The Pen Addict 726/transcript

The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript
Episode:	726
Title:	Blue Refill Hotdog
Release Date:	July 23rd, 2026
Hosts:	Brad Dowdy Myke Hurley
Guests:	No guests this episode
Additional Information
Official page:	Episode 726
Audio File:	Audio Episode 726
Podcast page:	The Pen Addict 726
Length:	6161 min <br />1.017 h <br /> minutes
Previous Transcript	Next Transcript

Myke Hurley: From Relay, this is The Pen Addict 726. Today's show is brought to you by ColliderCraft and Enigma Stationery. My name is Myke Hurley and I have the pleasure of being joined by Brad Dowdy. Hi Brad.

Brad Dowdy: Wow, good morning Myke Hurley. Good afternoon. Happy time zone everyone.

Myke Hurley: Hello everybody. Yeah, we're recording a little bit early because we're double stacking today. I'm The Pen Addict. So next week's episode we're also recording right after this one, which is going to be our Stationery Fest preview. So I'll give you a reminder now that Brad and I will be at the New York Stationery Fest, which is happening on July 31st until August 2nd. I've done that wrong, haven't I? It's July 30th until August 1st. First time zones, you know, we're just saying a lot. So we're going to be there. We hope to see you. We've got a bunch of stuff going on that we're going to talk about on next week's episode, which will be a bit of a preview of Stationery Fest. But if you're going to be in the area or you're going to be in the show, please come and say hi if you see us.

Brad Dowdy: Maybe we'll release that show early, like a day early. I think we will, yes. Something like that. Yeah, I think we will. Since our normal Thursday release days are when the show starts. Maybe we'll put it out there a day early. We'll put it out early. Yeah, we will. Yeah. Yeah, but we have this week's episode to get to, Myke. That's why we're here today. And I wanted to start out with some follow-up from our excellent conversation last week from the Top 10 Pens conversation. I love that this is still, like when we get these kind of little prompts in the Stationery community, they tend to like run on for like a month or two. And everyone kind of, you know, chimes in whenever they get. So we get a lot of much more content on this. And we got a lot of good feedback on our lists. And I went right into thinking about my list right after the show was over. I was pretty happy with the list. But I did kind of sit and go through things, like with a more fine-tooth comb afterwards. And I think I have one switch, one change. And I'm hesitating because it's like a change I definitely want to make. But it's like, can I have 11? And it's like, no, the list is 10. And it's like, I'm really good with 11, but I need to have 10. So out is the vanishing point, the Bungu Box Energia, the orange vanishing point. In its place is a pen that should have been in there from the jump, is my Stilo Art Kenpaku. So this is an Arushi fountain pen made by Stilo Art. It's an Arushi barrel. It originally fit a Pilot nib.

Pen Finial

Brad Dowdy: And it's just got this gold leaf and this shimmer in the finial. And it's great. And then this is the pen I chose to have Annabelle's Harmonic nib from Opus Scenaris in. And this is an absolute must-have in the top 10. I don't know how I overlooked it in the beginning. Maybe because it's just like a one-off type of, you know, it's not like Pilot where I've got like 20 of them.

Myke Hurley: Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: So, yeah, this is 100% in the list. The hardest part was figuring out which pen to remove. I took out the Energia vanishing point. The only other option really would be the 845 Vermillion. But I kept the Vermillion for now. It's such a good writing pen. So I still have these pens kind of separated out. And just thinking about this like even more since we did this episode. I don't know. I want to dig into this more. And did you have any? You're solid on your list, right?

Myke Hurley: Yeah. I took a look through and was like, what would I change? And the answer was like nothing. Like I look through like my – I have an Apple Note where I keep my pens and inks. And that's where I have all my best stuff, right? Like I have a bunch of pens that are not in that list. But they're obviously not going to be considered for the 10 spot, right? Right. And the only change that I could imagine making is just a different Pro Gear in the spot of the Orange Pro Gear. Just because I have so many beautiful ones. Sure. But then it really I'm just making a difference for like which style do I like the most. So I like putting the orange one in there because it has the personal story of being my first one. But, you know, like I could swap in like the Royal Purple one that I have or I could swap in Pink Love or, you know, any of those get on the given day might be the ones that I would prefer to have. But at that point, I'm just changing like for like really.

Brad Dowdy: Exactly. Exactly. So this prompt made me think about doing some other lists related to this. Let's talk about the feedback we got on this. And then I want to hit like a few lists I might try to make that are somewhat related to this. So hit me with some feedback.

Myke Hurley: So Andrew wrote in and said, I tried the challenge and found it heartbreaking to go to below 15. It was an interesting and revelatory experience. I realized that over 20 years in the hobby, I've migrated from a focus solely on writing quality to something that also involves functional art. At least now I know which pen box I'd grab in case of evacuation.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, I think that the change part is one of the more interesting things. And that is actually something I want to explore with some other lists, like how of your taste change. You know, like Andrew saying, focus from writing quality. Like that's what kind of hooks you in the beginning. It hooked me is like, oh, I can write small with a fountain pen and I can make cool colors and have cool pens. Yeah, cool. And then now moving into functional art, I mean, the Stilo art opus and eras combination I have going here is exactly like that. And then like, you know, my pilot 912 has artwork on it and my Namiki has artwork. Like, and it doesn't have to have artwork on it to be an art piece, right? The design, the most basic Nakaya Piccolo, I think is like beautiful functional art. And it's just very simple.

Myke Hurley: There is like a diminishing returns at a certain point from function, right? Like when you get up to a certain level, as long as you're continuing to buy the products that are considered to be high quality, like because you can go into very high expense, but quality is not the mark. Yes. And like Montblancs are fantastic, but they're not priced based on their writing experience sometimes.

Brad Dowdy: Right? Correct. And that's a question that like newcomers to the hobby always have.

Myke Hurley: Well, Cross might be actually a better example of what I'm trying to drive at because Montblancs are. But like Cross is way more overpriced than it is product quality from a writing experience. Yeah. Brands like that, the traditional graduation brands, which are technically not usually that good.

Myke Hurley: But once, if you're remaining within the kind of considered high quality, you're not buying for nib quality at that point. You're buying because this design is special in some way, you know?

Brad Dowdy: Exactly. Exactly. And that, yeah, like I was saying, that's like always something to, it's a good explainer when people are getting into the hobby and trying to, the difference between a $20 pen, a $200 pen, and a $2,000 pen. Right? Like there's, you know, you're not gaining anything. You're not gaining much from $200 to $2,000. Right? Yeah. Technically, in the technical writing aspects. Right? You're gaining some, and there's obviously exceptions to that rule, but, you know, generally speaking. So, all right, what else we got?

Nakaya Pens

Myke Hurley: Tomas wrote in and says, it occurs to me that Myke has two Platinums on his top 10 list, but does not yet have a Nakaya. Is it time? If he loves Platinums, I think Myke should at least have one.

Brad Dowdy: I don't know, man. I don't know that that, I don't know that you would enjoy it, to be quite honest. It is one of the most unique feeling pens. It is feather light. Right? No matter the size and shape you get for a Nakaya. It actually kind of caught me off guard when I was buying my first one, and I had to decide whether I actually like that. And it turns out, like, if you've known the things I like in a pen, small, lightweight, controllable, it actually fits those things. But it is a very different feel in the hand, and it's honestly not for everybody for that. And that goes back to, like, the cost thing. You know, sometimes when you're getting into this hobby, you'll, like, pick up a Nakaya, and you'll go, it doesn't feel expensive. Right? Because it feels like air. And it's like, well, like, you know, this is different. Right? It's, you know, it took six months to, like, actually apply the lacquer to this. Like, you're paying for that, and you're paying for the nib, and you're paying for, like, the craftsmanship. And it just, it's a good one to make you think about people's expectations when they're buying a product. And just how it feels. So, isn't Nakaya for Myke? I'm not sure that it is, to be quite honest.

Myke Hurley: Well, I mean, every time I've used one, I've always been blown away by it. Like, I do find it to be an incredible experience. My problem, or, like, my hesitancy, is they seem like quite specific pens. Like, from model to model. Like, as you say, like, how it feels in the hand is very important. And because of that and the higher price, I'm kind of unwilling to buy one without touching it. And that's where we get into some complication.

Brad Dowdy: Especially these. It's getting more and more difficult to have that opportunity as we go on. And you said the right word. I was thinking this word before you said it. It's an experiential pen, right? Like, and that experience isn't for everyone, right? It just does not work for some people. So, last one I'll grab. My friend Jason sent me his list, if I can only keep 10 pens. And this is a really good one. And one of the things I noticed about Jason's, and we'll have a link in the show note. He did a whole blog post on this. Number one, y'all might know Jason from being behind the Canalea table at many, many, many pen shows.

Brad Dowdy: Canalea, Kilauea number one, Myke. That's one of the OG Canaleas.

Myke Hurley: I mean, you'd expect it though, right?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, 100%. And I think there's one other one on here. What I took from Jason's list is he has a lot of the writing experience stuff on here. Because a lot of the nibs are modified. Which I didn't, let's see, let me look at my, I have all my pens right here. Out of this one, I have the Opus Cenaris, which is a very specialty nib. And then I have a stack nib and a mini pen.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, I have two modified nibs.

Brad Dowdy: And then everything else is stock, right? Where Jason's is at least half, if not more. You know, this one has an architect. This one has a Fude. You know, this one has a SIG.

Brad Dowdy: I probably should think about when I was building my list, I didn't really go that route, right? I'm getting that customized feeling from say, like, I love the Pilot PO nib. That's on the list, right? It also happens to be in a really special pen barrel. So, I didn't do much, I didn't give much consideration to just the nib. So, I thought this was a good perspective to have. Like, he has a lot of specialty nibs in here. So, you said you had, like, two modified nibs. Like, why not one of them stacked? Yeah. So, but yeah, y'all keep the feedback coming. There's been a lot of other blog posts I've shared, whether it's in Refill, my Penatic members newsletter, or Misfill, the extra links I post on Sundays. Keep those links coming. Send them to me, hello at penatic.com. I love seeing them. And yeah, this is great. So, when I was auditing my list, I was like, well, one of my, it's not an issue, right? It's just that my taste turned out to be one, two, three, four. Well, it was five pilots before the vanishing point vanished from the list. Now it's four pilots. What would my list look like if I was limited to one per brand? So, I think that's the challenge I want to tackle next. Right. And see, I don't know, just to see how it plays out. Because some brands I have a lot of that, you know, I'm, you know, love the Japanese brands. Sailor, Pilot, Platinum. I love all these Maker Pins that I have. I love my Safaris. Um, so, but if I could only have one Pilot and one Sailor and one Platinum, one Nakaya, what would kind of fill in, what would backfill this list? You know, would it be something that I still have a bunch of, you know, different makes, different models? Would I go into something where I only have one of, but it's kind of special? Like, I have a Visconti Homo Sapiens Blizzard. Like, that's kind of the, I own more than one Visconti, but that's the only, like, fancy, you know, like, gold nib Visconti that I have. Does that one make the list? Um, you know, I came up with, also related to this, I started, I just ran a list looking at all my pens of what would I consider. And I came up with actually 12 more.

Brad Dowdy: But, how many of these would be unique? I mean, I think the Elbowed Pocket Master would be on here. It's a really cool pen. I have a Kaweco, um, with artwork on it. Um, Rose Art. Um, like, that would be the list. Um, one of my Canaleas would be on the list. So, I don't know. It's, it's a challenge. I kind of want to do the one, one per brand challenge. I want to tackle the Standard Pens one. Okay. Which I think would be really wild. Yeah. That would be wild. Because that's going to be a super personal, you're going to have so many pens on there that are just, like, one-offs. That just don't exist anymore. But I think that's how that list has to be, right? Like, an orange Cerakote Mark I. Like, I can put that on the list. That's not a pen anyone's going to have. Like, not, we're not putting a link in there for you to go buy that, necessarily. You know, I mean, they might still have it, or they might still do it. But you get my point. It's, this is going to be some. I'm not trying to do, like, um. You know, a Uniball Jetstream list. It would be more specially type pens. And then the last one I was asked to do.

Non-Writing Stationery

Brad Dowdy: It will take a lot of thought. But it would be 10 non-writing instrument stationary items.

Myke Hurley: Hmm.

Brad Dowdy: And I don't even know how to define that. Does ink count? Does paper count?

Myke Hurley: I mean, I would say, yeah. Right?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Yeah. Like, what are those items? That's a pretty big challenge. That's a very, very broad one that I would like to tackle. That seems difficult. Yeah. In a good way. Like, I could rip off 10 things right now. But I don't know that it would be accurate. But it seems pretty cool. Also, on this list that I was writing, I've included blue refill hot dog, Myke. So, that's just on the same piece of paper that I wrote all these down. So, just so you know, that's where my mind's at right now. In any way related to anything? No. Completely unrelated.

Myke Hurley: Blue refill hot dog.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Oh, I know what it means. What does it mean? So, the hot dog pen, the Uniball Knot.

Myke Hurley: Yep.

Brad Dowdy: Orange pen. Yep. It uses Jetstream multi-pen refills. Yep. So, it ships with the black. And I'm going to take it to stationary effects next week. And I want a blue refill in it because blue ballpoints are my favorite. So, I need... I feel like you should get red. No. I hate red ballpoints. Yeah, but it's a hot dog. I agree.

Myke Hurley: Hot dog's not going to have blue inside.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, this one is though.

Myke Hurley: This one is.

Brad Dowdy: If I'm going to use it, it's going to have blue.

Brad Dowdy: So, I need to go steal one, right? I don't have extra multi-pen refills, but I have plenty of Jetstream multi-pens. So, I wrote this note to go steal one out of the closet of Doom. But that's literally smack on the list of, hey, let's make all these great lists. Blue refill hot dog.

Myke Hurley: It's a list of things you need to do.

Brad Dowdy: That one doesn't need to be on this list. Top 10 modifications. Top 10 modifications. Number one, blue refill hot dog. So, yeah. That is on this list. So, whatever. Whatever I'm doing here. It's... None of us know, Myke. Not even myself.

Collider Craft Sponsor

Myke Hurley: Brad, I'm excited about a new sponsor for the show. Let me tell you. Let me tell you. It's Collider Craft. A small maker creating playful and functional accessories for stationary enthusiasts. They design tons of their products in-house. And they collaborate with other 3D artists to curate and adapt designs specifically with pen and stationary lovers in mind. Including pieces that feature their own original illustrations that are printed directly onto a finished print. And they're excited to introduce their newest creation. The Build Your Own Washi Wallet. The Washi Wallet is a customizable pocket-sized storage system for washi tape samples. You can mix and match inserts to fit your own collection. Swap them whenever you want. Each washi wallet includes a cutter so you can cut the washi with a straight or serrated edge. And keep your favorite tapes organized whether you're at your desk, journaling at a coffee shop, or heading to your next pen show. So, check out the washi wallet. And while you're there, you're also going to find fountain pen holders, ink vial holders, pen rests, desks, accessories, charms, and other stationary-inspired accessories. Brad, I'm sure you have some stuff to say about ColliderCraft. Before that, I just want to do this real quick. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Let's go. This is, I think this was last year for the St. Jude fundraiser, ColliderCraft. Right. They gave away like these packs of 3D printed fidget toys that were themed around each of the podcast-a-thon hosts. And they also sent some to us. You got some too. And that is my, I would say, I was going to say my Pikachu Pokeball. And it's got like a keyboard switch inside to make it like a clicker. And when I'm not recording, that bad boy is just popping off, man. Yeah. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: I think anytime I've seen ColliderCraft at a couple shows, I always end up with a new clicker. There's like, I bought one in St. Louis. I bought like a little heart rainbow just to put on my bag for the stationary show, right? Just so I could clip it to my zipper and just have that little like clicky thing there. What I did at St. Louis is I also built a washi wallet, which I love this product because it allows me to have all my washi tape in a more contained, controlled area without having to carry around like 10 huge rolls of washi tape. I can have, let's see, I got this card has one, two, three, four, five. So I have five strips on this one card, one, two, three, four on this one because I have some wider washi tape. And I love the, I love that you can build it, right? So you can customize it to yourself, right? That's one of the cool things about ColliderCraft is you can kind of build your own. Like in the case of this washi wallet, I got to pick out the cover cards, right? So like the front and back cards, they're kind of similar. Um, then I got to pick out like the, uh, like the, they call it the screw unit. So I got like a rainbow one, but you could get like a black one or a purple one or all kinds of cool colors. And then I got the different card colors. So I had a purple one and a teal one. Then I got a pink checkerboard one. It's like sick. And it's like, I love keeping this on my desk. So I don't have to reach from like, I have like a bin of washi tape, right? And digging through these. I took my favorites out, put them on these cards and now I can carry them. One of the cool things is for travel and travel journaling. I might not take this entire washi wallet, but all I have to do is unscrew this and I can take one of the cards with five and just slide that in there. You'll never notice it. Right. So I can take, I could, or I could build a trip specific card, right? Like I have one card I haven't put washi on yet. Um, so I could do something for New York. If I wanted a more themed one, like I'm going to be journaling some in New York and having my notebook and have like a little sticker printer and doing some things like that. Um, I'm going to have one, at least one card of washi tape and you know, I can decide, do I want to theme this and have something very specific? Like I can just pop out of this washi wallet when I come home, I can just pop it back in and have the rest of them sitting here on my desk. So it's fantastic. And they made a special one, Myke.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. So there is for, uh, for pen addict listeners, there is a pen addict specific, uh, washi wallet insert. I really want to recommend that people go, uh, click the link in the show notes and watch the video that collider craft makes that show you, shows you how this works. This is a, I think it's a very visual product. It's very clever, very, very beautiful too. But I think you have to go and look at it yourself to see exactly how it works and how much of a benefit it will be for you. Uh, but we have a special offer for listeners of this show. If you go to collidercraft, collidercraft, collidercraft, collidercraft, prince.com slash pen addict, the link is in the show notes, which is the way that I recommend that you go there. That is collidercraft, prince.com slash pen addict. You can see an exclusive pen addict washi insert, build your own washi wallet and explore everything else that they're making. And if you use the code pen addict, you will get that pen addict washi insert for free and 15% off your order. You're essentially stealing from them. So I recommend that you go to collidercraft, prince.com slash pen addict and use the code pen addict. You will get the free exclusive washi wallet insert and also 15% off. A thanks to collidercraft, prince for their support of this show.

Brad Dowdy: I'm going to, I'm going to hold this for now, but you should know when you go to this page, there is a link on there for curated products for pen addicts. Um, I'm dying. It is so good. I love that stuff. Y'all got to go see everything on here, uh, on this link. And they have like all the, you know, like the, the clicker and the fidget toys and stuff that we were talking about as well. So awesome. Love it. All right. We got a shout out of the week. Myke, a non-stationary one, but I had to share this. I'm sharing this with everyone. I'm sure a lot of people have seen this. It's from break room chronicles. And if you're a certain age or from a certain like genre of music, I clicked on this link, Myke, and I knew exactly what it was. Me too. And I didn't have to rewatch the video, but it's basically these lunch ladies go through and do video. This is a thing. Like their channel is all of this, but this one, they did fire starter by the prodigy. Yeah. And just the freeze frame on the video before you even click, you're like, oh my God, this is amazing. This is one of the coolest things I've seen in a long time. And I just think everyone should go watch it.

Myke Hurley: I was very confused when I first opened this link though, bro. I'm not going to lie. I've not seen this Instagram account before. I understand it now, but I've not seen it before.

Brad Dowdy: Yes. It's amazing how good this is.

Brad Dowdy: And just, it's like, they do about a minute of it and you have to watch the whole, you're required to watch the whole thing because it's ridiculous. It's insanely well done. Like I was looking, like this one got like a million views and like their other ones have like, they're like popular. Like everything's like 40,000 views, 30,000 views. This one's had a million. So like a lot of people have seen this, but I couldn't pass this up.

Myke Hurley: It's a million likes.

Brad Dowdy: A million likes. Oh my God.

Myke Hurley: So that's probably like 10 million. Nine million views. No, wait.

Brad Dowdy: Uh, 14 million views. Oh my God. Yeah. And that's just on Instagram. I'm sure the first time I saw it was a link from TikTok. So I'm sure it's, so this is just one of those that like, um, kind of like broke my brain in a good way. And I thought I would share it. It's really fun. Very fun. And funny. So, all right. What you got for me?

Myke Hurley: I have some, this is a very quick item that I, I wanted to mention one thing and ask one thing. The thing I want to mention is I'm, I am really enjoying the Uniball 1P.

Brad Dowdy: Literally my show note pen today.

Myke Hurley: I am loving this pen and I can't exactly explain why, but I, I just keep grabbing it and I'm using it a lot. I had a question for you. I found a Uniball 1P on the journal shop and it's just the style of it is very fun. It's like clear and kind of like confetti. Right. This one says Zento. Now I'm sure we've spoken about this before. I'm convinced we've spoken about this before, but I struggled to keep the Uniball refills all right in my head. But why is this one a Zento one?

Brad Dowdy: I hate this with every ounce of my soul. Okay. I have, I have riffed on this on the podcast.

Myke Hurley: I'm sure you have, Brad.

Brad Dowdy: I'm absolutely sure you have. So the pen that you have and the pen that I'm currently using today, I didn't know this was going to be in the show notes. I'm using a 1P. Yep. With the Uniball 1 refill in it. So about a couple of months ago, they released a series. This 1P is killing it, right? Like you don't know why you like it, but you do. And same with me. Like I didn't, I didn't buy the 1P. So just for the record, the 1P is the short stubby, short stubby Uniball 1. It's funny looking. It's weird. But somehow it works. Like it's kind of perfect.

Myke Hurley: Isn't it also madness that they don't put P on the pen?

Myke Hurley: Like the pen, it just says Uniball 1. But there is already a product called the Uniball 1 and this isn't that? Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I can't, I have a full length one that I always forget the name on. It's a letter. It's like the R or the F or something like that. And I can't ever remember. The 1P I can remember because it's short. I don't know why that, why I can remember that. But anyway, back to the product you linked. So about two months ago, they did a release of the Uniball 1P barrel. This very popular barrel that you and I are using. They did some cool, they always do cool colors in this, like some swirls. This one they did like a translucent with confetti, like sparkles. And then they put a Zento refill in it.

Myke Hurley: Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: So the problem I have and the rant that I went on is that Zento and 1 are ink formulations, not pen barrels, pen barrel designs or pen barrel shapes.

Myke Hurley: I remember you saying that. I am now transported back to when we had this conversation.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So you can't call this the Uniball 1 with a Zento refill because the 1 is a refill, an ink formulation. Yeah. So this, and what they have on this label, so this label of this box says Uniball 1P at the bottom. Right under it says Uniball Zento. On the top left, it says Uniball Zento. But they're calling it the 1P. And these are ink formulations. This is like a legitimate issue. Like I would have lost my mind if I got overruled and said we're doing this because it defies all logic.

Myke Hurley: Because the Uniball 1 is the ink and then the P is the barrel that it's contained within. Correct.

Brad Dowdy: And the 1 ink is the saturated gel ink, right? The high color gel. And the Zento is the rollerball-ish gel ink. So they're two very different inks.

Uniball Naming

Myke Hurley: So really, this should be called the Uniball Zento P, shouldn't it?

Brad Dowdy: Yes, that's correct. Yeah. Because this barrel design came out with the 1, but just make this the P barrel and have it the Uniball Zento P. Yeah. I would not even blink at that.

Myke Hurley: Why did, did they do this because the Zento is so meme-y or like, so like hype right now? 100%. Right, 100%. So now they want to put Zento into everything because they would immediately hype up the product. Yes.

Myke Hurley: All right. So, yeah. I have a huge problem with this. I bought this pen because I like the barrel. It's great. I'll be honest though, Brad. Like I also have a Zento. I can't really tell the difference between those two inks when I use them. The Zento, how do I say it?

Brad Dowdy: It's a very good ink, but it's not like as good as some of Uniball's gel inks. Right. It's, this is a whole, I think Uniball is going to be at Stationery Fest next week and hopefully.

Myke Hurley: You'll put someone in a headlock?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Hopefully the, hopefully the boss is there that I know and I'm going to say, look, what is this, is the Zento formulation? Because I believe it's a rollerball ink and it might have some gel properties, right? It's a mixture. It's a mixture. But they, they don't ever say, like the Uniball one, they always call it a gel. Like it's very clear, but I've seen the Zento called multiple things and it's very strange. So I have a whole thing with this, but don't call it the Uniball one P with the Zento refill. Yeah. That's just wrong in so many ways.

Myke Hurley: But yeah, I, I mean, I'll just, I don't, I don't really feel much of a difference. But I am definitely not a gel ink savant like you. Yeah. Yeah. Why did you do this to me today?

Brad Dowdy: You didn't, you didn't know that I, that now you remember me. Now I remember.

Lamy Safari

Myke Hurley: I still think I would have asked anyway, like even remembering, but I remember specifically having this conversation because I remember being confused because it hit me again with you saying the Uniball one is a refill and it's like, but it's also a pen. Like that was what my, my first thought was. And then it was like, oh, well actually no, this comes back to what I mentioned of the Uniball one. They're all called Uniball one, but then they have every model has a clarification, which I don't agree with anyway. Neither do I really think that you should, you should brand an entire pen line around the refill. Like, I'm just not sure that that is like what, what you think it is going to do for you. Hence the whole problem you're in now. Yeah. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: I, um, yeah, I, I have a huge issue with this.

Myke Hurley: Cause like now you have a popular pen shape and you have a popular refill. Well, if you didn't name the pen after the refill, you wouldn't have this problem, right?

Brad Dowdy: Yes. Welcome to my life. So to, to, to put a bow on this and make it even worse for you, my Uniball Zento signature, you know, the little magnetic one, you know, the, the popular, you know, unobtainium one that's available now. I use a Uniball one gel refill on that. So you're, you're part of the problem. Let's move on.

Brad Dowdy: Um, I got the new Lamy Safaris that we talked about last week. I really, really, really wanted to get these in hand. So this is the meteorite and the Meteoro. We talked about them last week, so I'm not going to like belabor that too much, but it's basically the first time they've done like a tactile, uh, pattern on the pen barrel.

Myke Hurley: So this was a question that we had when we, was it last week that we spoke about this before? Okay. Last week. We were, I mentioned that and you were like, I'm not sure that it even is like engraved.

Brad Dowdy: So I got them in hand. I got the, so the black one is called meteorite and the purple one's called Meteora. I still haven't seen the marketing on like the, the name story, right? Like I don't like, you know, like what's, what's the story behind the naming? I haven't found that yet. Um, it's lightly touched.

Myke Hurley: Okay.

Brad Dowdy: It's, I still, I'm going to call this a giyosh pattern because it's way more like that than any type of knurling because it's kind of flat and smooth. Right. So you can feel it, right? These are glossy safaris. So you have a shiny, smooth area next to the pattern and you can feel the pattern. It's tactile, but it's not sandpapery.

Myke Hurley: Um, if you run to the Lamy USA Instagram and they have a couple of posts up about this and the tagline is the one to shape your path. That's yeah.

Brad Dowdy: I don't know what that means. Yeah. Miss me with that. Yeah. I, I, sure. Like if you're going to call it like these names at least require some type of story definition, I believe. Why we did meteorite and Meteora because no one uses Meteora in this kind of, in context. I don't know. I just give me a, just get, I don't need much, but like, Hey, this represents X.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. And you know, I actually agree with you because it's like, you don't have to do this, right? If you don't want to, but they've done something and the thing they've done doesn't say anything. So maybe don't say anything or say something. The one to shape your path is like, is it the pathway of a meteor? Is that what they're saying? Like, I guess that's what they're saying, right? But like, I don't. We're going to die. No, no, no, no. But it doesn't make sense to me. I'm not. Yeah. Just, just explain it just a little.

Brad Dowdy: I think it does require a little, I think we're owed a slight explanation. I don't need, like, you don't need to build a world for this product, but something. So the tactile bits, like, so it's basically half and half, right? So the, the safaris have like two flat sides and two like round sides. Yeah. So the flat sides have the, the pattern on it. So like, if you run your fingernail over it, like your nail doesn't get caught in the grooves. Does that make sense from a tactile perspective? But you feel it.

Myke Hurley: You can feel them, but you're not going to get, it's not deep.

Brad Dowdy: No, no.

Myke Hurley: Okay.

Brad Dowdy: Which is great for the grip section. Yeah. Um, I think I wouldn't mind like a, like a heavily knurled grip section, but you kind of got to go all the way in. I don't know that I would like, so they, the pattern and the grip is just on like where your thumb and forefinger go. If you have a traditional grip, it's still glossy, like on the backside where like your middle finger would go for a traditional grip. Um, it feels good. Like totally good. Like I'm very, very glad that they did this. It's something a little bit different. Um, so I was trying to compare it to like what they've done this year, at least like the neon neon pink, you know, some of that. I prefer my, my neon yellow over both, both of these. Like the, the tactile stuff isn't moving me enough to say, Hey, this is the safari I want to use. I think it's, I mean, it's like a nine out of 10, like design wise. And I definitely stand by what I said last week. Now that I have them in hand, this black one is going to crush in person. This is going to be someone's first Lamy. This is going to be an, Oh, wow. I need that Lamy. When people see it in the store, maybe not if you're like a, a Lamy. Like super fan like me, like it's great. It's fine. It's, it's gorgeous. Like, like I said, it's like a nine out of 10.

Brad Dowdy: I'm still using neon yellow. Like I'm, I'm not compelled to ink one of these up over my neon yellow one today. The purple color is fantastic. The purple is my favorite. The black is going to sell out. It's so good in person because of the shiny and the pattern. This, this, they, they, they nailed. They, they really did a good job on these. I just don't know from the Lamy Safari nerd level that I'm at. If they're moving the Safari needle forward, but this is already like my favorite pen to begin with. Right. So when I'm handling a Safari, like it's up a pretty, it's, it's already like such a high level for me. This still delivers that level. But I'm not like fawning over this. If that makes sense. Yeah. I'm very glad that they did this though. I want to see this. Like they did, they executed this very well. Good. And I think it's going to do very well. I don't know that I'm going to keep either one of these. If I do keep one, it'll be the purple. But I, like I said, I'm not compelled to ink this up and like get going on this. Right. Which the neon yellow I was because I liked the black trim and I threw a black ink cartridge in and that makes me happy.

Myke Hurley: Because ultimately they are just a dark purple and black.

Brad Dowdy: Which they do a lot. Yeah. This is not a unique theme, broad picture theme. This is not unique for a lot of people.

Myke Hurley: Like an interesting gray color could have been more, more fun. Exactly. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: One of my favorite ones is a gray, I have a gray Safari. Yeah. Like my favorite Safari is unfortunately right now. Out of my collection. So as much as I love the Safari, right, it's my, one of my top pens of all time. I think I have out of the regular Safari lineup and I'm counting like limited editions, like regular worldwide release lineup. So the white one with the red clip that we talked about last week. Yep. Love that. That's my favorite one. Neon yellow is getting up there. That's the one I'm using right now. Um, and then I have the Savannah and terracotta, the redos. They did three or four years ago of the original Lamy Safari colors, the orange and the green. I think they were called Safari and terracotta or Savannah and terracotta. And like, that's my Safari collection outside of the Atoya special editions, which that one I do have a problem with because they execute those really, really well, unique colors. So like, that's it for all the safaris that get released and all the praise I heap on them. That's all the ones that I've kept. I buy them all and I usually give them away because they're perfect for that. But, um, yeah, I don't know that I'm going to keep either of these like to the, because I have to use them, right? I'm not going to keep it just because I'm going to keep it if I want to use it. And I'm not sure either of these are going to make the cut, but that's also a much higher level than most people, um, given, given my love for the Safari. So it's good stuff. It's, they, they, they did a great job with these pens. I will say that.

Myke Hurley: Good. All right. This episode is brought to you by our friends over at Enigma Stationery. Enigma Stationery offers unique items made from in-house designs, along with tons of top brands and hard to find imports. Uh, Enigma Stationery always provide us with some fun stuff to talk about, uh, every few weeks, Brad. Um, obviously when I go to the pen ad page, there is various, uh, business frog. Sorry about that. Frog related, uh, things. Business frog washi tape, business frog vinyl stickers, you know, I mean, that's, that's an obvious. Brad, and I'm very excited to let you know about the business day planner sticker sheet now featuring business frog in meetings at the desk, uh, business frog in bed thinking about business. Uh, there's a lot going on here. I'm a big fan of this one.

Brad Dowdy: I bought this one. Oh, did you? Yeah. There's business frog sitting in a chair of cash. I mean, he's obviously. It's like a throne of cash.

Myke Hurley: It's, that reminds me of, um, and I think what they're going for is Breaking Bad.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's, uh, it's, uh, it's, uh, it's like on one hand I feel bad. I was like so obsessed with this, but like, I can't help it. It really just, it just tickles me in the exact way that like, I want to have fun with my stationary. And I think that's what I think of when I think about Enigma. Like they do such a great job, like curating fun stationary. Yep. Right. You go there, you can't help but smile. Like as I'm, as I'm going through the Emma, as I'm looking at like business frog down at the bottom, it's got similar items and it's got these just wonderful like, um, dog stickers. So it's like, okay, you know, I, I need, I need this dog sticker. Cause it looks like my dog Toby. And then they have these just like completely on the opposite end of the spectrum. They have these wonderful pens that they've crafted with some of their materials with some just awesome makers. Like this, this, um, fizzy lemonade, like, like Mayfair pen. Like the materials are ridiculously good. Just such unique materials that they use in their collaborations. So like, you know, don't forget that they have like these, this fountain pen page with just beautiful, beautiful stuff on it. And, uh, Myke, they have your, they have Zento's here. I don't know if they have the one, the one P Zento yet, but like, that's the kind of, that's the kind of item that they carry. And, you know, lots of great inks, lots of great stationary items. Um, I, I just love what an Enigma stationary does. This is kind of like a, uh, like the, the perfect shop set up for me. Cause it's where I can go get my pens and inks and paper, but then I can add in all of this extra fun, which is a lot of what gets me going these days.

Myke Hurley: I'll ask you to express yourself. Yep. If you want $10 off on orders to $50 or more, go to enigmastationary.com slash pen addict and use the code TPA26 at checkout. That is enigmastationary.com slash pen addict with, uh, the code TPA26. You will get $10 off on orders of $50 or more. Our thanks to Enigma stationary for their support of this show and relay.

New Releases

Brad Dowdy: All right. Can we talk about, uh, new releases, Myke? Please. Um, we're still, you know, probably for the next few months, we're still going to be hot and heavy with releases. And Kaweco just dropped their summer releases and like my inbox inbox blew up when I saw these. I was like, Whoa, this is cool. So they did three new sport releases, which this is my favorite model. Uh, just the plastic pocketable Kaweco sport. So two of them continue the kind of lunar, the moon series that they did, uh, last year where they did light green and shadow green of this, these iridescence. So these were in the lunar series this summer. They've added the light blue and shadow blue. So if you look at all these together, they all kind of relate. They all have this slight iridescence, maybe a hair translucent on the lighter ones. And last year's models, the green, the shadow green and light green. I joked as like, did they just make a bad batch and end up having to release two? Were they trying to go for shadow green and it came out light? So we'll do light green. And I say this, uh, knowing that like I do this too, right? You know, you make a bunch of product and it's like, it didn't come out, but now it's a new product. Um, the new two new colors, I think are both better than last year's colors. And I'll get yelled at for that. Um, because these were super popular, light green and shadow green. I am definitely more light blue and especially shadow blue. I think shadow blue is really getting into that oil slick.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, oil and water is exactly what I was thinking. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. And that, I think that's going to be a real standout. Now I want to see this in person, right? Because I think that's kind of what got me about last year's green ones. I think they showed even better in photography than in person, which you always like very colorful and iridescent types of colors. You kind of got to see them in person, uh, to see, see what you think about that. They're also, I think I saw, I don't have it on the, on the page, but I think they're bringing or restocking the Perkyo iridescent pearl, which was super popular last year. It was just kind of like a one-off. It was really good. I think they're actually going to restock that if I'm not mistaken from reading that. So those are great. But the real winner here in my book.

Myke Hurley: I found it on the website.

Brad Dowdy: Okay. Yeah. I thought I saw that in passing. I was like, wait, are they doing, they're, they're just basically, um, making more of it, which is, it's great to see because that one, they sold that one out really fast and they don't do a lot of Perkyo stuff. And, uh, it's, it's legitimately good. Um, what the real winner is here, and this is the one I'm definitely getting is the marble ocean. So still a Kaweco sport, but this is their collection series, which is one of the, their limited edition series. I don't know what their schedule is for this. I don't think it's once a year. I think they do multiple. So it's a blue and green ocean swirl. It's gorgeous. It's got gold trim. Um, it's really beautiful. Um, and it's still like reasonably priced for these sports, right? It's going to be like a 30 low $30, which is great. It, which is great. And this is the limited edition one. Um, yeah, this is going to be a fun one. One of the things they did, um, is they've moved to a screw in nib unit, which their nibs have always been easy to swap. They're just kind of like friction fit, but they're now making a point to have, uh, and they're putting it in the marketing that they, these have screw in nib units. So they're even easier to swap.

Myke Hurley: I don't like friction, uh, for the unit so much for first growing.

Brad Dowdy: I think a lot of people don't. And the screw in nib units are, are much, uh, easier for people to handle. Um, but yeah, this looks great. I'm this one. I'm less inclined to need to see in person. Like, I think it's just going to be really, really good. No matter what. I did see some videos of this. So you might actually want to see it in person because when you look at the pictures that we put in here, like we have a link into Stilo and Stile. They had the most pictures. I, Kaweco didn't have many pictures of this at all. Um, other than like the landing page. There's a lot of translucency in this barrel, which you cannot see, but I saw a video of this on YouTube and there's a lot of clear, uh, plastic in this barrel. So you will see some translucency through there. So, um, it's, these pictures make it look completely solid, right? Um, but there is some translucency from the other images I've seen, but I, I just think it's great. It looks great. So, um, not really a surprise there from Kaweco. They've been doing a really good job with these releases. What I was surprised about in this past week, Myke, I can't think if I've ever seen a pilot Metropolitan limited edition before.

Myke Hurley: Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: This pen has been out for, it's gotta be 10 years at least. And they always made bright and colorful releases.

Myke Hurley: And they would do the like animal print bands and stuff.

Brad Dowdy: Animal print bands. In the beginning, they did some, um, geometric bands and they're just fun. Right. I mean, they always, from the beginning, you know, you could get bright purple and turquoise and blues and it, or blacks and silvers and some patterns. And then it just kind of existed. This is a product that just existed. You know, it started to get a little bit more expensive over time. And I don't know that it fell by the wayside compared to like the Kakuno or the Explorer, both of which are two other pilot entry level pens. But I feel seeing what this is, is called the pilot pen Itowin, which is a tea company, I believe. Yeah. Japanese tea company collaboration to where they're making themed pens related to, uh, the tea. And Japanese green tea. So like there's a, a brown and orange metropolitan. There's a green and lime green metropolitan. And there's a, like a lime green and kind of chrome or white, um, one. And I, they're gorgeous. Like I, it makes me wonder why they haven't done more of this because this is a really good platform pen. Like I say more so than the Kakuno because the Kunos are all just like translucent and they've done lots of colors and lots of fun things with the Kakuno with the nib designs and then the pastel colors. And they did some like opaque barrels.

Brad Dowdy: I'm, I'm just curious now that I see this, I was like, man, they could have been doing this for a while because these look fantastic. And I'm not even a metropolitan fan. I don't own a single metropolitan. I never use this pen, but it's a very, very good pen. And then one I recommend a lot. Um, these are great. Like they're, and they're not complex.

Myke Hurley: Maybe this is the kind of thing that you do when, you know, some of the old products become more expensive to make. You can, you can make, you can focus maybe further down your market and try and pick up some sales that way. I mean, I'm just trying to think, oh, why would you do it now if you've never really done it before?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. So this looks like it's going to be a more limited type of situation. So the way I read this, and this is from the Paper Mouse shop on Instagram. So there is a brick and mortar stationery store, uh, will be one of the handful of stores in the U S to launch their limited edition, uh, Chenomagumi Metropolitan collection in person this October. So it doesn't sound like it's going to be a very broad release, but I think it's fantastic. Like it might even make me use a Metropolitan, I don't know, but they, they, they look great. And for Metropolitan fans, like you're, you're actually getting something new here, which I think is kind of cool.

Myke Hurley: I think it, that, that wording makes it sound like it might be relatively wide though, where it's like one of the few places to launch it in person would suggest to me there's multiple places launching it in person and they will sell it online. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. But, and they said, and in the U S which also means to me that it's not limited to the U S that means I think this is going to be, I mean, this is a Japanese tea company, right? This is going to be probably a worldwide release. Yeah. Like, I think it'll be like limited, like it'll probably go away quickly, but I don't think it's going to be, I don't think you're going to struggle to buy it.

Myke Hurley: That is the point I'm making, but yes, it is obviously a limited time thing more than like an availability thing. I would feel like there's just a lot of qualifiers in that statement. There is, there is, there is.

Lamy Safari

Brad Dowdy: All right. Last one is not a new release, but a new review I did because we talked about this product recently. I think a lot of people are very interested in the dominant industry, Kino stationary stuff. Yeah. Um, because there's one, it's interesting to see a company like dominant industry who's known for their ink products basically. And then ink accessories, right? Notebooks for, you know, ink washes and coloring different, all kinds of ink related items to make a fountain pen. So they made, this is the second one they've done. Um, which I love that the second one is called zero zero one, but you know, whatever.

Myke Hurley: Um, well the first one was number 14. Yeah. True.

Brad Dowdy: True. True.

Brad Dowdy: So yeah. Okay. You do you, but this is when I was talking about Lamy before, like, just tell me a little bit about the story. This is a very storytelling, uh, pen, but it's, it's, I was about to say it's unique. I don't think it is unique. I think this is a style of pen we're seeing in the Instagram stationary world. And I'm not using that like pejoratively. I think this is a very visually appealing, you know, give me all the things with the pen. Like the pen is like very colorful, very well designed. It has a lot going. Every part of the pen has detail, right? The clip is overly detailed. The finials are overly detailed and it all works, right? This is normally not my style, but it kind of is at the same time because I like the cute, fun, pretty stuff too. This one gets right up to the edge for me. And the more I use it, the more I enjoy it because the actual writing experience is good. Um, it feels and is shaped like a Pelican, um, M2 or M4 series, right? The smaller size Pelicans, either the steel or the gold nib. This is a steel nib pen. The nib is excellent. Like one of my favorite out of the box steel nib experiences. It's, I got an extra fine steel nib. What's a little bit unique about this is it doesn't have a ton of tipping on there. And the tipping it does is, is, you know, managed very, very well. It's very consistent, extra fine, sharp line. And I really, really love the nib. No clue who makes the nib. It reminds me a little bit of like, uh, the Novelure nibs and just the style and the feel of the steel and the shape, like a stamped steel. Um, but it's great overall. Like I love everything about this pen. Is it going to be like, you know, my go-to or one of my favorites? Probably not, but what they've executed here is really good. They do tell a story, Myke. Like now I'm going to, um, you know, contradict what I was saying before about storytelling. Like give me a story. Um, this one's just out of thin air, right? Their story starts at Hotel Kino, a secluded retreat perched in the mountains of a far away peaceful island. Each release is created with a hotel visit in mind through each key number assigned to a pen. It's like, okay, it's like, it's too high concept. I'm never going to think about any of that. It's too high concept. Right? Like I got the key. I love vintage motel key chain, key chain shape. You know, the, the rounded diamond shape. I think that's one of the greatest designs ever made is the vintage hotel key chain. I'm literally never going to consider this storytelling once more in my entire life. Right. Right. But they did build this product this way from a marketing and Instagramable perspective. Right. And, and it crushes it. It's just, it's everything you want to see on like an Instagram marketing campaign. The good news is the pen is good. Right. So like, like I said, this one gets to the edge of everything I don't want, but they executed a good pen and it is very enjoyable to look at. It's enjoyable to hold. It's enjoyable to use. I shockingly like this pen a lot. It's not going to be, it's never going to make my top 10 pens, Myke, but shout out dominant. They, they did a good job. They did a, I credit where credit's due. So I'm very pleased there. I have no negatives about this, right? You either like the style or you don't, but like as a product, as a functional product, it's great.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. It's great. So you referenced that you've thought that the first one, the number 14 was, was not like was too much that I actually prefer the visuals of that one. Even though they both look great, but I, the number 14 to me is, is nicer for my taste than the number one. Yeah. But I agree. Like the, having a concept is fine. This is too much concept. Like there's just too much concept with no grounding in reality. Right. So I think it's, it's a bit, it's a bit much like you can do everything they're doing, but you don't need to tell so much story. Like why, what, what, why are we in like in a hotel on an island close to a secluded town? You know what I mean? Like we don't, we don't need three things, you know? We can just have one of them. Like we don't need all of that. It's too much detail. Yeah. It's too much detail with no accompanying story. Right. It's not like they wrote like a manga or something, you know?

Brad Dowdy: Right. Yeah. They did. There's not like a complete world build around here.

Myke Hurley: They're just like, you just got to buy into this. It's like, why? Like, why would I even buy into it? But anyway, as you say, none of that matters if the product's good though. And the product's good. Yes.

Brad Dowdy: So what I want to see next is 014 and 001 released within like a month or two of each other, like really quickly. Okay. And they're the exact same pen except different colors, right? If they keep doing this and it's just color after color after color, it's going to die quickly. So like what other pen type or fountain pen style are they going to make? Because if the next one's purple and then the next one's orange and then the next one's green, it's like at some point like, you know, business frog wouldn't be happy. Like line go down, right? Line is not going to go up unless the, you know, next year we have some type of complimentary type of pen or product with this. So you can't just keep making the same color every time. That's this heavily like story told, right? Like I'm good with one. And then if they do something different, I'd be interested in trying that. But like, I don't need the purple one next, right? No.

Myke Hurley: I'm just, I'm trying to look up more on Kino stationary now.

Brad Dowdy: It's, it, it just really, it just appeared. It's like poof. Yeah. Right. And Dominant has like the design ability to do something cool like this, right? Their ink bottles have always been wonderful. And then they added in ink sampling accessories like the coloring books or the swatch cards or glass tools to help you with your ink. So they're very visually based and they make very, very good inks. So this was like, this was like a high risk thing for them and they did really, really well. Yeah. But it totally surprised me.

Myke Hurley: They didn't even seem to have like a web presence for it.

Brad Dowdy: So I tried to find the link on the Dominant industry page for this and it's not there. So I, I was actually going to write a note in here that it doesn't exist in Dominant's page. So are they going to try to like standalone Kino as a sub brand? Yes. I don't think they, I don't, you think they will? I don't know.

Myke Hurley: Well, I mean, I don't know.

Kino Stationery

Brad Dowdy: Because, well, it would just have to be Kino because stationary. So this stationary spelled S-T-A-Y because of the hotel situation, right? Yeah. Yeah. So the brand would have to be called Kino. Stationary is the product line, right?

Myke Hurley: Why?

Brad Dowdy: Because at some point, I don't think the whole lineup can be related to the hotel. I think that is your product lineup. It could have 20 products under stationary.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, but Kino is only Kino because it's a hotel key. True. Interesting.

Brad Dowdy: So. This is great. This is a great meeting.

Myke Hurley: I actually think the product line is Kino and the brand is called Stay Doctionary. Hmm. Right? Might be right. And you know what? I have no idea because you know what? I don't think they do either. I just think it's like, here's the thing. But they're sitting there. We're going to put two puns in the product name.

Brad Dowdy: They're sitting there in the office doing what we're doing right now.

Myke Hurley: Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: And it's fascinating. This is why we like this stuff. Yeah. Honestly. Yes. This is why we like this stuff. Luckily for all of us, they executed.

Myke Hurley: It's what matters more than anything else. Yeah. Because if we liked their story but the product wasn't any good, then what's the point? Right.

Myke Hurley: Good times. If you want to get the links for this week's episode, they should be in your podcast app of choice, but you can also find them online at relay.fm slash penaddict slash 726. If you want to find us online, go to penaddict.com, spokedesign.com, and twitch.tv slash penaddict for Brad. You can go to theenthusiast.net, cortexbrad.com, and relay.fm for me. Thank you so much to Enigma Stationery and Kaleidocraft for their support of this week's episode. But most of all, thank you for listening. We'll be back next week. Until then, say goodbye, Brad. Goodbye, Brad.