The Pen Addict 599/transcript

From RelayFM, this is The Pen Addict, episode 599. Today's show is brought to you by Squarespace and Enigma Stationery. My name is Myke Hurley and I'm joined by Brad Dowdy. Hi, Brad. Hi, Myke. How are you? I'm good, my friend.

I'm very good. How are you? Yeah, I'm pretty good, too. Yeah, wow. Episode 599. I guess I need to work on doing something special next week. I don't know. I actually have kind of like a funny one-off idea that I think we might do next week that I'll have to get you to put in. 10 minutes of work ahead of time.

I mean, I usually put in more than that, so I can do 10 minutes. Okay, so 11 minutes. Yeah, 10 and a half minutes. Well, more of planning.

I did 15 minutes of show notes research this morning, so I don't know what to tell you. Nice, and I put you to the task last week, too, so you've been stepping up, man. I appreciate it. I appreciate it. Well, let's jump right into it, then. Speaking of stepping up, Helicon M200 Orange Delight, Myke.

Are you kidding me? What the hell? You know? Yeah, this dropped like right after the show last week or the day after the show, so I've been sitting on this for, you know, a good week or so thinking about what Pelican has done here. And I gotta say, wow, right?

Like, I am a Pelican lover. I'm not a Pelican user. And those two things can coexist, right? Right? I can love everything a brand does, but the brand may not be for me for a particular reason.

In Pelican's case, their gold nibs generally are not my style, no matter even if I get them, like, worked on, tweaked, things like that. I've gone through plenty. I've bought and sold many a Pelican in my day, and they're just not for me. Like, I get it.

This one, though, not only do they have me at the orange, the orange and translucent barrel, so it has a solid orange cap and grip section and piston knob, and then the center of barrel is translucent orange. It is in the M200 model, which has a steel nib.

Now, the steel nibs are kind of the game changer for me. If this was a 400 model, which is the same size, they're smaller size, but features a gold nib, I probably would not consider this pen, just based on past experience. No matter how much I love how a Pelican looks, like, I've learned my lesson time and time and time again, or some would say haven't learned my lesson because I continue to buy them, but this steel nib is going to be perfect, I think, for me, and I think I'll probably just get, like, an extra fine steel nib, and I will probably get it ground into, like, some form of cursic italic.

It's a gold-plated steel nib. Yeah, yeah. Okay. So, it's gold trim. That was confusing to me, yeah. So, with Pelican, they do actually do a decent job with their naming conventions, although there is some mixing and matching in there.

If it's a 2, like if it's an M200, that means steel. So, the 200 is a certain size and means steel nib. So, the M400 is the exact same size pen, but has a gold nib. So, anything with a 2 in the first column is a steel nib pen.

I like when people color a nib, right? So, like, it fits with the pen. I think gold should be not used for that, though, because it is confusing. Like, I look at this pen and I'm like, that's a gold nib.

But it isn't. Right, right, right. And that's different, right? And so, like, yeah, I feel like maybe trying to lay off gold unless it's actually gold, I think it would be a better rule of thumb. But this pen wouldn't look as good with a silver nib, like, that's for sure.

I fully agree with that. Like, this has to have gold. I don't know. Enough companies do gold trim nibs to match, like, the gold trimmings, the hardware on the pen that I've never found that to be an issue. I get that it's just like you're saying I have a ballpoint pen.

Yeah. While technically correct, it may not be a ballpoint pen. This pen has a gold nib, but it's a gold color nib. Or I always try to define it when I review a product like this. I always say gold plated, gold plated, gold plated over and over again.

And that still doesn't, like, completely, like, clear things up. Like, if someone is really not super familiar with how these things work, they still might think, oh, well, that still means it's gold. And it's not. But, yeah, like, it has to, I, as much of a silver trim fan as I am, this is, this has to be gold.

It looks so good. It looks so good. So, yeah, it's, it is interesting, though, the terminologies that we use and how crystal clear can you be? You know, how much, you know, do they want to say in the marking?

Believe me, they're, they're trying, any company would say, hey, gold, you know, they would just subtly say a gold plated steel nib. And, oh, look, it's a gold nib, you know. So, it's not, I don't think it's too big of a deal for people who are buying Pelicans.

No, I know. I get it. But still, I'm just saying. Yeah. For me, like, I know I prefer it. Because I prefer gold nibs and I was really excited about this pen. Sure. I didn't realize that personally.

And so, now I'm like, I don't know. Because I've used the Pelican steel nib in the two series before and I did not get on with it. It was really not a good experience for me. And so, now, like, this was an insta-buy for me.

But now I'm realizing that. I'm like, ah. And that's just a due diligence thing on my part. I understand. But, yeah, that's put a downer on this for me. Because now I don't think it's going to be an insta-buy for me.

And, see, I'm exactly the opposite. I'm like, oh, steel nib. Yes, I'm in. Because the 200 series is the only Pelican I currently use. So, the other naming convention that they do.

So, aside from the first digit, the last digit, if it's a zero, it's gold trim. And if it's a five, it's silver trim. Love that. So, my, the one that I use is a Pelican M205 black. So, it's black with silver trim with a steel nib.

So, that's what the 205 means in my case. As people were suggesting in the chat. And I might consider this just to get a replacement nib. Sure. But, I don't know.

Yeah. So, those are literally the same size, the 200 and the 400. But that's the classification difference. So, yeah. Yeah. It's good stuff. Quite a surprise. Should I be? I'm trying to decide if I'm surprised. I guess I'm not.

So, reading Joshua's post on the Pelican's Perch. It's like we're trying to figure out like where does the new company come in. And where are these like, you know, the classic design. Or the old company ownership, new ownership.

Where's the dividing line between product releases. Not that it matters if they keep putting out stuff like this. Like, I'm here for it. So, it looks great.

Looks great. So, it's not available yet. It's on pre-order. I'm just going to wait until it's available. Like, I don't think this is going to be particularly hard to get, you know, from any, you know, our friends at Penn Chalet whenever I'm ready to, you know, think about purchasing this pen.

So, I'll just wait and see. It's around 200 in the U.S. market, in the European market. It's a little bit cheaper. So, for all of you European buyers out there, check out those.

And, yeah. All right, Myke. This one also came up. I've been holding these two topics since like right when we finished the show last week. And just dying about this. So, I want to start off by talking about the new Ferris Wheel Press, Auroraealis Inc.

And what I would like for you to do for me and for the listeners of this show, Myke, is click the link for the product description. And I would like you to read, like, the first two paragraphs of this. So, this is the Ferris Wheel Press, Auroraealis 2024 Limited Edition Inc.

Can you read this for me, please? There are varying descriptions on different websites. I will read this one for you. Yeah. So, read this one from Yoseka, I think.

Oh, the Yoseka one you'd like? Yeah. I think that's the one copied from Ferris Wheel's official documentation. Okay. This one doesn't have anything about radiation, but we'll just leave. I think we're just going to part the radiation discussion.

Like, I don't know if I can be bothered to have that discussion as well as this one. Okay. What do you think? You want me to see? Let me see this other one.

Let's see here. Because it looks like that one has mostly been removed from a lot of places. So, like, the line is. Okay. Let's read them both. All right. So, okay. The Ferris Wheel Press Limited Edition Auroraealis Fountain Pen Inc. embraces the future of fantasy and turns dreams into masterpieces with an ink created with the help of AI.

By embracing new technology, Ferris Wheel Press used AI to help conceptualize cybernices, cybernices, high-fashion futuristic garb, complete with stylish damask details and anti-radiation technology. The Ferris Wheel Press 2024 Limited Edition Auroraealis 38ml Fountain Pen Inc. embraces the evolution of creativity. Join the fun and follow cybernice on a never-ending journey to a world where art and technology harmonize, ushering in a new era of exploration.

Any more? Or have we got what we need here? I will finish off just saying what the ink is. So, it says, Ferris Wheel Press has formulated a luminous violet ink with duochrome pink and gold accents to represent this transformative period where technology and machine intelligence can elevate creators' artistry, turning dreams into masterpieces.

Just straight up, nobody knows what the radiation part is about, right? Like, that's just, like, nonsense, right? Yeah. I feel like we should just end the show right now. We're over? Like, $5.99 and that's it?

I don't know what's... This is one of the first times I really don't know what's happening here. Well, you do know what's happening. I mean, I do.

You do know what's happening. This is all AI. Right? It's marketing to the AI, right? We have to use AI in a product name because AI is hot right now, right?

Like, AI is so hot right now. Like, it's totally a meme. Well, they didn't just use it in the product name, right? So, what it seems like to me they have done is they have used Chanchipiti to help them write the description.

And then they have used Dali or something like that, Mid Journey, to create the artwork. Now, in the show notes, I'm going to put a link to... We've got a link to a bunch of vendors. We're not putting anyone on blast here, right?

It just is what it is. No, yeah, yeah. But because some vendors have the description one way and some don't, I think some were asked to change it, maybe. Because, like, I could only find... The only place that I could find the radiation thing that Anna mentions in her blog post is on the Penn Show Lair website.

Everyone else actually have amended it. No, it's on the Yoseka site. Oh, really? Because I'm looking at it right now. It says anti-radiation technology.

Oh, I'm so sorry. Yeah, there it is. They're just laid out a little bit differently, I think. Yes. That's what's going on.

So, there's been some updates. The Cult Pens website has a picture of the back of the box, which includes the bear that they're talking about. Because on all the other websites, it's like, what is the bear? Well, there is the bear.

You can see the bear on the back of the box. There's like four images. You can see it on the side wall of the other pictures, but yeah. It's not really super clear.

I see what you mean, but it looks like it kind of melts into the other stuff. You could totally miss that. You could absolutely miss that. But there's Cyber Nice.

So, it's like a cyber bear from the future, but it's high fashion. Yeah. So, I have a little bit of follow-up from Ferris Wheel Press. So, Kimberly sent this over to me, who writes for the Pen Addict. From the Atlas Discord, they got some feedback from Ferris Wheel Press, because I guess there were a lot of questions about what is real, what is AI, what are we trying to do, and a little bit more.

Like, this isn't really going to answer everything, but here's a little couple of sentences to tell you where they're at. So, it says, Regarding our 2024 limited edition Auroraealis, all of the artwork was carefully hand-illustrated by our design team, as always. We've used the imaginative world of AI as inspiration in the conceptualization process to bring this theme to life.

So, I guess that adds a little bit of clarity. The art is not AI-generated. I mean, I guess we're talking about it so they win. But I feel this would be a lot simpler.

Where did you get that? Like, did you? I didn't follow that. Where did you find it? So, my friend Kimberly sent that to me.

There was a discussion in a Discord for Atlas Stationers Discord. So, they haven't published it anywhere. So, they got feedback from Ferris Wheel Press that was the incentive. You know, this is the same as that ink we were looking at last week.

It was the same thing. The Kickstarter one that we were looking at. Oh, yeah. Dominant and Dominish. It was the same thing. Like, they were talking about AI originally in their Kickstarter description and somebody asked them in the comments, like, what are you talking about?

Are you using AI to make the artwork? And they were like, no, we were using it to help us conceptualize it. Same thing. Yeah. I think, like, I don't know. I'm just looking at it from my perspective.

I'm calling BS on this one, by the way. As far in what? In totality or in something specific? In the sense that somebody made this.

The artwork. Yeah. Or the story. Yeah. The artwork. Okay. Well, let me, before I say it, let me look at the other boxes. Yeah, the other boxes, they just don't look like this. Right? Like, and to me, really, at this point, it's kind of just like, if you're going to do it, just own it.

Like, yeah. Okay, that's where I'm getting at, right? Like, if you're going to do this, I think you make an ink, you make a funny story, and then you say, hey, we had AI generate the product description. Done. Or the artwork. That simplifies everything. And they have, like, they're basically, you know, writing around everything, generally speaking, I think.

Yeah. Or, yeah, have say, hey, I made the artwork, or hey, I wrote the product description. This is, just leads to more questions than answers. The funny thing is. It seems like they always have bears in their art, for some reason.

Is that a Ferris wheel press thing? It looks like it. Like, I'm looking at their Apple boxes, and, like, animals, especially bears, seem to feature quite frequently. And, look, maybe I'm just, like, you know, I'm being harsh here.

Maybe they did just use it for, like, conceptual purposes, and then. But it is still just, like, a kind of thing where it's like, if you're going to do it, do it. Or don't. Right? Yeah. Because it's like, you want the rub that this gives you. Because now you're, like, the AI ink.

Right. But you also want the out when people call you out on it. Right? Yes. So, using AI as a concept, a conceptualizing thing, and then in artwork, and then just having someone draw the artwork. Like, don't talk about it. - Or say that up front. Like, why does it have to be, like, you say it, then we ask you, and then you clarify.

Right. You're trying to get the best of both worlds. Right? - Like, you want to look like you're, like, oh, we're the AI ink people. But it's like, oh, but no, no, no. We're not putting any artists out of work.

Don't worry. Don't worry about that. Well, you can't have it both ways. I think. Like, I use AI for helping me rewrite descriptions of stuff. That's just me. Like, I'm 100% involved in that process.

I give ChatGPT, like, this is what we spoke about on an episode. Can you rewrite this grammatically for me? And then it goes and does it. Right? - But I'm not, like, the first AI powered podcast description.

So, I'm not, like, trying to use this as a marketing point for myself. Like, I have no problem with this idea. Right? Sure. I agree. That somebody wants to make something, but they're not sure how to go about it. Like, what should I do?

Well, you can bring AI into the process as a way to help you, like, spark some ideas. It's like a shortcut for brainstorming. But just, like, you don't need to shout from the rooftops like you're so excited that you've done that. Because it's nothing. It's not. It's just like, oh, this is the first powered by Google Image Search Inc.

Where we looked on Google Images for 25 minutes to get an idea of what we, you know what I mean? Like, we don't do that, do we? Like, either do it or don't. And I find this kind of stuff frustrating because all of these, this just takes the effort away from the real product and the work here.

No one's talking about the ink, right? We're just talking about a controversy around the ink. It's like, is that what you want your brand to be? Like, I don't know.

And that's what I wanted to say. The ink is, like, legitimately good. And the ink is, like, I don't want to say it's not necessarily unique. Like, there's a lot of purple shading gold shimmer inks out there.

But the ink's legitimately good. But I actually less want it because it's this AI thing. Right. Because they've politicized it now, right? Yeah. It's like a weird thing now.

Now it's political, right? Like, especially in this community. Yeah. I have the purple shiny ink is what I want, not the AI ink. Last question on this.

Will this sell out in a reasonable time frame? Like, a month after it releases? If there are other inks due, then this one will. Like, I don't see.

You know what I mean? Like, I don't think this is going to do anything specific for this ink to make it any more popular. It might make it less popular amongst certain crowds. But, like, if their inks usually sell out, this ink will sell out.

Yeah. I don't think this is going to be a thing. I guess it's probably the thing. I think this is hopefully a one and done type of situation. Because it's just weird.

Yeah. It makes me less interested in what's just objectively a cool looking ink. This is just so, like, I'm already tired of these things, you know? And, like, it's only just begun. Yeah. My goal was to get you wound up on this topic.

And I succeeded. So, thank you first. Will Press. You made my day. We delivered on this one. For people that, like, are overall, like, oversubscribed in the Myke Hurley universe.

Like, my feelings about AI have changed, right? Because I'm a human being and I'm able to change my opinions. Like, I am way less harsh on it now. Sure. But I still think these things need to be used with care and thought.

And transparency. And transparency. If that is, if it's needed, right? Like, I don't necessarily think that transparency is needed in every instance. Right? Like, for example, using an AI tool to correct your grammar or your spelling. It's like, you do not need to tell people that you've done that because you could have just done it with Grammarly before.

No one was like, disclosure, I used Grammarly on this. Like, that's not the thing that we did. But if you're like, oh, I just have it. I just have AI spit out blog posts for me.

It's like, well, you may have gone a bit too far there. But so, like, my feelings on it have changed. And I need to dig into them a little bit more at some point. But this one to me is just like, I'm at the moment just finding it frustrating that people want to jump on the hype bandwagon.

But then as soon as they're called out, they will try and retract. And it's like, well, you've got to pick a lane. So, that's where I am. So, do you think we'll see an AI-generated ink company coming soon?

I mean, why not? That would be, that's a better use of it than what Ferris wheel press has done. And I would like to see someone do that. Right. Like, because I think it would be an interesting project.

That would be a category that would work. Yeah. That would be a category where it could work. Yeah. We're being upfront about it. Like, this is the thing that we're doing.

Right. Like, we're, you know what? It reminds me, honestly, of like the Diamine Reddit thing. Sure. Where it's like, they didn't create the ideas for those inks. Right. Anyway. Right. But they're still like selling the product.

And that's not, you know, no shame. I'm just saying, like, it's not like the scientists at Diamine were like, what should we do here? They looked outside and got some of the input. It's like, I think it would be fun.

Like, all right, here are the Diamine AI inks. We're doing 10 inks. Exactly. With the ideas for them created by AI. Like, that would just be a fun thing.

Exactly. Exactly. But you got to own it. All right. I've distracted you enough. Work. Yeah. Work. I may calm myself down by talking about one of my favorite companies in the world. And that is Squarespace.

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And then you can make your idea, brand, or business stand out on every device. My friend Stephen Hackett was building a website recently. And he sent me a text with the image. I could link to it.

And I was looking at it. I was like, man, this website is beautiful. And he's like, yeah, it's Fluid Engine, which is their new system. And like, I have not tried all of the features in Fluid Engine yet.

But some of the new stuff in Squarespace's new system is just next level incredible. Like, I was really blown away by it. Fluid Engine is the new system that they built. So you can, with their drag and drop technology on desktop or mobile, you can build the websites.

And it's built and ready to go on any new Squarespace site. And these templates are really, really fantastic. It's super simple to sell physical or digital goods because Squarespace have all of the tools that you need to start selling online in your own store. Go and check it out for yourself.

There's so much more. Squarespace really is the full package. And they really help you just get your idea, your project online. Go right now to squarespace.com slash penaddict for a free trial.

And when you're ready to launch, go to squarespace.com slash penaddict and use the code penaddict to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. That is squarespace.com slash penaddict. And the code penaddict when you sign up, you'll get 10% off your first purchase and show your support for the show.

Our thanks to Squarespace for the support of this show and Relay FM. All right, Myke, we have our shout out of the week. Shout out of the week. I am putting a summoning out there for Joey Feldman artist.

And I love calling him Joey Feldman artist. He's Joey Feldman. He's been a friend of ours for years and years and years. I've, you know, I talk to him regularly and he lives out in the LA area and I will be out in the LA area for a pen show coming soon.

So maybe I'm trying to summon him over to the pen show. But I always follow his work on Instagram. And he recently had a post where he was working with a sneaker content creator. They are called Custu and Joey reposted the video that they did on his Instagram.

And this is a really cool kind of look at Joey's behind the scenes studio and get him to talk about his shoes and see his paint covered shoes. He's been a friend of ours forever, like I said. So y'all go give Joey a follow and tell him you'll see him at the LA pen show, even though he hasn't committed to coming yet.

Joey's a great dude. He's great. He's super fun, super smart. Super down to earth. Like he's just like Joey's like a good hang.

Like you can just like Joey and I like we can just sit and talk like about the coffee we're drinking like in front of us, you know, sit at a table like no pretension, just super cool. And just like his mind is just kind of comes out on these on these canvases that he has.

And it's just like, okay, you're actually a little bit broken on the inside. I can see that. I can see that. And I appreciate that.

That's why we get along so well. So love you, Joey. He's working things out and he's like, it's Joey. It's right there on the canvas.

Love you, Joey. And hope to see you soon. I will actually text him before I go to the show, see if I can get him out there for a day or so since it's local to him. So, all right. I don't think I'm going to get you as wound up on this next topic as I did earlier, but it is officially Kickstarter season in the stationary realm.

This is the time of year where you see new projects launch like end of January, early February, because you can get like the big run out that you need, right, to get the projects completed. So you see a lot of products launch and not just on Kickstarter, but we'll start seeing a lot of the stationary brands like we're seeing Pelican.

And you're going to see a lot of product launches here like through February. I always call February is like stationary launch month because you get past the holidays and everyone's now into like, okay, we're doing through there. Our work cycle is ready to go. We'll launch the product in February and we can just run things out through the spring and summer and into the fall with the new products.

So Kickstarter has a bunch of pin related projects. I just wanted to give a shout out to I have not backed any of these yet. I don't think. Yeah, no, I haven't backed any of these yet. But I'm kind of curious.

It's hard when all of them launch at one time and there's all kinds of new things coming out. So this is definitely a watch your budget type of season. If you're not doing like a no buy January, you don't want to get you don't want to like back up too many projects heading into February and below the budget.

But the first one is from the Misu. They're Nova titanium pocket pin. I know you have a Misu pin that you like. I like all of Misu's products.

I'm actually going to talk about one later in the show. This is a cool little small pocketable fountain pen. You know, this is kind of been a thing for a year or two in the market. How small can we make what's essentially a full sized fountain pen?

Full size writing, number six size nib, right? So we're making a pretty cool type of little project here. And this is the Misu's version of that. So a capped, a threaded capped fountain pen.

They do offer a front end swap. So when you buy this pen, you can get it swapped out with a writing tip, like a ballpoint D1 refill tip as well. So it's kind of serves two purposes. That's never a selling point for me personally.

But I guess some people like that. I just don't like to fidget with it. If I have this set up as a fountain pen, it's going to be a fountain pen. If I have it set up as a ballpoint pen, it's going to be a ballpoint pen.

I'm not looking to like swap these things back and forth, but maybe some people are. Like one of the main things you can do in a Kickstarter campaign is options. People want options, right? And so this takes down a barrier.

This pen. I don't even know that this is an option. I think it just comes with both. No, is it like that you, you know, you can say to someone, oh, a fountain pen isn't your thing. You know, like, oh, there it is.

You have the ability to. It does come separate. It does come separate. Yeah. This pen looks broken to me.

Like visually when it's capped, it looks wrong. Like there's something wrong about it. Like I want to say something, but it would probably get trimmed, but it would be with, you know. Yeah. Okay. I agree. There's something strange because it's proportions.

The proportions are odd when it's the capped proportions. Because it's a full size clip, right? And a full size cap. But when you do what you're supposed to do with it, which is you post it, it looks like a regular pen then, right?

So the design is clever. But to me, there is something that visually I don't like about it. This product would be significantly more interesting to me without a clip. Because I think the clip makes the visuals look weird.

And also part of the reason I don't like posting my caps is because the clips change the weight balance. And there is no way around this. Like this is a pen that could only be used capped. And so I know I wouldn't enjoy it for that reason.

But if I could, if I remove the clip from this pen, this would be significantly more interesting to me visually and from a use case perspective than it is with a clip. But I know they have to have a clip because otherwise people go wild. That's exactly what I was going to say.

I would prefer this clipless as well. And my reasoning is that at some point, the clip is not going to line up with the nib. And that's going to drive me bonkers. That is one of my mandatory things.

So like the clip, you know, maybe it's just dead on all the time. But those things have a tendency to relocate over time. But to your point, if this came without a clip, every comment in the Kickstarter section would be clip win, clip win, clip win. And we'll refer to that in another comment, another Kickstarter campaign we're going to talk about.

You can do what Tom and Dan did. They just know like there isn't one. Right. And like, I respected them so much for that because like I was there throughout the whole Mark one thing. Right. And they I mean, look, they when they were getting all of that feedback, they looked into it and were like, nope, like there isn't an aftermarket clip that will be good.

Although here's you know, like they said to people like here is one you can buy that will fit, but we can't guarantee it. And they didn't want to add it because it would change the way the product looked. They ended up creating a brand new pen, the Mark two that had a clip like and it was part of the reason for that product existing.

But I know for me, I wouldn't have enjoyed the Mark one if it had a hundred percent. A hundred percent. So it's it's good to with your when you're a designer, it's it's beneficial to have opinions and stand by them. Like I've always said that, you know, when we did our not colonier, that was a Kickstarter project and it's like a mini briefcase.

Everyone wanted a strap. It's the same. It's the same thing. And it's it's just kind of ruins what we're trying to create with a strap. So there's a I don't have it in front of me, but I have a post-it note with a with a quote from it came.

It came from Ben Thompson, but it was from a Johnny Ive presentation that he was at where it was. I mean, and now it's so like we're going through so many levels, but like essentially it's like if in design, if you are true to the product and try to make the best product you can, you will upset people like it is just a natural part of product design that people will be up and you just have to accept it and choose it.

Sometimes I think most of the times comes in cost, right? Like that if you're trying to make something as best as it can be, it will inherently be too expensive for what some people want to pay. But if you believe that that product is best that way, then that's just what you have to accept.

And again, I would feel that way about, you know, and I'm sure Tom and Dan felt that way about the clip on the Mark 1 saying that the product is better without it. People won't like that, but that's just the way you have to go. Yeah. My statement that I use that kind of summarizes what you were saying is I don't design for everybody.

Yeah. Right. Like if you design for everybody, you're designing for nobody and you're just going to have this generic product that means nothing. And so my goal is if I'm going to design something, I'm designing it specifically. And if someone doesn't like it, like that's okay. Like this is the reason, there's reasons why I did it this way.

And like, it's cool if it's not for you. Like that's okay. Like not every product's for every person. So very much believe in that. Next up, Myke, our friends over at Big Eye Design, they're making an Ultem fountain pen.

And this one, this one, I literally like hovered over the buy button and like click. Like I should back this one. This looks really cool. This one is really up my alley more so than the Nimesu one.

Number one, because I love Ultem. Number two, I love kind of like the medium size. This pen is, it's not overly large. It's not too small.

An interesting tidbit on this pen is they're using the Kaweco number five nib for this, which is an interesting choice. I think it's a good choice. Like I'm pro the Kaweco nibs. I know some people are against the Kaweco nibs just from a QC perspective historically.

I think Conveco nibs are perfectly fine. This one is a little bit different aesthetically though. Kind of, if we roll back to our Pelican conversation up front, we have the Amber Ultem barrel. We have a gold plated nib.

And then we have a steel kind of gunmetal clip. And this is one where I think the aesthetics actually break. Like I think you need like the silver nib on this one to go with the gray clip. So that wouldn't prevent me from backing it if I wanted this.

But I think there is a design disconnect in the choices here. But that's just, that's obviously clearly a personal opinion. I would, I really like, I still might back this because I have a billion Kaweco nibs. I could just swap in.

Like it's easy. Like I've got Kaweco silver nibs everywhere around the house. But yeah, this one kind of like breaks the, breaks the design mold for me in that choice. But like it's a pretty minor choice. So I like the design and shape of this pen.

And I actually really like the clip design as well. It's a smaller chunky clip, which I kind of dig. It looks like it's pretty solid. So I bet this will be kind of a work horsey type pen.

I do like the choice of the Kaweco nib. I would switch it out to something different, a silver plated one. But again, they do the, they do the thing that we're talking about in the plating. They're the plating marketing.

Again, the plating marketing is always the big question. So they have an image on the campaign that says 14K gold plated Kaweco nib. Fine. Right. That confuses people that don't know these things. It's a steel nib, right?

Just like we were talking about. There are, I think this, this campaign is a bunch of interesting things. One, using Kaweco is like super weird to me. Like I don't, I don't recall ever seeing that before.

And so. Yeah. And I wonder how they're acquiring those. Yeah. Like that, I'm not sure. Are they buying them from Kaweco? Like that's odd, right?

Like that part one is like just curious. I think it's a strange choice to choose the gold plated nib because it's a steel nib and it doesn't look as good as the steel nib would look, as you said, right? Maybe in their mind, they want to match the gold with the Ultum, but I don't think that's necessarily the right choice.

The other thing I find interesting is they are making them in America themselves. Yeah. So this is a new thing. This is like a new thing for them, right? Yeah. And I still haven't gotten up to, Chadwick and Joe now live probably like three, three and a half hours from me.

So I would like to get up and see them one day. And especially now that this is going to be built in house in their own factory. It's super interesting, right? So like I, they're, they're not far from me and I have a good relationship with them.

So this is probably something like I should, I should get in the car and go see them one day. Yeah. It's fascinating. So they are making, because they usually, I think a lot of their stuff is made in China. Yeah. Hong Kong, China, Vietnam, I believe. Yeah. Okay.

And so now they're, they're making some smaller products in a facility that they part own. I think. So yeah. Really interesting. Very interesting. Yeah. So yeah, maybe that'll be, maybe that'll be my, my March trip. Like if I'm going to go to a pen show in February and a pen show in April, I can make a, make a day trip up there and see what those guys are up to.

That would be fun. That would be fun. All right. Last one for this week. They, the, again, I think all of these projects have launched in a span of a few days.

The Enso bolt titanium retractable fountain pen. So I started seeing, Enso was, posting these on their Instagram last week and we were checking them out and I was trying to decipher what's going on here. And there's some good videos, on this, on this project. And I think this is the most, this is the project I have the most questions on, right?

Like this is, you're asking a lot of people for this, this project. Like, I'm very curious how this is going to turn out. So, one, link we'll have in the show notes is to, David Parker's, fig boot video, has reviewed this pen. I haven't watched the whole video yet.

I haven't had time to do that just yet. I also want to disclose that, Enso is, sponsoring the pen addict blog. Next week for this project. So I just feel like that disclosure is important. but yeah, I, I just have a lot of questions, right?

Like this is one of those projects where I kind of don't want to go first. Like a lot of times I'm willing to jump. Like I'll, I'll take one for the team, jump in, see how this project goes. I kind of want to be second on this one and I feel okay.

I feel okay being second on this one. Not that there's going to be anything wrong with it, but I just think, you're asking for a lot in this design to become a permanent writing fixture for someone. So what do you think about this pen in general? I feel very mixed on it.

Like I, I don't know. Okay. I don't, I don't, I am not a fan in general of ball action pens. Sure. I don't like the way they look and I don't, I don't personally find the, I don't find it very satisfying personally to, to use that. I'm, I'm much more of a knock guy.

Like I like to click things. I don't like to like engage, you know, like. Right. That I find to be strange. So, and I, the design of this one is weird because it's very simple.

And so it just looks peculiar to me because I've never seen something like this before. And like that, that kind of asks a question of me of like, why has nobody made a ball action fountain pen before that I'm aware of? Right. And so then it's like, you're initially like, yeah, why has no, you know, so like you start asking those questions.

I am, I mean, I'm personally unconvinced that the pen wouldn't dry up. Like I know they have an airtight seal mechanism, but again, like there's, there's too, I feel like there are too many things in here that I've never seen before. It reminds me of the Curedus, right?

Right. Where like, I was very skeptical of that pen because it didn't seem like it could work and it didn't. And for various reasons, but I'm not saying that this will meet that same fate, but yeah. And I would disagree on the Curedus just like, we'll have a record state.

And it also broke a bunch and something. Because there are a lot of questions more about how they could produce it at the price that they produced it at. And I think that the quality showed that in the end. I will grant that it's a very problematic pen.

Yes. So yeah, I don't, I just, I find myself, I think similarly to you, like I'm really intrigued to see what this, how this pen is performing two years from now as well. But like, I wouldn't be the one to jump in and try it. So yeah, we'll, we'll see.

I don't know. I may jump in on this one. I don't know. I know. Like you've got to, you know, you've got to take the. I know, I know. But I, a couple of reasons why, like, well, one, a couple points of clarification or discussion from what you were saying.

One, the sealing mechanism, I think is how, is the big question on this. So it's, it's basically a silicone opening. Yeah. Right there. So it's going to drag the nib, a wet nib through the silicone opening, opening repeatedly. And David covers this a little bit in his, in his, his review.

So that's like a question mark because no one's really done like the dragging part, right? Where it's actually going to touch any other of the retractable, common retractable pins, like the vanishing point or the curados use a trap door system to where like the feed just kind of pushes the door open and the nib comes out.

Secondly, why we haven't seen much of this before is because of this nib unit that they're using. So I, this is just starting to come out and I guess probably the past several months, maybe like late last year, we started seeing these nib units become available. I know Brian at Spoke has, has found some of these nib units.

I actually have one sitting right here and just like the base pin that it comes in, like you got them from like Alibaba or something like that. And then the nib works really well. So the, the way this nib unit is designed, you can make a thinner barrel pin, right?

Like the whole issue with the vanishing point curados style is that the internal mechanisms to retract properly, need to, you have to allocate a wider diameter pin barrel. And this is basically just like a nib on the end of an ink cartridge. So like on the pin that I have here, it's basically you're using the piston on the back of the cartridge just to push down on.

And it's basically just like a spring, just like any retractable pin, like that uses a, like a Parker style refill. It's basically like a nib on the end of a ink converter and you just click it to push it down. So it has this narrower diameter that fits in, fits in different pins.

So, it's a good nib. and it's, it's been fun to use, but I think you're going to start seeing more of these types of things because that's something like we've actually been actively playing around with. now that these nibs have become available, broadly, I forget who's making them, you know, just a generic maker making them.

So it's just this idea that like, not necessarily we're going to see a bunch of retractable pens, but pen designs that are slightly unique because there's a, it's a change in technology for allowing a different type of system. Exactly. I think the actual, like the nib and the cartridge part, that's going to work fine.

It's just going to, how the closure is going to work. Yep. And if you're going to like the bolt action, like I, I like bolt action pins fine. I, but like for this choice, like the, the way the mechanism works, like it's good. It's going to be completely fine.

There's a lot, this is a, a long way of me saying like, this is a much simpler mechanism than we're used to in traditional, what we know as retractable fountain pens, right? Vanishing points, curi-doss things of that nature. Like one of the very strange parts to this to me, what I said is that I feel like this is in contrast to a bunch of things that I just feel like to me are fundamental in how I think about a fountain pen.

And like the idea of pushing a nib unit through a piece of silicon, that just seems wrong. Like, it just seems like a quick way to damage the tines or like for something to get caught. Like they just like, I'm not saying this doesn't work, right? The creator is saying they used it for a year and I believe them.

I'm just saying like for me, like this is why I'm hesitant of it because I feel like it is, it is bucking against some conventions that I feel like I understand. But this is how innovation happens. Like if this works, like this is really interesting. That's exactly right.

Right? And could create, I mean, we all want more, better retractable fountain pens, right? That is the thing that I think we all want. Everybody's looking for more of them or like me, like I don't get on very well with the current market leaders. They just don't fit my hand very well.

They seem to always want to put something in the grip section area, which I'm just like, please stop. And this obviously is pen doesn't have that. Yeah, I'm intrigued. But also there is just like a thing of how good is that nib? Like, yeah, can't change it.

So how good is it? You know, like it could be because it's not that you can change it out for another manufacturer because it is unique. So I don't know. Intriguing. I'll be very keen to know what you think when you buy one because you have to buy one.

I think I do. I think I do. So it's funny. Like I agree with everything you're saying in that, okay, this like I'm having trouble like adding this up in my head. At the same time, I'm glad it exists and I want this to like start something, right?

And Enzo's been very good about changing and updating things as they go through like the design process and iterating on types of things. So it'll be good to see. Also, this is the project where if you go in the comments section, every comment is when why doesn't it have a clip?

So just to throw back to our previous discussion, this is the one I was mentioning. Every comment is when clip, why clip, where clip. So there you go. At least this one has an inherent roll stop on it.

It does. Yeah. This would not. No clip for this one. This one's good just as it is. I like it. This episode is brought to you by our friends over at Enigma Stationery. Enigma Stationery offer unique items made from in-house designs along with top brands and hard to find imports.

They have some new stuff in the store, Brad. New stuff over at Enigma. Anderillium inks. 24 excellent handmade colors inspired by nature. They have notepads, stickers, and risograph.

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What I love about Enigma Stationery is they put my mouth to work when I'm doing these. Me and Dan will often talk about this after the fact where they're like, you did a decent job that time. You know, I'm trying my best over here. But the ghost sticker stuff, so good.

So good. Like, Dan sent over some images. They are absolutely adorable. And it's one of the things I love about Enigma Stationery. They have the products that you'd expect.

They have new and exciting products. But then also these things that are really lovely to add to an order. Like, they have so much of that great stuff. There are also a limited supply of previous exclusive items to buy, including the 2024 Lucky Box.

The Psychedelic Desk Mat, which I adore. The Studio Note Mark 1 Enigma Edition, which I cannot believe they still have any left in stock. The Pride Nib Canvas Bag. And some Special Edition Fountain Pens as well.

Yeah, so I said I was going to get this desk mat last time. And I just haven't gotten around to order. And I got to put that on my list. As not a cat person, these cat tote bags are hilarious.

Like, they just look cool. And the cat just looks like giving total resting cat face on there. And I'm kind of enamored by these bags. I just keep looking at them and expanding the pictures.

I was like, yeah, this is exactly what I would want. The fluffy one is fantastic. It's truly fantastic as a tote bag. Really great stuff. So, yeah, shout out to Dan, the whole Enigma family.

They're doing great stuff over there. So, definitely go check them out. And the best place to go check them out is by going to enigmastationary.com slash penaddict. And if you use the code penaddict to check out, you will get free.

If you want free US shipping or discounted international shipping on orders of $50 or more, that's how you get it. So, you'll also get a free gift. So, I'll say that again. Accounted international shipping on orders of $50 or more, plus a free gift.

Go to enigmastationary.com slash penaddict. You'll be able to check out all the new stock Enigma have. And you'll get that free gift and free US shipping on orders of $50 or more when you use the code penaddict to check out. Thanks to Enigma Stationary for the continued support of this show and RelayFM.

All right. One more Kickstarter follow-up. But this is from a product I received a few months ago and finally got my review up. And this is from the aforementioned Namisu. This is their Pulsar polycarbonate mechanical pencil.

And this is, again, like me taking one for the team. Like, I am now going to go back some of these projects because I kind of like reviewing them and getting them in hand and talking about them. So I'll be going to back them. But I wanted this one anyway because I'm a mechanical pencil fan.

And then with this particular polycarbonate model. So the Pulsar comes in, the mechanical pencil comes in a titanium barrel and an aluminum barrel. But these polycarbonate barrels are like a clear frosted barrel. And then they did the petrol finish on the metal part.

So it's got that rainbowy sheen in there. Like, it's just a wickedly cool looking pencil. So does wickedly cool pencil actually work, right? So that's like usually the impetus for me buying something like this.

And it's a bolt action type of knock system, which I've seen on a lot of mechanical pencils that use the Schmidt mechanism for mechanical pencils. Use a bolt action because it's very easy to push this knock and have it engage to extend the lead in there. And it came out really well.

And the point I wanted to get across in my review and why I wanted to bring this up is because it gave me a feeling in a mechanical pencil that I rarely ever have. And when I say this, you're not going to know if this is a good or bad thing.

This is the most pen feeling mechanical pencil I've ever used. Okay. And what I mean by that is in hand, it feels like I'm using a rollerball pen, right? The weight is a little bit heavier than like a traditional mechanical pencil. The diameter is, it's not too big, but it's not as tiny or tapered as say something like the Pentel Sharp P205 or it's wider in diameter than a rotary.

The nose cone does not have a lead pipe, right? So it does not have that aesthetic of your drafting or engineering style pencil or a lot of, you know, traditional basic mechanical pencils have a lead pipe. I like that about it. You do like that about it.

I do like that, yeah. So all of these things combined, I was very confused when I started using this pencil, like when I first got it and unboxed it last year, that I was having trouble figuring out why I didn't click with it as quickly as I would just say like a regular Pentel mechanical pencil or even a Kuro Togo or something like the Unishift Pipe Block, just your engineering style drafting pencils.

And it's because this polycarbonate barrel has this density in this barrel. It feels like I'm using a retro 51, but with a 0.7 millimeter pencil lead. And that's not a negative, right? But it's like this expectation in my head that I want to use this pencil for different things than what I would normally use my mechanical pencils for, right?

I'm a very staunch mechanical pencil advocate, but I generally like the drafting engineering style mechanical pencils, right? I choose those over like even like the Kuro Togas for the style that they have. So this one was a bit of an outlier for me, and I'm glad I bought it.

And it's unique. It's like I can't compare it to like the Mark III, but it's that same type of vibe. I think the Mark III is actually more pencil-y than this pencil. This pencil feels more pen-adjacent, if that makes any sense at all. But that's how I'm justifying it to myself.

It's weird in a good way, I think. Yeah, because the Mark III is very penny because it's based on a pen, right? But I know what you mean. I feel like I understand what you're saying anyway.

Yeah, it's like the diameter, shape, and feel of the Mark III. When I pick it up, I feel like a pencil. It feels like a pencil to me. This feels like I'm using a pen, and I'm cautious to not say that negatively.

It's just different, right? I want to use this pencil in a different fashion than I traditionally use my other pencils. Now, I pointed out in the review that I do think a lot of it comes down to the weight of this particular model that I have. The aluminum one is 10 grams lighter than this one, and I think it might be more front-end balanced, right?

That's what I like about my engineering-style pencils. They're almost exclusively front-end balanced. That's purposeful, right? Mechanical pencils, drafting pencils, engineering pencils are designed for control, right? So the weight is in the grip, so you can control a fine line on the page, right?

That's how just the physics of it work. In this one, the weight is more consistently spread out through the entire barrel, which makes it feel like a pen to me. So I just wanted to point that out. I think it's a good product, and it's super interesting, and I like it.

I just have to figure out, will I choose this over one of my favorite mechanical pencils? Probably not. But would I choose this if I wanted to write in pencil for a longer writing session over, say, like a wooden pencil? You know, I might because it's kind of cool, and it feels nice, and I like looking at it.

So yeah, it was a good project. I'm glad I backed that one. So now I'm going to have to go back to some of these other projects that we talked about today. Great. The balance of this pen, this specific one that you have, what does it feel like?

That's the biggest. When I picked this, when I did an unboxing of this live on Twitch, and I just sat there quiet, fiddling with it in my hands, trying to understand where the balance point was. And I almost, to this day, can't figure it out, which means it's more balanced towards the end, towards the rear of the pencil.

But it's not overweight in the back because it does have a metal front end. It's just evenly balanced, which a lot of times for mechanical pencils you don't see. Or maybe not evenly balanced because it does have a metal grip, so it's still balanced to the front. But there's a density throughout the barrel that's hard to describe when you feel in your hand.

It literally feels like I'm riding with a Retro 51 when I write with this pen. But it's not balanced too far to the back to be a bad rider or feel uncomfortable in your hand. It's balanced. It's more evenly balanced and heavier than I'm used to in a mechanical pencil, which is why I keep saying it feels like a pen to me.

And that the aluminum body, if you're looking for a true mechanical pencil experience, might be a better choice because it's lighter. And I think the barrel would be lighter. Okay. It looks cool. I was surprised. It's cool. It's interesting. In looking at their website, that this version is heavier than the aluminum.

By a lot. It's surprising because, I don't know, I just assumed polycarbon it wouldn't be, but it depends on the amount of polycarbon. They're using because it's solid, right? Yeah. So, it's a thick wall. The end is solid.

Like, the mechanism stops before the end. So, like, there's a solid piece towards the end. It's not cut out all the way through. And then the hardware, like the bolt mechanism hardware, is metal, right?

So, that's more metal towards the end of the pencil. So, yeah. It's interestingly balanced. It's not back-weighted by any stretch. But it's, yeah. This has been one of the more confusing-feeling pens that I've ever used, or pencils I've ever used. Just in, like, I always like to try to figure out the balance point.

And this one is just, it just feels different, which makes me write with it like a pen. So, there you go. I want to finish out today with some Ask TPA questions. Let's do it. All right. So, the first one comes from Matt, who says, Brad, love the show, and I'm looking forward to potentially bumping into you at the California Pen Show next month.

Nice. I'll be there. I have a question about nib grinds. I'm planning on bringing a Monteverde Trees of the World, which is broad, to hopefully get some nib work done by Matthew's Nib Works. I love lime variation, and I'm thinking about asking for a cursive italic or a Kodachi grind.

I don't know what that is. You have to explain that to me. I do. Thoughts or suggestions for another grind? I have several stub nibs that I love and want something different.

All right. So, number one, Matt, definitely hunt me down, and I can help you out in person. We can talk about this, and we can definitely try some things out. Number two, if you like lime variation and you have stub nibs, I still think you might want to consider a cursive italic nib.

I still, as someone who has a Kodachi grind, which is like your spear tip type of grind. So, think of the angle is opposite. So, like the cursive italic is, you know, like a flat angle across the front. The Kodachi is like the spear tip, Nagana togi type of grind to where you'll have your horizontal lines will be wider with the Kodachi, and your cursive italic lines are thinner and horizontally.

I would still probably go with the cursive italic. I think the Kodachi, I think this will be a perfect place to test the Kodachi and see if you like it. So, Matthew will have a tester there for you to try that. If I think about it, I'll bring one of mine.

Because I do like it as an option, I prefer most of the time to pick out a cursive italic grind to play around with. And I think cursive italics are great to get in person because every nibmeister, I'm not going to say they do this differently, but a traditional cursive italic has very sharp edges.

And depending on how you hold and grip and the angle that you write with and the nib to the page, it could dig into the page. And sitting with the nib worker at the time you're getting it done, you can adjust those things. And I generally ask for a softer edge cursive italic, right?

Because I don't want it to be too, dig into the page too much if I get off angle. So, I would probably lean towards a cursive italic grind, but this is going to be a good place to test out a couple things. And it's great to sit with the person doing your nib work to make adjustments as you're testing them.

And I would gladly sit with you, you know, if you have questions. Like your nib grinders are always going to be able to answer your questions. But if you need help, I'm always there too. So, and that goes for anyone, not just Matt.

And Frank asks, I love his question. I recently bought two piston pens that come with wrenches. A Twisby 580 ALR and a Novelure Schuylkill. That's the way I see it.

I don't like that as a name. I think that... Schuylkill. I think it's Schuylkill. Yeah, that's better. How will I know when it's time that I actually need to use the wrench and take them apart? This is such a...

I saw this question and I started dying. It's like, this is such a good question. How have we not... We've probably had it before.

But you're going to use the wrench when the lubrication of the piston becomes dry. And you will notice that where the piston is just kind of like not smoothly going up and down the barrel. You can feel it being like very tough to twist and maneuver up and down the barrel.

And so what you'll have... What you'll do is you use the wrench to kind of unscrew the back end. You get the piston out. You lubricate it with like the Twisby.

We'll give you some of the silicone grease. You just lubricate like the edges that touch the sidewalls of the barrel. And then you put it back in, tighten it back up with the wrench and you're good to go. So you'll know when it starts to get hard to move the piston up and down in the barrel.

That takes a long time, right? Don't think you're going to have to do this like every three months. If you're using the pen... Say if these are the only two pens you have and you use them, you know, throughout the year.

These are the two pens you have inked up throughout the year. I would be shocked if you did this more than once. So like I only ever have to do that. I had a particular Twisby that was an ink sampling pen.

So I was always cleaning it. So I wore it down faster, you know, just unscrewed it, lubricated it back up and went back to town. But like you have to use the pens a lot to really have the need to do that. So I would be shocked if you did this more than like once a year.

If that, if you have a broader pen rotation than just these two pens. So yeah, it's great to have and it has come in handy and I have used this before. So there you go. Great question. If you would like to send in a question of your own, just go to penaddictfeedback.com.

You can send it in there along with any follow up you may have for the show. Thank you so much to Squarespace and Enigma Stationery for their support of this episode. But most of all, thank you for listening as always. If you want to find us online before next week, go to penaddict.com.

You can find Brad. He is at penaddict and over at twitch.tv slash penaddict as well. I am at imyke, I-M-Y-K-E. Until next time, say goodbye, Brad. Goodbye, Brad.