The Pen Addict 452/transcript

The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript
Episode:	452
Title:	Not Enough Sizing
Release Date:	March 10th, 2021
Hosts:	Brad Dowdy Myke Hurley
Guests:	No guests this episode
Additional Information
Official page:	Episode 452
Audio File:	Audio Episode 452
Podcast page:	The Pen Addict 452
Length:	7878 min <br />1.3 h <br /> minutes
Previous Transcript	Next Transcript

Myke: From RelayFM, this is The Pen Addict, episode 452. Today's show is brought to you by ExpressVPN, Pen Chalet, and Harry's. My name is Myke Hurley and I am joined by Brad Dowdy. Hi Brad Dowdy.

Brad: Hey Myke Hurley, how's the monarchy treating you these days?

Myke: I don't want to talk about that. People keep doing this to me and I just don't want to talk about it. It's terrible. I don't want to talk about it. You mean I wasn't original, Myke? Come on. You weren't original. You weren't original, no. Believe it or not, everyone wants my opinions.

Brad: I have nothing other than the person who sent me the pen meme yesterday. I have no clue about any of that. I just wanted to give you a hard time. So how's the theme system journal going, Myke? I'll get us back on track real quick.

Myke: We're back in stock, baby. As of right now, cortexmerch.com. You can go and buy yourself a theme system journal. It's been live for an hour. We've already sold, I think, what, 10% more? No. Yeah, about 10%, maybe 20% of Ironman Tarii is gone.

Brad: It's like, he told me the number. I know you know how to answer this question.

Myke: Well, the reason I don't know how to answer is because the number keeps changing, Brad, and I need to redo the math because it's not the easiest thing in the world to do. So I'm doing the math right now. Especially live. Okay, so it's not that many. Now I need to open, and I have to remember how to do this math. Yeah. That amount. We sold 17% of our inventory.

Myke: So far. In an hour. In an hour. An hour and a half. An hour and 10 minutes. That's a huge number. Things are moving fast.

Brad: Yeah, great. Congratulations. I'm glad the timing has worked out. I know it was a nail-biter.

Myke: Yep. Yep. We ended up just pulling the trigger on it. So I think, did I mention on the show that we were dealing with the VAT thing?

VAT Setup

Brad: No, we were just doing that on the B-sides.

Myke: Okay, so we're dealing with trying to get the VAT all set up in the UK.

Brad: Which that, we did talk about that in general. Yes.

Myke: So Cotton Bureau, the incredible people at Cotton Bureau have been jumping through all the hoops necessary to try and get that done. But unfortunately, they have been waiting 30 days for a 15-day process so far with the government here. So it kind of got to the point where we needed to just do it. Because it's not a large percentage, but it's not that high a percentage, the UK orders, for what we're doing. And so I couldn't hold up the journals for literally everyone. You can buy one and you can get it sent to you and you will get charges and there might be an issue if you're in the UK. I've bought another one just to see what happens. Like, will it come to me or not? Now, my current experience is these things are coming, but they're slow or they're maybe getting sent back. And we're holding a bunch more extra than we normally do, like back just in case. And as soon as Cotton Bureau have the go-ahead, they're going to implement the system. So you'll be able to see all of your taxes and everything up front and pay it up front. But unfortunately, there just wasn't enough time left for me to put these on sale and make sure that we could get them landing with people before the end of the month, which was my key, really. Because there will be many people that's journal runs out at the end of March. So they need a new one. And I will just say, I don't go into this too much. I'm sure me and Gray will have this conversation. But I'm giving myself a huge pat on the back here because I finally bloody did it and had them arrive in time. This is the first time I have ever had these journals arrive at the time that I needed them to arrive. And so we may finally be getting there with like a how-to-manage inventory of this product.

Brad: But then in the end, as we always know, there's always something.

Myke: Oh, there's always something.

Brad: This time it's the back end. But you did your job.

Myke: Oh, we had all other kinds of problems getting them through customs. But the point was like I left enough. I left what I thought was a comfortable window. And I had that comfortable window.

Brad: The thing that trips me out the most about this as someone who's shipped things all over the world is you deal with weights and measurements that I don't ever have to deal with. Like you deal with tonnage. Yeah. And I don't ever have to deal with that.

Myke: Yeah, because you're not shipping a manufactured product in its entirety from place to place, are you? Mm-hmm. Like I do. Like they're made in one place. Well, I am.

Brad: I ship pin cases in bulk, like from the factory. But they're light enough to be able to, you know, standard carrier type stuff.

Myke: Yeah, of course. I was thinking like overseas. But of course, you're moving them around the US still. Mm-hmm. So, yeah. Great stuff. Let's talk about pens. We have more important stuff to talk about today. But you can go to cortexmarch.com if you want to pick up a journal. Thank you if you do. So, we are going to be talking about the spoke design fountain pen launch a little bit later on in the episode. But we have some follow-up and mini stuff to get to. So, the Pilot Decimo Cat Plus Wish. I put a link to an Instagram post from a few-day fan. And Jacob's like basically shared this. This is a 17th anniversary pen for a Japanese retailer, which is called Usagiya, I believe. It would be pronounced somewhat something like that.

Myke: This is a very beautiful vanishing point, basically. And Jacob made some really great point on the Instagram post is that there is a clear trend. Pilot does make interesting pens, going back to what we were talking about last week. But they're mostly retailer or country exclusive, hard-to-get models.

Brad: I'd even go take that a little bit further. Like, yes, this has been true for a long time with Pilot.

Brad: But where they differentiate on this from Sailor is just the scope and the scale, right? They're made to almost never come up for sale, right? You would never, like any regular consumer would never have the opportunity to purchase one of these. And that's kind of like elaborating on the point that Jacob's making, making these for store specifics and, you know, for their customer bases and stuff. Which is cool. Awesome. I mean, like, go for it. Lean into it. They do some really cool stuff. Like, these are stunning, right? I saw these a few weeks ago. I forget who was sharing them. But they were, I saw the black trim one. I was like, oh, that's a pretty cool vanishing point. And then I saw the silver trim. Silver trim one is amazing. Goodness gracious.

Myke: That's the image to lead with, in my opinion.

Brad: Yeah, that's, yeah, that's the, they led with the wrong image, even though the first one's great. Like, on its own, individually. But when you stack up next to each other, there's, I think there's a clear winner. But, like, I think the point of the discussion still stands, right? Like, Sailor has created an opportunity for their super fans to dip their toes in the water if they want to. You know, they still have to jump through a little bit of hoops and things like that. Like, this is almost a non-starter for pilot super fans. Mm-hmm. Right, as far as access goes. Like, you can get it, but, like, how many jumps are you going to hoop, have to jump through to get there? Where Sailor used to be that way in the beginning, and Pilot's there now, but also shows no signs of changing how they do, which is perfectly fine. Like, I have no problem with what Pilot does, with Pilot is doing what they think is in their best interest, right? I think it's just an interesting discussion to have on how different these two brands take things. And it's just that I want more from Pilot. I'm being selfish that way, right? But, you know, Pilot wants to do their own thing, and they have every right to do so.

Myke: It's just a shame. Yeah. I consider it a shame.

Brad: Yeah. Well, maybe one day we'll get what we want. But, like, last week's pin is not it. Like, it's fine. It's just not it. And, like, when I saw this link come across my Twitter feed, Myke, of this Sailor, what's this Sailor pin called that I showed you?

Myke: I did a Google Translate on it, and I think it's probably fair for us to call it Sakura at Night.

Brad: Okay. And it's the, I call it, this company name is so weird, it's Kakri. Like, they've been around for a little while. They've done some collaborations with Sailor before. But they've taken the standard pro gear, and we've started to see some of the external artwork. Like, they've done some cherry blossom stuff in the past. Like, we saw some of these last year. You might even have one of these.

Myke: No, I wanted to get one, but I didn't do it. I was really tempted. And, again, I am really tempted again. Because this one is, I think, for everything, the last one was this one, is also beautiful. Because the previous ones were pink, and the body of the pen was pink, and then it was like Sakura, you know, pink Sakura flower painted on it. Like cherry blossom. And now the pen body is blue, which is also very interesting.

Brad: So, my point was, when I saw this product come across my Twitter feed, my reply was, I look at this, and then I think about the Pilot Custom SE and Giggle. Because this was right after we had talked about the Pilot Custom SE. Like, they are not playing on a level playing field. No. Like, this is almost unfair to Pilot. But it also makes me giggle. I was like, Pilot has no interest in this.

Myke: Mm-hmm.

Brad: Which is cool. Again, like, I'm not complaining about Pilot. I'm just wish casting, right?

Myke: Brad, I've just done that terrible thing that I always do, which is going to Pensachi's website. Because I thought, you know, maybe they'll have this on there at some point. I don't know. And I just found, you know, because you can't help but poke through their site when you're on it. And they have a ProFit there, which looks like, tell me what this looks like. I'll put a link in the show notes. You tell me what this ProFit reminds you of, visually.

Brad: The GoldWeb. The Vacumatic GoldWeb, right? Parker Vacumatic GoldWeb, yeah. Isn't that cool? GoldWeb. That is cool. I like how they did that. It looks just like it. I wonder what the texture is. Is that just exterior, or is that built into the material?

Myke: Who knows? Very cool. But I'm going to close this tab now, because otherwise I'll get lost in Pensachi.

Brad: Oh, it's a Macchie. So now that I read the description, it's so it's exterior to the material. That's the way I read that.

Myke: That's $100, that pen?

Brad: Mm-hmm.

Myke: Like, we get two in the box. One is like this little, like a brush. Mm-hmm. It's a nice little set for $100. I mean, you're getting, what is it? It'd be a steel nib, right?

Brad: Yeah. Mm-hmm. So that's what I, like, I love this type of stuff, right? Like, the lower price point, unique designs, right? Like, don't phone in your low-end products just because you're awesome at the higher-end products. Like, when you put a little bit of care and touch into these lower-end products, like, that's what moves the needle.

Myke: Oh, this is a calligraphy set.

Myke: This one.

Brad: Oh, it's got a, I see it's, I'm not reading the description, but it's got a food aid nib.

Food Aid Nib Discussion

Myke: It's got a food aid nib on it, yeah.

Brad: Yeah. It's great. Like, I love everything about that, especially the price. The price and the originality, like, I don't ask for much.

Myke: Talking about love, we didn't actually follow up on this. A couple of weeks ago, you spoke about you had ordered and it arrived your first Platinum Ultra Extra Fine. Yeah. And you posted on Instagram how much you love it, right?

Brad: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I think I am, this is going to be one of the, gosh, it may be singular, in pens that I keep inked up all the time. Oh, wow. Wow. It's that good of a thing. It fills that Pilot Hi-Tech C 0.3 millimeter need for me.

Myke: That's so wild, like, to think a pen like this filling the Hi-Tech C, like, yeah.

Brad: Yeah, yeah, yeah. It might even be finer than 0.3. It might be, like, 0.25. It's just, it's a real pleasure to write with. It's very consistent. It's very sharp. Like, I've done no tweaking to the nib. This was right out the box. It was perfect. And I've gone so far as to just buy ink cartridges just for it. Like, I've bought a set of the Platinum's permanent black ink cartridges. I'm loving, that's another thing. I'm loving the black ink again because of this nib and this pen. And I want to try a different cartridge. So, I'm using Platinum's stock black ink cartridge. And then they have their carbon black, which is their pigmented. I want to see if the UEF can handle that ink. I think it can, at least from people I'm talking to. So, I'm going to give that a shot because it's a very neat ink. And it's permanent. And it's got a really, really good color. And something about those fine, sharp black lines just really gets me going. Like, that's the original Japanese gel pen ink line that I've been looking for for all these years. And I could have, you know, there's plenty of options. I've got plenty of other pens that can write this fine. But this one just is really checking all the boxes. And, like, I want to use it all the time. Like, it's just, it's a really, really great pen. And I should not have waited this long for it.

Myke: This is, I saw this headline that you put in the notes and I couldn't get my head around it. So, Apple Boom, who are a, are they Dutch? Yes. Dutch-based pen store. We talk about them a lot because they get some pens before anybody else. What is the brand that they tend to have first?

Brad: A lot. I mean, they're big time in my book. Like, they are a big player.

Myke: They're one of the larger European companies. Molly says in the chat it means Apple Tree, which makes sense because that's their logo. It's like a little Apple Tree. They have bought a pen store, which makes sense. It's in Boston.

Myke: What's going on here?

Brad: I don't know, but I love it. Like, I got this message from a reader yesterday. So, Chris, thank you for sending me this because I hadn't heard of it until then I got on Twitch stream and the news was around and we were talking about it a little bit. But, you know, I've dealt with Yost Apple Boom before, who is the owner of Apple Boom. And just super, super great guy, super easy to work with. He's very supportive of the stationery community as a whole, aside from running like a top tier fountain pen storefront. So, you know, they have their location in the Netherlands.

Myke: Brad, they also have a store in Australia. What? Oh, this is an office. It's not open for visiting. Yes. But they have an office in Australia.

Brad: Yeah. So, it turns out they've had an office in the States for a while because I reached out to Yost and I just emailed him like late last night, had a few questions, hoping he'd get it this morning and shoot me an email back. And he did. And he let me know 50% of their customers are in the US, which is shocking.

Myke: And they were distributing from Europe?

Brad: Yep. Like shipping from Europe? They already had an office in the US. Right. So, I think there may be like, maybe some of the brands ship from there. I don't know. It's a very complex web, but it just, I think it's like a super positive kind of thing and a super interesting feel about the whole idea that this Dutch pen company who, let's be perfectly frank, is excellent, right? No, I think it's so good. Everything they do is like top tier and they're broadening their reach worldwide and having these kind of like satellite offices, right, to distribute and ship from. But now they've gone as far as purchasing a physical storefront, which is the Bromfield Pen Shop in Boston. And I just find the whole thing interesting. So, let me read Yost's email. He said, 50% of our customers are from the US. So, it was a matter of time before opening a store there. We already had the office, but a physical store is always something different and feels more comfortable. If we were entering the US market, I wanted to have a location on the East Coast as it's closest to Amsterdam. Makes sense, right? And for now, the Boston location will stay as is. They'll start to ship US orders from appleboom.com. And they hope to be able to start, you know, when the travel restrictions ease up, they hope to start working on the shop and doing more with it. So, I just, yeah, I'm still trying to wrap my head around this, that this can actually happen today, right? This doesn't sound like a thing that should happen in our industry. That's why I find it so interesting, right? Like, seeing a shop expand internationally.

Myke: I also just think this is a super fantastic story for the original owner of this store. That they were able to, you know, I guess, potentially to retire or to move on. And it go to another smaller, like small-ish company.

Brad: Essentially, it's going from family-run store to family-run store.

Myke: And I love that story. I think that's so cool. I mean, it's so much better than, you know, I don't really know much about the Bromfield pen shop. But I assume the pandemic's probably been pretty tricky for them. And this is, I would hope, is like a nice way for them to relax a bit now, maybe. That would be my hope for the owners of that store. Yeah. Yeah, so super cool. I think this is a great story. I'm happy to see this.

Myke: These are the kind of things that I think we're going to see more of post-pandemic. You know, a lot of businesses moving around like this. And I hope that things continue to be positive.

Brad: Yes, maybe we've collectively learned how to, you know, work this whole working from home thing. We've learned how to manage our businesses and, like, make things work where we didn't even consider what options we had in the past. Because, hey, we go to the shop, we stock the shelves, and we ship, and we let people in the building. And now that business model changed a little bit and then maybe opened up some eyes. It's like, oh, well, we can still do that, but we've been working on these other things for the past year that seem to be pretty successful, too. How does that change our future? So, I like it.

Myke: All right, should we take our first break and then talk about what everyone's here to listen to today? Sorry, you have to listen to me talk about my journals, because there's only one thing we want to talk about. But before we do, let's thank our friends from Pench LA for their support of this episode. Pench LA sell all of the products that you're looking for from all of your favorite brands. They have great discounts and the very best customer service. Every couple of weeks, you go to Pench LA and you can find new products and new discounts as well. Not only can you find rollerballs and ballpoints, mechanical pencils and fountain pens, you can also get ink and refills, converters, pen holders, carrying cases, and so much more from all of your favorite brands. Far too many to even attempt to list all of them. It's one of my favorite things about Pench LA is over the years that we've been working with them, just seeing their expansion and all of the different types of products they carry from all of these different brands. It really does make it like a first place to go to. Like, if you want to buy something, you've got something on your mind, go to Pench LA first. Because not only are you going to get free shipping on orders of over $50 in the US, or great shipping rates worldwide, not only are you going to get a 100% satisfaction guarantee, you're also going to get 10% off anything at Pench LA at any time, just by going to Pench LA.com and clicking the podcast link at the top of the website and entering the password PenAddict. That's where you've got the code that you need to save 10% on anything at any time at Pench LA, and to feast your eyes upon a cornucopia of special offers for listeners of this show. What are they this week, Brad?

Brad: I'm busy trying to make a purchase. Can you hold on?

Myke: Oh, you really?

Brad: Mm-hmm. So we've got to hold this thought. So, no. Like, I'm trying to check out. Like, I don't know. Should I check? Okay, I won't check out. I'll let someone else get it first. But if you don't, I will get it by the time the show's over. But I'm not going to tell you yet, because I'm going to tell you the first thing in the list. Okay. The Diplomat Magnum fountain pen is one of those pens that I haven't used, but people consistently rave about it as, hey, this should be an option for your beginner fountain pen, like for your very first fountain pen. The price right now, like it was already an inexpensive pen, like in the $20 range. What it is, it's half of that now. So if you're looking for like a good quality starter pen, that is the way to go. The pen I tried to purchase before I had to speak was the Star Wars Boba Fett rollerball.

Myke: Oh my God, that price.

Brad: What? It will be gone by the end of the show, probably. But they also have the Chewbacca fountain pen and some of the other Star Wars cross pens that they must just be liquidating because the prices are dumb. And if these aren't sold out like before this afternoon, y'all are not paying attention because I'm going to buy one. I want the Boba Fett, but I don't know if I'm going to be able to click the cart. The Han Solo one is available too. Because I'm busy talking. Yeah. So, um,

Apple Boom Pens

Myke: this is, we always made fun of these pens because of the prices, but at these prices, that's fixed. It's corrected. It's all good now. All right. If you want to go and find this out for yourself, go to penshalia.com, click the podcast link at the top of the website, use the code penaddict. Our thanks to Pen Chalet for their continued and wonderful support of this show and Relay FM.

Brad: Hang on. There's still some stuff. I'm still scrolling. You're still scrolling? Oh no. Yeah. This is, this is, uh, this is an A game, uh, that Ron brought today. Ron brought the A game on this, on this list. Y'all go, uh, y'all go browse. It's, it's pretty solid.

Myke: All right. Spoke design fountain pen. Uh, as of recording, we're like, I don't know, like an hour or 90 minutes away from you actually launching this product to the world. I, uh, tuned into one of your streams last week. I don't remember which day it was. I think it was Tuesday or Thursday. No, I think it was, it was Thursday stream Thursday. It's third, last Thursday. Yeah. I was like, uh, forcing you in the chat to show off the pen. Cause I didn't get to see it on the Tuesday stream. And so you did like a whole little run through again. And I was freaking out. Like I caught Adina in to the office, like, look at what Brad's made. I was so proud of you because this is serious. And we'll talk about the products in a bit, but this is just a big deal because this is like the Brad Dowdy fountain pen. Like that's a big deal because you haven't done this. Like you've worked with other companies and, and help them like design a colorway for you. Right. Sure. But there's a lot of pressure on the Brad Dowdy fountain pen.

Brad: Well, let's be clear. Let me alleviate some of that pressure. Brian came up with this design. Like it's a Brian. Yeah.

Myke: But this is different though, because this is your company, right? With Brian. Like I know that like, I know that you're very opinionated, but I, it's like similar to me. I don't have the ability to actually design a product on my own. I need help from people. Like I can express what I'm looking for and then work with talented people who actually can design this stuff, like properly design the stuff, you know, more than just like, Hey, I think it should look like this. What do you think of this sketch? And so like, and I know that like, you know, this is all building on from the incredible work that Brian was doing before YouTube were working together. Right. The design cues are there, but this is a Brad Dowdy co-designed fountain pen. Like it is because, you know, if Brian came to you and you didn't like it, you wouldn't be like, Oh, don't worry about it. Brian will just sell it anyway.

Brad: Yeah. Right. Right. Right. Oh yeah. No, no, I was definitely like, you know, I feel like some responsibility for it. Right. Like what, like an ownership stake has, you have like the final say, you say like, yes and no on product designs and ideas and how to do things. And so, yeah, we worked together super well. Brian's design chops are unparalleled as far as like the technical and engineering aspects of it. Um, but like I was saying on stream this week, like before we made a fountain pen, Brian had really never used a fountain pen in his life. Right. So we work on those things together, try to get the design, right. Um, you know, try to make the spoke style. What, what,

Myke: what,

Brad: what is it that he and I like so much about spoke? And then how can we translate that into not just one fountain pen, but three different fountain pens, uh, two are similar than one's different. Um, it's really cool to be able to work on a project like this, especially with someone like Brian, who is just immensely talented and like, just has this doggedness of making the things work. it's, I've, I've never worked with someone like that's just as good as he is technically. Um, and execution wise, um, to put something together. And then I put the feels on it. Right. Like that's my job is like, uh, I make you feel good about it.

Myke: You are the market and you tell the story, but that's what you're great at though. It's the skill and it's needed.

Brad: Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, I'm, we're anxious to get this going. Needless to say, like my, like I'm, I'm pacing, right? Like anxiety pacing type of stuff in a good, like it's all positive.

Myke: Cause let's, let's talk about before, like there is a lot of, there's like a bit of weirdness around this pen because it's also supply constrained in like an unexpected way. Right. Yes.

Brad: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So we'll hit on that. Let's, um, let's lay it all out there. Okay. Um, as far as different models go, and then we can get into like some of the nitty gritty and questions you have.

Myke: Yeah. So it's not one pen, it's three pens, right? Which is the other thing. It's like, yeah, well,

Brad: I do one three kind of two of the three work off of each other. Right. So the first one is the axle S, which is our short fountain pen. So think of something along the lines of the Kaweco Lily put or the, in the Kaweco like steel sport. Like if you mash those together, this is kind of in between those pens. Um, it's made to be pocketable. It's made to have the cap post on the back. And importantly, it's made to fit a number six size Yobo nib. So all of our nibs are going to be Yobo number six nibs for now. That's all of these pens.

Myke: That is a full sized nib.

Brad: That's the full size,

Myke: which is incredibly rare. I feel like, I feel like I've never seen a number six nib on a pen this small. I don't recall ever seeing this.

Brad: Yeah. Shone design does it. He's the first one I've known. Right. That's really done it well. And then some of the smaller makers, like the custom makers will make acrylic pens to fit because they can do that on a, like a one-to-one basis. Um, but like none of like the Kawecos and anyone else making like the pocket pens, on scale, don't really make those like Franklin Kristoff uses the number six in their pocket 66, but that's a longer, wider pen than what the axle S is. Um, it's, it's really just a little bit bigger than like a Kaweco Lily put, if you're familiar with that. And the, the kind of the rounded ends shape, um, it's a little bit similar to that, but it's a little bit wider to obviously to fit the wider fittings of the number six, which was important to me. Like if we can do it, I wanted to do it. And so it's basically, um, just like a little bit bigger than that, but like not quite as big or dense as like a Kaweco sport. So the way this one works, and we have to talk about this because you'll see why later when we get to the last pen. So there's a middle barrel section and what we've always done at spoke and why I fell in love with spoke to begin with and why I was excited to start working with Brian on a permanent basis is his willingness and my want and desire to make all kinds of cool colors, right? Like to make metal pens with cool anodization and in an effort to make my pen, right? I know I say not me specifically, but to make something like super customizable and very neat and unique to an individual, right? Someone can go, Oh, this is my pen. It's not a pen. This is my pen because I got to pick the colors and I got to do the things and put the parts together. And now it's mine. It's not a pen, right? I think there's a difference. So the axle S, which is the short version, we have, what do we have? Three barrel colors right now, red, black, and blue grip choices. You can have like a black aluminum grip or you can have a shiny titanium grip. You know, there's a little price difference between the two. They take short international cartridges, um, which, you know, that's just a thing for these pocket pens. They're just not big enough to hold a converter. And there are short converters out there. There's that like technically exist. I would, I don't, there's none that I've ever felt was good enough to recommend. I just use cartridges. And if you want to refill ink cartridges with syringes, go for that, things like that.

Myke: so it is that. Okay. So there are products available if you wanted to have a converter, but you consider them to be not very good. So you just recommend people just use cartridges for the XLS. For the XLS. Yes. Cause they found a small converter, they could make it fit.

Brad: Yes. Right. The Intel international short international size. There's maybe three or four kind of generic converters out there. Kaweco's made a couple, uh, some have a squeeze mechanism. Some have like a fake kind of piston mechanism. Mechanism. And that just, they're more hassle than they're worth. Okay. In my opinion, they technically work. They will all fit. So you are free to use them to your heart's content. Um, you know, we're shipping these with the short international cartridges. Right. So, um, yeah, it's really cool and it's pocketable. It feels great. And I don't know. It's just, I've actually been using this one the most over the last couple of days, which is an odd thing to say, because like I'm, I made like my favorite pin out of one of the models we'll talk about later. So yeah, the, this pin actually works in conjunction with the axle as far as design goes, right? They're similar barrels. It's just the axle, the full size axle is a longer barrel, which makes it a full size pin. And these are swappable. We're not selling the barrels individually yet, but we might in the future, but it gives you the longer full size. This writing option, you know, the barrel colors are a little bit different. We have storm gray instead of red for this one, and then black and blue. And we have the same grips, the same, you know, black aluminum, shiny titanium, but this one does fit the full length standard international converters. So you can have this pin. If you like the style of the axle S, but want to use a converter, you can get a little bit longer barrel. And, you know, go to town with that, or you could buy one of each, keep a converter in there. I mean, keep a short international cartridge in there and just swap the barrels from shorter to longer. So I've been carrying around the short barrel and the long barrel in my pocket and swapping them back and forth. Like I'm sitting here staring at my axle and I have the long barrel built in long black barrel with a titanium grip, but I have the short barrel like sitting right next to it because I keep flipping them back and forth to play with because they're nice and they're fun. And, and, um, yeah, they're just, it's just a cool design. Um, I don't want to say it's traditional in design, but it's traditional in shape. You know, it's your, your kind of longer, skinnier looking fountain pens, no clips on any of these pens, right? The, that's not something that would work with this design that we made. We wanted to keep these clean lines. Um, the axle, the full length one is also postable, right? These have short caps on the front. So this is, these are unique in that the, the threading is at the front end near the nib, right? So it's not a deep posting threading cap for either the axle or the axle S, right? Which make, allows it to post on the back of the pen, just screw on the back very easily and not extend the length too long, right? On the short one, the axle S.

Myke: The axle S is you have to do it basically, right? Like pretty. For most people,

Brad: you wouldn't really like it without it, without it. It's too small,

Myke: but the axle, you can choose really. Like, I think it's more of a, like, do I like to post or not? And if you don't, then you're fine, right? Like it's, it's more full size-ish. What kind of, uh, size pen would you compare the axle to? Like, give me a comparison. What kind of pen is it? Cause you said like the axle S is kind of like the size of a Lilliput.

Brad: Yeah, that's a good question. It is, it's about the length, of like one of the full size sailors, like the, the pro gear standard or the, or the 1911 less. Sorry,

Myke: when you put the cap on the back, it's kind of around the sailor progress. So it's like, if you post it,

Brad: it might even be a little bit longer, but it's lighter. Like the, the aluminum barrel in the center, it's a lightweight pen. Um, it's definitely longer.

Axle S Pen Design

Myke: I think I can imagine as well, because of the way that you've built these with the axle, it would probably feel pretty good to be, um, posted because the thickness of the pen is basically the same, the whole way down. And it would balance the weight. Right. Cause I think one of the things I tend not to like about posting is it messes up the, the, the, the weight on the back of the pen, because you're taking another piece of material and covering it over the back of the pen. Right. So like, I always feel like it messes up the balance, but I had imagined that the axle is pretty well balanced because of the way it's made.

Brad: Yeah, that's exactly right. Like it's a straight line from the front threads to the end of the pen when it like just tapers off the roundness. And I really like that fully posted feel feel in the regular axle. It's a very kind of brush type of feel the way it's built because the grip section straight also, right? It's not concave. So it's got this continuity that just feels really good when you're writing with it from, from the tip all the way to the end. It's, it's, it's hard to, that one's hard to explain. Um, you know, like when you see it, like you'll see like the, the rounded ends and the, you know, the threading where the, the cat posts on, but when it's actually in use, it's got this cool feel to where it's just like, it's almost like you're using like an, a really, really nice pencil, you know, like how pencils are just long and straight and you like that feel. And this is kind of how this is built in, but with a lot more detail to it.

Myke: I could imagine it feeling pretty similar to using something like a Mark one.

Brad: Yeah.

Myke: Because that is just a straight cylinder. Right. And then it tapers down at the end in the same way that a nib would, I suppose. So like, you know, they are both of these pens are just, they're not contoured in any way. They're just, just straight cylinder. Yep. Um, which is, again, like I'm super intrigued about honestly, all of these, like I'm not really a pocket pen person, but I think that you may have solved some of my issues with pocket pens in the way that you've designed this, uh, from like a weight perspective. And the axle is really interesting to me too, because that's kind of more, more my speed. There's one more, the other pen is the one I'm most excited about when I could talk about that one yet. Yeah. Um, the colors of the axle, they're the same offering as the axle S.

Brad: There's one difference. So the axle S has red barrels, black and blue. The full length axle does not have red. It has storm gray, black and blue. That's just a mixture of our kind of our bestselling pen colors, but we'll eventually be able to swap in, you know, if you like our purples and our lime greens and our science, we're going to do all that eventually. Right. This is just kind of the starter set of these because we kind of went a little bit crazy with, with the next pen we'll talk about. So these are kind of your, this, I would consider these like our standards, and then we'll start mixing in the, the wilder, the wilder colors.

Myke: So the difference between the axle and the axle S is the, uh, like the body of the pen, the grip section and the cap, are they the same on both? Like physically size? Exactly the same. Right. So it's just basically the barrel in the middle is the only thing that changes in size.

Brad: Yep. So when I build them before shipping them, I'll grab whichever barrel you order. And then my grips and sections will come from the same batch. That's very clever. Because they're made to fit each other. This is very clever. Yep. So that way, like if for some reason, like you really like the axle and axle S and that's your style, you can like mix and match the barrels, like between the pins that you have and, and swap them up however you'd like to do and swap up the grip sections and things like that. So we like making it difficult on ourselves by offering up lots of fun stuff for you to, to customize your pen with. Um, I think that's going to, uh, really come home to roost on, on this next pen we'll talk about. But, uh, before we do that, I think we should say the, um, the, the pricing on these. So the axle S, the pocket pen with the black anodized aluminum grip, $79. This ships, you know, with the number six nib size of your choice. We're going to talk about nibs at, at the end. We're going to be a little bit, uh, constrained today at launch, but, we'll get to that at the end. Um, and with the titanium grip, it's $10 more, 89. The axle, the full size one is $89 to start with the black anodized aluminum and 99 with the titanium. So super competitive prices. I feel like they're, that's right where we need it to be right where we are. And I think they're going to do super well. It's a very, very unique pen.

Myke: Talk to me, about the, uh, aluminum and titanium and what, what, what the differences are for you in use. Like why would you choose one over the other?

Brad: Uh, to me, it's a weight. Okay. So the titanium is a little bit heavier. The aluminum is very, very light. So it's cool. I like the titanium grip with the aluminum barrel because it gives you some weight in the grip section. So I like that lower, um, center of gravity on, especially on a smaller pen. You want to feel like you'll be able to, uh, you're writing with it. Um, but the, just the full aluminum is very lightweight. Like you don't even notice it in your pocket, but, um, it's, it's going to hold up very well. It's still going to be strong.

Myke: Yeah. So all of the bodies of the pens are aluminum, aluminum, aluminum, but it's the grip sections and the caps, which you can choose between either aluminum or titanium.

Brad: Right. And this is a shiny titanium. It's not brushed or sandblasted. We do offer those, um, those textures and like some of our pens and pencils, but not yet on the pens. That doesn't mean we'll do it. I just realized something.

Myke: Why don't you call it titanium?

Myke: I don't know. Right. You want, you, because there's an extra eye. Americans call it aluminum instead of aluminum, right? Mm-hmm. Why don't you just like call it titanium? Mm-hmm. You know?

Brad: It's a good, it's a good question.

Myke: I feel like I'm really breaking something open here, Brad.

Brad: I'll see if I can get Oprah set up to have this discussion.

Myke: We're going to have to have a sit down there.

Brad: We're going to have to sit, sit with Oprah.

Myke: I think we should call it titanium now. It's aluminum and titanium. You've got to standardize. Yeah. It's too confusing for me.

Brad: I, I, I like saying aluminum. So I, it just doesn't, it just doesn't, it's just not commonplace that people wouldn't know what you're saying around here, but I, I like saying aluminum. It rolls off the tongue.

Myke: It sounds better than aluminum. Honestly, like it's one, I don't hold this for a lot of like, uh, English and American English phrases. Yeah. But aluminum is one of them. Aluminum, it sounds like you forgot letters. Like it just sounds wrong when you say it. Yeah. Not you, but anybody. Aluminum is far superior as a, as a word.

Brad: Yeah. The only one that gets me is the Zeds.

Myke: Yeah. Okay. And I understand when people don't like all the use, you know, like all the random use in places, like in color and stuff. Like, I agree. Yeah. But it's weird, right? Like it's, you never expect there to be a you there, but all of a sudden there is one.

Brad: But just the, the verbalization of Zed always makes me turn my head. Like when I'm watching, uh, the football broadcasts. Oh, right. Yeah. And they, they drop a Zed on me. I'm like, what? Oh yeah. Okay.

Myke: I like that. You said Zed makes you turn your head. This is basically the start of Brad's rap album. All right. Is that everything on the Axel and Axel S that you wanted to cover?

Brad: I think so. Okay. I think so. So yeah. Um, available today by the time this, you're hearing this podcast, they should be available ish.

Myke: They will have been available.

Brad: Continue listening to this podcast. Yes. To find out all the details.

Myke: Or at least at this point, go and check. Depending on when you're listening. And then come back and get the rest of the details.

Brad: Yeah. Well, we'll, we'll get out all this, all the specs at the end here.

Myke: This episode is brought to you by Harry's far too frequently. We have to make a choice between quality and fair prices. We've all been there, right? You end up trying to save a bit of money. So you buy something that ends up being not as great. And then you want something else. You have to buy something else because you're unhappy. And overall you spent more money, even though you were trying to save some, wouldn't it be nice if you could have quality and fair price and know you're going to get it up front. This is what Harry's is all about. You get factory direct prices and award-winning blades. No choice is necessary for a limited time. Harry's is offering their starter set plus a free body wash for just $3 at harrys.com slash pen addict. Harry's delivers a close, comfortable shave at just $2 per refill. They believe in quality so much. They bought their own factory in Germany, so they could own every step of the manufacturing process. The Harry's team combined a simple ergonomic design with five sharp blades. They sourced their steel from Sweden and manufactured their blades in a world-class blade factory. This German factory is one of the select few manufacturers in the world to have mastered the technology to create Brad's favorite, the Gothic arch, which is the gold standard for razor blade grinding. All of this is why Harry's stands behind the quality of their blades so much that they have a 100% money-back guarantee at harrys.com. Brad, can you speak to how much you love Harry's products?

Brad: How much I love the Gothic arch? Yeah,

Myke: you're a big Gothic arch fan.

Brad: I do. I think I need like a neck tattoo right there. It's like built by Gothic arch, right? Like this is just super clean.

Myke: Gothic arch only around here.

Brad: I will only allow a Gothic arch to touch my neck. No, they're just that good. It's, I've, I've said it a million times before. It's one of the, just like the best products that I've used in, in any category to be able to make the quality, the price and the consistency over what did we figure it out was close to a decade now that I've been using this or eight years ago. Or something like that. Um, that I, it's just always good. And it always makes you, makes me smile. And I always notice it. Um, when, when I'm using it. And fortunately I haven't, uh, had to use something, something different in, and realize how much I miss the Harry's. But I, I think I would, if I, if I didn't have them available, that's how much I love, love the blades. And I don't know, I can't speak highly enough of them.

Myke: For a limited time, Harry's has an exclusive offer for Panatic. listeners, new customers can get a Harry's starter set and a free body wash for just $3 at harrys.com slash penaddict. That is a $16 value for just $3. You get a five blade razor, weighted handle, foaming shave gel, travel cover, and travel size body wash. This is an incredibly great deal. So act fast while supplies last. Go to harrys.com slash penaddict to redeem your offer. Our thanks to Harry's for the support of this show and Relay FM. I did something weird there that I decided to lean into, which was to say body wash. That's not how you say it. It's body wash, right? Like I emphasized it strangely and then liked how it sounded. So just let into it. Body wash.

Brad: Yeah, that was, that was a little bit different. Their body wash is also in my shower. Like, I don't know if that's TMI, but it's, it's good stuff.

Myke: If you had the body wash, I wouldn't want you to put it anywhere else. I have the Harry's body wash and I keep it in the kitchen cabinet. I mean, that would be TMI. What are you doing with it?

Brad: You know what I do have as we extend this Harry's ad into infinity? The new deodorant is awesome.

Myke: Oh, I haven't, I didn't see about that. That's super cool. I didn't know. Yeah.

Brad: I'm normally not a stick deodorant guy, but I, I said, well, let me, when I'm getting my, my, my blades, you know, my, my superstar blades. I threw that in and pleasantly surprised. We could call it deodorant. Body wash.

Myke: Let's not. All right. I want to talk about the very boldly named spoke design icon pen.

Myke: What do you want to talk about?

Brad: This is a big name, Brad. Icon? This is a, this is a big pen, man. This pen is no joke.

Myke: I did mean to ask actually, cause I forgot. Where does the name axle come from? Is it cause of spokes? Like, are you just leaning into that?

Brad: Yeah. Okay. And it looks like, and it's got that straight, it's got that really straight cylindrical design. Smart. It's very, very compatible with spoke icon. I, it's just something that sounds good. It does sound good.

Myke: The name surprised me. Cause I was expecting there to be a link between the names and there isn't. And this is hard to name stuff. Oh, so hard. It's just a nightmare. And, and this is not a criticism. I was just surprised by it. Sure. They look very much like they are of a, uh, uh, like a family. I mean, there's, there are some big differences with the icon. Um, but like if you weren't launching these on the same day, I'd never think about it. Right. Right. Right. Right. So yeah, it's, it's not necessarily a family of products. There's two products that are from the same family and then there's another one, but they're just all launching on the same day.

Brad: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Exactly. Because why not Myke? This is, this is like, why not do all the things?

Myke: The icon. This is when I think about like the Brad Dowdy fountain pen. Mm. I'm mostly thinking about this one. because this is a big statement that you're making. I think.

Brad: Yeah, it is. So this is a really unique design. I don't know if this is been done before. It maybe has. I not smart enough to know the history of all the fountain pens ever, but the way this came out of our spoke pen and you know, the, the spoke design aesthetic has the spokes in the barrel, right? That's how Brian started the company with the mechanical pencils. That was the design aesthetic. And when you decided to make the pen, it's like, Oh, let's do, you know, colored sleeves in these barrels to do something fun for the pen, like the gel ink pen that we sell for the signo DX refill to make some really cool colors. Right. And it's like we did. And they went very, very well, still do very, very well. And we have fun putting those colors together. So Brian, when we're coming up with the fountain pen, trying to figure out how to integrate that same design into a fountain pen, I wasn't sure if we were going to be able to do it. I'm not sure if he was sure we were going to be able to do to have these type of inserts. And then he comes with me, comes to me with an idea or actually a prototype at the, by this point, he hadn't even told me the idea. And he's like, check this out. And he like unscrews the sleeve from the barrel, the inner sleeve. I'm like, Oh, that's interesting. Like, that's how we'll assemble them. He's like, no, like you can change this out. Like if you want a different color, like we'll make a tool that would allow people to buy a fountain pen of a certain color, change out the interior color, you know, accent on their own, whenever they feel like it. And I was like, Holy crap. Like, really? And he's like, yeah. And it's like, and it just works. Right? Like, so we've built this pen that has, the spoke design barrel. It's got all the cut throughs. And then the sleeves that you're used to seeing on our pins, our standard pins are now swappable and easily swappable. So that's how this pen came to be. And not only that, it, we've anodized those sleeves. We've anodized the grip sections so they can match. We're going to be able to sell those individually. So people can buy extras to swap up their pins as they wish.

Myke: Change out the sleeve when you change the color of your ink, man.

Brad: Yeah. Like it's, that's the move. It's mind blowing to me for a fountain pen to do this. And I don't want to overstate that. Like it's, it's in the end, it's, it's a, it's a pen that you were, you write with, but I think it's pretty cool because you can, I've always talked about how fountain pens are the most customizable pen on the market. Right. And I've usually gone at that from like, well, you can find something that matches your style with materials and colors and then matches your writing style with the, with the nib. But this takes it a little bit further. Yeah.

Myke: After purchase customization is not really a thing that we, that happens. I can't recall this either. Like the idea of like a fountain pen that you buy that once you've bought it, you can then buy additional pieces and change it out in the future. That feels like a new concept to me.

Brad: Yeah. Maybe so. Like I actually joked about it in the product copy. You'll have to see it when you, when it goes, it goes live later today. But like, I made that joke. I was like, I don't know if this is a thing, but I'm, I'm glad it is. And it's, it's, it's really cool. Myke.

Myke: I'm so into it, Brad. You can't even believe I'm freaking out. I'm so excited about it because there's like, just looking at it. It's like, it, it, it, it breaks what I would think I would want. So like, I was like, you know me, I'm like, Oh, I'm going to want like the purple one or whatever. But then I saw some pictures of the all black one with like the colored grips and colored sleeves. That's the move. Right. Yeah. Like I am in love with this. I love it, man. I'm so excited because you'd frigging done it. You went ahead and made something that looks so cool. I'm so excited. I can't wait. This is it. You've done it. I'm so proud of you for making this. Obviously you and Brian, when I say you, I always mean the Royal, yes, like I'm, this is, it's so cool. I just love that. It isn't just like, I made this pen and it looks nice. It's also something different, which is what you do best. Right? Like coming up with this interesting stuff. Yeah. I just, it's fantastic. So cool. How are you selling this? How do people buy this? Like with the icon, especially like, how do you buy it? Like what's the sale process like? Cause it's so customizable. I don't like, what do people do when they go to buy the pen?

Brad: It's kind of crazy, Myke.

Spoke Design Customization Options

Brad: There's four barrel colors to start with and eight sleeve and grip colors. So there's a combination of 32 different options you're going to buy in the beginning. Um, we're doing this to ourself. You know, we, we laugh at danger and break all the rules. I, this is insane on how we're doing this, but I wouldn't want it any other way because I want people to feel about this pen the same way I feel about it to where I can take, I can get a barrel. And right now the barrel choices are black, silver, cyan, and purple. And then you can choose inside of that barrel. And on the front end grip section, you can choose it, choose black, silver, cyan, purple, you know, and then lime, orange, red, and blue. And that's any sleeve and grip with any of the four barrels. So you can have your black barrel with your lime green sleeve and grip.

Myke: So when you buy the grip section and the sleeve, you're buying a pack of each color, right?

Brad: No. Oh, you can choose. You're buying a singular prebuilt pen.

Myke: Oh, okay. Okay, cool. Okay.

Brad: Yeah. So there is some, you're going to be able to customize it and we'll, we'll get to that. But for your initial pen purchase, the most basic complicated thing we could do is prebuild every barrel color with every sleeve and grip option. So that's the 32 pens we're launching with, right? Right.

Myke: So you will go to the store and there will be 32 options, right? And there's black and black, black and silver, black and blue, black and purple, black and lime, right?

Brad: Exactly.

Myke: Okay.

Brad: So each barrel color will have the eight additional color choices for your accent colors, right? So you'll have a barrel color choice, which is one of four colors. And then you'll have an accent color choice, which is one of eight colors. Yeah. And you can do any of the barrels with any of the accent colors. What you can't do is say, I want a black barrel with a cyan sleeve and a lime grip, right? We're not allowing for that level of customization,

Brad: but what, but what we are doing is allowing you to buy extra grips and sleeves, right? So let's just make an example. So you want the black barrel with the lime sleeve and grip. Okay. So that's what you buy. That's your pen. Okay. Um, then on top of that, if you want also the purple grip and sleeve, you can buy that separately. So you have something to swap in and out. But you,

Myke: when you do that, you buy both pieces of one color together. Yes. Yeah. Yes.

Brad: We're not allowing the full mix and match yet. That's a little bit beyond.

Myke: Maybe one day, right? Well,

Brad: yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, that's not an out of the question at all down the line, but like today it's out of the question. It's too much. It's too much because there's already, we're already like infinity options as it is. So, um,

Myke: so I could go there and buy, I could buy what I'll probably want, which is a black pen with orange sleeve and grip. And then I could also pick up a line sleeve and grip as well. Yes. Right. Which is probably what I would do.

Brad: So, yeah, that's the move. So there's a tool that we've made that allows you to swap out the sleeves, right? The, the grip is the grip sections normal. Like people are used to swapping out grip sections and, and things like that. That's just screw on, screw off. You do have a, have, have to have a little mini tool to reach into the barrel and unscrew the sleeve and then screw back in the other colors. So we'll sell that. That only comes with, you buy an additional set of sleeve and grip, but only you only have to buy that your first sleeve and grip, right? So if you wanted to buy your black and orange, right? And then you wanted to add the lime set of grip and sleeve, you'd want to buy the grip sleeve and tool combination, which we'll have. But then if you wanted purple, you would just buy the grip sleeve combination because you already have the tool.

Myke: Okay. So you can pay a little bit extra and get the tool, which you would want for the first time. First one. You don't have to worry about it later on.

Brad: Cause it doesn't ship as a default with the pen because some people may not want that. Right. Yeah. So that's an additional. So this is a more traditional size shape looking fountain pen. It's a little wider diameter than the axles. You know, it's got a finial on the cap, which looks awesome. It's got a concave grip section, which is, you know, like a traditional fountain pen style grip section. It also has the number six Yobo nib. It fits the standard international converter. And, um, I think it's priced pretty awesomely. It's $119 for your initial pen purchase. And then the add-ons like the grip sleeve tool, like if you wanted to make your black and orange purchase, and then you were going to add the lime, you would add 2750 for the grip, the sleeve and the tool, and then $20 for any additional grip and sleeve combination part. So it's a lot to, to like take in and like, yeah,

Myke: it helps to see it, you know, like this is one of those things that makes so much more sense when you can just see it all on the page rather than hearing us try and explain it to you.

Brad: So, and this just allows us to continue to be what spoke is and make fun, awesome pens. You know, we can mix and match. We can make new barrel colors. We can make new grip and sleeve colors. We can just do so much, so many modularity options. It's kind of like mind blowing. Um, but not in an, I, I've, I've been, I've go back and forth from calm to overwhelmed. Um, I haven't hit that middle ground yet. The more, the more I play with the pens and set everything up, the calmer I get. Um, but I understand it's also intimidating for new buyers. So, you know, that's, um, something we're taking. That's why we're not allowing like the massive customization yet. Like we got to get this started first. Speaking of which, when we get started today, we are nib limited. Um, I know most people who are going to shop aren't going to hear this, but I just want you to know that we only have about a hundred nibs available. Um, just due to some factory delays. So what we're going to do is when we put them on sale today, they'll be on sale by the time you hear this is, you know, we'll sell until, you know, we're out of nibs and then we're going to continue to offer the pens. And they'll just be in a back order state. So we'll start to fill as soon as we get the nibs in. We hope that's, you know, in a few weeks, like the beginning of April, the nibs arrive and then we'll just go ahead and fill in any orders. But I just want to implore people. We have enough pens for everybody. We're just waiting on the nibs right now.

Myke: Cause it's like, you would assume the hard part would be the machining of the pens, right? So you put your effort into that. It's like, Oh, we also need the nibs.

Brad: Yep. In the, in the past we've been short like barrels for like the roadie and, you know, the spoke pen and things like that. And refills are fine for those here. We have plenty of pens for anything, any combo that anyone could want. We just don't have enough nibs. So you'll be able to make essentially a pre-order backorder purchase. Like you can go ahead and pay and get in line. And then when the nibs arrive, we'll ship them. But after this first batch of nibs is gone, it's going to be probably beginning of April. So don't think you have to do that backorder. Like it's fine if you want to, but once we get the nibs, we just, we have all the pens. So we're confident in the inventory of pens that we have. So we're just waiting on nibs. So don't get bummed out. If you don't get what you want today, or you have to wait a month or whatever, we're, we're in good shape. Um, once, once the nib backlog gets released a little bit, we'll be, we'll be singing. So, uh, should be good.

Myke: You did say that Joe and that to use him, right? Yep. Joe number six.

Brad: Good. Yep. And we have the spoke logo etched on there. So they look really, really sharp. Very happy with how they turned out. So, um, they're really good.

Myke: I'm so, I'm so excited.

Brad: I'm really excited to see how this goes. I'm mostly excited to hear the feedback. from people, you know, that's the most nerve wracking thing. Like we can manage, Brian and I can manifest, manage manufacturing, shipping, site building, pricing, all that stuff. But until you get like the feedback for something, no one's held in their hands, but yourself, that's the nerve wracking part.

Myke: Oh, it's terrifying. Yeah. So I was like, you know,

Brad: you like it. Yeah.

Brad: People, I think people will like these. This is my guess. I hope so.

Myke: Well, I look forward to the feedback coming in.

Brad: Yeah. Yeah. Me too.

Myke: Spokedesign.com. Exactly. They can find everything they need. All right. Should we round out today's episode with some Ask TPA? Yeah. All right. Let me take our final break first and thank our friends at Express VPN that are support of this show. I don't know if you know this, but look, by default, Netflix doesn't, it's like hiding from you. You don't get to see so many shows, thousands of shows and movies from you because of your location. And you might be aware that Netflix is putting on their prices again. I want you to get your money's worth with your Netflix subscription. And you, so just use Express VPN like I do, because you might not know that what's on Netflix in your country is very different to what could be for somebody in another country, maybe in the US. Well, in the UK and Japan, there's a different Netflix. Using Express VPN, you can control which country you want Netflix to think that you're in. I've done this by myself many times, and I've been away and wanted to get my UK Netflix. Or when I've been in the UK, I wanted to get Japanese Netflix because there's some programs that I want to watch. Express VPN has over 90 countries to choose from. So every time I run out of stuff that I want to watch, I can change my location, get more content. I just did this as well with the West Wing. I went to watch the West Wing. There was like a special that was on HBO Max, and I couldn't get it, but it was free to watch for anyone. You just needed to give me your email address. And so we said that we're in the US. I have Express VPN. I was using it on my phone, and I could watch it, airplayed it to the TV. So easy. But like this isn't, as I say, this isn't just for Netflix. You can use Express VPN to unlock shows on many other streaming services, like iPlayer, BBC iPlayer in the UK. Express VPN is also super fast. It works on your phone, laptop, smart TVs as well. So you can watch your shows on the big screen with zero buffering. It's perfect quality. It's fantastic. You can make the smart choice to stop paying full price for streaming services and only getting access to a fraction of their content. Get your money's worth of Express VPN by going to expressvpn.com. If you use that link, you will get three extra months free. That's expressvpn.com. One last time, expressvpn.com. To learn more and take advantage of that offer. Our thanks to Express VPN for their support of this show and Relay FM.

Brad: Hey, one or two little quick cleanup things on the spoke pins. Yes. So, the Axel, the Axel S, and the Icon, they'll all ship with short international ink cartridges, right? So they'll ship with two blue black ink cartridges. They're from Monteverde. So you don't have to question, like, where did these ink cartridges come from? I know most people won't use them. I know I have a whole stash of ink cartridges, but you just got to ship it with that because you never know if someone's going to have the capability to ink them up with. But I want you to know that they're Monteverde blue black that we ordered. Also, the full length Axel and the Icon, the ones that can fit the standard international converter, ship with the converter. Okay? So, I know sometimes that gets lost in the shuffle. We have that all detailed out on the page, but I did want to mention that. Like, if it fits the part, it's going to ship with the part. So, there you go.

Myke: Yeah, it's always, like, it can be frustrating when you get a pen that can have a converter, but they ship it with a cartridge, and then you're like, oh, I didn't get a converter for this pen. I hate that feeling.

Brad: I've never understood that whatsoever. Why would you do that to someone? So, yeah. So annoying. So, the two full-size pens ship with converters.

Myke: It's especially annoying when it's a company that has proprietary systems. Exactly. Right? Because then it's like, well, if I don't already have this platinum converter, in another pen, well, now, it's like, well, now what am I going to do? I've now got to go and buy another thing. I hate that.

Brad: It's so frustrating. I will never understand that decision, but here we are.

Myke: All right. A couple of asked TPA questions. Jordan, Scott, this is a longer one.

Myke: the listener, this is actually some follow-up. Yeah, this is a follow-up. You can just read through this one. Yeah, sorry. This is a follow-up one. So, the listener who wanted input on a good pencil for writing on walls, this has helped for them. I work in construction as a painter and wallpaper, hanger. I use a carpenter pencil a lot of the time because it's a big, chunky one. It's easier to grip, and the lead does not break, especially when wearing work gloves. That's a good point, actually. Yeah. You know, you want to use a thicker pencil because you don't have the dexterity when you're working with gloves on or whatever. Exactly right. But for fine line work, I found most mechanical pencils are too fine and brittle. The right in the rain, 1.1 millimeter mechanical pencil is my go-to for precision wall writing. It's small enough of a line to not be obnoxious, and the lead is thick enough to not break on every little bump in the wall. What an interesting use for that product.

Brad: I am so happy about this email. You know, that's why I put it in here. One, we got an answer, but two, that answer came from someone with explicit experience on this, who also happens to listen to this show and who also happened to take the time to sit there and write the feedback for this crazy specific question.

Brad: This is it. Like, I love everything about this. Thank you, Jordan. You made my, you made my week for, for doing this. Like, this is what I love the most about like this show and this community and figuring these things out. Like, I don't have a great answer for this. Like, I got some ideas, but, oh, by the way, hey, I'm a guy who like literally does this for a living and thinks about the products that I use for this. And here's the one. So,

Myke: so the right in the rain pencil is actually like a pseudo mechanical pencil. Like, it looks like a mechanical pencil. And that whole thing on it is the lead won't break. So. Nice. It looks cool. You get in a bunch of different colors too. And they have like, I have like a camo one, of course, right? Of course. It's nice.

Brad: That's the market. Yeah, absolutely.

Myke: I'd probably go for that one too. Oh, it's a camo three pack. You get three of them. Nice. It one's like brown. One's like a tan color and one's green. All right. Retro princess asks, I always hear how the good fountain pen, fountain pen paper has a coating on it. What is this coating?

Brad: I have no idea. And like, I think we also generalize coding as the way papers processed, like from a finishing perspective, right? Paper can be processed in a different way that makes it feel smoother. Yes. And then we, in turn, use that terminology to differentiate one paper from another as rhodia coded, Leuchtturm not coded. When the reality is there probably just, it's probably like a technical finishing process, you know, cold,

Myke: they're not pouring wax on this stuff or whatever. They may, maybe you're just using like a heavier roll. So it smooths the paper out more, but that actually makes it feel like there's something on top of the paper because you don't feel any texture or impurity in the paper.

Brad: So I won't say that with a hundred percent certainty, but that's, I think it's just the way we've used the terminology to describe a processing finish and the differentiation between those.

Myke: The Inky side asks, we all know the very best gel pen is the Uniball Signo DX. Yeah, it is. The really difficult question to ask. So the really difficult question to answer is which is better, conical tip or needle tip?

Brad: It's conical and it's not close. Like, I don't, I don't think it's difficult.

Myke: I wasn't expecting an answer from you.

Brad: I love the needle tip. Yeah. For some reason, the conical design makes for a cleaner line in this particular pen. Now there's plenty of needle tip pens that I like. I just don't know that the DX needle is better than the DX conical. I think the conical is cleaner to me. The needle's not bad, but when you're down in these 0.38 sizes, you need that pen to have an edge. You don't want any, like a lot of roundness in the line. And for some reason, I get more of that with the needle than the conical.

Brad: You know, I have, it's, as soon as the needles came out, I bought a bunch of them. I was like, oh yeah, this is going to be it. It's great. The conical is better in my opinion.

Brad: Yeah. I just don't think it's close. That's just for my like anecdotal usage of the two. There's nothing wrong with the needle whatsoever. Like it's awesome. I think the conical is better and I don't think it's close.

Myke: I want to give some real time follow up from the, the discord just in a way to make this more confusing. This has come from Kat. The, the process of, uh, what we would consider coating is actually called sizing.

Brad: Yeah. They're really going to go with that word, huh?

Myke: I know this is from Wikipedia. Sizing or size is a substance that is applied to or incorporated into other materials, especially paper and textiles to act as a protective filler or glaze. Sizing is used in paper making to change the absorption and wear of characteristics of those materials. Sizing is used for oil-based surface preparation for gilding as well. So if a, if a coating, if an actual thing is applied to the paper, it is obviously called sizing because that makes sense. Yeah. It's like we're back to staples again.

Brad: It stitches Myke. Okay. I love that. We've learned this.

Brad: I'm really going to have a problem with that name. That name. So, but it's basically, I'm not even going to try to pretend why they, they called it that. It's called sizing, but the process makes sense, right? They're filling in between the fibers essentially. And then there's a ratio of that on, however, the paper wants to be manufactured. Um, what they want to finish to be like, how much sizing they use? Question mark. I don't know if I use that term correctly, but I love that there, that is a thing. So that actually,

Myke: this is one of those things that the more we try and explain, the harder it's going to get to understand. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Brad: So I'm, I'm, I'm demonstrably terrible at that type of thing. Like I'll just like ramble on. So I should just stop.

Myke: We will enter this entire episode into the record on that statement. The two of us try to explain something. Oh my God. Pollux Ben asks, I have a question about ink flow. I've been writing letters more and more recently. And after a few pages of writing, I start getting hard starts and skips in my pen. It's just the thought of the pen, the ink or the paper to try and help. I'm using a TWSBI eco of a fine nib Pelican 4001 brilliant black and the well-appointed desk, vintage typewriter pad.

Brad: You know the answer, right?

Myke: Could be any of them.

Brad: No, it's the sizing. There's clearly not enough or too much sizing.

Brad: I mean, this is crystal clear, Myke. I don't know how you just didn't come to that conclusion immediately.

Myke: I guess it's the sizing of the nib and the sizing of the paper combined and making a problem. Cause if you had a broad nib, the size of your nib was broad than the sizing of your paper. It wouldn't be so much of an issue, I guess.

Brad: So here's the deal in this specific case. I've used this, the typewriter pad a lot. It is one of the most unique feel feeling papers that I've used a nib on. And I've had skipping on that paper because it's, it's almost like a squeaky texture to it. Right? So as great as that paper is, and I love writing with it, the finer nibs that I like, I've noticed them skipping on that paper because there's a, like a real heavy texture to it. Like it's not rough, but I think it's just, this paper is maybe playing funky with your pen.

Brad: Right? Like with the nib, with that metal on the page, it feels different and makes a different sound than any other page I've used. So I would find it better for like broad and stub nibs than like my fine nibs. Right. And then like a tweaky, a tweaky, twisby eco.

Brad: Wow. That was a good one. Tweaky isbo. Tweaky. We'll call it now. Tweaky isbo. Tweaky isbo. F nib. I just did a review of, with the Kaweco F nib and had these skips and stuff. We have totally lost it this week. This is why we do this, Myke. This is fun. But yeah.

Myke: And then on,

Brad: on top of that, Pelican inks are historically dry. So I think you have a combination of a lot of things working against you here.

Myke: We're both a bit loopy today.

Brad: So I would start with not using that pad as much as I love them. It's, you just got to be highly specific about what you use on there because of the texture of that pad.

Myke: You know, I just went to the website to, to get the link of that review. And I was reminded of a very fun moment. I had a couple of days ago when I opened my RSS reader and my brain screamed to me, Lennon toolbar. Because Susan did a review of the Lennon toolbar inks. And I hadn't thought of that in a while. And there was just something so fun to me for my brain to just immediately go back to that moment again.

Lennon Toolbar Pronunciation

Brad: Lennon toolbar. I never don't say it that way. And I see it a lot more than you do. And I consistently say it that way. It's just fun. This is what we do. We have fun with stationary. I get to make fun products. You get to make fun products. We get to talk about fun stuff. We get to learn things like sizing about things that we didn't know before. And I get to ramble on. And at some point I should stop so I could go sell some pens.

Myke: So it's the Coveco Sport, Gold Sport, Gold Spot Classic. That was the one. Yeah.

Brad: So I did that review on the vintage writing pad, which makes the ink look so good, but I noticed some skipping.

Myke: But it was tricky. Okay. Yep. Yep. All right. That's going to wrap it up for today's episode. I'm going to be very clear of our calls to action today for two places you need to go. I'm not going to give you the whole usual spiel that I give you, but you can find us here. You can find us there. It's two places to go. Spokedesign.com, cortexmerch.com. They're the two places that you want to go to buy our wonderful products that we work really, really hard on. And we promise are so good.

Myke: Please. We would be very appreciative of that. I would like to thank Pen Chalet, Harry's, and ExpressVPN for their support of this episode.

Myke: And I'm not going to do the rest. My brain keeps trying to put me there, but I'm not going to do it. We're done. Spokedesign.com, cortexmerch.com. Thank you so much for your support as always. And we'll be back next week. Until then, say goodbye, Brad.

Brad: Goodbye, Brad. Goodbye, Brad. Goodbye, Brad.