The Pen Addict 437/transcript

The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript
Episode:	437
Title:	That's Not My Handwriting
Release Date:	November 18th, 2020
Hosts:	Brad Dowdy Myke Hurley
Guests:	No guests this episode
Additional Information
Official page:	Episode 437
Audio File:	Audio Episode 437
Podcast page:	The Pen Addict 437
Length:	7272 min <br />1.2 h <br /> minutes
Previous Transcript	Next Transcript

Myke Hurley: From RelayFM, this is The Pen Addict, episode 437. Today's show is brought to you by Pen Chalet, Harry's, and Good Made Better. My name is Myke Hurley and I am joined by one half of Brad Dowdy. Hi Brad Dowdy.

Brad Dowdy: I'm like 90%. I'm like 90%. Well, my functionality is a little bit diminished.

Myke Hurley: Your functionality is severely downgraded, right? Because this is the thing. We were talking about this last week. I feel like this week, spirits are higher, which is good, so we can maybe talk about it differently. Because I was quite worried about you last week. Me too. But the functionality of Brad Dowdy when his right arm is removed is significantly decreased, more than the average person.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. It's a frustration. I'm not going to lie. I'm frustrated, but I'm in a way better mood just because I'm feeling better, you know, the further away you get from it. Like, I still have pain and, you know, you still kind of, when you're moving around with a cast on your wrist, you still, you know, mostly feel good, but then you zap yourself. You know, if you leverage it wrong or something like that, you know, trying to do something. I have a funny story we'll get to later in this show. It'll fit better in a moment to emphasize why that's the case. But yeah, like, in general, Myke, I'm doing way better than last week. Like, last week, I had to type in the document to tell Myke, like, we need to stop because I need to not, I need to go lay down. Like, this week, I feel, like, totally normal, except, you know, my wrist is in a cast and sometimes I electrocute myself if I move it wrong.

Myke Hurley: And also, like, just before last week, just, like, I assume that your mental state was frazzled because you were going to find out how bad it was, right? Like, that was what you, as soon as you hung up with me, you basically got ready to go see an orthopedic surgeon. Right. What is the situation for anyone that hasn't seen your Instagram?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, the situation is we are clear for casting, no surgery required, which is a huge deal because then it hopefully means I'll have little to no physical therapy when I'm done. Like, the doctor feels like the break's going to heal cleanly. You didn't feel like you need to do any work to have it set up correctly.

Surgery Update

Myke Hurley: So, like, they didn't need to reset you. Right. Which sounds like, and I assume feels like one of the worst things ever.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, yeah. This is a huge win. Like, this is a huge win. That's for sure. So, yeah. So, now I'm just cast it up. We'll get the cast cut off on December 7th to get a fresh x-ray. Then we'll decide to cast back up for three more weeks or go to a splint. So, I'm in good shape as far as, like, the process goes to getting back to normal. So, yeah. I'm feeling very good about that. I'm still, like, you know, every day I'm anxious for it to be over with, right? Because it just really, you know, just like anybody. Like, this is a minor thing in the grand scheme of things. But it just throws little kinks into your plans. And when you're someone who kind of writes with their right hand for part of their living, you know, it just, my headspace is like, you know, it goes up and down for sure. So, you know, it's all good, though. And we'll be over this before you know it. It'll be a blip on the radar. We'll get to episode 1000. We'll go, remember that time Brad broke his wrist? Oh, yeah. That was silly. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: It's like how we say, do you remember that time when Brad gave up and left the show?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. That one I do forget. Yeah, me too. I never forget the Brad hates fountain pens because people bring that up. I do forget that it wasn't long after that we were on a break for probably like two months. Yep. I want to say like around episode 20 something, 24, 27, right around there. So, yeah.

Brad Dowdy: Yep. So, it's good. I'm definitely feeling better. I'm getting more into the routine. And now we just need to work on my writing. So, I...

Myke Hurley: What is the update? How have you been? How's lefty life treating you? Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: It's okay. Like, I can do it. I'm not mentally in a place to work on it yet. Like, I'm still pretty frustrated with it as far as like sitting still and focusing on it. Just because I don't want to sit still and focus on it mostly. But I cannot write more than a minute or two with my right hand. And so, the way my cast is built, like it's... My fingers are pretty open and I can grab, let's just say a pencil. I've found that pencils are working very well because they're long and skinny. And, you know, you don't have to fight with, say, a concave grip section or a step down in the barrel on a fountain pen. Nor do you have to worry about a specific angle of a fountain pen. Or, let's say, a standard pen having like a weird grip or something like that. So, I can grip like an inch or two back on the pencil and write with my right hand. But as I found out this weekend as I was doing that and I was like, oh, my handwriting's okay like this. I'm enjoying this. I would just swell up my entire right arm inside my cast because I'm using it and I really shouldn't.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, I saw you using it a little bit and it concerned me because I was worried that you were not allowing yourself to heal properly.

Brad Dowdy: It was not the best idea. So, that was like on Sunday or, sorry, Friday I wrote a bunch. And I was like, hmm, yeah, that's not good. So, like Sunday and Monday and all this week, any notes I've been taking, I've been taking them left-handed. So, it's pretty rough, but it's passable. Like, I can read my notes. So, like, I'm not totally doing it. But I'm also not sitting down and writing out the alphabet like I should be doing, like, to practice my shapes and forms. Like, I haven't settled on a left-handed angle yet, right? So, that's one of the big things with lefties. I mean, righties too, but more so lefties is what's the angle of the pen to the paper when you're writing.

Myke Hurley: Overhook for life, baby.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So, like, most, like, the traditional, I would say the traditional lefty, not being a lefty, but the traditional lefty is the overhook, right? Like, you can see what you're writing and you try to avoid getting some of the ink or graphite on your hand. And that actually works the worst for me. Yeah, I know why. In practice.

Myke Hurley: I know why. Why? Because you're writing your letters. Because I read this in your wonderful newsletter, Refill, and you were saying that, like, that it didn't feel right. Like, the pen and paper didn't feel right. I think it's because you are writing, I probably write my letters backwards to you, like, in reverse. The strokes are reversed.

Left-Hand Writing Challenges

Brad Dowdy: Right. So, I have a picture in my head of how an A goes, right? And the picture is traditionally bottom left to top middle and down, right? So, there's, that stroke is then has to transfer to my left hand where it, if I was learning from scratch, it might be easier to have a different start and stop point for an A or a B or a C. But I'm just trying to transfer that over to my left hand the same way I write it right-handed. Right. So, it's a little bit of a challenge.

Myke Hurley: Normally, you're coming at it from the opposite angle. You're also coming from upside down. So, like, there's just going to be things that you do that are ingrained in you that aren't going to produce the same result. Also, like, the angle at which you're holding the pen might be wrong. I don't know. So, yeah, it's basically, if you really do want to commit to that, you need to spend some real time doing it. But I guess you might not have to commit to it the way that we were thinking you may have to. Right. Because it seems like at least that it's not going to be so long.

Brad Dowdy: Right. Exactly. So, I'll still probably, I'm going to practice it more because even right now, like, I can't even, like, halfway do the right handwriting thing because it ends up hurting quickly. Like, I shouldn't be doing that.

Myke Hurley: You really, really shouldn't. You're not allowing yourself time to heal. I'm not giving it a break. And, you know, like, if you want to be back to full health once this is over, you've got to treat the injury seriously.

Brad Dowdy: Yep. Yep. So, you know, and it's a whole thing. Like, when you're learning how to rewrite again, you know, everything is different. And I'm just trying to, like, mirror how I do it right-handed. And it's not super effective. Plus, you get really tired. Yeah. You know, you have a lot more hand strain. Even though I've noticed that I grip the pencil lighter left-handed than right-handed, it's just a different movement. And, like, your hand gets tired quicker. So, you know, I'm working on it. I'm going to keep practicing. I'll keep sharing it. I don't know that I'm going to go full lefty mode for the next several weeks. But we'll see. Maybe I will. Just because I'm already frustrated at the lack of usage that I get for, like, my pens and pencils and things like that. Like, I'm sitting there staring at them at my desk, and it's just frustrating that I can't just do what I did a few weeks ago. But, again, so short-term, so big-picture insignificant that it's no big deal.

Myke Hurley: The one thing we were talking about last week is I was urging people not to buy things from you because you'd have to do the packing. And then you restocked your wonderful BicClick loaner pen, which people can go look at in the sense they don't know what I'm talking about. And I feel like I'm not sure why you did that.

Brad Dowdy: People have been – I've been out of them for a couple months. And people have been, like, constantly emailing, like, they want those pens. No, I'm sure. Just because they're great. And I've got them. And I've got help shipping. So, like, my wife's shipping. So, we're shipping. I'm shipping less. Like, this doesn't really help to say it on the podcast because people who are ordering stuff aren't necessarily listening to this. But I normally ship two days a week, right? It's kind of a good pacing for every business that I run. I ship. So, Wednesdays and Sundays were my shipping days for Knock, Spoke, and Pen Addict. Okay. Now, it's about once a week. Right. Whenever, you know, me and Mary Beth can commit to a couple hours to get out there and do it together. So, I felt like that's good enough to get those out there. I have a sneaky knock release that I'm going to do today, too.

Myke Hurley: Brad Downey, you can't be stopped. You're a monster.

Brad Dowdy: So, I sent you – I replied to your tweet with a gif of Lord Business from the Lego movie. And that's what we refer to it as when I do things like that. It's like Lord Business is taking over. And that's just what you got to do.

Myke Hurley: What knock release do you have?

Brad Dowdy: It's secret. So, put it this way. I shared it on stream yesterday. I have a – I had a box show up last week. Unannounced. No email, advance notice, no tracking, no nothing. Big box shows up from our case manufacturer. And I knew I wasn't owed anything. There should be nothing arriving right now. And I opened it up and saw what it was. And it was the Burton case that we did for the 2019 Pen Addict campaign. The wax canvas pouch, A5 pouch, which was one of the best things we've ever done.

Myke Hurley: One of the very best. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: One of my favorite products. And apparently – so, what our manufacturer does is they hold products until we say ship them, right? So, like if I was explaining this. If we order 1,000 cases, I can say, okay, ship me $250 and then sell those. Then, okay, ship me $250 and whatever. But the manufacturer at the end of the year, they just unload, like whatever you haven't sent out, right? If it's been sitting there for, you know, a while. They don't want to carry the inventory into the next year. So, that's what this was. They found – like I didn't think I was owed any more cases. They found a box of about 70 cases. Wow. Okay. I'm going to shoot out an email to the NotCo mailing list probably this afternoon and just release those just because. It's like we don't have anything special coming before the holidays, but this was a nice little surprise, and I know some people wanted that case. And I'm keeping it at the same price because I paid the same price as we did in 2019. But it will – if we ever do this again, it will be much more expensive than what you're going to get it for when I release these. It will be the same price as before, which was $50, which – like I wrote this all. I already have the newsletter written, and I put a comparison. I was like, just look at the pricing that we had for the Wax Canvas Brasstowns and Sinclair's. In this campaign, you'll know how the pricing has changed from, you know, the year, year and a half difference in these product launches. So, I know the next time won't be as cheap, but I'm going to keep the price the same just because, you know, I paid the same price. So, we'll just pass that on to the customers. But next time, I'm just preparing people to say, remember that time it was $50 and you're telling me it's whatever now? It's like I'm preparing you now. It's going to go up.

Myke Hurley: It's probably the best knock product we did.

Brad Dowdy: It's really – For a Kickstarter. It's really well done. It's good. It's really useful. It covers a lot of bases, and I will be making a new one eventually.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. It's a little bit more general purpose.

Knock Product Discussion

Brad Dowdy: Yes.

Myke Hurley: You can use it for other stuff.

Brad Dowdy: I just feel that it's set up just right. It came out exactly how we wanted it to come out, and I just – I wouldn't change a thing. So, yeah. So, we're going to have more shipping. All right. So, yeah. Please. More business in action.

Myke Hurley: Just take it easy.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Like, it's tough.

Myke Hurley: It's tough. No, I understand.

Brad Dowdy: But then I also, you know, took like four Advil, like before we started this podcast because I've been banging around my arm all morning. Oh, Brad Dirty. I'm not writing, though. It's just life.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, I know. I mean, like when you hurt yourself, you realize all the ways in which you use your body that you don't think about.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah.

Myke Hurley: And so, I'm sure you're going through that, too.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. It's like this morning. It's like, huh, I'll be dang. You know, scrambling eggs is pretty tough. One-handed.

Brad Dowdy: That's how my morning was going.

Brad Dowdy: So, yeah. Good times. Speaking of good times, Myke. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: We have a great sponsor. I want to talk to you about Good Made Better. Look, clearly we all love using great pens, but sometimes not all great pens are very user-friendly. This is a situation that Dan at Good Made Better found himself in. He wanted to use his favorite fountain pens for work, but was generally taking quick notes. So, found himself spending more time capping and uncapping his pen than actually using it. Dan figured out he could fix his pen cap. If he could fix his pen cap in one spot, he'd have simple, one-handed use of his pen, making it easier to use it more. So, if the pen cap just stays in one place, you don't have to keep doing all the capping and uncapping. This is where the pen well comes in, which is a product you should know about because we've been speaking about this, I think, since the original. The pen well is the writing tool that makes capped pens as handy as click pens. The pen well sticks to your desk surface with a micro-suction pad. The pad is repositionable and reusable and can be cleaned if it gets dirty. It has a soft foam insert that grips your pen cap, holding it securely, so you can cap and uncap your pen with just one hand. You can simply rest the pen and the cap in between notes, making threaded caps incredibly convenient. Plus, your pen is secure, so no more rolling off the desk. It's always in the same spot, and it's easy to grab without even looking for it. They offer two different models at the moment, the classic and the traveler, in differing materials and finishes, and have something brand new up their sleeve, which we're going to talk about in a bit more detail in a minute. This is a sponsorship spot for pen well, and then we're actually going to talk about the Kickstarter campaign for the pen well craftsman. Now, the pen well craftsman is totally different in the sense of how it is made. So, the pen wells before have been made out of wood and brass and stuff like that. But the pen well craftsman is made out of concrete. So, it changes some of the basic properties of how this product works. You can go and check it out now. You can go to goodmadebetter.com, and you'll find links to the Kickstarter campaign. The pen well craftsman is obviously coming very soon. It's available on Kickstarter now. And we'll talk about that a little bit more in a minute. But I am a fan of all of these products. I think I've had three or four pen wells now. And what I have told you, what Dan put in the copy that he wanted me to get across to you, is completely true. I leave my pens when I'm recording shows in my pen well. And I can just reach out and grab it because I know where it is. I don't need to find it. And we've all had that thing with fountain pens where you leave it uncapped, you put it down, it rolls off the desk. This is the type of thing you really don't want to happen. And this is the exact type of problem that the pen well solves. It's also, it basically turns any pen into a quote-unquote desk pen, which is, I think, quite a nice accessory. It's quite a nice, like, executive desk accessory. It makes me feel a little bit more fancy. Pen well also offer the skeptics guarantee. If you don't love it within 30 days, they will buy it back and pay shipping both ways. But you're going to love it. Pen well is a unique and genuinely useful tool. That helps making pens more enjoyable to use. If you want to make a good writing experience better, go to goodmadebetter.com and use the code penaddict. And you will get a 15% discount on your pen well purchase from the site. That is goodmadebetter.com and the code penaddict for 15% off your pen well purchase. Go check them out right now. Our thanks to Good Made Better for their support of this show. They also have the travel one as well. Which is really nice as well. So there's lots of different options. They have limited edition stuff. Stands. Really just genuinely very, very, very good. I recommend it.

Brad Dowdy: You ready for me to get into this?

Myke Hurley: Yeah, boy.

Dan's Sponsorship

Brad Dowdy: I'm a Dan super fan. Yeah. I just want to be very clear. Dan has sponsored this episode of the podcast. Dan is currently sponsoring the Pen Addict blog this week for the launch of the Craftsman on Kickstarter. So, you know, Myke and I are very open about, you know, our advertising relationships. But these people are most of the time friends before they're, you know, sponsoring us. And I've worked with Dan since before the launch of his first product. And the Craftsman is the best product he's ever made. Without question.

Myke Hurley: And again, we'll just say, all the other ones are really good too. They're different kinds of products, I think. And the Craftsman, which is the Kickstarter campaign one, I have one. And it's in, it's concrete of a brass base, the one that I have. Yep. And I absolutely adore it. I adore it. It's fantastic.

Brad Dowdy: So, I just opened mine up yesterday. I just got it yesterday. And I have the orange one. What color did he send you? Like, we haven't talked about this. Blue. So, I've gone ahead and backed the Kickstarter for the blue one. Because I like it that much. I'm planning on doing it for the orange one.

Brad Dowdy: So, yeah. Yeah. So, yeah. The Pinwell was such a cool product, right? It's a classic product that you've, that has been kind of modernized, right? For the way we do things nowadays with our pins. And it's turned out to be this really functional desk accessory. And, you know, he launched with the Pinwell. He started making that in different types of woods, different types of materials. Like you said, brass. And then he did some really cool lacquering ones. And did some very cool colors. And then he made the Traveler, which was kind of the portable Pinwell. And it was funny. You were talking about, you know, how you put them on your desk and use them for, you know, while you're doing your podcast. I have the Pinwell on my desk and then I have the Traveler where my photography setup is. So, I can put the pin, set the pin in the Traveler either to take pictures or to keep it from rolling off of where I'm shooting photographs. Yes. Which I've damaged a pin because it's rolled off there. So, I actually keep the Traveler where I shoot photos just to use because it works, right? Like I'm on this cool thing to keep my pins in. And then he comes out with this craftsman thing. And let me tell you, this is the best one out of the bunch. And I have them all. And, you know, Dan's been a good friend and sponsor over the years. And I've bought things from him over the years. But this is exactly what you like to see from companies getting their start in the way they iterate. And you can tell the improvements that are made. You can tell the refinement and the processes. You can tell the way the things are finished and the way the things are, you know, put together. That, you know, wow, this is something better every time. And that's what I want to see from a company.

Myke Hurley: This is it. It's like the original Pinwell was really fun. And it's a beautiful design. And it evokes a classic style of a Pinwell. But now the craftsman is like, you can see that this is a guy who has learned what his product is. And has made a version that is original. Right.

Brad Dowdy: Right. So, yeah, this is the most standalone product, even though it's still traditionally styled. It is very modern. It is very cool. It is very functional. Let's talk about the function real quick. Do you know how much this thing weighs with the brass plate on it?

Myke Hurley: I don't, but it's heavy.

Brad Dowdy: Almost a pound. So what I was laughing at earlier is I had to move this over to the left hand side of my laptop because I couldn't reach for it with my right hand and lift it with my cast hand. I had to move it over so I could have it near me on the left side because it's legit heavy. It's not a cheap product by any stretch of the imagination. But you can tell where the quality is and why it's the price that it is just in the way it's manufactured and how just substantial it is. It's like it is literally, you know, I don't even know how much these things are going to cost to ship. But, you know, that's it's a it's a big bulky product. But it's so cool. I don't know. I'm fawning over it because I legitimately love it. I'm not because Dan's a friend or Dan's advertising with us, but because I have it right here in my hand and I can tell what went into it to make it what it is. And I'm just very appreciative of that. I really like it.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, super, super good. So go check it out. Go check out the Kickstarter campaign. It looks nice. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So do you have the brass base on yours so you can get it? So this it's concrete, right? So you can use it just with the concrete part or you can add a brass base to it. Did you stick that on yours or are you using it separate?

Myke Hurley: Mine came with it attached.

Brad Dowdy: OK, so mine came disattached, which you can order it either way. And it's heavy enough without the brass to do a great job like on your desk. But that brass just kind of sets it off, right?

Myke Hurley: Yeah. For me, this is very, very much my aesthetic, the concrete and brass. He has definitely tapped into a specific type of Instagram, like Pinterest design style. Like it fits in that very well. Like I could have this could adorn many fancy Airbnbs, right? Like, yeah, you know, it would fit.

Brad Dowdy: So I didn't know the words. I didn't know the words to to put that in. But that's a thought I have. I was like, this is like the visual this is like perfect visual eye candy. Yeah. But for for people who don't know anything about fountain pens, but for people who love fountain pens or standard pens, you can use it for anything. You really it really sets it off like on your desk. It's kind of perfect. So, yeah, very much very happy with this. And great job, Dan. And I think this is the best design yet.

Myke Hurley: So I wanted to touch on a couple of items of follow up from last time.

Brad Dowdy: Speaking of the best design yet.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. The 1911 Loch Ness Monster that we spoke about.

Myke Hurley: The Nibsmith posted some pictures of it outside. And the blue looks so much better than any other picture that I've seen. Mm hmm. But that like many other pens, it's like, oh, here is a bunch of pictures and it looks different in every single one of them. But if it was this blue, I like it more. But the points from last week still stand as to it's the wrong color for the name. And the name is weird.

Brad Dowdy: I want to be crystal clear, which I feel like I have to be sometimes. I love how this pen looks. I love everything about this pen. Dan's pictures, I think, make it look even better. I just I'm just trying to figure out why, like the why the name and why. What is Sailor doing with their product offerings now as far as like standard editions and limited editions and regional editions? Like I'm not questioning how like how cool this pen looks. I think it looks awesome. And I bet this looks awesome in person. But just like we saw with the Pirate's Life, even Sailor had to redo their pictures on Instagram because people couldn't figure out what color it was. It's just one of those things that's difficult. But yeah, it's it's the Loch Ness Monster. It's blue and black and not very Loch Ness-y in my head. But, you know, it doesn't mean it's not an awesome pen. And I think it's super cool. I just I think I have the 4 a.m., which is blue and black to just translucent ear. So there you go. Great pen. Questionable. Other things. But yeah, it's pretty awesome.

Myke Hurley: So we also had to ask you a question about perforated notebooks. And something I never would have considered until you sent it to me is why not just buy a perforation cutter and do it yourself? You can turn any book into a perforated book.

Brad Dowdy: I would have never considered this either because I didn't know this was a thing. It makes sense that this is a thing. But someone sent this to me and I was like, huh, I'll be danged. Look at this. You can just perfor your own notebook with like it's just like a rolling tool. Think of it like a box cutter, but with like a rotating blade to cut in the perfs. Right. So you just run that through, run that down your page, make your purse. I don't know how many pages this thing would cut through at a time, but you could do, you know, probably two or three at a time. It probably works pretty well. But there is actually a real life complete solution already built in for this mic. And I had no idea despite us reviewing Dingbat's notebooks on the Pen Addict before. They always get very good reviews. They're very good style, very well built. Good products, good notebooks, good paper. And they are perfed from front to back. So these are like, you know, the 184 page notebook, like your standard A5 thick notebook, perf right from the jump.

Myke Hurley: All of them?

Brad Dowdy: Yep. 100. Oh, I'm looking at, okay. So like the wildlife collection. Yeah. It may not be in all their books. Yeah. So it's not all options. So like the earth collection, last 16 pages, micro perforated. Okay. Wildlife collection, 192 micro perforated pages.

Myke Hurley: Okay.

Brad Dowdy: So, you know, there you go. So Dingbat's has this offering. And we've reviewed the wildlife collection. They're really nice. And I think everyone thinks of the very positively of the Dingbat's notebooks. I just didn't realize it was a front to back perforation. Like it says right here, 192 micro perforated pages. So I think that's your answer or that question, which I wasn't sure we were going to get an answer to. And honestly, I got one more. Someone sent me a notebook and I couldn't even read, couldn't find the link. I must not have saved it. It was from a brand I'd never heard of, but they had also done like a full perf type of notebook. But I would go with the Dingbat's because we at least have some experience and know that they're good quality stuff. But check, you know, if you're interested in this, make sure you're buying the correct model because they will not all contain the full perf perforated situation. But they're good. They're fairly priced, good quality, really good looking. So, yeah, highly recommend this. So that's a great, great answer and a great solution for a problem I didn't know we had, Myke. But, you know, apparently we did.

Myke Hurley: Graphon Faber-Castell has released their Pen of the Year for 2021. This name is such a strange thing because when you say Pen of the Year, you think like, oh, this is the one, the pen that they released and this is the best one. But it's not. It is the pen for the year 2021. So every year they release an incredibly expensive high end designed pen. This year it's called Knights. And the pen itself looks, evokes lots of knight and castle imagery. Like the cap has a, what is that thing called at the top of a castle? Is it a turret?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, but that's not the design feature being the turret, right? The, the kind of the up and down of the wall. I don't know the exact name. There's all kinds of terminology.

Myke Hurley: And the body is a nice kind of like wooden effect with it being a big jewel at the bottom. It's a cool looking pen.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Yeah. And this isn't normally like our, our arena to discuss, you know, 4,000 euro pens. That's not really our move here on the pen addict. But we do, we do, Myke, because of only one reason. There's only one reason we're discussing this pen, Myke.

Pen of the Year Review

Myke Hurley: I know.

Brad Dowdy: And you know what it is. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: So we can re-bring up the 2020s pen.

Brad Dowdy: I am never going to skip an opportunity to talk about a fountain pen with abs on it, Myke. And that is the 2020 pen of the year Sparta featuring abs. Abs, Myke, in the grip section. Abs.

Myke Hurley: I had forgotten about this.

Brad Dowdy: There are abs in the grip section.

Brad Dowdy: I was, we even, we were concerned with the orientation of the abs, if I remember correctly, last year. But, you know.

Myke Hurley: Kate is letting us know that the up and down thing on the top of a turret is called castellations.

Brad Dowdy: Castellations. It's, so, talk about the knights for a second. This is stunning. It looks amazing, right? This is what your superstar highly, like literally your pen of the year. You're putting all of your effort as a brand into making your couture collection for the year. Your show pen, right? Last year was abs on a grip section. This year is like a legit amazingly cool pen, right?

Myke Hurley: It's like the difference between these two pens is ridiculous. Because like last year's tacky and also a joke, right? But this one, it's like, holy moly, you made a cool looking pen, right? Like, it's not too much. It's like just the right amount. And the details are more understated and therefore, I think, more effective.

Brad Dowdy: Absolutely. Like, this is, you know, this is like perfect execution for what you're trying to do. Like, for the story you're trying to tell. Like, they did a wonderful job. I love looking at this pen. Like, I have no desire. Like, I don't like the big flash pens. It's like, now, you know, give me a chaos pen. We might have to have a different story. I might tell a different story, Myke. But like, this is never a pen that I'm going, oh, this is now on my shopping list. Like, for a grail pen type of thing. It's just not. I'm not interested in that. But for what it is and for what they executed, it's amazing. And it's such a different pen. I actually went back and looked through some of the previous years before the abs pen. And they're kind of like this knight's pen. It's like this abs pen is kind of an outlier in, like, what they were trying to do. It was a little bit try-hardy with the abs. It's like right idea, wrong execution. Where, like, they did the samurai was the year before. And it's really beautiful. Oh, I'm looking at that now. It looks like the knights. And, yeah. So, they've done some really cool special things. And the knights is one of those things. It was just, I'm never going to skip.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, all of the previous years are really good and really beautiful. Why did they put abs on that pen?

Brad Dowdy: That was so stupid. You know, it's the great unanswered question, Myke. We will never know.

Myke Hurley: Like, the last ten years of these things have looked fantastic.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah.

Myke Hurley: And then they made this, like, joke pen. Why did they do that?

Brad Dowdy: They were just, I don't know. It's just one of those. I think that's when you get a little bit high on your own supply, right? Yeah. I think that's what the thing is. It's like, oh, man, we're crushing this. Look at the feedback we get. You know, look at this. You know, the Vikings pen that they did is really subtle compared to a lot of these other ones. I don't know what year that was. 2017. Yeah. Like, it is subtle and classic, classically styled. And they're probably, every year they're getting, like, great articles written about these. Because you'll never, you'll very rarely see one of these in person, right? That's not what this pen is. This isn't, like, an every person's pen, right? This is, like, the show, the show car. And then to just come out with that, I think it was just a little bit, we can do no wrong type of situation. And it was like, whoops. We put abs on the grip section. And that was a thing, wasn't it?

Brad Dowdy: So, anyway, good job with the Knights.

Myke Hurley: All right. This episode is also brought to you by our friends over at Penn Chalet. They sell the best products from the companies that you love with fast and reliable customer service with the best prices you can find and fantastic shipping options. These are all wonderful reasons to support this company. Penn Chalet really are a great pillar of our community as well. They have authentic, amazing rollables, fountain pens, ballpoints, mechanical pencils, and so much more. And are always adding discounts and new products to their site multiple times a month. They're getting stuff on there as much as they can. And they're doing the best prices that they can offer you. As well as having the pens that you're looking for, they also have the accessories. Whether you're looking for a carrying case or a refill. Maybe you want a converter. Doesn't matter what you're looking for. Bottles of ink. Penn Chalet have got it. They sell internationally with great shipping rates. And if you're in the U.S. and your order is over $50, your shipping is free. Penn Chalet has low prices on high quality pens. And they offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee. So go to PennChalet.com. That's P-E-N-C-H-A-L-E-T.com. And click the podcast link at the top of the website. Enter the password Penn Addict. And you'll get a code to save 10% on anything at any time at Penn Chalet. And access to a selection of special offers available just to Penn Addict listeners. What has caught your eye this time?

Brad Dowdy: So two primary pens. Very interesting additions this week. Monteverde Invincia Deluxe. Which is very pretty black nib Monteverde. With importantly the rose gold one at 50% off. It's a lot off. I'm probably not supposed to say that out loud. So I said it quietly. So maybe you didn't hear it and you'll just go over and check it. What did you say? I didn't hear it. I didn't say anything. So the next one I'm even going to say even less. The Estabrook Maraschino Estee Oversize. The bright red Estabrook. If you've been looking for an Estabrook and you haven't found one that caught your eye. And the Maraschino is a more recent release. And you were looking for that one. This is at a price you don't normally see. So it's definitely discounted a little bit more than normal. And I don't know that these normally get many discounts. So it was interesting to see. Because you don't see that. So very cool. Two very good choices this week. At very good prices. Very good discounts you don't normally see. And then of course there's a whole slew of other offers as you go scroll down the page. So definitely go and check them out.

Myke Hurley: Alright you can go there right now. Penchalet.com Click the podcast link at the top of the website. And enter the password Pen Addict. To get your hands on these deals. Our thanks to Penchalet for their support of this show. And RelayFM.

Brad Dowdy: Myke. Mmhmm. I try not to be like the high horse person. Uh oh. Like I get unfairly. You know Brad's riding the high horse kind of thing again. And there was an article out a week ago. So. We're fans of the Wirecutter here. I'm fans of the Wirecutter. I've worked with them on some pen. Pen articles. And notebook articles. Which we'll get to. And they. You know. They. What. How would you describe their business model Myke? Their reviews site.

Brad Dowdy: Mostly. Like they're trying to find the best of everything. Right. So yeah. And then they were bought out by the.

Myke Hurley: They're going to pick a category. They will buy a bunch of the leading products in that category. Do a bunch of research. Try them all out. And then give you their results at the end of it. It's more. You know. Like a modern consumer reports. Or a. Like a witch we have here in the UK. And then they make their money through affiliate fees.

Brad Dowdy: Right. Right.

Myke Hurley: And then the New York Times bought them.

Brad Dowdy: Right. So. The Wirecutter. I value them because I feel like they. You know. They're an affiliate based. Review site. But. I feel like they do a good job at. The. They do the correct vetting. And the correct analysis. And. You know. The. The kind of thorough testing that you want to see. To get to. The actual answer. And just set of. You know. Spewing out a bunch of leaks. Here's our top 10. X. Right. So. They are legit. Like. Take it seriously. To find the best thing. So. They did an article. November 6th. The best pencils for writing and school work. Cool. Like. Let me see what's in here. And I don't have. A real problem with. You know. Any of the choices. Or any of the. Testing that they did. I have. An issue with. The premise. Of the article. In the first place. That. They're focused on the U.S. market. For one. You know. What's readily available. For most people to buy. Right. This is not a stationary blog. Saying. Hey. Here's our stationary nerd stuff. To go. Shop around. And dig. You know. Dig in corners of the internet. You know. And find all this cool stuff. Right. This is mainstream. Right. You got to think of it that way. So. They're grabbing. What they find. At local stores. Amazon.

Brad Dowdy: Things like that. So let me. Just get the grouping. Of pencils here. So. They have like the. The Dixon Ticonderoga. The General Semihex. The Palomino's. Forest Choice. The Amazon Basics. You know. The Statler Norica. So. All things that you can just grab. At. The major. Big box retailers.

Brad Dowdy: To test. Fine. Test out all those things. Tell me what's the best pencil. Their. Choice. Was. The. The Palomino. So. Which is the. Forest Choice. Which is a great pencil. Like. Nothing wrong with this pencil. Nothing wrong with any of these pencils. But then they go and mix in the Blackwing 602. And I have a real.

Brad Dowdy: Issue with this. Because now they've inserted. A specialty pencil. In. With these mainstream pencils. And it kind of like. Screws up. The.

Brad Dowdy: Question that they're trying to find an answer to.

Myke Hurley: Why?

Brad Dowdy: Because. This is not. A. Go grab it off the shelf. At Office Max. Or find it at Target. Pencil. But they do. So now.

Myke Hurley: The upgrade pick. Though. The 602.

Brad Dowdy: So. If you're going to. And. So the problem is. If you include that. Now you've opened up the can. To find a different answer. For the best pencils. For writing and school work. And it would be literally. None of these. That they chose.

Myke Hurley: What do you. Can you. Can you clarify that part?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Yeah. So. Once you say. Hey. This is the great upgrade. If you want something fancy. Do this. Yeah. Now they've. They've opened up the category. To. Including. Mitsubishi pencils. Tombow pencils. You know. Any other kind. Of. Of. Not even like. The super niche stuff. But like. Something like. The Tombows. And the Mitsubishis. And the Unis. Are. As easy. If not easier. To access. Than the Blackwing. Right. And. Are better than. Even their best pick. The Palomino Forest Choice. For your basics. It was. It was kind of unfair. To. The rest of the article. I think. Right. The best pencils. For writing. It.

Brad Dowdy: I don't know. Like. I'm. I'm probably the only one. That sees it this way. That has a problem. With this article. And there's really no problem. Like. I'm just. Finding things. To. To pick on. But it really. Like. Sits in my head. If I'm writing this article. I'm doing exactly. What they did. And not including. The Blackwing 602. Like. It shouldn't even be. Considered the upgrade. It should not even be. Mentioned in this article. Because. Now. You have to include.

Brad Dowdy: All the other. Generally. Mainstream pencils. That are. Like. The one notch. Below. In accessibility. As everything. That they. That they picked. Everything at. Target. Office Max. Walmart. That's one set of reviews. And then. To lump the Blackwing 602. In there. It. It just feels like. You didn't do a good enough job. At telling me. At answering. What you're trying to. To solve on this. By throwing that in there. Because now. There's. 50 other pencils. That are better than everything. That they picked. Instead of. If they didn't include that. I wouldn't even thought twice. At this article. Right. So like. I'm just trying to figure out. Like. How I would do this differently. And this one really stood out to me. Because. In just a second. We're going to talk about. So. An article that came out a week later. So they're updating. All their stationary articles. They've had these articles for years. They did the best notebooks and notepads. Article. Okay. I guess let's go ahead and talk about that now. Because it'll. Maybe it'll make more sense. In. What I'm trying to explain with this pencil article. This one is called. The best notebooks and notepads. Okay. In comparison. The pencil one is called. The best pencils for writing and school work. I'd say this notebooks and notepads. Is even. A more generic. You know. Question that they're asking. What are the best notebooks and notepads. Myke. They went. Off the charts. Completely. From the jump. And did an amazing job. Everything on here is. Apica. Midori. Loitchterm. Morimon. Fieldnotes. Muji. Levenger. Like. They crushed. This article. Like. They just did. From top to bottom.

Myke Hurley: They got people like you. To help. Right.

Brad Dowdy: Right. So like. I had.

Myke Hurley: Because I went through this. It was kind of funny to me. I was scrolling through it. And I was like. Hang on a minute. That's Brad's handwriting. Like. I was just like. Skimming it at first.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. And like. I. It's not even my handwriting. But I did. Even I did a double take. So that's not my handwriting. By the way. It's someone who's. Very similar. Yeah. I. Even I did a double take. I was like. Oh. Where's that picture of mine from? And I was like. Oh. That is actually not mine. Because that really looks like your handwriting. So the one. The picture. You're talking about the picture. With like. The different. Like. There's six lines. I'm not looking at it right now. Apica.

Myke Hurley: Pencil. Ballpoint. Yeah. That's not my handwriting. My word. That looks like your handwriting.

Brad Dowdy: I did a double take. To be perfectly honest.

Myke Hurley: Huh.

Brad Dowdy: I don't write my A's like that. Right. Or. I don't have as low of an A crossbar as they do.

Wirecutter Pencil Article Critique

Myke Hurley: Okay.

Brad Dowdy: But it's close. I will admit. I did. Even I did a double take. Because I. They didn't ask me for any pictures. And I. Like. I have like one quote. In like. You know. Thousands of words. Article. Like. I don't. I didn't have any. Like. I gave them like. Seven or eight. Kind of brands that I like. And that just gave them a baseline. To say. Hey. Let's go test these things out. Right. I didn't have any input. In saying. This is. I didn't have any voting sway. Right. In this. I just gave them some ideas. To look at.

Brad Dowdy: When you. Have an article. That says. This is the best notebooks. And notepads. And executed this flawlessly. In my opinion. And then flip over to this pencils. Guide. And it's. That much. It's more disjointed. In the story. You're trying to tell me. And two different people wrote it. Two different people were editing. These articles. It just felt weird to me. Like. These are the things I fixate on. This is. These are the things that keep me up at night. Is like. Why did you put the Blackwing 602 in here? Because now. You didn't. You didn't. Include. Like. 50 other pens. Pencils that are better than that. You know. But if you just didn't. Include it in there. It would have been a lot. More. Realistic article. I think. In what you were trying to. To answer. You know. The question that you asked. Then you flip over to the best notebooks. And notepads. And they just. Absolutely destroyed it. Like. It is. Like. An unimpeachable article. Except. Like. The one thing that I. Mentioned. That is not in here. And I think it's probably an access thing. Again. Like. All these. Like. I put in write notepads. For a pocket notebook. Like. There's no mention of write in there. But. That's because they're not easy to get. Well. That goes into. Like. The Blackwing 602 thing. On the. The pencils. Before. It's. You know. Easier to get. You can find it at some specialty stores. And things. But. The entire. List. Of the best notebooks and notepads. Is all specialty store stuff. Outside of Lloyd's term. So. It's just like. I don't know. It's. It's weird. Like. Again. I am literally. The only one on the planet. That has this argument. But these are the things. That bug me.

Myke Hurley: It might be more of a sticking point. Because. These two. Things exist. Like. If it was just. The pencil one. Maybe it wouldn't be as bad. Um. Where you can say like. All right. Like. I kind of get why. You would include. The black wing in here. Because like. People. Do really like it. And it's got a lot of history. And like. It's considered a really good one. And then you'd be like. You should have expanded it a bit further. But fine. Like. You know. Whatever. But then. When you compare it to the other article. Where. They have included. Vastly more. Um. Specialty products. It's like. Well. Why. Did you do that for both of them?

Brad Dowdy: Right. Because everywhere they're getting. The Morimons. And the Apicas. And all of these other. Products that you have to work harder. To. Acquire. There are the same shops. Where you get your Tombos. And your Mitsubishis. And other pencils like that. That would just. Absolutely trounce. Pretty much everything they have. On this other list. So. I just thought that that. Um. That diversion. Uh. Between these two articles. Coming out a week apart. Was. Noticable to someone like me. Where. You know. Most people don't care.

Brad Dowdy: Again. I guess this is why we have a. Podcast. That's. Four hundred and a billion. Episodes into things. Is because. Brad's obsesses. About things that doesn't. That don't matter.

Myke Hurley: I will say. That. The problem you are having. Is a problem. That I know. Many. Of my nerdy friends. Have about the wire cutter. And have heard about the wire cutter. For a while. Which is. If you really care. About the thing. They are writing about. Mm-hmm. You are likely. To be disappointed.

Brad Dowdy: Mm-hmm. I think that's the problem. Is because they. Killed this notebook article. I was shocked. I was literally shocked. When I read this notebook article. That it just kept going. And going. And going. Like. Oh my god. They actually. Really get it. Well. But then this pencil article. Is. They have no clue.

Myke Hurley: You did help. Like. So it is. Like. I don't think you can compare these Brad. Because. They literally asked you. For your opinion. Well. Not just me.

Brad Dowdy: Like.

Myke Hurley: I didn't do any of the testing. No. But. You're definitely going to find more stuff you like. When they say. Hey Brad. What are you like?

Brad Dowdy: Well. I didn't test any of it. I was not part of the testing. What. You've not tested these notebooks. Before. Yes. But they have like a whole testing panel.

Myke Hurley: No. I know. But my point is. You know. They work good. So like. When you say. These work good. You know. They're good. And if they like them. Which is likely. Because they're good. Then you're going to be happier with it. My point is that. I think. This notebook article. Especially. Is a little bit more. From what I've seen. Of an outlier. Because typically. They will either have someone on staff. That they have. Do these articles. Or at least. I don't know if they do this in the New York Times days. But they do. They did this in the standalone days. They would hire someone. So like. Jason. Yes. Now. Was hired by the Wirecutter. A couple of times. To do. Some technology. Things for them. So they bring in. An expert. Right. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: They would do freelancer experts.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. Which you have helped with. In some instance. Not. I don't think. Yeah. You were a freelance expert. But you were at least. Asked your. Opinion. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: I'm part of the pen article. Yeah. The best. Like standard pen article. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. So. Of course. Those ones are gonna. You're gonna like those more. It seems like. Maybe they kind of freewheeled it. A little bit. With the pencil one. Yeah. Not that I'm saying. No. I like. Do not get me wrong. Clearly. This Wirecutter. The person who did this. This pencil one. For the Wirecutter. Sarah Whitman. Knows what she's talking about. Or at least. Has good opinions. From the stuff. That she's used. Because she picked. All things. That you liked. Except. It went a little bit. Off the rails. Towards the end. But my point is. That like. It was clearly. A smaller. Sample. Size. Yeah. So. There you go. Yeah. I just think. That like. The criticism. You're leveling. Of like. This one's perfect. What's wrong. With the other one. Can't. Can't. Can't. Be held up. When you helped.

Brad Dowdy: Well. And plus. I'm using. A lot more pencils. These days. Like. I'm having all these. Pencil thoughts. And I just felt. A little bit let down. Like. The. I think the pencils. I think the pencils. Got the shaft. Myke.

Myke Hurley: When I look at this article. Though Brad. I kind of feel like. They did. They did a fine job. So maybe. It's not for you. Because I look at that. And I'm like. Oh. I know these ones. Brad's spoken about them. And oh. Of course. You'd put the 602 in there. That's how I read. This article.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. And I think that this article. Is more for me. Than it is for you.

Brad Dowdy: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Myke Hurley: Right. This is for the. Casual pencil user. I. A hundred percent agree. Not the.

Brad Dowdy: Boutique pencil user. But what they did. Is they. They. Just opened the door slightly. And now. It's a jar. And I feel like. They should have. Barged into that door. Like they did. With the notebook article. Right. And go on. Oh. Look at this. Because. You know. These are like. The same price. Or these are just as cheap. But they're not. On Amazon. Yeah. Or in Walmart. And I can. And that's what they did. With the notebook article.

Myke Hurley: I can sympathize with that. With that thinking. A little more. Because.

Myke Hurley: Not that it's a disservice. As such. But it kind of is. A little bit. Right. Where it's like. There are other options. Available to you. And if you just. Went for them. You'd maybe have a better. When was this notebook article. Written originally. Do you remember?

Brad Dowdy: No. Years ago. They update them. Years and years. Yeah. It's been years.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. Okay.

Brad Dowdy: So I don't know when the original. I'd say at least two years. If not. Much more than that.

Myke Hurley: Well that's that.

Brad Dowdy: Thank you for humoring me.

Myke Hurley: This episode is brought to you by Harry's. The holiday season. Look everyone. It's fast approaching. There's nothing we can do about it. I know you don't feel like it's happening. But it's happening. So you've got to start thinking about gifts for your loved ones. And considering that. I mean. I'm speaking for myself here. I don't really feel prepared for the holidays this year. So I'm looking for great gift ideas. And stuff that isn't boring. Isn't cliche. And this can be one of them. Because why not get a special person. Something they will actually use and enjoy every day. Something that's practical. Useful. And excellent quality. And this is where Harry's holiday shave set. Can save the day. And provide you of an excellent gift idea. This season. This is a practical gift. That will want to be used every day. Harry's makes sharp blades. Sets that really last. From their award winning factory. They're engineered in Germany. Backed by a 100% quality guarantee. So if you or the person that you're buying this for. Doesn't love their first shave. You get a full refund. Harry's is the gift that keeps on giving. Because their blade refills are as low as $2 each. Harry's holiday shave sets come ready to gift. In awesome packaging. In a handsome holiday themed gift box. And you can go that extra step. By custom engraving the handle. And one more thing. You can feel great about your gift. In knowing that 1% of every sale. Is donated to charitable organizations. Brad Dowdy. Tell me a little bit. Why you think that Harry's. Would be a great gift for someone.

Brad Dowdy: So Myke. You know how long. I've been using Harry's products. And how much I love them. But I learned something new. About Harry's. Over the last couple weeks. Something I did not know previously Myke. And this might blow your mind. Their razors. Also work left handed. I'm not sure. No way. If you know this. I'm not sure if you know Myke. But I broke my wrist. My right wrist is broken. And therefore. Not only is my writing. Having to move to my left hand. Myke. My shaving. Is having to move. To my left hand. And Harry's. Razors. And blades. Work perfectly. Right handed. And left handed. Which. I am just. Mindful. Astonished. And thankful for every day.

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Brad Dowdy: Alright Myke. So. You can probably tell. Like last week. I was dying. By the time we got to the end of the episode. We couldn't get to any ass TPA. But. I think I'm up for knocking a few out. This week. What do you think?

Myke Hurley: Whatever you want boss.

Brad Dowdy: Whatever you want. What I want is that. What I want is the wire cutter. To fix that pencil article. Oh god. That's what I want.

Myke Hurley: Garrett Bailey asks. When pen shows aren't a thing. What are the best ways. Or places. To find good. Used pens.

Brad Dowdy: So. A couple of places. That we. We've mentioned several times before. Number one. The Penaddict Slack. Has a very active cell trade channel. Just email me. For an invite. I need an email. Address to send it to you. It's open to anyone. I just. It's just not. Like. Open. Wide. Open registration. The. Reddit. Slash. R. Slash. Pen swap. Is very active. They have very good rules in place. And very good moderation. To. You know. Make sure all sales go through. Well. I follow that board. There's some really. There's some stuff. I've almost bought. On there recently. They have a really active.

Brad Dowdy: Community. Over there. On pen swap. And then. Oh.

Myke Hurley: You have to be approved. To join this subreddit. How interesting.

Brad Dowdy: I've never bought anything off of it. But. Some of the moderators. I knew. Like. I think you would know. Some of the moderators. I think they're. Like. In the.

Brad Dowdy: Pen addicts. Slacked. As well. As well. So. It's. It's. People who have. I've never bought anything. From there. But people who. Do use it. Vouch for it. Very well. Then there's a virtual pen show. On Instagram. Which is a constant feed. Of pens that are. Used pens that are for sale. Are some great. Some great options. So.

Myke Hurley: And you know. Bought a pen from. The virtual pen show. Account once.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Exactly. So. And then. I would check with. A lot of. The pen retailers. They also. Run. Some used. Pens. Sections. Pre-owned pens. Because. A lot of times. Especially for. Maybe some nicer pens. They'll take some trade-ins. Right. So. They'll. People will get credit. For. New purchases. And. These retailers. Will have. Pens to sell. That have. Been. Pre-owned. So. And. That's a good place to buy. Because. You know. They're going to stand behind those products. Right. They're going to. You know. Get them all cleaned up. I'm going to get them in great condition. And. Look wonderful. I. Very much recommend. Buying second hand. Fountain pens. Do you get such a good deal. On a lot of really good pens. Like. I've. I have several. Several pens. That are. Are regulars of mine. That are. Pre-owned. That I. I love doing. So. Check out those places. Check out a bunch of retailers. They'll all probably have. You know. Different ways. Different. Different tabs on their site. To. To check out. But yeah. There's a pretty good. Some pretty good places to check out.

Myke Hurley: I've. I've bought keyboards from. A subreddit. Keyboard stuff. A few things. Something called. Mech market. That's like the big. Buy a trade subreddit. For mechanical keyboards. I bought a few things. That way. One of the good. One of the. I think good things. About the. About doing this. Is like. You can buy a lot of stuff. That's unopened. But second hand. Like people didn't want it. Or didn't use it. Or whatever. I like that. But. I've also bought stuff. That has been. Previously. Loved. I think is a phrase. That people like to use.

Brad Dowdy: Absolutely. And it's good.

Myke Hurley: It doesn't sound so nice. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: These. It sounds like. More like used cars. But yeah. And these. The most of these places. That are larger. Like the reddit boards. You know. They're. They're very well run. Like they're vetted. And you know. It's not that. You know. You don't go without mistakes. But like when buying a used pen. Or a used keyboard. You want to make sure. You're getting. What's advertised right. And you know. These. Yeah. Have a pretty good. Use some kind of.

Myke Hurley: Payment system. That's going to give you. Some kind of protections. I know people. Don't like PayPal. For lots of reasons. But. You know. They can act. As an arbiter. And problem. If there's a problem.

Brad Dowdy: Yep. Like. The pin swap board. That's all they allow. Right. They posted a message. Just a few days ago. Like. Hey. This user. Is trying to get people. To pay differently. And contacting them offhand. Look. We do not use this. This user. Is not allowed to post. Do not. Do things. So. There's. It's good to see active. And enforce rules. On boards like that.

Myke Hurley: All right. Next up. Comes from Ryan. My question for you. And Myke. I assume they sent this to you. Is fairly simple. And it's just a little bit. Of curiosity. In almost. Nine years. Of doing the show. Are there any pens. Paper. Or other stationery. From the first few episodes. That you are still. Using today.

Brad Dowdy: A bunch. If I really think about this. Because. A lot of it started. Like. Before we've been getting. Fountain pens. Almost all of the standard. Gel pens. And ball points. Like the. Pilot Hattek C. The Uniball Signo DX. The Uniball Jetstream. The Secure Picker Micron. All of those were there. Day one. And they like. Literally live on my desk. To this day. From a fountain pen. Perspective. I'm still using the. Pilot Vanishing Point. Which is like. The first gold nib pen. I bought. Even though I'm not using. The exact same one. That was my first one. That's still a pen. That I love to this day. You know. Paper wise. The. The Wirecarder article. Reminded me. How long I've been using. Morimon. And how much. I enjoy. Using that paper. And that's a very. Very. Long term. Love. Of mine. Even though it's maybe not. The perfect day to day. Page. But I. I could go all in on Morimon. And like. Rhodia. Like I've been using those. Since day one. And then I use things like. Pilot Blue Black ink. And Pilot Orochizuku. Shinkai. Those are very. Very. Long term. Long running. Inks of mine. That go back. You know. Not maybe to day one. But very. Very. Early on in the beginning. They're. They're fantastic.

Myke Hurley: For me. I mean. Obviously. Everybody. Would assume. One of them. Which is the. Retro 51. Tornado. Which. I don't know. How. Far back. That is. But that's pretty far back. I would say. Pretty early. Yeah. It's definitely the. However. Old it is in the show. That is the thing. That goes back the furthest. Because I don't use. Jail pens. And stuff anymore.

Myke Hurley: So. You know. Like. I know that that's the only thing. That goes back that far. And then you reminded me. Of Hiroshizuku inks. Like. Fuyugaki. And Konpeki. I still use them. And those were. My first. Bottled inks. I actually think. I probably still have. My original. Fuyugaki bottle. Because they're big. Right. And so. I have a bottle. That's nearly empty. And I assume. It's maybe my first. Or second. Yeah. Bottled of that.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. The. I always find it interesting. About the Hiroshizuku ink lineup. They're one of the best. Ever. And. It's just as far as. You know. Going in blindly. To buy an ink. And they actually. Lowered their price. By an enormous. Amount. Over the years. Which is. Pretty interesting. To. To think about. Those are the things. I think about too much.

Myke Hurley: Holy moly. So Ryan. Who asked this question. Is in the chat. And he just. Pulled out. Of his brain. That it was episode 8. Of the show. Where we spoke about. The retro 51. Nice. How far back is that. It's unbelievable.

Brad Dowdy: It's. It's 429 episodes back. But like. I believe.

Myke Hurley: That. The. What I'm saying. Is the retro 51. Being mentioned. And loved. Oh yeah. In the show. Is. No. Way earlier. In the show's history. Than I expected.

Brad Dowdy: Oh no. I thought it was in single digits. Honestly. I thought it was episode 3. To be. Really. Okay. Yeah. I knew it was that far back.

Myke Hurley: But anyway. So there you go.

Brad Dowdy: Because I just found the orange. The orange lacquered editions. Mm-hmm. Was the first one that I bought. And I was. I was pretty shocked about it. I got it too.

Myke Hurley: Mm-hmm. So that answers it. That's. That's kind. That's really cool though. That it goes back. Goes back that far.

Brad Dowdy: Yep.

Myke Hurley: Wow.

Brad Dowdy: All right. I want to hit. I want to hit one more. Ask TK. Then we'll wrap it for today. So. This next one. Do you know. Who this next questioner is. And this is why I want to ask it. I answer it. Because he asked it. Like. A month ago. And I think it's a trick question. Do you know. Who Tokyo Station. MNH is.

Myke Hurley: Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Okay. That's our good buddy. CY. Yeah. From the Tokyo Inklings. Yep. So he has a question here. I bought a vintage ballpoint from Pilot. Which I luckily found to fit. The BRFN 30 refills from Pilot. And we'll put the link in the show notes. To that refill. It's a. It's a uniquely shaped refill. When buying out of production ballpoints. How do you find appropriate modern refills. That fits. Or is it all up to luck. So. This is a very CY question. Because. Knowing CY. Like I do online. He is. A fidgeter extraordinaire. Right. He will. Tear down. And build up. Any pen. Like. He buys. Like. These really unique. And. Rare. And interesting. Vintage. Vintage fountain pens. Like. The pilot. Some of the original. Pilot capitalist. Stuff. That like. I would kill to have. And then. Pulls them. Them apart. Like. Completely. So. I was like. Are you really asking me. This question. But. Actually. It's a good question. Because. Maybe he doesn't use. The. Ballpoints. Or fountain pens. Or standard. Refill pens. And. Maybe he's just focusing on fountain pens. And. Honestly. Like. In the case of the. The BRFN 30. You're never going to find. Anything in that. It's up to luck. To find something. You can modify. Into that. Like. I think he figured out. How to make it work. How to make it. You know. To. To get that specific. Situation working. But. With. Vintage. Fountain pens. I'm. Excuse me. Vintage standard pens. You're kind of rolling. The dice. That they use. Like. A standard cross refill. From way back in the day. Like. A long skinny refill. That way. You can. Modify. Some other things. Into it. But when you're getting. Into these short.

Brad Dowdy: Shorter pens. Shorter refills. You're going to have. A very very hard time. Finding anything. These days. That match. Because. Even the companies. That are making. Short refills. Now. Like. Pilot and Lamy. Both have a short. Ballpoint. And a short. Rollerball. Refill.

Brad Dowdy: They. They just fit. Like. One or two. Of their pens. Right. They're not going to. Universally. Be able to swap. Into some of these other things. So I think it's just. Completely up to luck. And you just. You. You hope it's going to use. A long refill. Instead of a short refill. And then you at least. Have a chance. To be able to. Modify something. Into that.

Myke Hurley: This is lost on me. This question. Quite honestly. I mean. I don't know. Cut it. I don't know. Melt it. I don't know.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. This is a very. See why question. And it's like. He. He is the master fidgeter. Right. If. If I had this question. I would ask him.

Brad Dowdy: Right. Like. See why. How would you fix this? Like. I found this old pilot ballpoint. I want to find a refill. What would you do? Like. I'd totally ask him.

Myke Hurley: If you would like. To ask us a question. You can always send out. A tweet. With the hashtag. Ask TPA. Or if you're in the. Relay FM members discord. Just use question mark. Ask TPA. And you can send it in. You can send them in. Slack. To Brad. You can email them. At hello. At pen addict. Dot com. And we'll continue. To get through them. In. To our episodes. In the future. Thank you to everybody. That does send them in. We have a. Still have a. A good handful. Of questions. That we'll be getting to. Over the next couple of weeks. And then hopefully. We'll have more. From everybody out there. So we can keep adding. To that list. If you want to find us online. There's a few places. That you can do that. You can go to. Penaddict.com. And to find Brad's work. And knock.co. Sign up for the newsletters there. So you can get information. About new products. As they're. Coming online. You can go to Instagram. Brad is penaddict. On Instagram. I am. I'm Myke. I M Y K E. I'm also. I'm Myke on Twitter. Brad is at Dowdyism. Tuesdays. Thursdays. 10 a.m. Eastern time. Twitch.tv. Slash penaddict. Even with. A broken arm. Brad is continuing. To Twitch stream. For your enjoyment. And this Friday. The 20th. At 11 a.m. Eastern time. Which is 4 p.m. GMT. I'm going to be back. On Myke. Live. Doing a full on. Keyboard build. This is. This is. A quite. Serious. Keyboard. That I'm going to be building. I'm sure my son.

Brad Dowdy: Would skip school. For it.

Myke Hurley: I hope to see him. In the chat. I'm really excited. This is going to be. Another full on. Board build. With.

Myke Hurley: Soldering. Is that how you say it? Soldering. In the US.

Brad Dowdy: We say. Soldering. Like there's no. Soldering.

Myke Hurley: Because. People make fun of me. Because. The way that I say solder. It's a.

Brad Dowdy: It's a hard word to say. It's an interesting word. But we say soldering.

Myke Hurley: Anyway. Myke. Live. It's going to be. At 11 a.m. Eastern time. On Friday the 20th. I'm going to be doing. A big keyboard build. So please come and hang out.

Brad Dowdy: Next week. We have a special episode. Don't we Brad? We do. It is our annual gift guide. Episode. We will have. The lovely and talented. Anna Reiner. Joining us once again. As she does. Every year. For our gift guide episode. So. We need to know. If you have any. Gift based questions. So you can. Also hashtag those. Ask TPA. On Twitter. We'll find those out. Figure out which ones are the gift guide ones. I will. Look through those. You can also email them. To the address. Myke mentioned. Hello at PennHeadic.com. But if you're having to buy. Anything for. A stationary friend. Let us know. If we can be of any help. And we will take those questions. Next week. As Myke. Anna. And I. Go through our picks. For our annual gift guide episode. So send your questions along.

Myke Hurley: All right. Thank you so much. To our sponsors this week. Harry's Penn Chalet. And Good Made Better. And we'll be back. Next week. Until then. Say goodbye Brad. Goodbye Brad. Bye Brad. you