The Pen Addict 470/transcript
| The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript | |
|---|---|
| Episode: | 470 |
| Title: | Fibers in the Groove |
| Release Date: | July 14th, 2021 |
| Hosts: | Brad Dowdy |
| Guests: | No guests this episode |
| Additional Information | |
| Official page: | Episode 470 |
| Audio File: | Audio Episode 470 |
| Podcast page: | The Pen Addict 470 |
| Length: | 6868 min <br />1.133 h <br /> minutes |
| Previous Transcript | Next Transcript |
Myke: From RelayFM, this is The Pen Addict, episode 470. Today's show is brought to you by Squarespace and Pen Chalet. My name is Myke Hurley and I'm joined by the one and only Brad Drillog-Dowdy. I feel like, number one, hi Myke, how are you? I'm super good. Number two, I feel like we need to do, we have an F1 thing pending right with all the advertisements, the gear, the names across the back, across the forehead.
Brad: We want to get pen companies printed on you, like when you're streaming and stuff.
Myke: Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's a good idea. You know, but you know, I just, I have a lot of the things now and we're going to talk about a lot of the things now. This is going to be an interesting episode. I'm interested to see where this episode goes. There is a ton of topics to talk about here. But first, I want to talk about your topic, or at least one of your topics. And this is a follow-up from our conversation about Andrew's post on the Pen Addict about Stack Nibs. So, we made a point to go over that post because I thought it was super interesting and I wanted everyone to see that. And you and I talked, just even on the show, just like, you know, I don't think these are necessarily for me, but I could kind of see you, Myke, maybe, like, you don't need like five of these, but I could see Myke, like one of these working for Myke. And what has happened, has anything happened since this aired?
Brad: So, I mentioned that I wouldn't just buy one because I feel like it's something I would need to try and we need to understand, like, the characteristics of the various types of Stack Nibs and that kind of stuff. I had a kind benefactor, I'll say. Myke, they will, I think, remain nameless for the time being because I didn't mention to them that we would talk about it today, who has offered to send me a variety of stacked nibs for me to try out with the possibility of, if I like any of them, being able to purchase one. And I believe that these will be best intended to work with platinum nibs, but could also work, platinum pens, but could also work with Joao. Like, there'll be an adapter, I believe. So, I'm really intrigued. My plan here, my hope, is I will find one that I really like and then I want to put it on my 3776 Galaxy Starlight.
Myke: That's kind of perfect.
Ruler Discussion
Brad: That's the hope. Because, you know, there is the issue of, like, will the pen cap even go on anymore? Who knows?
Myke: Right, right.
Brad: I know I have some pens that take Joao nibs where it would definitely fit no matter what, right? Like, I could use one of my can of layers really easily, I bet, and it wouldn't be a problem. Because they're bigger. But, yeah, so that we're going to see. I'm going to, they'll be coming to me, I don't know when, but in the not too distant future. So, we can look out for that. Myke will be having his own virtual pen show with Stack Nibs.
Myke: I'm excited for you. I think this is cool. I am too. Yeah. Just because I am really interested in what you think. Like, it may not work. Like, that's fully, like, on the table. It may not work. But I think for you, I at least think it's an option. And I think it's interesting. So, and plus, I'm interested to see what you get and to get your thoughts about it. So, we will explore that, you know, a few weeks from now, a month from now, whenever it happens. And everything gets all sorted. You get time to play around. And we will revisit that. And I can't wait to get your feedback on what you're using.
Brad: I'm worried about this potential rabbit hole, you know.
Brad: That's my concern.
Myke: Yeah. Yeah. Could be a thing. But I'm just interested for you to, like, get one in your hands and, like, visually see one. Yeah. Even before using them. I was like, I want to know what this is all about. So, I had some follow-up as well. Kind of on the opposite end of the spectrum than Stack Nibs. The amount of ruler content I received at hello at penaddict.com since our last episode has blown me away. People really take their rulers seriously. Like, very serious ruler emails. And I appreciate all of them. It was fantastic. So, a couple of my takeaways. Number one, I need to understand the differences between, like, the architecture scales and engineering scales and the rulers, right? The scales are meant in a literal sense to scale down your drawings, right? To have a, you know, 120th representation of, like, the thing you're drawing. And that's why it's called a scale. It will help you set the scale for, you know, actual legitimate drawings. So, that's one. Number two is apparently I need a, I'm blanking on the name. Sorry. I was not reading my document. I need a hinged ruler, Myke. Okay. The hinged ruler stands came out in force. They're like, Brad, you're doing it all wrong. What you need is a hinged ruler. Do you know what I mean when I say a hinged ruler?
Brad: Yeah, it's like two 15 centimeter rulers that have a hinge in the middle so you can turn it from 15 to 30, right?
Myke: Yeah. Like, I'm super aware of those. You might have even mentioned them last week.
Brad: I used them in school. I mean, here's my thing about hinged rulers.
Brad: They're not as visually pleasing as some of the regular rulers.
Myke: Well, I'm going to have to figure that out on my own because that was the overwhelming feedback was, that's the way to go. Get one of the hinged rulers and, you know, figure it out from there. Until then, I had already ordered a couple. I got two of them in. I got a few more than two of them in. But the first one I opened up yesterday was the Traveler's Brass Ruler, which I think I mentioned in the show. I'm using that one right now. It's literally in my hands. I keep it on my desk. I used it several times yesterday. It's kind of cool. It's kind of working for how I'm thinking I'm going to use my ruler with my new planner. That's where this all came about, if you're not up to date on episodes. And then the second one is the High Tide Clip Ruler, which actually clips inside the planner. So I don't know which way I'm going to go yet for these type of rulers. But apparently, before I make any decisions, I need to test out a hinged ruler. And I will do some – I'll do a ruler roundup.
Brad: I don't think you need a 30-centimeter ruler. Why would you want a hinged ruler? You clearly only need 15. My email yelled at me, Myke. I mean, I understand, like, I don't know, hinged ruler stands. Like, love hinged rulers. But, like, I don't think you need – I think maybe I'm potentially more in the market for a hinged ruler. Potentially. Because I want a 30-centimeter ruler. But what I want is a really nice-looking 30-centimeter ruler. But it seems like all the good Wilkin ones are 15. And I just have this black plastic thing. Yeah. I want, like, a nice brass ruler. Although a 30-centimeter brass ruler, I might not even be able to lift it off the table. That's a weapon.
Myke: All right. So the task is in front of the people now. We need a fancy 30-centimeter ruler because, like, I'm using 15s. 15s is exactly the perfect size for an A5 notebook, right? It'll fit inside of it without going, you know, past the cover length. Past the cover length. So, yeah. And it's everything I need as far as, like, the size goes. But Myke needs a 30. A non-hinged fancy 30-centimeter ruler. Let's make that happen, Chad. That's the next ruler bit I want to see land in my inbox. So make it happen.
Visconti Homo Sapiens Lava
Brad: All right. Let's take our first break and thank Pen Chalet for their support of this week's episode. They sell all of the products that you're looking for from all of your favorite brands. Whether you want a rollerball, fountain pen, ballpoint, mechanical pencil. Whether you want to shop with Lamy, Sailor, Kaweco, Pilot, or many more. It doesn't matter. Pen Chalet have the products you're looking for, and they're an authorized dealer. They also have a bunch of extras as well. So, you know, your accessories, your inks. Maybe you're looking for some paper. Like, Pen Chalet's got it. They have fast and reliable customer service. They run discounts twice a month. So you can always find things with good prices at Pen Chalet. But, of course, they have special deals for Pen Addict listeners. You can get free shipping on orders of over $50 in the United States. But they also sell internationally with very reasonable shipping rates. Pen Chalet has low prices on high-quality pens, and they offer you 100% satisfaction guarantee. They want you to be happy. So you're going to make sure that you will be. Go to penchalet.com. That's P-E-N-C-H-A-L-E-T.com. And click the podcast link at the top of the website. You want to enter the password Pen Addict, and you'll get the code that you need to save 10% at any time, at anything, on Pen Chalet. And also, you'll get your hands on some of the special offers that Pen Chalet have for Pen Addict listeners, including what do we have, Brad?
Myke: Did you hear me? I did hear you. I was surprised. I was surprised when I hit the page. The first thing that pops on the page is the Cross Townsend Fountain Pen. The price is crazy good. That was like a huge surprise. I bought the Cross ATX that's listed below it. If you buy the Cross Townsend, make sure it ships with a Cross Converter. My Cross ATX did not, and I keep forgetting to order one. I might be able to solve that as I scroll down the list because there's something in here for me, and it's going to be a problem, and you'll know why when we do the rest of this show. But before I even get to that, the SDOS Sparkle, two of the colors are for sale, the Garnet and the Tanzanite, which those don't normally go on sale like this.
Brad: That red one, the good Garnet. Is Garnet the red one? Yes. That's a beautiful color with the gold. Oh, it's great. Oh, my God. That's so good.
Myke: And then, Myke, we have the Visconti Homo Sapiens Lava in white with an extra fine nib.
Brad: Oh, that looks nice.
Myke: And they also have the Visconti Homo Sapiens Demo Stones.
Brad: Okay, look, I know we talk about this a lot, right? And you might think, oh, come on, they're just being nice. I don't understand how Ron is selling these pens at these prices. We won't say the prices. You've got to go see them yourself. I don't understand how this price is kind of incredible for these pens, I think.
Myke: Yeah. I am. I mean, I'm on my cart page. Of course you are. But I just bought a pen, Myke. I just bought a pen. And like, I'm a little bit.
Myke: That's the one I've been wanting. It's on sale. The lava one. And it's my nib size. Yeah, yeah. The white.
Brad: Look, I'm not the biggest fan, right? People know that. Sure. I think this is a beautiful pen.
Brad: All right, hang on a second. It's very Stormtrooper-y. Yeah. It's got that kind of vibe to it. How about you do what you're doing? And I will tell our listeners to go to penshella.com. Click the podcast link on the top of the website. There's even more on the page. Enter the password, Pen Addict, and you can see these incredible deals, the kinds of deals that make Brad cry. Thank you so much to Penshella for their support of this show and Relay FM. And submit. Oh, did you get it? Oh. Well, how about-
Myke: I'm about to do a pen sale. I'm about to do a pen sale because I bought a very expensive pen, and I can't afford all these pens without selling other pens. What does a pen sale look like for you? We're going to talk about the pen you need. That's an entire show. We should do that next week. All right, great. Like, it's literally an entire show.
Brad: I'm intrigued to know. So next week, we can talk about that then, what it takes for Brad to sell some pens. Because I think we're in a similar boat with this kind of stuff of like, I definitely never want to just do one at a time.
Myke: Right. That's exactly right. That's very much at the top of the list of the topics that we would discuss for selling pens. So let's- I'll do that next week. I will- All right. Because I'm going to have to get- Since I just bought this, I'm really in the hole now. I need to recoup quickly. So I will get this done sooner than later.
Brad: Well, we might be able to get you out of that hole a little bit, Brad Dowdy. Or something else. What's that? I received a package a couple of days ago from our friends at Ajoto.
Brad: Ajoto, they made the- like, the Ajoto pen. It was one of the first pens many years ago. I think it was a Kickstarter that used the Schmidt refill that's found in the Retro 51. So, you know, like, before the Mark I, before the Squire, you know, before all of those pens, Ajoto was on the scene. And I believe they're based in Scotland. Is that right?
Myke: Uh, no, Manchester.
Brad: Manchester. Sorry. It's all up north to me. I really apologize to everybody.
Myke: That's pretty much like South Scotland, right? That's like Southern Scotland. You know who I'm-
Ajoto Pen Introduction
Brad: You know who I've just mixed them up in my mind with? Namesu. They're in Scotland. So I apologize to everybody involved. There was a reason. But no, Ajoto. I know that they're in this country, but I couldn't remember where.
Myke: You're very much going to get commentary on that.
Brad: Oh, I don't even want to think about it. It's- See, like, that's already happened in the Discord. People are upset at me. Yeah, look good. I'm a Londoner. All right? We all know about Londoners. Londoners only know about London, and everything's up north to a Londoner. All right? I've said it. Okay? We can all move on.
Myke: Chat, do not lump me into this.
Brad: Look, Manchester is far from Scotland, but it's closer to Scotland than I am. All right? Just leave me alone. We've been there. We've done it. Okay? It's over. Finished. Roasted. Done. Okay. So, but they made beautiful. I don't remember if the pen has a name anymore, if it's just the Ajoto pen.
Myke: It used to be just the Ajoto pen, and that's a great question. I think it's still just the Ajoto pen, and then they elaborate on that concept with materials. Yeah. They've really kind of stuck to it.
Brad: Which I actually really appreciate. They haven't like, oh, here's the other pen that we make. You know, like it's, this is the pen we make, and we're going to do it in a bunch of different materials, a bunch of different styles, that kind of thing. Right. We've respected them for a long time. Really great. Like, we used these for years, and still, and have continued to. I received a package, which was, I didn't know it was coming, but as soon as it arrived, I knew what it was, which is the pen addict Ajoto edition. I got this beautiful packaging, which is orange with these black spots all over it, and it's, you know, it's like a little sleeve you take off, and there's cork and everything. Interesting. And I have it here, and funnily enough, I had mine before you did. I've also got a little note from the Ajoto folk. So thank you to them. But yeah, this is the, you unboxed one as well, right? Because you just got yours too.
Myke: Yeah. So I got mine, I think the day, a day or two after you got yours, mine came pretty quick, but I was holding mine because I wanted to unbox them on stream. I like to do that, you know, if I get the chance to kind of share it with other people as I go through, like, get my first impressions of the thing. And I wasn't in a super hurry because, number one, I knew you got it. And number two, like, I literally worked on this project for months, so I'm pretty sure I know what it looks like when I get here, and I'm pretty sure it's going to be killer. So, like, I had the patience to be able to do it. But what this project was about was me asking Ajoto, could we do a cool Pen Attic version of their pen, which I'm so fond of. Like, I rave about the Ajoto. It's just one of those pens that really gets me in, like, what I like in products. You know, it's simplicity, it's refinement, it's beauty, it's quality. It's just kind of everything that I like. You know, it's from a small maker that, you know, you get to talk to them. And as they've grown, they started to expand, as I was saying before, they started to expand materials, right? They made ebonite pens. And then they started to do different types of finishes on the pens, be it in this case, like, a paint splatter type of finish. But it's a little bit, you know, more refined than just, like, slapping paint on there, even though that's what it looks like. It's a real process to get this done.
Myke: And so they were cool enough to work with me. And, like, I appreciated that because, you know, I'm not, I would never be, like, a huge customer, right? Like, we settled on 20 pens. I have 10 orange with black splatter, and I have 10 black with orange splatter. And Myke and I each got a different one. I, of course, wanted the orange. That was where the project started. Then they're like, you know, we could do, like, reverse it and do a black too. I was like, you know, I think people probably will like the black better. Just, you know, black always does well with the orange splatter on it. So what do you think about the pen?
Brad: Oh, you know, I mean, I already told you. I absolutely adore it. So it's a black pen with, like, it looks like, you know, if you put orange paint on a paintbrush and flick the paintbrush, you know, it's that kind of splatter effect. I don't know exactly, I don't know how they're making it. Is this Cerakote? Do you know?
Myke: It's not Cerakote, but I know it's a, it's like a involved process. Right. Because there's a texture to it,
Brad: which I was not expecting, and I love that it's there. So you can feel the splatter.
Myke: Yeah, like the process is detailed enough that they actually, like, rejected the first batch that they did. Like, this is like, I don't know all the details on how it ends up in this state, but it's more than just, hey, let's do some black pens and throw some stuff on it. It's like a, it's a longer involved process.
Brad: And it's super great. I mean, like, so the Agiotto pen itself is really amazing. So one of the things that's interesting about it compared to other pens, which I had to get used to for a bit, because I've been used to using my Mark I for a while, that the Agiotto is both thinner and longer than other pens like it. And it's because they use a twist mechanism rather than a click mechanism, which I think requires more space in the pen. But it is the, what I like about it is that even though it is longer, the thinness of the pen, just how thin it is in the hand just makes it really comfortable to hold. Like it makes an overall really balanced package, especially because the mechanism they have is very simple. It's like a twisting mechanism, but it's quite solid, right? So there could be some weight to that, but they've done such a good job of balancing it. You know, is that they really know what they're doing. This is a very refined pen. You know, I've been making this pen for years and I think that they have gotten it down to a real science. But this texture and this design, I absolutely adore it.
Myke: Yeah, since I have a ruler here, Myke, I was able to measure the difference between the Mark 1 and the Agiotto and it's about three quarters of a centimeter. So, you know, it's a, when you're an avid pen user, you notice those things like that. That may sound like not a big dimension at all, but you noticed it immediately. Like I know Myke noticed it immediately when he grabbed it. So yeah. Yeah, it's just great. So like you mentioned, the twist mechanism, this is something that they designed. You know, they designed and refined this twist mechanism over the couple of years. They changed it from their original Kickstarter to like their next batch of pens and they just keep working on this refinement and they get all the little details right. And it's extremely work intensive process to get these pens made in the end for what is a simple pen. And that's what, you know, attracted to me to them in the beginning when they just had this simple brass pen, right? You look at it, you go, wow, that's really basic. And you get it and you realize this isn't basic at all because of the attention to detail that Agiotto puts into each pen. You can see that in the packaging of this box. Oh, the packaging is so good. I mean, of this pen. And so like, it's just detailed and like every little piece works together. And there's like a little sneaky engraving on the twist mechanism. If you remove it, it's got the Agiotto X pen addict, you know, on there that you can't see when you're writing. But if you unscrew the twist mechanism, it's all these little details in it. And it came out great. I'm loving it. I have my orange one. Myke has his black one. And so like I said, I ordered 20 of these just to see, just kind of feel it out because these are very expensive pens. I don't want to sugarcoat that. I feel that they're worth it. Obviously, I've been a fan for them since their Kickstarter launch, which I don't know, that's got to be like five years now, four years. And, you know, the price makes sense to me, but it doesn't make sense to a lot of people. And that's understandable.
Brad: Oh, we haven't said it, by the way. It's really, like, in case you hadn't guessed, by the way we're talking about this, this pen's really expensive. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's not a cheap pen. You know, the materials alone are, you know, the way it's made, it's made in a really, as we say, a particular way it's expensive. And then the fact that it's got the special finish on it and it's a limited edition and all that kind of stuff. So we haven't said the price, but, you know, just understand that that's why.
Myke: Oh, I'm going to say the price, but it's a time process that goes into the cost of this as opposed to necessarily a raw materials process. You know, same thing with, like, a Nakaya, right? I'm not relating the two, but you're like, why is a Nakaya so expensive? It's just this simple black pen. I was like, well, there's, the time is what you're really, you know, paying for in a lot of these cases where there's so much detail and so much perfection that's required for the end result. So price, these are going to retail for $320. Pen Addict members are going to get first crack at this batch of 20. And Pen Addict members, as a benefit for being a member, they get 25% off. So in the end, it's $240, which I think is a great price for this pen. Obviously, I'm making it and I accepted all the things for it. And I guess I keep saying 20. We really only have 18 because me and Myke each have one. And we can make more. I feel like I owe you some money, Brad.
Myke: We'll put that on the tab. Yeah. But there's only 18 of them, nine of each color. And while, yes, it's limited just in the amount that I can get, like, there will be more. Like, if there's, if people want these, we'll make some more. So, you know, I know it's, it's not a, you know, just a quick purchase spending that kind of money on a pen. So don't worry if you eventually want one of these, we will have them because I could just make another batch and I would be happy to do it because I love this company. I love this pen. I think this is a great product and I want to have it around for a while. If that means, you know.
Brad: I feel like you should consider setting up like a wait list or something.
Myke: Yeah, yeah. I'm going to work on that imminently. We're probably going to do, like, a raffle is the wrong term, but we're going to do, like, random names for the first batch to be able to order them and then I'll go ahead. If that goes well and, like, the feedback's good, I'll just go ahead and get a second order in with a Johto and we'll get the second order faster.
Brad: So how, what is going to be the process for getting one?
Myke: They will eventually be on the Panatic website in the shop. Right now they're not up yet, but I do have all the photography and all the specs and all that to put up there. So I will probably launch them to Panatic members this weekend, set up the kind of wait list raffle type of situation just to make sure everyone has a fair chance if they want to buy it. So yeah. Sweet.
Myke: I'm excited about it. I'm using it constantly. I don't know. I love it. I'm an a Johto fan, so that's just kind of how it works. I make, I like to make the things that I like to use and this is one of those products.
Brad: This is a very good project. I know you've been working on it. It's come out really well.
Drill Log Product
Myke: Yep. Yep. So we put in all that work knowing that the next time we do it, we can do it a lot faster. We went through a lot to get these done. To get these 20 pins done, it took us four months, five months. Yeah. It took a while. So well worth the wait.
Brad: Talking about waiting. Don't be a drill log boy. So I saw this on Instagram. Big drill log boy. You have five drill log pens?
Myke: Yeah. So we, this cracks me up. So we talked about drill log obviously a lot because I am obsessed with this product, right? We've, I've been very clear as to why. Like this is a Brad product. This is maybe not a product for everybody. And, you know, to kind of rewind quickly for people who may just be listening for the first time, drill log got in touch. The pins were available only in Japan. So I never went through the routine to, to get one. And I just bided my time and drill log said, Hey, we're going to do a Kickstarter for, you know, other markets so we can sell these outside of Japan. I'm like, okay, great. I can't wait. This is awesome. I love it. And then they were like, well, can we send you, you know, one of our products or our products to check out? And I'm like, yeah, absolutely. You know, they said they want to give me an early look before the Kickstarter. And I said, yeah, please do. Here's my address. They sent me literally one of everything. Like, so I was not expecting this. So not only do I have the upcoming Kickstarter pin, which is just for a singular model, I have the pins that launched with Drillog. You know, there is a, you know, there's the basic classic, which is just kind of a straight, smooth barrel, classic barrel. There's the Mirage barrel, which if we'll put the link into Drillog on the site, this is kind of like the circular cutout barrel. There is a classic spiral barrel, which as you can imagine, is kind of like an exterior spiral twist going on. These are all machined pins, either out of aluminum or stainless steel. And then there's a twin spiral, which has, is a double-ended drill log with a little spiral section in the middle. and then the Kickstarter one is going to be the classic barrel, and then they have like the rainbow of colors, right? Anodization, blue, green, blue, green, yellow. So this is going to be
Brad: like the cylinder one that's at the bottom of your image, basically. Yes,
Myke: the cylinder one, and I got the orange one. So this is the amber-orange from the Kickstarter.
Brad: It's a bit goldy in the image that you posted on Instagram.
Myke: Yeah, so we'll talk about this until the cows come home, and we've talked about this with spoke and everything. Orange is one of the single hardest anodizations to get color accurate. Okay. This one's pretty good. This is, in my hands, it's more orange, and it always shows up in the pictures more gold than it does. It's hard, not only is it hard to make, it is hard to photograph. So I feel like they executed on the orange, as well as you could for an anodization as someone who has gone through this process before. Okay. So with those pen barrels, you need a pen nib. So that's what Drillog is really all about. It's these metal-engineered dip nibs for fountain pen ink, necessarily. Not necessarily just that, but, you know, any dip type of ink you could use, you know, any type of artist ink, anything you want to have a dip nib for to put the nib in an ink bottle or an ink pot and write on paper. But the difference with these is they are very fine-tipped. So it's a metal tip, and the two tip sizes they make right now are 0.8 millimeter and 0.5 millimeter, and they sent me both of those too. So I have just about every combination of Drillog you could have, and I love them. Okay. For what they are. So I don't know how much I can explain even just on the podcast, but I'll try to do my best. So let's just take out the barrels for right now and just focus on the nibs. So you have a 0.8 and a 0.5. Obviously, the 0.8 is wider. It gives a wider line than the 0.5, and I tested the 0.8 first. It went really well. It's good. It's like a 0.7 to a 1.0 millimeter gel ink line, you know, like that type of width with that line. And the ink, the way the nibs are designed, right, since they're metal, they had to figure out a way for this ink to stay on the nib to give you a good enough writing experience to not have to be constantly dipping back and forth, right? You want to dip the pen and then you want to write a decent amount and then re-dip. Like, that's what it's for. It's not going to, you can't write forever with any dip nib, and they were, but they're designed to hold ink.
Myke: So what I would do as I was figuring this out, and I did this all on stream, just trying to figure it out with the viewers as we went, that different inks matter, like the type of ink chemistry matters. Oh, yeah. Right? So there's inks that roll off the metal and there's inks that stick to the metal. And we'll put, we need to put a link into Jacob, a food day fan's blog post about this. Okay. And he lists like viscosity and surface tension measurements. I didn't get that detailed because my brain can't comprehend those things.
Brad: Yeah, I found it. But he discusses
Myke: how these types of ink properties, how they work on this metal dip nib as opposed to like a glass dip nib. And there's different types of inks that work better. Okay? So that's part of the process.
Brad: Right.
Myke: So that was, that's cool. I think that's cool, right? It's, it's, I think with a glass dip nib, it's more, at least from what I've experienced, it's more universal. Like any, I haven't noticed an ink being that much different in the glass dip nib. With the metal nib of the drill log, I do notice a little bit difference. Like, oh, I wrote less lines with this type of ink than I wrote with this different type of ink. Right.
Brad: So it seems like with some inks, the pen, like the grooves or whatever, kind of hold onto the ink more. It's not, it's not pushing it all through. Is that right? Yes.
Myke: Yes. So to continue that holding onto the ink point, you can get to a point where there's still ink held on the nib, but it's, let's just, for lack of a better term, it's not flowing. Yeah. From the nib points. So you're writing, you're writing, you're writing, and then all of a sudden it's dry, but you look at the nib and you say, hey, I still see blue all in here. But if you twist the nib, like in a clockwise fashion, it starts to, like gravity starts to pull the ink down into the slots and you just kind of, you can get more lines out of that. Like I, you, I had to figure all this out as I was going. It's not like a glass in the dip nib where it's like you dip it, you write, you're done, you dip it again. This one actually is, it, I mean, it's generally similar, right? The idea is similar, but I could actually get more writing, you know, with just a little turn in my hand as I go because of the way these spirals are cut in here. They're holding the ink, but sometimes they need a little help to get down to the point of the nib. I vastly preferred the 0.5 nib size over the 0.8.
Myke: That's a me thing, right? That's me wanting to write with a Pilot Hitec C 0.4 millimeter dip nib is what that gets me, which to me, that's like the sexiest thing anyone could ever say to me, right? Like that is what I want when I'm writing. Like I want that. And now I have this metal nib that I can get any ink color in any ink bottle and dip it and write right away with it.
Brad: What do you think? Did you try the 0.8?
Myke: Oh yeah, yeah. I tried it a bunch first and it's just, I think that will be the most popular because it puts the most ink on the page.
Brad: Right.
Myke: Right. A lot of times dip nibs.
Brad: You think I could get along with that?
Myke: Oh yeah. Okay. Easily. You would absolutely get along. You would not, I would not recommend the 0.5 to you.
Brad: No, no, that wasn't going to happen. I knew that. I knew that going. It's interesting, like this is going to be one of those things where you have to experiment with. But honestly, I feel like the majority of people that would buy this pen, unless it explodes, which it actually has the opportunity to, I think. I think if you're, if you're a pen person, it will be fun to experiment and see what works, you know, like ink wise, like which of the inks that you have are going to work because this is the thing, like we can look at what Jacob is saying and you can see like, you know, the viscosity, who knows the viscosity levels of all the inks that they own? Jacob does. Well, yep.
Brad: That's why we're going to link that article. Surely this is one of those, this is something that Jacob looked up, right? Like he did, he did. He references that. He was trying it out and was noticing, oh, some inks work better than others. Let me see if I can try and work this out. But you know what I mean? Like, because the ink that you have in the bottles didn't print that information on the bottle. Right. So it's just one of those things where I think it will be a fun thing to play around with and see which inks work, which don't, which provide the right experience. But for me, this, like what I see this pen for, for myself personally, is like, this is the ink testing pen. Yes. Because I, as I said before, I am not a fan of swatching.
Myke: This was literally coming out of my mouth. You said it correctly. This is an ink testing pen, not an ink swatching pen. They are two different things. Right. So a lot of times, you know, your ink swatches are for bigger, broader applications of ink on a paper. Your ink testing is, well, let me see what this color looks like and a style reminiscent to how I actually write on the page. And that's where these 0.8 and 0.5 tip sizes, you know, I write like the 0.5 tip size. So I'm going to dip this nib into the ink with the 0.5 size and then I see how I write. And I was, I was really, really pleased with the 0.5.
Brad: How do you clean it in between? You run it under water or something? Is there a quick way to clean it?
Myke: Just water. So when I was testing them, I just had two bowls of water next to me or you could have like two little containers and I'd basically have a dirty water and a clean water, right? So I'd, you know, I'd go, the first dip would be into the dirty water like that had ink in it before and rinse it in there and that gets, you know, probably 90% of it off and then I'd dip it in the clean water and then I'd wipe it with a paper towel and I specifically wiped it with a shop towel so I wouldn't get fibers on the nib. I would consider using like a microfiber cloth or a fiberless like paper towel. You know, I wouldn't use like a traditional paper towel to that. I don't, I wouldn't want fibers in these grooves at all and it's sharp enough, it's not sharp enough to cut you but I think it's sharp enough to grab some fibers and kind of have some residue there so I thought about that the first time I did it I did it with the paper towel I was like, oh, this probably isn't the best idea let me go grab a different towel to use. so. They don't, I don't know that they have any recommendations but that would be my recommendation and you know, they may add it. Let me get to two downsides, Myke. Okay. The first one is very simple and very obvious. This is expensive, right? This is expensive for a niche product so on the Kickstarter It's going to be between what, like $220 and $280 I think depending on because you have to
Brad: I was more than I was expecting you to say.
Myke: Hashtag a Johto, baby. Okay.
Nakaya Pen Review
Brad: All right. Look, these are very beautiful.
Myke: It's the engineering
Brad: in the nib. I have no, look, I understand it but that was just, when you said it's expensive I had a number in my mind and we're past that number.
Myke: It's the engineering in the nib I think is very costly and then they do a very nice job on the barrels, right? So they're, everything, craftsmanship wise and machining wise is perfect. Like I have no, no knock on any machining or fabrication of these pens but they're very expensive so like the early bird price is like $220-ish and like the full, full freight price is like more like $280. That gets you one nib and then one standard barrel. The bigger consideration is that this is a short pen and on the Kickstarter that it fits my hand fine but it's close to being almost too short because you don't grip on the nib, right? So if you look at the pictures we'll share, you have to grip above where the nib attaches to the barrel and you lose a lot of length. I would like almost another, I would like at least, I'd love at least a quarter inch more on here and maybe more. Do you have anything
Brad: you could give me as a comparison?
Myke: So when I looked at them on stream, hang on, I'm gonna, my voice is gonna vanish real quick while I reach.
Brad: Okay. Because I'm thinking like are we talking like Kaweco Sport size? Yes.
Myke: So I grabbed, so let's see. How's the best way to do it? So a Kaweco Sport that is not capped, right? You're not putting the barrel on the back of the pen to make it the full length pen, right? So an uncapped, it is about a centimeter shorter than the drill log. It's about the same difference between the Mark 1 and the Ejodo for your specific purposes.
Brad: So for me, if I'm holding the drill log where I'm supposed to hold it, that's like a centimeter longer than if I held the Kaweco Sport uncapped with the... Yes. So that's basically, that's like a little bit smaller than a capped Kaweco Sport then, right? Because that doesn't add a lot of size when you cap it.
Myke: Well, I'm measuring it now. Capped, it's almost two centimeters longer. That's a big difference.
Myke: So capped, it clears like the back of my hand, right?
Brad: So it's in between those basically.
Myke: So the drill log, when I grip it, it's like in the middle of the cusp of my hand. It does not clear my hand. Does that make sense? Yeah, yeah. So basically... And I do not, just for the record, I do not have big hands. I'd say it's just a standard medium-sized hand.
Brad: So it seems like really, if you can use an uncapped Kaweco, you'll be fine, which I can and do, actually. I don't cap whenever I use a Kaweco Sport, I don't cap, but that's much smaller than I thought. That is much smaller than I thought. And I get why, right? Because it would be super long. It might be weird, but I mean, and I understand that like you're not holding it in the same place. I remember when we came to this discovery, when we first looked at these things, like, oh no, the grip section is way higher, right? Which is also a thing of like, you might not like the way this works, right? like, I think I would, I will struggle a little bit with where I need to hold it in relation to how far my fingers are away. Like, I'm going to feel like I'm using a paintbrush rather than a pen. Right. But I'm still into it because I just think it's a beautiful thing. It's the same, it's like that price, it's expensive, but I do, I want one of these. It's like a piece of jewelry.
Myke: Right. So like, I was concerned about the distance from my grip to the nib on the page, right? Yep. And I was actually, I was okay with that. The bigger issue is going to be just the barrel length. And what's funny to me in their design choices, so they have this double-ended one, right, that they sent me, right? So you can actually, this is not, so what the pen I was talking about is the Kickstarter pen. This is the only model on the Kickstarter pen. It's called the Classic. So outside of that on the regular drill log site, so they sent me one called the Twin Spiral, right? And it's where you could put like the 0.5 nib on one side of the pen and the 0.8 nib on the other side of the pen. So if you look at that barrel closely, they actually allow for a posting on the back side of the pen and it makes it the perfect length. And I don't know why that didn't convert over into this Classic barrel because it's the same barrel shape. If they had that, it would be like, for me, we're getting into like no-brainer territory because it's a good length. Without that posting, so the cap does not post anywhere at all. It doesn't screw on, there's no magnet, nothing. It's short and I think that's going to be an issue for some people.
Brad: Yeah, I don't know why they didn't do posting. Yeah,
Myke: so if you look at the pictures of the Twin Spiral, it's like a two-line groove on the back. I'm a little bit confused of why that didn't translate into this pen knowing that it's definitively short.
Brad: I mean, the only thing I can imagine for why they might not have done it is it doesn't look as nice.
Myke: I agree. I mean, I agree completely. But I think you're going to get more pushback on the length than you would say, hey, that doesn't really look great. that balance of feedback I think is different. But again, it fits for me. I think it's not going to fit for a lot of people until they make a longer barrel.
Brad: Visually, of all the ones that you have, my favorite is the double. I think that that is like spot on visually for me.
Myke: Yep. That is the best one. Because what I also like,
Brad: it shows you exactly where to hold it.
Myke: Right. And that spiral is actually a pretty decent grip. I have a traditional grip. My fingers fit in those grooves to where it doesn't feel weird. It feels normal. That's the one I recommend. It would end up being the most expensive because you'd have to double up on the nibs, right? And the nibs are expensive on their own. So, that's my favorite out of the bunch. If we're going to talk about the standard drill log offerings, I wanted to like the Mirage so much. That's the blue kind of disc one. It's just not comfortable to write with. I couldn't recommend this to almost anyone. You would have to be really, really particularly in love with this barrel because it's not comfortable to write with, with those grooves. It looks so cool. I want it to be the best. It is not. It's got to feel
Brad: terrible. It looks so cool. It's going to look great on a desk, but I can't imagine there being an uncomfortable way to hold that pen. No. It's like,
Myke: the disc edges aren't rounded. I don't want to say they're sharp, but they're sharp-ish.
Brad: Yeah, yeah. That one doesn't look so good to me in that sense. It looks great, but like, yeah.
Myke: I still have a lot more testing. I'll post some more Instagram pictures if y'all want to see something in particular about these drill logs. I mean, it's going to launch, did we even mention that? So it launches tomorrow. So at 2100 Tokyo time, which if my math is correct, that's 8 a.m. Eastern U.S. time. So that'll be a little afternoon your time, Myke, and then pretty early for our West Coast listeners in the U.S. 15th of July. So tomorrow, yes. So it is launching tomorrow. The early, this is one of those times where the early birds actually does make a pretty significant price difference based on what I can see in the preview of the campaign. I'm going to back it. I'm going to support them and get another one because I want this to continue to grow, right? They're just starting. And even though they've sent me five barrels and two nibs, I'm totally giving them my money for another one because I want them to succeed. Like, I want this to be a thing. And it's just going to be a very particular product. Like, I think people will get them and go, oh, you know what? That didn't really work for me or, oh, I didn't like it. And then there's going to be some people like myself that now have an 05 millimeter dip nib that's just fascinating for me. And I just, I just adore it.
Brad: All right. This episode is brought to you by our friends over at Squarespace, the all-in-one platform to help you build your online presence and run your business. From websites and online stores to marketing tools and analytics, Squarespace have got you covered by really being a truly all-in-one solution for everything you want to do online. Whether you have a big idea you want to turn into a new website, whether you want to showcase your work, your artwork of incredible portfolio designs, maybe publish your next blog post, promote your business, announce an event, whatever it is you want to do, Squarespace has everything you need to create that beautiful and modern website. You start with one of their professionally designed templates, you use drag-and-drop tools to make it feel like your own, you customize the look, the feel, the settings, the way things work, even the products that you have on sale in just a few clicks and everything is optimized for any screen size so your content is going to automatically adjust no matter which device people are coming to your website from. Squarespace really do combine cutting-edge design with world-class engineering to make it easier than ever to establish your home online and make your ideas a reality. There's nothing to patch or upgrade, you get free unlimited hosting, top-of-the-line security and dependable resources, they have a 24-7 customer support team, they have SEO tools, email marketing tools, and you can even grab a unique domain name as well. Both me and Brad have been Squarespace customers for like 10 years each. They're so dependable and also Squarespace looks and feels so different to how it was when we started. They move with the times and they add the features you're going to need. When e-commerce was becoming a thing that just people could do for themselves, they created the commerce platform which now is where you can enable a store on your Squarespace site. It's all so awesome, so easy to use and it really does help and make sense. So go to squarespace.com slash penaddict and you can sign up for a free trial with no credit card required. You can build your whole website and then when you're ready to launch it to the world, use the offer code penaddict and you'll save 10% on your first purchase of a website or domain. That's squarespace.com slash penaddict and then when you sign up, use the code penaddict for 10% of your first purchase and to show your support for the show. Our thanks to Squarespace for the continued support of this show and RelayFM.
Myke: I feel like we're about to start the show at the beginning all over again.
Brad: Yeah, so you bought a pen, huh?
Myke: Yeah, and there's like two huge topics we haven't covered and we've covered some huge topics today. Yeah, I did a thing, Myke. What happened here?
Myke: So many justifications are about to happen, Myke, to tell you, to explain to you what happened. Into it. I love Nakias, right? Oh, okay. I am in the stage of my pen library of refinement and really narrowing down the most favorite pens that I want to use on a regular basis because I have too many pens to use them all in any type of reasonable time frame based on how I write and how I use products. So, and I do not like having products sitting unused that I've spent money on, right? I use everything I get.
Myke: You know, price doesn't matter on, you know, whether I'm deciding to use a pen or not. I don't have a museum. I have a library where I check things out and I ink them up and I use them.
Brad: Oh, I love that analogy, Brad. That's good.
Myke: That's what I've been using for a while. I settled on that like a while ago. I don't, I don't, you don't say it out loud because it sounds kind of weird when you say it out loud, but yeah, that's my term as opposed to collection. I don't feel like I have a collection.
Brad: Yeah.
Myke: I feel like I have a library. I may have stolen that from Anthony at UK Fountain Pens. I'll have to remember when I wrote it up one time for the members. It's been well over a year ago, but anyway, library is the phrase that I stuck on. I like it. And right now, there are books in the library that need to be sold. Like they're just, you know, it's time to have the library sale because when I stumble across a pen like this Nakaya, which I'll explain in just a second, I want to be able to purchase it. I don't want to say guilt-free, but like you just can't spend this type of money for this type of pen. At least I can't. I can't spend this type of money on this type of pen on a regular basis. This is a very expensive pen. This is the second most expensive pen I bought, but it is a perfect pen for me. So this is like, what is the... So this is a Nakaya Decapod. No, the other one, it's that one with all the Makai, right? The Milky Way. So that's the Miki, right? Yes. Yeah. That's the only pen I've spent over $1,000 on. This one did not crack that threshold, but it was pretty darn close.
Myke: So when I see like this little bit of perfection and I say that for me, right, it's perfect for me, I want to be able to buy it and add it to the library. So this is a Nakaya Decapod in Midori Taminuri. And Midori is a bright green. And if you're not familiar with the Decapod, it is one of the pens that shows the most underlying colors of a Rushi because it's a faceted barrel. Right? So you get these ridges all down the barrel with all this green poking through. And it's impossible for me to just not go, oh my gosh.
Brad: Is it blue with green?
Myke: It's green. It's green.
Brad: It's all green, right?
Myke: Oh, no, no. I'm sorry. It's black. That's black. Okay. With green. Yeah, yeah. I didn't know what you're asking me. Yes, the base is black
Brad: with a green undertones of green. Okay.
Myke: And the green is bright, right? The green is not like a dark green or forest green. It's a bright green. It stands out. Mm-hmm. And so, like, I've seen dozens of Decapods over my years and have never bought one because, like, the setup hasn't been perfect. That's the thing with Nakaya is they're not mass-produced. So you don't always get, like, the perfect setup unless you're ordering one brand new from someone who sells them. And by setup, I mean, does it have a clip or not a clip? Is it a gold clip or a rhodium-plated trip? Is the nib gold in color or is it rhodium-plated gold? What size is the nib? Is it broad or is it extra fine? So there's lots of questions I have to ask myself when I'm buying an Nakaya. This pen happened to have, the first thing that caught my eye is it's a rhodium-plated nib. I was like, well, that's the only nibs I like on my Nakayas is that silver look. I don't like the gold nibs. And on top of that, it had a grind on it which I had to actually research. So, it has a fine nib and it's got an extra fine flex nib grind. And that sounds kind of simple. I mean, in the scheme of nib things. But, I hadn't, I thought this was like the elastic nib, which the elastic nib is the cutouts on the side of the nib. And what this is, and I'll have to find a better picture and I'll have to do it myself, is this nib is basically ground into a needle point and then the underside of the nib is shaved down a little bit. You can barely see it visually to allow for a little bit of flex in the nib. So, it's designed for Spenserian handwriting, which I don't do, but the fine lines and the slight flex lines, the slight width you gain, fits my style of handwriting perfectly, right? It's basically writing with like a soft needle point, which, if you've heard me talk for 470 episodes, it's like, well, that's, that's a Brad pen. And I, I, it took me about 5 minutes to decide to buy this pen. That's how perfect it was for me, right? For me personally. Um, that the decision when I saw it was like, oh, okay, I don't need to spend, I'll say it, $950 on a pen. And then, I was like, hmm, that is an exact, and once I researched the nib, like, that is exactly, perfectly, this is exactly the pen I should buy if I'm gonna spend that kind of money to get the most value for it, and the most use for it, from my, from my personal usage. It's like, exactly the pen setup that I want, the color, and the nib. And, um, so yeah, it's like, like, it's, it's great. This is my first Decapod. I love it. It's, I'm just using it religiously. I have it inked up with the, the Mount Fuji blue-black ink cartridges, which I'm actually going, I just wanted to get that in there to get it tested out. Um, I always use blue-black inks in my, uh, Nakaya, but I'm gonna eventually use a color that will shade a little bit more when I flex the nib, the, the small amount that it does flex. So, yeah, like, this is a super Brad pen, like, if there was one, like, we talk about those things that, like, really, really speak to me. So, in the end, which we mentioned earlier, is I can't buy this pen and sleep at night and not have to sell, like, other pens to pay for it. So, that's what I'm working on. We'll cover that next week on, finally, the push for me to, to sell some other pens to be able to pay for this one and to just clear out some of the library, right? So, um, yeah, it's great. I'm thrilled with it. I, I'm very happy with it.
Brad: I think that you really have something that's very Brad here. Honestly, when I saw it, I kind of thought, well, surely you already owned that pen. It just feels like you would have had that.
Myke: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, no, that's, that's exactly right. But, like, with the Decapod, it's like, okay, maybe the color wasn't right, you know, the, whichever type of finish wasn't right, or it had a gold nib and, like, I'm just not going to deal with that. um, at the time. So, yeah, it's, uh, it's one of those things where I am fortunate enough to, that it fit me perfectly and I'm fortunate enough to be able to afford it at the time it was available and now I have to make up for that by, you know, selling a bunch of pens to, to feel good about spending that kind of money on a single pen. So, that's what I'm working on.
Brad: Last thing today, by the way, congratulations, this is a beautiful pen. I'm so happy that you love it and I can't wait to see it because it really does look stunning. Yeah. It's very, um, refined.
Myke: Mm-hmm. What's funny is it's, it's kind of loud for a Nakaya and I mean that in the best way possible. In the color? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, it's, it's a strong finish on there. Like, it's really sharp definition between the black and the green, which I love. It's not, for a Nakaya, it's, it's subtle, but not, right? Like, that's just how Nakaya, um, makes their pens, right? It's subtle, but in this one is, it's also very not subtle. So, yeah, I like it.
Myke: Twisby. Oh boy.
Brad: I can't work out what this product is.
Brad: Are you sure, Myke? Twisby swipe.
Brad: It's a,
Myke: pen, it's a pen.
TWSBI Cartridge Converter
Brad: It's a converter with a spring in it. I don't get it.
Brad: I don't get that part.
Myke: I'm trying to figure this out myself. So, this was released, the, the, the marketing, the, the, the details of the pen were released to retailers around the world. The pen is not out yet until the end of the month.
Myke: When I first saw it, I thought this is Twisby Go version two, right? Because all you see when you open this picture, and we'll put a link in the show notes to this picture, is the spring, right? Pens don't have these large, gaudy springs, except for the Twisby Go, which we have famously talked about a million times. Um, so I thought, oh, this is like something with the Go series, Go V2, and it's not that at all. It is this this plunger converter insert that you can use or a cartridge insert you can use.
Brad: the real, the real actual big deal here is that Twisby have created a pen that takes cartridges. Yes. Right? Because they don't have one. And like, so that's, that's the actual deal here. Are these cartridges proprietary?
Myke: I don't know yet. Um, the coupling and the fitting on there looks standard international size at a distance, you know, as best as I can tell zooming into this. That's the aesthetic it has. I can't guarantee that until I see it. If I'm Twisby, I make it.
Brad: These cartridges look backwards, right? They don't look right when you look at the image.
Myke: Right. So it's like an inverted shape. But like,
Brad: are you supposed to spring load the cartridge in the pen?
Myke: I don't think so. I think it's two different options, right? It's a cartridge or converter. So like, just like any, just like a Lamy Safari, right?
Brad: You have a converter and a cartridge. If you look at Twisby's Instagram, right? You look at the image there. Like one of the images shows all of the parts and they have a cartridge with a spring behind it. What's that spring for?
Myke: I don't know. Yeah, I know. I see what you're seeing and in the diagram, right? Can you look at the, if you look at the diagram. Optional use
Brad: with cartridge not needed during normal use. Spring adds extra security for maximum engagement of cartridge during extreme movements. For example, dropping the pen on the floor. That's not a thing. No, I know why they've done this. I can see why they've done this.
Myke: Yeah, but that's not a thing that happens.
Brad: No, no, no, no, wait, just bear with me one second. All right.
Myke: Mm-hmm.
Brad: That cartridge is way smaller than the body of the pen. Yes. I know what you're saying, but I guess the concern is that the cartridge is going to pop out. this is what they're trying to help you against?
Myke: No. I mean, yes, you are correct. Then that's what they're doing. Yeah. And I'm saying that issue does not exist in the real world.
Brad: Yeah.
Myke: There, you, I would have to whip a pen against the wall as hard as humanly possible. and it only might dislodge from the feed. The cartridge might only maybe consider dislodging itself from the feed.
Myke: It just doesn't work that way unless they've made like a crappy cartridge, which then it's just going to leak. It's not going to, you don't need the spring to slam the cartridge
Brad: into the barrel. Brad, it's like with this pen it will come out. Right?
Brad: We have designed this pen so bad. We tested this and that thing will pop out of there.
Myke: Wow. We're, look at this cartridge. They're just jumping out all over the place. I set my pen down. Boom! Cartridge.
Brad: Someone's going to hold that in. You know what I'm worried about though?
Myke: Spring.
Brad: Like, I could just imagine trying to put the screw this thing together and then you accidentally like fling the body of the pen out, right? Like, it's just spring off there.
Myke: That's what this is. This is a cartridge shooter. Yeah. You just bring the pen. You don't like engage the cartridge. You just put the cartridge in the barrel and then you get to the office. We're spending
Brad: way too much time on this because this is actually big news, right? This is a $23 to $27 depending on where you live in the world.
Brad: Lamy Safari competitor. TWSBI are in this market now. They're making a cartridge pen, right? And a cartridge converter pen.
Brad: Fine. I wouldn't go there. But they're aiming at it. This is their aim at it, right?
Myke: Yes. I do not disagree with you.
Myke: I'm just trying to wrap my head around the whole idea, right? You have the TWSBI Go and you have the TWSBI Eco and you're saying, right, that, okay, well, those require bottles of ink to fill. This is our not bottle of ink filling pen in the same price range. And I think it's a big deal. I'll buy that.
Brad: I think them actually finally making a cartridge-based pen is a big deal because I think that people are intimidated, rightly so, I think, if it's their first fountain pen or whatever, to go with the bottle of ink route. Yeah, I agree. I think TWSBI's products are really good and I think people should try it. So as well, this is, and I found it on their Instagram, it is standard international and it will take any standard international and you can also use their non-spring loaded converter as well. If it's standard international, it will go in here. So I do think this is a big deal. I think it looks great too,
Myke: by the way. If you're trying to compete with Lamy Safari, let's just be direct and just say Safari. Why have a spring at all? Why make people ask that question, what is this for?
Brad: Yeah, I don't know. I think, honestly, that's how I look at it. I don't disagree
Myke: with anything you're saying. I think the
Brad: spring is branding, Brad.
Myke: I agree with that. That's our thing. TWSBI. We have springs.
Brad: We have
Myke: springs in our pens.
Brad: But the thing is, I don't disagree with that because we all freaked out about the TWSBI Go because it had a spring in it.
Myke: Yeah, but it was because it was a piston. It sucked up the ink, Myke. this is trying to solve a problem that literally no one has. It's just adding confusion to, hey, I would like to buy my first fountain pen.
Brad: Yeah, but pens have springs in them. You know what I mean? People buying their first fountain pen, they've been used to a ballpoint pen which has a spring in it. I don't think the spring is going to make people think something weird is going on. I think this is a really interesting product. I look forward to getting one. I think this could be a real sleeper hit. It is weird. Look, when you look at it on paper, this is why we're talking about it, they've done something strange here. There's a lot of strange things like why do their cartridges look like that? Why do they have a spring in the converter? It's strange, but I wouldn't be surprised if that's part of what they're going for.
Myke: Yeah. I will say just from a design perspective, I dislike the clip greatly. It looks like either the Schaefer or no, the Statler or the Pelican child pen. Looks like aggressive.
Brad: There's too much clip on this pen, but I like the body and I like the two finishes they have, the kind of smoky and the blue finish.
Myke: I wasn't talked out of it. I mean, you're talking me a little bit more into it. Obviously, I'm going to get plenty of them, but I'm just like I have a real thing that I get really stuck on solving companies trying to solve problems that don't exist, right? Like I get stuck on that. And that's an independent thought from is this a good pen or not, right? And I'm having a hard time separating those two in this case. Usually, I'm pretty good at separating, say, is this a good product? Yes or no? You know, are there things that could be changed from a design perspective? And this one, I'm lumping all that in together. I'm having a little bit difficulty separating them.
Brad: I mean, we'll find out, right? Because we were a little bit skeptical
Myke: at the Go. Yeah, turns out the Go is pretty great. So, yeah. What an episode today, Myke. This is my kind of episode. This is a big show. We can't even get to ask TPA.
Brad: Too much hashtag content.
Myke: Too much stationery. Do you know when this
Brad: TWSBI is going to be available? Is it just soon? Yeah,
Myke: a couple weeks.
Brad: That typical TWSBI release of like, it's now or never.
Myke: Everyone, everyone got the PR. So, I think it's like a week from now. I think they've probably ordered, I think retailers have probably placed their orders to receive these pens, would be my guess. And they're going to have them in like a week or two. End of the month.
Brad: Okay.
Myke: Yeah, cult pin says 23rd. So, yes, very soon.
Brad: That's very soon. All right, I'm going to try and get one.
Myke: Oh, yeah, for sure.
Brad: If you want to find links to what we've spoken about today, you can go to relay.fm slash penaddict slash 470, but you can also find them in your podcast app of choice. If you want to find Brad online, go to penaddict.com, twitch.tv slash penaddict. Go and follow there. Brad streams many days a week. You can also find Brad, he's penaddict on Instagram, downdeals, I'm on Twitter, and Brad on micro.blog. Yeah, buddy. I'm I, Myke, I-M-Y-K-E. Thank you so much to Squarespace and Penn Chalet for the support of this week's episode. And as always, thank you for listening. We'll be back next time. Until then, say goodbye, Brad. Goodbye, Brad.