platinum factory, right? Because those molds are not cheap and they want to use what they already have existing. The nib is stamped from platinum. So is all this coming? Is this one pen coming out of Platinum's factory or is this coming out of somewhere else? And then multiply that by literally every pen that they make with all these different manufacturers and making their own barrel. So I've just ruined my day. I'm going to have to think about this a little bit more after the show. But Muji's always been not secretive. It's just it's what they do, right? It's what they do well, right? And it's kind of cool that they can bring these great goods to more people and at good prices. And it's just basically like the store brand products, right? The generics. But you still get the good stuff on the inside. So I just find the whole thing fascinating. So anyway, thank you all for the updates from, again, around the world. This time Toronto and Tokyo, which is amazing. Amazing to me.

Uniball discussion and listener question

Myke Hurley: I have a Uniball question for you from Ronald. Yeah. Who was like thinking about our last episode, we spoke about Uniball a bunch. I'm writing to ask or to say, I've suddenly realized that Uniball doesn't offer fountain pens. Is this correct? Do you have any understanding why other global brands have fountain pens in their product range?

Brad Dowdy: Such a good question. And this came up in my Q&A session.

Myke Hurley: Oh, okay.

Brad Dowdy: In response to a general question, what would you like to see us do? What do you want that we don't do? And my answer was not fountain pens. Does that surprise you that I would say that?

Myke Hurley: I don't think so.

Myke Hurley: Because I think what I'm getting from you, what you're suggesting is just stick to what you're good at. Like, don't try and do something that you're probably not going to be able to compete on.

Brad Dowdy: That's exactly right. Yeah. And they didn't, there was no like, well, we're working on this. There was like none of that. Like, there's not any secrets I'm withholding from y'all.

Brad Dowdy: But my feeling is that you're so good at what you do. Keep doing that. And you are so far behind if you launched a fountain pen today that you have no chance. It doesn't mean you can't do it. And you can't make an amazing Platinum Preppy competitor or amazing Platinum Play Zero competitor. Like, I'm not even thinking high end, right? This would be low end stuff. But like, Platinum and Pilot just have such a massive lead in this that I think your resources, it would just be throwing, you know, throwing bad money into the project, right? Like, you're so good at what you do right now. And you continue to innovate with what you do right now. Keep working there. And I'm not saying to never make a fountain pen, but I don't think it's mandatory by any stretch. And then I also brought up the point, this is where, I don't know if I brought this up directly in the room, but I feel like I might have. But this was around the time when Pelican was going through their sale and Joshua Danley over at the Pelican's Perch was reporting on that. And we talked about how small the fountain pen, the luxury writing market was for Pelican in the overall scheme of things. Like, how it affected the bottom line or the percentage of sales it was for the bottom line. It was like 10% or less, like for a sizable company. And Utiball is way bigger than Pelican, I'm guessing. Like, it just doesn't make any sense for them to jump into the fountain pen market.

Myke Hurley: So, I mean, you know, all I would say is unless, like, unless they have some genius idea. Like, you know, like imagine the Kuru Toga of fountain pens, like whatever that might be. You know, like the Kuru Toga is such a smart idea and was like, wow, how did nobody think about this before? Unless they have an idea like that for fountain pens, which I'm not really sure is a thing that you could have. But if they did, it's like, all right, well, you've got something. Like, let's bring it to the market and see what it's all about. But I don't, I would doubt that there is an insight like that to be had.

Brad Dowdy: Yep. And I would love that. Like, I would like nothing more than to Uniball to make something interesting fountain pen wise. But that was my, that was my commentary when the question came up in the room. And like, I'm pretty definitive in that statement. Unless they can do like what you're saying, then I would be all for it. Like, believe me, I would want a Uniball fountain pen just as much as anyone else. But like, if you're starting from scratch today, man, I can't imagine that would be a smart decision. No. All right, Myke. It is, I guess, this cracks me up so much. And I guess it's planner season officially. Please don't. Please don't. I can't handle this right now. I just can't handle it, Brad. Like, I can't. I just can't. So I wrote this in the document because the Hobonichi launch time always marks the beginning of planner season for me when I start thinking about it being planner season. But then also at the same time, I'm like you, is there really a planner season anymore? When companies will be out there saying, hey, it's National Popsicle Day. We're launching a new planner with a May 27th start date. Let's go. Right? Like, that's where we're at with planners right now. It's like we have a new May 27th start to honor National Popsicle Day. So if you want to jump in on a planner, here's your 12-month planner starting on May 27th. It's like all the time with these companies. But I do look at Hobonichi a little bit differently as a leader in this space. And I do find their commentary either literal, like, commentary, which we're going to get to in a minute, or their design commentary, right? Like, what are they designing towards and how are they making products? I find that endlessly interesting. So it really doesn't launch until September. That's normally when I think of new planners. And that's when Hobonichi sales starts, September 1st. But again, like I think we talked about it last year. Like, there's no way I could decide on, like, a planner in August or September for the following year. Plus, I'm exceedingly happy. Like, I don't even need to look at planners this year. Like, I'm super content with where I'm at. But it's always a great time of year for stationery people, especially people that are into journaling and planning. And what Hobonichi did this year is they're doing 31 days of previews. Leading up from August.

Myke Hurley: Can I just stop you there for a second? Yeah. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: Okay. I want you to put yourself in my shoes, right? Yeah. Myke Hurley opens the show notes. It's early in the morning. He's tired. Opens the show notes and looks at what's written down here. I had a terrifying, I had a very scared moment looking at these show notes. Do you know why?

Brad Dowdy: No. No.

Planner season and Hobonichi launch

Myke Hurley: Okay. So, we have the show notes here. So, Brad's got planner season, Hobonichi launch. You know, they're doing the 31 days. It says they got their own online calendar, which with daily updates leading into a September launch. Like, it's their marketing plan. They're giving you, like, here's the next 31 days what we're doing. Day one, new theme. Okay. I nearly died, Brad Dowdy. I see it now. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: So, Hobonichi went with the theme system idea this year.

Myke Hurley: That was what, honestly, like, this is what's getting. It was just that they were going to use the idea of, like, themes. Yep.

Brad Dowdy: Yep. Yep. So, what they're doing, they're not doing that. No, they're not doing that. I see how I freaked you out momentarily now in retrospect. But they are basically doing kind of a slogan update, if you will. Yeah. So, they're calling it the 2024 new theme, but it's literally just like the new slogan for Hobonichi. So, the new slogan is life is present, right?

Myke Hurley: They're going to be hearing from my lawyers, though. I just want to know that. And all I'm going to ask for is Mother 3. That's what I'm going to ask for. Okay.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Fair enough. Fair enough. So, I think that should be deliverable from the upcoming lawsuit. So, did you know this is the 23rd year of Hobonichi Techa? That is wild. Yeah. So, I'm putting the link, putting a link to this main page where they're updating. And I'm actually going to talk about this because the first two days of updates on this page are really fascinating. So, the first one is this new slogan update, the life is present. And Shige Sato Itoi, who I don't know if, is this the CEO or president of Hobonichi? I don't know exactly. They don't list that. But his hair is on point. I just wanted to throw that out there. Like, that's part of the reason why I linked this because he has amazing hair, for one. That's some goals I'm looking forward to here pretty soon. So, and secondly, they go through some of the big picture ideas. Like, this is actually a really long article. And they go through some of the big picture ideas. Like, this one comment, we're always surprised when we see the rate at which our overseas audience grows each year. Right? So, like, this is good insight that I enjoy as a stationery consumer and as someone who is into this industry. They really break down what they think about in the big picture. Right? In the big picture. And, you know, Mr. Itoi, I can say, a made mother. But like I said, is he the, I can't remember if he's like the founder. I don't know his official Hobonichi title. But right. But he's who you're going to be suing when you get to it. But yeah. So, anyway. So, check out this introduction from him and talking about the ideas. Just like big picture concepts. Then they jump right into day two. Which is a very important update that I'm glad they went ahead and dropped. So, this is the paper update year. Right? So, this is what we alluded to last year that the paper is switching to the new Tomoe River S paper this year. So, that's what the second link dictates. So, it shows you which books are getting the new paper. There's actually going to be a couple of books that don't get the new paper. Still on the old paper. The Weeks is going to get the old paper. Because that's a smaller footprint notebook and journal. Right? It doesn't have as much paper. So, they probably still have some that they can use for the Weeks. It's going to have the old paper. But essentially, everything else is going to have the new Tomoe S paper. In addition, the Techo is getting a full English edition. Which they've done some English editions in the past. But, you know, with the Cousin and the Weeks, they had English editions in the past. It's now the normal, the classic A6 Techo is getting an English edition as well. So, and then there's a bunch of other updates on this page. I'm not going to go through the whole thing. One Piece. But, yeah. It's got the new One Piece. I like how they go ahead and drop that on day two. Like, hey, we're going to still work this. Like, that went extremely well. Like, we got a lot of feedback on that edition and the accessories that go with that. That's clearly been hugely successful for them. And I love, I made a note, like, mentally. It's like, oh, they're dropping this on, like, day two. Letting everyone know. It's like, yeah. That has gone well for them.

Myke Hurley: Hobonichi is such serious goals. Like, my word. Like, this is just, like, I can't even imagine, you know?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So, that brings me back to this, like, the whole point. I actually do care about planner season, not from, like, hey, I need a new planner. But I think Hobonichi is such an interesting company in how they operate, what they do, what they decide to create, how much they do, right? It is, every year, their product lineup, like, you never see all the things that they make because it's endless. But they seem to do such a good job. So, I thought I'd put that out there since that page launched a couple days ago. It's out in the wild now. And y'all should check it out if you're even interested in planners. But if you're not just interested in, like, the business of stationery, I get a lot out of what Hobonichi does each year. And I follow what they do pretty closely. Like, last year, we were talking about the paper differences. And one of the insights that they had was, well, one of the reasons we like this new paper is because the Pilot Friction is so popular, which, in Japan, which just blew my mind. And, like, you're telling me we're making journal decisions based on the Pilot Friction. And they're like, yes. And I'm like, wow. That's amazing insight for me, for someone like me who's really into this stuff. So, very cool. You know what other season it is, Myke?

Myke Hurley: What season?

Brad Dowdy: Pizza season.

Myke Hurley: You bet, baby. This episode is brought to you by Ooni Pizza Ovens. They are the number one pizza oven company in the world because they make a fantastic range of surprisingly small ovens powered by your choice of either wood, charcoal, gas, and they even have an electric model now, too, to let you make restaurant-quality pizza at home. You can make them in your own backyard. And the electric oven allows you also to cook these things indoors as well. So you can have fantastic pizzas for you, your friends, and your family all summer long. Ooni Pizza Ovens are incredibly easy to use. They're super portable and will fit into outside spaces. Ooni Pizza Ovens, they reach incredibly high temperatures. Like, we're talking about, like, up to 900 degrees Fahrenheit. This is what enables you to cook restaurant-quality pizza in as little as 60 seconds. That is the high temperature. Like, that high temperature, that's the key. That's the thing you need to separate these pizzas from what you can make in a conventional home oven. Uni have a wide range of products. One of their most popular is the Uni Coda 16, which will let you cook up to 16-inch pizzas, with an innovative L-shaped burner at the back to give you even heat distribution. The Uni Vault, which I mentioned, which is their new electric indoor and outdoor oven. They also have the multi-fueled Uni Karu as well, which can use wood, charcoal, or gas. But this is just a few of the options, let alone all of the accessories that Uni sell. You can get peels, cutters, thermometers, aprons, tables, and so much more. They also make an awesome app to help you perfect your dough recipe and give you loads of pizza-making tips. Brad, are you cooking up a storm in the Dowdy household right now?

Brad Dowdy: We are. And let me tell you, my favorite highlights of cooking in that oven is getting those crispy edges. Getting it on the crust. Getting it on the cheese. Getting it on, like, if you throw pepperoni or peppers on there. Getting that little, just that little char. While the rest of the pizza cooks perfectly, having that little edge on there. Oh, man. This is, like, I need to do this for lunch today. This is making me hungry.

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Shout out of the week leading into main topic

Brad Dowdy: All right. Shout out of the week, which is going to lead us into our main topic this week. Shout out of the week is my friend Myke. Not you. Not me. The other Myke at InkDependent. So Myke Madison runs InkDependent.com, a very popular YouTube channel. Myke is a good friend of mine. I've known him for a long time now. I will see him at the DC Pen Show. And the reason why I wanted to give him the shout out of the week is not only because I enjoy his content very much and his streams very much and his friendship very much, but that he is going to be at the DC Pen Show and he's holding a seminar. And the seminar is called Have You Seen My Bag? And he's doing a bag and backpack seminar. Which I thought was outstanding to have these different types of seminars on the schedule at the DC Pen Show. Right? So you can, you know, everyone probably at the Pen Show is carrying around a bag of some sort. So Myke is a bag expert. He buys a lot of different bags, backpacks, totes, camera bags, all these things. So he knows what goes into making a good bag. He has some ideas on that and he's going to share them in the seminar. The Have You Seen My Bag seminar. I think it's Saturday. Saturday. I'll have to look. So we'll have a link for the DC Pen Show seminars here in the show notes. But I want to say it's like Saturday afternoon, like three o'clock, something like that. So yeah, go check that out and go check out the DC Pen Show website because that is what we're going to talk about now, Myke. So DCPenShow.com. If you want to play along, we'll have the link in the show notes. This is the Super Show, Myke. Super Show. Sunday, Sunday, Sunday. Super Show. The self-glossed, the self-nicknamed Fountain Pen Super Show. If that is still the case in these modern times, I don't know. But you know what? I don't put it past them. This is a big, big behemoth of a Fountain Pen Show. The biggest I'm aware of, just in like vendor size, attendance. Yeah, there's other shows that are obviously close. And there's other shows that a lot of people say are better. But just in size and scope, Washington DC still has kind of the top of the heap, I guess. But even it's closer than ever. But I'm looking forward to it. It's been years since pre-pandemic times since I've been to the show. And getting ready for this show, not having been in probably four or five years, I noticed a couple of things that I'm happy to see. So DC, while I was running Knock, was a mandatory show for us, right? It was just the biggest. We do our most sales. It was just a great, great show.

Myke Hurley: It was what created the love-hate relationship, right? Like you couldn't avoid it, but it was just terrible to do from an organizational perspective.

Brad Dowdy: Yes. So they were historically poor organized.

Myke Hurley: A few times in my life have I seen Brad Dowdy angry. That is where I've seen you the most angry. It was that year when I was there. And we were trying to set up the night before, and it was just pandemonium.

Brad Dowdy: Yep. Like I don't think we got our table to the next day, and it was just like a tack-on area, like back in the heat. It was a rough, exhausting weekend. And I think a lot of vendors will just talk about the size and exhaustion kind of goes hand-in-hand with the show. It's a big, busy show. You're working a lot. And you're just like, by the time you're done every night, you're just like, I just want to sit down. I want to go.

Myke Hurley: It was proven in like, I mean, I did a bunch of shows with you, right? Like obviously you and Jeff did way more, but I was there for different shows and helping out at different places. That's the only show where we were completely sold out. Yep. We shut down. I think by like Sunday morning, which is quite a lot. Sunday morning. Because there was nothing to sell anymore.

Brad Dowdy: Yep. There wasn't. And that was the one also where like on Friday and Saturday, people could not physically get to our table because it was so pinched in the layout. So those were the before times and the bad times. I can't speak on the show because I haven't been there since around that time, but we're still at the same hotel. Last year they had their own challenges with hotel renovation, which you can't really put on the show promoters, but they were dealt a bad hand and kind of had to deal with that. I'm hoping, knock on wood, I haven't heard anything about like construction or weirdness in the show this year. We'll see how it goes. I'll actually be on site to discover this myself. But I will say, Myke, credit to the show promoters. The website's been updated. Remember how bad their website used to be? I mean, it was tragic. It wasn't one, basically. Yeah. Yeah. It was just basically like a GeoCities era website with no information. There's a lot of information on here. You can buy your tickets online. Yeah. I've bought my tickets online. They're going to have an interactive floor map. Like, they're just, it's, I'm pleased, right? Like, just, hey, I would like to come to your show. Can I do the things? Oh, yes. Here's how you book the hotel. Here's where you can order tickets. Here's the different ticket packages you can buy. Here's this. Here's that. I was like, huh, okay. Like, you are making it easy for me. That's meaningful to someone like me who's traveling to a pen show. And I think that's meaningful to everyone. Like, this is a show, if you're planning on going, even if you're just going one day, I would highly recommend buying tickets online, right? Like, it used to be a thing at the shows that you went to where you would go out Saturday morning and you would just get your camera out, start the video, and walk from the entrance to the end of the line. It would be like, you know, a couple hundred yards or something like that. It was just lines and lines and lines of people. So, I hope with online buying, you have your little QR code. Hopefully, you can just scan it and it's reasonable to get in. So, I am looking forward to it. What I'm most going into this show as, given my travel, right? So, I'll get there Friday afternoon, hope to get on the show floor by like one or two o'clock. And then, I'll be there all day Friday, all day Saturday, and then I won't be at the show Sunday. I leave Sunday morning. So, that is a short time frame for a really big and busy show. So, my word of the show is going to be discovery, right? Since I haven't been here in a while, there's going to be a lot of people that exhibit at this show that haven't been at some of the other shows I've gone to. Baltimore, Atlanta, Chicago, San Francisco last year. That I want to make a point to meet. One of the interesting things, and this is, again, shout out to the showrunners. They sent out an email. It's like, hey, look at all these international vendors we get, right? So, they actually sent out an email saying, hey, we're getting vendors from Canada, Croatia, France, Germany, Holland, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Turkey, and the UK. Like, they're making a point to promote these people that are making the effort to come to this show. So, and that's a lot of the people that I'm making a list to see at the show, right? So, I've even made a list in the show notes here, and we'll put them in here. But, like, London Pen Co. is someone I've followed on Instagram, and they make, you know, they make their own pens. They're actually from Canada. So, not your London, the Canadian London, Ontario, I'm guessing. You know what I mean? So, they get you. Yeah. You know, more astilos will be there, which they carry a pen called the Old One, which is not my type of pen, but it's a very famous, popular pen. And I'd like to see that, you know, there at the show. I think I screwed up these links in the show notes, as I'm finding out right now. But we will fix that moment. I will fix that momentarily. Leonardo Pen, the CEO of Leonardo Pen, Salvatore Matron, will be there, right? I don't know that I've ever talked to him in person, right? And Leonardo makes some of my most favorite pens in the world, right? Like, I love Leonardo Pen's. Leonardo's going to have representation there. Salvatore's going to be there. I want to meet him, right? I got to meet Toru from Toyococraft last year in San Francisco. I want to say hi to him again and thank him for coming to DC, right? Like, I really think about this type of stuff. You know, want to see, you know, the new stuff from Toyococraft. And I need to consider how big of a suitcase am I going to bring to see this. You know, then there's like, there's several designers from Turkey that are going to be here. Studio. Oh boy, I'm not going to get this well. Studio Aga Kakan. And, you know, they like custom make pens and NFP design. And, of course, my good friends at Galen Leather. I haven't seen Unis in a while, right? So, I'm making like a list and we're kind of like checking this out. One from the UK, Myke, Shibui North. So, I've seen her pens on several of the websites. Several Instagrams, people buying those pens from Shibui North. I want to see those. So, this is going to be a good event for me personally to see a bunch of things I haven't seen in person before. This is why I made the decision to go to D.C. and like alternate between D.C. and San Francisco. Because not everyone, like this has a good European focus. Even though we get a lot of Japanese representation, you know, or Asian market representation here. But not everyone from like Europe is going to make the jump all the way over to San Francisco. And the same with, you know, some of the Asian market from, you know, over to San Francisco, but not all the way to D.C. But you do get some crossover like Toyoka Craft. I know Nagasawa is going to be here.

Brad Dowdy: Kobe with Kobe Inks and things like that, which I think they've done the D.C. pen show before. So, it's great. And that's barely scratching the surface, right? Like I'm not talking about all the people that I want to see that I see all the time. Like Ian Schoen, you know, and Franklin Kristoff. And like all my favorite vendors, you know, Van S. Pens. And just on and on and on and on. I am going to have to take this show as I'm going to have to like put in the work on the Friday and Saturday I'm there and be pretty efficient to make sure I get done what I want to get done as far as visitation, conversation, seeing things, testing things, talking to people. This is going to be an extremely busy show for me. And so, I'm trying to get in that mindset where like if I go to Baltimore, like I've generally gone there every year. I know who's going to be there and I can just roll in even kind of without a plan and know I'm going to be able to get it done. At D.C., I don't know that I can walk in the door and think that, right? Like I have to think about, hey, you know, am I going to go see Hugh and Carol from Canalea? When am I going to see, you know, Jonathan Brooks, right? Like all the people I normally see, but I want to see what new stuff do they have? What are they up to? You know, what kind of, you know, even if I've talked to people regularly, I still want to know what's going on. What the hell's the show going? So, it's going to be a very busy show and I'm actually pretty hyped about that, right? Like I'm very excited to go. I don't know if you could tell just by the way I'm talking about it. Like I am really, really anxious to get rolling on this show and just crossing my fingers that it's going to be good. I have a feeling like it should be completely fine, but I'll be there to find out for myself for a change. So, that's the game plan, at least the start of a game plan. That's the framework of my thought process heading into the D.C. Pen show. So, like when I get to the hotel, like from the airport, I'll drop off my bags and it's go time and it won't stop until I leave Sunday morning. So, I'm really, really excited. What I don't have ready yet is my own packing. And when I say everything I just said out loud, I don't need to pack hardly anything at all, right? As far as stationery, like things to bring of myself, right? Like I'm going to bring almost nothing. I'll bring like one of my spoke pens, my roadie, which I like to travel with, you know, maybe a couple of fountain pens that I'm using. And that's about it. I'll bring an empty case or two, you know, my Sinclair cases, like the Rickshaw Sinclair cases. Like I'm going to bring an empty one, maybe two empty ones.

Shopping plans and pen show purchases

Brad Dowdy: I'm not planning on spending a lot, but I do have a list, which we're going to get into in a minute. But like I'm going to bring a couple of pens. I'm going to bring my plotter as my paper and a half empty suitcase. Like I just can't decide if I'm going to have like a roller board that's half empty or go all the way and do like a medium sized check-in suitcase that's half empty. Because I know there's going to be a lot of stuff to haul back. Like this is going to be a good show for work to get a lot of products for review for the rest of the year. Right. So I will end up with a lot of, you know, things like I don't have much personal stuff that I'm looking for, but I will end up with a ton of stuff that's going to be review goods. So I just got to decide how much space do I need? Because I don't need to pack much else. Right. Like I'm there two nights. Like it's, it's very minimal from like a personal perspective. So just can I carry everything home? So my shopping list is very short right now. There's one thing that I've been waiting for this show all year to grab, even though I've had opportunities throughout the year. I'm finally going to get a shown design Monarch nib. Oh, okay. Yeah. It's time. Why? Like it's because he keeps adding like these new colors, new anodizations. I'm hoping he's going to have some finer tips on there. If not, I know I can get a, the tip modified. I've talked to Gina at Custom Nib Studio. They do that. And they have, they've done enough Monarch nibs to feel comfortable modifying that. And I've tested one of theirs before and loved it. So now I can get the color that I want, hopefully. So this is like, I will do this immediately on Friday afternoon. Right. Because I know Ian will be insanely busy all weekend. I just want to get that done. And that's going to be like a big chunk of my budget. That's going to cost me like three, $400. Right. These nibs are expensive. I just have to decide, do I bring like one of my barrels that this fits in? Or do I buy a new barrel?

Brad Dowdy: It's probably going to buy a new barrel, right? Like, let's be honest. But I have, I have a peak barrel. I have an Ultem barrel and I have an aluminum barrel that all of these, this nib will fit in. So I'm just trying to decide, do I want to commit the budget for a new barrel? If I'm going for the pin, you know, and I'm going to get like a wild color. Well, maybe I get a wild barrel to match. Who knows, Myke?

Myke Hurley: I mean, it wouldn't be bad to at least check, you know?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. I'm probably not going to bring my own barrels, but so I'll probably end up with something new. New from Ian, because like every show I go to, like he has escalated quickly with the awesomeness of like just the pin barrels, not to mention the nib stuff. So I'm going to get a bunch of stuff from Ian. He's got some other things going on too, some pin cleaning syringes and things like that. I wanted to make sure I get, get a hold of. Something else that went on my shopping list just yesterday, which Instagram has been good for like DC pin show prep. If I can see like what people are up to, what they're bringing to the show. So Sugar Turtle Studio, who I just met for the first time in Baltimore, they make really, really fun, like stationery, like accessories type stuff. They collaborated with Diamine to make some custom Sugar Turtle Studio inks, which are very neat colors, like a pink and a teal, which are kind of like my jam. Like even though like I probably got a million of both of these colors, I'm 100% getting these from Sugar Turtle Studio. So check them out if you're looking for some fun color Diamine inks. And you should watch your wallet at Sugar Turtle Studio. They're going to get you with all of their awesome accessories. So Tom is great. And I really, really look forward to seeing him again at the show.

Brad Dowdy: That's kind of it. Like that's dedicated shopping. I know I'm spending this. Like the Monarch nib is going to be very expensive. So like I'm not really looking for much else other than that for me personally, right? Then I have the whole other, you know, hey, review stuff, blog stuff, all that stuff. That's a completely separate, separate deal. So I did see again on Instagram. Something I want to look at is the pin family had an Instagram post, which was just text. And it was saying like they're making some changes. They're going to have a bunch of deals, a bunch of sales. A lot of their brands, Armando Simone, Wall Ever Sharp, a lot of the brands that they carry are just pins that are too large for me. So I'm not hoping for something different. But their post said, Italian craftsmanship, Japanese precision. And knowing me, that's like how you get me to come visit your table. So Italian celluloid pins, Japanese nibs, but I don't know more specifics than that. Like it's a teaser. So like that's on the list, right? So that's how this weekend is going to go. It's I'm going to go in. I'm going to handle business real quick. And then we're going to get to work. Like this is a work weekend for me. There's a lot of people I need to see. A lot of people I need to meet. A lot of discussions I need to have. A lot of products I need to come home with. And I am really, really excited. And that is before I get to hang out with all my friends and meet people who are coming to the show. And help people find products and things that they want. So I'm never too busy for anyone to just come up and say hi at any time. Please interrupt me. If you have questions, I want to help you. That's more important to me than anything. Especially if it's your first show or you're looking for something specific. And I can help you find something or point you in the right direction or get you in front of the right person. Or answer any questions you have. That is my number one goal at any pen show that I'm attending when I'm walking around. I am there to help anyone who needs it. That is the most important thing to me. That's how I have the most fun. That's how I get the most enjoyment. Is making other people happy. And helping them have a great experience at a pen show. So please, if you see me, come say hi. Don't hesitate. Interrupt me. Anything. So I look forward to being there this weekend. And I'm ready. If you couldn't tell, I'm ready to go. Public service, Brad.

Brad Dowdy: That is my biggest move. And it's probably as hard at this show as any. Right? Just from the size of it and the volume of people. Right? It's pretty difficult.

Myke Hurley: How long are you there?

Brad Dowdy: Literally Friday afternoon, all day Saturday. Leave Sunday morning. So I won't be. Basically not at the show Sunday. Right. Right. That limits my time. But I'll be at the hotel Friday night and Saturday night. I'm going out to eat Friday night. That's the only off-site plans I have. I'm going to, after the show, go grab some dinner. Because there's not a lot of options directly right there. And then I'll be back at the hotel Friday. I know there's some events Saturday night that Kenra is putting on. I'll be there. So just going to hang out a bunch. So that is the goal. So I genuinely can't wait. I'm super excited.

Myke Hurley: I'm pretty jealous, to be honest. I'm too far overdue on a pen show. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: We're going to fix that. We're going to fix that.

Myke Hurley: I hope so.

Brad Dowdy: Somehow.

Listener questions and stationery preferences

Myke Hurley: Somehow. Let's round out a couple of our TPA questions today. All right. First comes from Daniel, who says, I got into stationery things a couple of months ago and I bought a huge amount of fountain pens, inks, papers, mechanical pencils. And now I've got my sights on regular pencils, like wood pencils and sharpeners. This is all getting out of hand. I love that I can choose so broadly what pens I want to use every day. But I feel sad about not having that pen, ink or lead that I want to use every day. Something that I really, really love and connect with. How do I start loving what I have?

Brad Dowdy: Love this question, right? Like, I really appreciate Daniel asking this question. And it's not easy, right? And this is something that all of us go through that have been in the stationery game for a long time. That there's so much to discover. And the questions you want to end up asking yourself is, what am I trying to accomplish when I write? And I don't mean like, you know, I'm trying to write the next novel or I'm trying to do my homework or I'm taking notes. But how you want the pen or pencil to feel on the page to give you the best results when you write. So you can try all this stuff, right? And we all have just gobs of stuff laying around. And some of those things are better for you, for your handwriting, for the type of notes you take or the writing you do than others. So figure out why this one pen is better than this other one. Is it because, in my case, is it because it's an extra fine nib as opposed to a medium nib? Where a medium nib has a rounder tipping and it doesn't make my lines as clean. Because I have a print style handwriting that looks the best when it has a nice sharp edge on the lines. Because extra fine nibs, solve that for me. Stub nibs, solve that for me. Medium, rounded, tipped nibs do not solve that for me. Broad nibs do not solve that for me. So that goes through like a period of testing and figuring out what are the products that work best for me and why. So when you discover how you use things for your daily use and why you have a preference of the things you already own over other things you already own. And then you can really narrow down like why this product, why I enjoy this product so much. And then you can explore within that category, right? All of us start out very broad in the stationery world. Trying all the pens, trying all the papers, trying to answer all the questions, trying to test all the things, not wanting to miss out on anything, all that stuff. But in the end, I'd say universally everyone kind of dials in back, you know, more narrow into this works for me because of this specific reason. And I'm going to continue to use that more. So you need to ask yourself those questions, right? Why do I like this pen so much? Why do I dislike this pen so much? And then you just start kind of whittling down these answers and then you find the one. Then you find that pen or that ink or that paper or that pencil that is the best for you. So you just have to look inwards a little bit, ask yourself those questions and narrow it down from there. So that's how I approach this question.

Myke Hurley: I mean, I'm kind of the same. And I actually think that I've basically achieved this, like by and large, right? Like I add so little to my collection now. I have the things that I know that I like and I'm choosing to enjoy them. But I do think that it takes time of experiencing lots of different things until you either find the thing that's really important, you should say, or that you realize you've already got what you like.

Brad Dowdy: Exactly. And that's why you can just rewind right back to my Washington, D.C. shopping list. What I'm buying for myself, I want a nib, right? From Ian. That's my list for what I need. I'm not going, I need this Platinum, this Sailor, this Leonardo, this Franklin Kristoff, right? Which in the before, I would have like 10 things on like, hey, I'm going to buy this for me list. Now it's like, I know what I want. I have what I want mostly already, right? Like, believe me, I've got more pens than anybody and more access to more pens than anybody. I am not in like a need mode for my personal collection, right? So, yeah, it's a good place to be when you start solving those problems. And I think, Daniel, you will get there. Like you just figure out, you really have to look at what's working best for you and start narrowing down from there.

Myke Hurley: Tim asks, there are many, many lists out there for the best Parker style refills. Because of this, I've accumulated many, many Parker style refills. I'm wondering if you have some ideas, perhaps a top five or favorite bodies and barrels that take the Parker refill. What should I buy to put these refills in?

Brad Dowdy: I mean, shout out Spoke Pin Rohde. Like, that's just a lock. That is one pin that is traveling with me. I have the Rohde stainless steel with the orange Delrin cap. That's my favorite pin currently until we make my next favorite pin. And it fits the Parker style Jetstream SXR 600 refill, which is Jetstream's Uniball's Parker style international G2 style refill. That's my favorite, obviously, but I'm biased. I like the tactile turn short. I think that's the, I always get the name confused, but that fits. That's another one that fits the Parker style. That's one of my favorites. Don't overlook the Parker Jotter as just a classic, literally Parker pin. They're inexpensive. They're about $10 or maybe $8 for just like the basic plastic barrel, metal, metal top. Retractable pin. Highly recommended by the office ladies as well. And lastly, the Karen Dash 849 is a personal favorite of mine. That's a more classically styled, smaller. It's not exactly relatively inexpensive, but it's like, you know, you can get them in like the $20 range for the basic models. And they go on up from there up into like the $50s, depending on, you know, the types of colors. They release a bunch. And that fits their Goliath refill, which I do enjoy. But that's a Parker style refill, so you can swap it in and out if you find a color or a style of the $849 that you like. That's one of my, one of my, another one of my favorites. So, um, two stock options there, the Parker, classic Parker Jotter or the Karen Dash 849 and then two maker models in the spoke roadie and the tactile term short, I believe it's called.

Myke Hurley: Beautiful answer. Mm-hmm. Some good options there. Because like the Karen Dash has a sprinkling of like maker in it with its design, you know, like. Yeah. There's so many special editions and weird and wonderful ones. Right. It's kind of fun.

Brad Dowdy: Yep. I think it's a great pen. It's just so classic, but they have been able to modernize it in, in ways that like not a lot of companies have been able to execute what they do as well as they have, which is why I like them so much.

Myke Hurley: If you would like to send in a question of your own for us to answer in a future episode of the show, just go to penaddictfeedback.com. That's penaddictfeedback.com. You can send us your Ask TPA questions there along with follow-up and any feedback and I guess maybe get some questions in for Brad about his pen show experience at the DC Pen Show. You'll be able to find Brad roaming the halls of the hotel, you know, at night like a ghost. So if you're there, you'll be able to find him.

Brad Dowdy: You will not find me at 1 a.m. in the hotel. That I can promise you.

Myke Hurley: I don't know, man. We'll see. You know, you never know. These pen shows can get wild. They can. They can. If you want to find Brad online, go to spokedesign.com. He's also penaddict over on Instagram and Mastodon and Threads. You can also go to penaddict.com as well. I am iMike. I am Y-K-E. And you can find me over at cortexbrand.com and the products that I make there. Thanks so much to Unipizza Ovens for their support of this show. And thank you for listening. Until next time, say goodbye, Brad. Goodbye, Brad.

Myke Hurley: Thank you for listening. Thank you for listening.