The Pen Addict 389/transcript

The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript
Episode:	389
Title:	I Like Lists
Release Date:	December 11th, 2019
Hosts:	Brad Dowdy Myke Hurley
Guests:	No guests this episode
Additional Information
Official page:	Episode 389
Audio File:	Audio Episode 389
Podcast page:	The Pen Addict 389
Length:	7474 min <br />1.233 h <br /> minutes
Previous Transcript	Next Transcript

Brad Dowdy: From RelayFM, this is The Pen Addict, episode 389 of today's show. It's brought to you by Squarespace and Harry's. My name is Myke Hurley. I'm joined by Brad Dowdy. Hi, Brad Dowdy. Big show today, Myke Hurley. How are you? I'm very good. I'm delivering on my promise today. You are. I was not completely surprised, but a little surprised. We're going to be talking about your desk today, after we broke down my desk, what, just like two or three weeks ago? And we got a bunch of good feedback on that, and now it's your turn. That's what they tell me. Well, at least that's what my show document tells me.

Brad Dowdy: And that's what the listeners want, Myke. Everyone wanted to know what's on Myke's desk, and I think this is going to be fun. It's mostly going to be fun for me, because you get to do a lot of the talking on this episode.

Desk Setup

Myke Hurley: It's going to be one of those where Myke has something to say episodes.

Brad Dowdy: But before I allow you to talk, Myke, I at least got to get one follow-up item in. Like, it'll take like a minute. A minute. And then we'll do the Myke takeover. So, the Rotarings, we talked about, you know, the 600 Colored Editions we talked about last week. But I did get some of the translation from a friend, and we were talking about, is it black, is it camo for the dark colored one on there? It was actually called Camouflage Green in the translation. So, it is a green pen, and it must just be dark, you know, maybe in that olive color way, which could look pretty good with the red. So, I want to see that one in person, because the picture did not do it any justice. So, and the blue is called, translates to ion blue. Not that that means anything. And, you know, my friend also said there is a mention of the Bauhaus movement, which is the 100th anniversary in 2019. So, I don't know if they're trying to do, you know, these bright, vibrant colors that were known for that artistic style. If they're going to do that, I'd like to see a yellow one, too, please. And that would then be my number one Rotring 600, but I don't think yellow is going to happen. But all this is to say is another link came in from a friend of the show, Evan, of the Rotring 600 3-in-1 multi-pen. What do you think about this?

Myke Hurley: Well, one thing I just wanted to say, I think that it's very funny to me, everyone's jumping on the Bauhaus train right now, which I just find that kind of funny. The 3-in-1, as far as we're aware, is it three different inks? No, it should be black, red, and pencil. Okay. Is that new? Like, brand new? I don't recall it.

Brad Dowdy: That was my exact question I was going to have for you. Is this a new product from them? I'm trying to recall, and I didn't research it. Like, if back in the 90s, when they were kind of doing a lot more, in probably early 2000s, when they were doing a lot more variety in pens, like with all the fountain pens and stuff, did they have a 3-in-1? And I'm not sure. Like, I want to say they did, but I'm not confident in that answer whatsoever. It just seems like that's something that they would have done at the time, because their competition, like Lamy, was doing it at the time. And those are both similar styles, making it to similar effect. And I just don't know if they've ever done it before. I certainly haven't seen it, but it seems like they should have done it, right?

Myke Hurley: It feels like a logical step. Maybe it was something that... So, Evan, in the chat, who provided the follow-up in regards to this item anyway, is saying that they believe that they did it in the 90s. It does feel like it would have been a natural product at some point, right?

Brad Dowdy: Yes. Yes. Like, this is what this brand should do at this particular time in this market, right? It feels correct.

Myke Hurley: But at the same time, I mean, also my general feeling on multi-pens is I don't know how popular they are. Like, I think they're very, like, favored amongst people that need them or want them. But I wonder how many people, like, genuinely buy multi-pens. It feels like a smaller market.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, it's a small market. It is a small market. And, you know, for that reason, you get charged a premium. I don't know how much these are going to be. I would want to see this in person. I would probably buy one of these just because I like multi-pens and use them regularly. So, we'll see. We'll see how this is. So, this is a twist mechanism on this. The Lamy is the gravity weighted as we're talking in chat. Just how the old rotaryings were the gravity system that you like, you know, where you put the color you prefer vertically. Or, it's confusing. It's horizontal, but you face the color you want up. And then click the deployment. And then that color comes out the pen. So, yeah. Interesting. I'm not as pumped for these as I am the regular color 600s. But I want to see these. And I want to see how much these cost. I bet they're probably less than $100. But I bet they're more like in the $70, $80 range. Maybe. Yeah. I don't know. I'm wild guessing. Yeah.

Collection Overview

Myke Hurley: More complicated because of the mechanism, right? Like, that's what makes them.

Brad Dowdy: Little bigger pen. Little more materials. Little more complexity. So, we'll see. We'll see. Do you have any rotaryings on your desk, Myke? Should we talk about this? Maybe. Should we just jump right in and see what's going on on Myke's desk? I'm excited for this.

Myke Hurley: All right. So, I sat down today. I sat at my desk. I took a look around. I started from left to right. And I'm going to provide you now with the breakdown. I will be putting a lot of links in the show notes. It's mostly just going to be to pens and paper materials. And I'm going to be linking to more of my pens than I did with Brad's because some of my pens are maybe not as easy to find. Like, they're not available anymore. So, I've done the work so you don't have to if there's a pen that you want to find out. Also, if you've ever thought to yourself, what is Myke's entire Sailor collection? You're going to find it out today.

Brad Dowdy: So, that's the one difference between you and I is you keep all of your collection on your desk. I keep almost none of my collection on my desk, if you will.

Myke Hurley: Well, all of the collection depends on what you're referring to. I keep all of a subset of my collection. Like, all my Retro 51s are not on my desk. You know, like, all of my pens in general, they're stored away. And I'm not doing that work. Maybe my Retro 51 collection can be catalogued for another time. But I do have all of my Sailor pens on the desk here with me. Okay. So, going from left to right, Theme System Journal. Use it every day. Mm-hmm. There are some in the air right now. Brad, don't know where, but they're in the air. Oh, nice. That's all I know. I have a cork board that I bought from Amazon. You know, like, just like a cork board you'd make for a notice board. And that's where I put all of my enamel pins. Yeah, I have to do this. So, this is like a fun thing. Somebody recommended it to me once because I just started building up this collection of enamel pins. And they were going in a drawer. It's not like stickers where you can stick them on something, right? And I didn't want to put them all on like a bag because I didn't want to lose some of them. Because they were like cool ones or ones that meant something to me. And I only have one of them. So, I ended up putting them in a cork board. And I'm just slowly building up that cork board over time. It's just like a nice little thing to have in the office.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, a friend of the show, Jacqueline, just did a huge office post on Inkpothesis. I'll get you the show note link. And she had the cork board up with the enamel pins in it. And I need to get that done. Like, that's just something I need to have a place to store. Like, I just got a fancy dancy fifth anniversary relay employee pin that is just sitting on my desk. It's looking beautiful. But I'd like to put it somewhere.

Myke Hurley: We'll get to what Brav means by that in a bit. I was allowed to say that. You can say it. But I have like a whole little thing about it. Not the pin itself. But maybe I'll just start there. But I'll come back to it later. Then every year with RelayFM, we send all of our hosts and people that are involved in the company a little gift to mark the year. We send it at some point. Sometimes it's around the anniversary of the company. Sometimes it's just like a year-end thing. And we were selling earlier this year a pin, an enamel pin of our five-year anniversary logo, which was like a blue pin with white kind of like swooshes. It's like swooshes that go around the R logo. We turned them into like a pinwheel. And for our hosts, we had a gold version of that made this year. Just as like a thanks for having your show here kind of thing. But I have more of those types of knickknacks. 14 karat or 21 karat? I couldn't possibly say. Just don't ever go get it valued, though. Just out of respect.

Brad Dowdy: Okay. Okay. Yeah. No person would do that.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. On my desk was my Samsung Galaxy Fold. I just wanted to throw it in there. What is wrong with you? Look, I just love technology. What do you want from me? The Nanami Crossfield. I have two of those. I have one that I've been using a lot over the years. And then I have a second one, which was going to be for a particular purpose. But I never ended up using it for that purpose. But now I just have two of them sitting on my desk with a Studio Neat tote book sandwiched in between them. So I don't really know why I did that, but that's what I did. I'm going to skip over my pens because my pens kind of come next on the desk. And I'm going to move to the technology on the desk just to kind of like round that out. I use a Wacom Intuos Pro. So this is a pen tablet. I use this as my primary mechanism for interacting with my computer. Like it is in the replacement of a mouse. This is how I edit. This is how I navigate around. It's much more comfortable for me over long periods of time. But I like to mix things up, which is also for like comfort and RS-I reasons. So I also have on the desk a Logitech MX vertical mouse. So this is like you have it like basically your hand in like a handshake position rather than like horizontal to the desk. Your hand is vertical to the desk. So I use that. I also use a Magic trackpad as well. So left hand is the Wacom tablet. And right hand moves between either the mouse or the trackpad. And for a keyboard, I use a Microsoft Ergonomic Sculpt keyboard. And this is all sitting in front of an iMac Pro, which has a bunch of audio gear, which shows literally no point in me talking about what I use there.

Brad Dowdy: I have so many questions already. But if I keep talking, we'll never get through this episode.

Myke Hurley: You can ask me some questions. Ask me some questions. Because I'm sure these are similar questions to what other people have.

Brad Dowdy: I want you to elaborate on the Wacom or the Wacom. Because I've been considering that for myself. I'm actually asking for a new mouse for my laptop input. I have the old trackpad, the old Apple trackpad, which I do not like overall. And it's like it's got to be seven or eight years old at this point. It's just annoying. So I want a new input. So I'm thinking about just getting like a new Magic mouse.

Myke Hurley: Don't get a Magic mouse if you're going to get a mouse. If you're going to get a mouse, get the Logitech MX Master 3. Okay. If you're going to get a mouse.

Brad Dowdy: But do you use the Wacom for other things besides input? Like it can be used for drawing and other stuff too?

Myke Hurley: I don't. I mean, but I use it to like, it's how I edit in Logic. Like I use a pen, right? And I just find it to be very comfortable over long periods of time. It's good movement in my arm, stuff like that. So I really recommend it. But it's also quite a large learning curve. Sure. Because, you know, I always recommend if you're going to do it, you map the pen tablet to the size of the screen. Because there are some of them you can, like, you know how like with a mouse, you don't have to like move the mouse all the way across your desk, like in a kind of similar motion. It gets like perpetual motion, like it speeds up, right? Right. You know what I'm talking about? You'd have to do massive. You can do very tiny movements with a mouse to get it to go from one corner of the screen to the other. But if you map the pen tablet correctly, right, the top right hand corner of the pen tablet is the top right hand corner of the screen and, you know, bottom left hand corners. So you're moving a lot. You're moving your arms a lot for that. And that's just because it is a, especially if you're using it as an input device, this is the only way that it really makes sense. Because it can get quite confusing otherwise. But if you're going to try it, if you think that this would be of use to you, you've got to give it a couple of weeks and you've got to go all in. Gotcha. Yeah, it does sound like a pretty steep curve. It is. It took me a while and I did it out of necessity.

Wacom Tablet Discussion

Myke Hurley: You've been talking about this for a while. You've been using this for a while. Like five years. I remember you talking about this. Yeah. This was a recommendation from Gray. This was like very early on in Cortex. We were talking about using pen tablets instead of mice. But I found it really good. Also, the one that I have, the Wacom Intuos Pro, has a bunch of buttons on the side that you can program to do whatever you want. So I have them programmed for like different keyboard shortcuts and logic. Gotcha. Gotcha. All right.

Brad Dowdy: That's enough tech talk. Back to the pens and stationery.

Myke Hurley: So I have three pen blocks that sit on my desk. All made out of wood. Made lovingly by listener Alan. Only one of them is full. And then another one is like half full. But he made them for me over the years and sent them to me. And he made a new one for me. So I could put all of my sailor pens in one block, which I can now with space, which is lovely. And Alan sent me this for kind of around the fifth anniversary of Relay, which is really nice. Sent me the third one. The previous one, so there's a picture on my Instagram somewhere of like one that says Myke was right and one is a Relay FM logo. And Alan made those for me. And then they also made this large, like long one as well, which I'm currently using. And I'm going to go through all of the pens in all of these. So we'll start at the far left with the Brooks Primary Manipulation Eastman pen made by Sean Newton. That's a lot of words. I know. It's a lot. But it's primary manipulation material, which is like, I think it's like version two, I think I have, or version one. The mine is like majorly green and very layered because there are multiple versions of a blank that Jonathan Brooks has made called Primary Manipulation.

Myke Hurley: Jonathan made the rods and Sean Newton bought a bunch of them from him. And then I ordered a pen from Sean Newton, which is the Eastman model, which is like, it's just like a tube with like flat ends. I like it. Like, I love it. I love looking at this pen. I love looking into this pen, like it has depth to the material, which is very special. And I like the more recent primary manipulation as well, which I think is mostly like a lot of purples and blues. I really love it. But I'm very happy that I also got this version because I really like the green a lot. This is followed up by another pen, which I mentioned, I think I mentioned this last time, actually, the Arushi pen that Jonathan Brooks made for me and you. I mentioned it very recently on the show. Yes. Yes. So this is the one that he gave us a couple of years ago in Atlanta, which also features the Pen Addict logo on the nib, which is very special.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. That pen should never go uninked on my desk. And I tend to store it away. Then you just like anything else, you have all these things like we're going to go through a huge list of products here. Sometimes you just forget when you get into these cycles of filling and refilling fountain pens. And sometimes I'll set that to the side and forget to ink it up. That one should be a permanent fixture on my desk.

Myke Hurley: That reason is why I have so many pens on my desk, because I force myself to use different pens every day. So like when I do my journaling, I've mentioned this before, but I use two pens, one to write headers and one to do the actual writing in. And I never use the same pen two days in a row. Yep. And so that's like a nice little trick for me to be using my whole collection that I care the most about. A pen that has remained on my desk that I think will be a surprise to many people is the Nemisu Ixion. Yeah, I almost called you out on this one. Why?

Brad Dowdy: Well, no, as an outlier. Oh, right. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: I got the blue one with the brass, I think it is, like grip. Yeah, right. Like the finial and stuff. I think we got the same one. We did. And we got it from Kickstarter. They're still available. I just really like it. Like, I can't even, I don't have any other pens that look like this one, which is nice. And I like the, and it's got a, it's got a bock nib on it, which is like a board, which is just, it works very well. It's a very nice writer. And I like it a lot. I don't really have a lot of pens that this kind of weight anymore because it's made of aluminum and brass, right? So like it's got some more weight to it. And I like the colors, the blue and the brass, I think go really nicely together. I've just never desired to put it away.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. I mean, the reason why you and I ordered it is because it looks so different and it looks great. It just left a bad taste in a lot of people's mouth because of their, the Kickstarter slowness, the nib failures that they had during the process.

Myke Hurley: I was very lucky. I didn't get any special treatment. I backed it. And the one, I mean, we spoke about it at the time. I had no problems of mine. It was what wrote like a dream, but I know a lot of people did. And it was, I always found it a shame because I thought it was such a great pen and was, was marred by controversy, I guess. Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: Which is it really? It was just, it was just more like manufacturing issues. Manufacturing is hard, right? Yeah. But it was controversial within the people that backed it at least. Yeah. Yeah. And I'm not sure, I can't recall how they handled it. You know, maybe there was some, some drama there, but anyway. Yeah. I was surprised to see this on the list. So, uh, good though. I, I'm, I'm glad you liked that pen because it's a good looking pen.

Myke Hurley: I like the Misa. I have a couple of their pens and I think they do a good job. Uh, two retro 51s live on my desk. Currently I have the pastel Shiba, which is the current pen addict limited edition, which I believe there's still a small number for sale.

Brad Dowdy: Yep. There's still plenty left for sale. Um, it's funny that this one's in here because I use mine all the time. I'm actually using it today. It's in my hand right now. I did not know this was on your list, but I use this pen all the time. I love this pen. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: I, I've got to tell you my, my retro 51s to pretty much on newness. Um, but there'll be one or two that'll stick around for a while. And this one will, because it's, I love the colors. Yeah. Um, and also my favorite, the retro 51 Chiopino.

Brad Dowdy: Just because is this one. Is this the, the roller ball or the fountain pen? This is the roller ball, right? Yeah. It's the roller ball. I don't have the fountain pen. Cool. Yeah. Anyway, that's a wild pen. That's a good pen. It's a beautiful pen. Like I will never own that pen, but it is a good pen.

Myke Hurley: It's a beautiful pen for someone like me, right? Like this, it's like how much more beautiful can a retro 51 be? Not much more. Uh, the pilot M90. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: I mean, sometimes I pick up this pen and I'm like, you know what? You are the best pen ever made.

Brad Dowdy: Mm-hmm.

Myke Hurley: And like, it is this thing where it's like, it makes me so sad that people can't use it. It is like the purest fountain pen.

Brad Dowdy: You're not getting any disagreement from me on any of anything you say about this pen.

Myke Hurley: Like, because when I use it, I'm like, you shouldn't be good because the way in which this pen is made, and if you're not aware, the body of the pen and the fountain pen nib are the same piece of metal. There is no break in the body and the nib. And that feels like it would be something so prone to being made in a poor way or so prone to being damaged that it almost feels impossible that it could work. But somehow it does. And it is absolutely flawless in its design. It's one of the most beautiful pens that I own. But it is also, I think, in my collection, the most consistent performing pen that I own. And I can leave it just sitting there, tip in the air for like a month. I pick it up, and it starts writing.

Misa Pen Review

Myke Hurley: It is an absolutely fantastic pen. I think this probably applies if you also find the Mayu, which are basically the same pen. Yeah. Because the M90 was a anniversary pen, which was evoking the design of the Mayu. Right. Would you say this is your favorite pen?

Myke Hurley: It is top three, for sure. Okay.

Myke Hurley: Just because I've had it for so long now, and it's not perfect. The design is not perfect. I don't like the M90 that's written on it. And I don't like the little jewel in the cap. But when you uncap that pen, it's just like, show me something that looks better than that. Right. I don't think you can. Yeah. Platinum 3776, nice, lavand. I can never get this one right. It's the lavender one. They made a pink one and a purple one. I have the purple one. And this is one of the 3776s, and it only has color. It also has like ridges in it. And what I like about this one is the ridges are straight. So, it doesn't give any weird feeling when you hold the pen. It was my first 3776. My second is still unknown of its current place in the world.

Brad Dowdy: Oh, no. I forgot about that. Yeah. We have not.

Myke Hurley: Quick follow-up. Yeah. We have chased the distributor, and they have not replied to the email. So, not looking good so far for my very expensive Platinum Galaxy.

Brad Dowdy: It's just going to end up back on your doorstep, and you won't know that it's going to arrive. And when you go to unbox it, you will not know at the time if it has been repaired or not. Correct.

Myke Hurley: This is very correct. Mm-hmm. Now, the first Pro Gear makes its appearance now, which is one of my very favorites. It's the fifth anniversary Bung Box Pro Gear. This is the first Pro Gear that I think I hunted down of limited editions. I was after two of them. One of them I got a version of, which we'll talk about later, but this was another one that I was really hunting down. This is the pen, which is gold. The body is gold. Gold. The grip section is made of metal, and the cap is matte black. This one has so much. It has all the things on one pen. And then it comes with the matching ink. The gold. And then the barrel is sparkly. The barrel is also sparkly. I forget that. I love it. Yep. I have this one too. This one is just, it's absolute, you know, not that I ever would, I think, part with any of my, also the nib is black. I also think that will part with any of my sailor pens, but this is one you would have to pry from my dead hands. Because it was also one that I worked very hard to try and track down. Yep. The Aurora Optima Violet Flex. This is a pen that I have a complicated relationship with.

Myke Hurley: Because I can get it to write about 20% of the time. But when it does, it's fantastic.

Brad Dowdy: See, I have the exact opposite experience. Because we got these at the same time, right? Yep. Like, I got my gray. And this was our gift from Fountain Pen Hospital, which just, to this day, knocks my socks off.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, that's one of the reasons I keep it on my desk, because it has such, like, fond memories for me.

Brad Dowdy: And I was meh on the pen. Mainly because of the nib. I already like the Optima. But mine is just glorious. I love writing with that pen, and mine writes all the time. So, yeah, I'm curious about yours. That's one of those pens I may want you to just hand off to me next time you see me. And then see what's up.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, I don't know if, like, the Flex nib is problematic for me. Could be. But there's something about it. It just doesn't work the way I would want it to.

Brad Dowdy: Mm-hmm.

Myke Hurley: And the way I would want it to is every time I want to use it.

Myke Hurley: Oh, there is a, there is a, because I'm talking about, like, the completeness of my collection here. Mm-hmm. Thinking about it now, there is a Pro Gear somewhere in the house that is not on my desk, which is the Orangette. Oh, yeah.

Brad Dowdy: That's a good one.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. That's one of the- I skipped that one, but that's a great one. The Mandarin Orangette is the pen. So, I'll put a link to that in the show notes so people can see it. But that's one that I lent to Adina so she could try out the Pro Gear a bit more. And that has very clearly made its way into her personal collection because it lives with the other pens in her pen case now. So- Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: We'll have to get her back on in January and see where she's at. Yeah. I've gotten a request here recently. Like, people say, you know, Brad, Myke, I love you, but Adina needs to be on the show more. So, we'll get her back on. Yeah, I was talking to her about that a couple of days ago, actually, that we'll do it sometime next year.

Myke Hurley: So, we'll get that done, listeners. I have the King of Pen 1911 Royal Tangerine. So, this is the orange 1911, but the King of Pen size, so the larger size. I have the Pro Gear Slim Magic of Alice, which is one of my more recent acquisitions, which is one of the limited edition bung box pens. This is the second, third bung box pen that I've mentioned so far in this list. I have the Sailor 1911 Highlighter Pen, which I picked up in Toronto at Wonder Pens.

Brad Dowdy: This one was the yellow. Do they only do it in yellow, I think, or is it? It's not green, is it? It's more green and yellow to my eyes. Is it green? Okay.

Myke Hurley: Yeah, it's that green highlighter ink. And it comes with a highlighter ink, which I don't use. It's just filled with, like, I think, Key Lime Pie, the KWZ ink. Is it KWZ? I think that might be Oster, but I'm not positive. No, remember we got the four, the sweet ones. There was, like, a Key Lime Pie, and we got those in San Francisco.

Brad Dowdy: Sounds like something Monteverde would do.

Myke Hurley: Monteverde, that's it. They're the ones that were, like, made of, like, candies and stuff and desserts. So we got the Key Lime Pie, one of those, in there. It's, like, a great pairing. I have the Japan Blue Pro Gear. This is the one that was, like, wrapped in steel and hammered. Oh, yeah. Yeah, smallpox pen. The smallpox pen. I think you can still buy these. That just shocks me. They made a second run of them. Oh, okay. And I think that that had less fanfare to it, maybe.

Brad Dowdy: But the shape is so different on those. Yeah. Like, I appreciate the material. I love it because of the materials that they used. The shape is different.

Myke Hurley: Mm-hmm.

Brad Dowdy: I adore it.

Myke Hurley: I adore it, too. Yeah, it's great. Another newer one is the Pro Gear Sparkling Royal Purple, which is one I'm using today, which I got from Pensaci, which I think is also a Wancha one. I believe that's correct. I took it up because the blue Pro Gear was from Wancha, too. And then I have the 1911 standard Royal Tangerine. So I have two Royal Tangerines, the King of Pen and the regular 1911 size.

Brad Dowdy: So I want to say one thing about the King of Pen, Royal Tangerine. That one might end up being a long-term regret on my part. Oh, yeah? Either not picking up that one or the – I think they did Fresca. They did. At the same time. Those are really cool-looking from someone who likes the King of Pen. And I remember when you got that in Atlanta and other people picked them up in Atlanta earlier this year, I was like, boy, that is, again, better than I thought it would be. It's just – I mean, it's a very expensive pen. You just can't – on a whim, I need to think about that. And you think about it long enough, it goes away, right? Mm-hmm. That's a cool pen. Like, if I could reach through and grab any pens off of your desk right now, I'd grab the Tangerine and Magic of Alice probably right there and just steal them away from you.

Pro Gear Pens

Myke Hurley: So far. I also have the Pro Gear Slim San Francisco Pen Show Special Edition, which to me looks like the pen that Spider-Man would own. Totally the Spider-Man pen, right? That's how I think of it. And I have the converter on the inside has the Golden Gate Bridge paint on it. Yeah. Which is really nice. That's awesome. It's just a nice touch. We're about halfway through. Mm-hmm. Just depends. So let's take a break and thank Squarespace for their support of this episode. You can make your next move with Squarespace. They'll let you easily create a website for your next idea. They can give you a unique domain name. You can customize award-winning templates to make your work shine and so much more. No matter what it is you want to build a website for, Squarespace has the tools you're going to need. It's an all-in-one platform to let you build it. There's nothing to install or patch or upgrade. Don't worry about any of the back-end stuff. They take care of all of this for you. And they have 24-7 customer support in case you need any help when using the Squarespace system. They have functionality for blogs, for portfolios, for businesses, for events. You can create an online store with Squarespace. You can sell physical or digital goods and they have all the integrations there that you're going to need. Brad runs multiple online stores through the Squarespace platform.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, I actually have some comments about that. You want me to go now?

Myke Hurley: Yeah.

Brad Dowdy: They, I don't know what's in the water over there, but they have ramped up the add-ons and updates to the retail platform exponentially, like over the past month. So I've just gotten an email, like in the past week or so, about new commerce features, like I can put in the wishlist now and I can put in similar products, which we've had in the past, but we did in our own hacked way to make it work. So they have all these features that they just rolled out and it's awesome. They make my life so much easier. So look for those to be integrated on the NotCo website soon. So that's really good because that helps you make your store more professional, right? Yeah, totally. Totally. Like a waiting list is something we wanted since the beginning, right? Because we often sell out of products and then when I restock it, you know, it's hard for me to communicate with customers other than just keeping a list and emailing them when it's ready. Now I'll be able to integrate that in the site. So yes, it took them a while to get there, but they are actively working on it. And this was like, those were like two of like the six or eight things that they just implemented. Like it's all kinds of stuff I got to go through and get in place.

Myke Hurley: So it's not just stores. You can create any type of website with Squarespace. I've made it. We've done it. Brad has blogs there. I've had blogs there. Theme system websites there for good reason. I bought new domains on Monday, Myke.

Brad Dowdy: My ideas are flowing.

Myke Hurley: Uh-oh. Uh-oh. Watch out. Watch out Squarespace. Brad's coming for you. Squarespace.com slash penaddict. You can go there and sign up for a trial with no credit card required. Their plans start at just $12 a month. And when you decide to sign up for a plan, use the offer code penaddict and you'll get 10% of your first purchase of a website or domain and show your support for this show. Once again, that's squarespace.com slash penaddict. And the code penaddict for 10% of your first purchase. Our thanks to Squarespace for their continued support of this show and all of RelayFM, Squarespace. Make your next move. Make your next website. So, the other... I mentioned the gold Bongbox Progear. I was hunting down this pen at the same time that I was hunting down... What I was looking for was the Progear Pink Love, which was a sparkly pink pen that Bongbox had done. Just around the time that I was looking for it, they released the follow-up to that pen called the Sweet Love, which is, by and large, the same pen with some slight coloring changes, which was great for me because I just wanted a pen that was pink and sparkly and was a Sailor Progear and I was able to get it there. So, that one's another favorite of mine. Yeah, it's great. I have the Progear that started it all. Just the standard orange Progear. It's not a special edition of any kind. It's just one of the regular colors you can buy that I bought at my first Atlanta pen show. Oh, nice. That was when I bought that. Because I remember you... I remember that. You showed it to me the first night because we'd been talking about it and I wasn't sure about it. And I tried it out and I was like, oh, this is amazing. And I bought one at the pen show that year. I have the Progear Slim Purple Cosmos, which is just like a dark purple pen with some sparkles in it. It's actually a really nice pair with the Sweet Love because they look very similar. That's a great pen.

Brad Dowdy: Absolutely great pen.

Myke Hurley: People seem to really like that one. I mean, I like it, but I don't... I have ones that I like way more. But I like the pairing of the Sweet Love and the Purple Cosmos together. Yep. My only Rialo that I have, which is the piston filling system in the Sailor line, is a black Progear Rialo. It's my only like kind of boring looking Progear Sailor pen because it's all black with some gold furniture. But bought for the filling system. Bought for the filling system because I didn't have one and I wanted to try it out and I really love it and I wish they would do more of them. So I have the... Okay. So we've explained this before, but there's a company called Nagasawa. Is that the name of the company?

Brad Dowdy: Yeah. It's just think of it like Van S Pens or whatever, I believe.

Myke Hurley: Okay. And they have the ability to work with Sailor and change the branding of the pens. I don't know why they can do this, but they can. And so the Nagasawa pens, they don't have Sailor printed on them. They have Nagasawa printed on them and I think they have slightly different names. But I have what is essentially a Progear Slim made by Nagasawa. It's called Apricot and it's like a really light orange color with some sparkles in it. And then I also have another pen from Nagasawa, which was to commemorate the anniversary at the port of Kobe. I think it was the 150th anniversary. But this isn't a Progear. It is a Lacool. Lacool. Lacool. Yeah. Because it's a steel nib. Right. But it looks like a Progear Slim, but it's clearly a cheaper version of that type of pen. But it's blue and white and I really like it. Mm-hmm. So that is all of the Sailor pens.

Brad Dowdy: I then have... Are you sure? Because you missed one on the list. The purple demonstrator Progear Slim. I don't even know what this is.

Myke Hurley: Oh, sorry. Yeah, I missed that one. Yeah, this is just a... This is one of my Pensachi purchases at the same time that I got the Nagasawa Progear. It's just a purple demonstrator. Oh, is this the gold trim one? Gold trim, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. That one's sharp. Which is nice. Very bright. Yeah, I like that one. It was just like a different... It just looked very different. And I think it was when I... Remember when I made a bunch of orders at Pensachi wondering if they would ever arrive? Yeah, that was one of them. Yeah, yeah. Because it was like a good price. It was like $100 or something. It was like a really good price. Yeah, I then have four Canalea Pens. Woo! So I have the Eolani, the Haleakala Silhouette, the Hanawama Bay, and the Maui Makai. That's a good group. Yeah. They're like sitting on a block, which is slightly higher than the other ones. It's like these four Hawaiian mountains just like hanging out over there.

Brad Dowdy: Yeah, so I just have the Hanawama Bay now, but that Haleakala has grown on me from the day it was released. Yeah.

Myke Hurley: Yeah. Every week my favorite of those four changes. Sure. I have the Rotaring 600 Lava Mechanical Pencil which made its way back onto my desk after we spoke about it a week or two ago I have the Spoke Pen Joker Edition which is my favorite of the Spoke Pens Great Pen I have the White and Copper Mark 1 so the white body with the copper knock it's my favorite colorway of the Mark 1 I have the Lamy Safari Pikachu Edition in the Pokeball stand

Brad Dowdy: this is one of the greatest collaborations ever and I say that as I'm not a fan of Pikachu or Pokemon or anything like that but it's just extremely well done and it's just great

Myke Hurley: I'm a big fan of it I need to do some maintenance to mine I checked it the other day and the ink inside of it it's crusted up a little bit but I can take care of that it's not that bad yes please do I'm gonna I have another one though I have two it's not that bad famous last words it's not that bad the Sky at Night Jonathan Brooks Pen with the matching stand oh yeah

Brad Dowdy: I forgot about that one

Myke Hurley: yep that one's sitting there I it was my first Jonathan Brooks Pen from the first time I met him at the Atlanta Pen Show bought the pen with the matching stand and then accidentally named the material

Brad Dowdy: I wonder if he could mix that up again Jonathan

Myke Hurley: yeah I don't know if he can or does still make it I'm not sure because it was a material that he used for a while yeah I think that was a few years ago many years ago the spoke pencil in the stand spoke pencil model 4 such a good pencil yep I have the good made better pen well to pop my pens in when they're in use and also I don't remember who gave us these at the San Francisco Pen Show but it's like a little glass pen rest that you can pour ink into

Brad Dowdy: yes that thing is wild and I forget his name but he walked around and he handed it something he's like hey I made this and we were both like what is this neither of us smoke crack yeah that's what it looks like

Myke Hurley: so

Brad Dowdy: but it's this it's basically a blown glass pen rest that has a tiny hole in it and you can fill it with an ink or liquid of your choosing to match you know if you if you have an orange pen you can put an orange ink into this pen well it's a pen rest and it's just cool I have Emerald Chivor in here oh nice so Quadropod is apparently who gave us those those pen balls thank you Quadropod so we'll find a we'll find a link if we can find a link to that because it it knocked my socks off it's really cool

Myke Hurley: yeah it's like a fun it's like a fun little thing isn't it yep really mm-hmm it's great I have a Studio Neat panel book which is what I'm taking my notes on right now I have a Pen Addict Members poker chip mm-hmm it's on my desk I have various other RelayFM host gifts so the first one we ever did was a wooden block which we had Myke Dudak help us with mm-hmm Dudak has actually helped us make two of the host gifts yep um I have a action figure which is customized to look like me that my brother bought me for my 30th birthday which is awesome it's like a wrestling action figure and it's like this part they found this person who like makes custom ones that's really cool I have a fidget spinner uh because that's who I am absolutely I have the James Brand Folsom knife which I've mentioned which I mentioned a long time ago on this show

Brad Dowdy: yeah I refresh my memory how did that one get into the country I don't know I think it's a British brand because no the James Brand is out of Portland

Myke Hurley: oh well I don't know I actually ordered it and they sent it to me nice so I don't know why I had in my mind that this was a British company I think it's just the name James because it says James Bond well close James Bond knife close mm-hmm and the Studio Neat Material Dock which is what I put my phone into just the phone one I don't think they make that one anymore it's not wireless charging

Brad Dowdy: it's made to have the charger run through right and you can stand it mm-hmm does that work yep yeah

Myke Hurley: yeah it's just like a little block of wood with a cork rest on the back and it just keeps the phone like in an upright position but with the lightning port plugged into it still

Brad Dowdy: mm-hmm so Myke let me tell you something I would sit at this desk it's a good desk I would sit at this desk it's a good desk

Myke Hurley: I use an Ikea desk a corner desk an Ikea corner desk in case you're wondering

Brad Dowdy: mm cool I wasn't but thank you anyway

Myke Hurley: not you

Brad Dowdy: um oh

Myke Hurley: you said you well it was the royal you mm that's y'all so if you have the royal we

Brad Dowdy: and like the southerners you I will say like just big picture comparing your desk to my desk I have an insane amount of paper on my desk that you do not have do not have I wish I had I wish I had your your paper yeah

Myke Hurley: I have five total paper products on this desk

Brad Dowdy: yeah I think mine has a zero after the five the way I remember it mm that's not good so that is my desk wonderful love it

Myke Hurley: I'm glad you did this thank you me too so thank you for pushing me to do it it was fun yeah yeah

Brad Dowdy: super fun super fun

Top Stationery Products of the Decade

Myke Hurley: all right we are going to talk about the top 10 stationary products of the decade oof because it feels like the right time to do it but before we do that let's talk about our friends over at Harry's the holiday season is upon us this is a time where everybody needs to think of a million gift ideas for the special people in our lives don't resort to cliches don't get the presents that people can't use don't get the presents that you're not interested in don't just buy socks right I'm sure tons of people out there will agree with me you want fun stuff fun stuff you can use fun stuff that will bring you joy this is something what Harry's can do if you want to gift for someone this year that they can have fun with that they can enjoy that they can use every day that they're going to be happy to use you should gift them something from Harry's Harry's razors are thoughtful and practical their products are super well made the ordering process is really simple and they have special products for the holidays and so you're all set they make sharp durable blades last and they are backed by a 100% guarantee and refills are as low as $2 each they have holiday sets starting at just $20 which could even be a great idea for Secret Center if you're feeling generous they come in a ready to gift box and 1% of every sale is donated to charitable organizations so your gift gives back Brad are you going to be using Harry's this holiday season

Brad Dowdy: I use Harry's every day Michael I'm sure you do you know what sparked joy about my Harry's experience Myke so I use the shave cream which comes in a tube and the tube whatever they use on the interior lining or coating of that tube allows you to get every last drop of that shave cream out of that tube and I appreciate that that is a joyous experience for me Myke that there's no waste in those tubes which other products certainly have and I just wanted to thank Harry's for their inner tube lubrication materials that is good

Myke Hurley: that's what you want Harry's stuff is really great as we mentioned for the holidays and it's a special offer for listeners to this show you can get $5 off any shave set including their limited edition holiday sets when you go to harrys.com slash penaddict and you'll get free shipping as well each Harry's shaving set comes with a weighted handle with an option to engrave five blade razor cartridges foaming shave gel for a rich lather travel cover to protect your blades and it's all packaged in a handsome holiday gift box free shipping ends on December 16th so act now that's harrys.com slash penaddict h-a-r-r-y-s dot com slash penaddict our thanks to Harry's for their support of this show and RelayFM so I saw this post in Refill and you published it on your blog as well and I was really surprised and pleased that you did it which is in your in the mind of the penaddict which you know couldn't there be any greater mind what are the top 10 stationary products of the last 10 years it's a big ask to sit down and work that one out

Brad Dowdy: it kind of was I mean it it definitely was you know it's we've all seen the end of the decade post come out you know the books and the movies and the music and everyone's got a list and like I like lists I don't do them that often but you know when I do I try to make them fun and functional and you know I still keep getting asked about the top five updates list and I was like boy I really need to work on that and then in like one night several weeks ago it hit me I was like well what if I could pick like the best pens of the decade I was like well that doesn't seem like enough that doesn't that doesn't feel right you know to have it just be pens you know what if I just picked out like my favorite stationary products like individual products of the past 10 years you know and I was thinking that because the blog's been up since 2007 actually the anniversary will be 12 years in like two two and a half weeks the blog will have been up for 12 years so I was like well I've got 10 years worth of stuff here or more than that I bet I could come up with you know enough products that really changed either how I thought about a type of product or how changed how I use certain products I already own or move the needle in the marketplace and I felt like I had you know a good enough grasp on the entirety of that to be able to talk about it and I was like well what what would this post look like so several weeks ago I just started making a list like if I was picking out the top sensationary products of the decade what would those products be and I didn't pull up the website or anything I just kind of sat sat and had to think right Myke and just made a list of of products and I was like this is a pretty good list like these are some products that have made a difference that have been you know in many cases you know long-standing products and why not write about them and see what we think and I did it from the perspective of this is my list right like me personally like what did I enjoy what did I think made a difference make a difference you know in the past 10 years and it was really fun to put together and yeah I just I just had a blast doing it so this is not a ranked list is it no it's not ranked at all so yeah I didn't think I could rank it because there's there wouldn't be any substance I didn't feel behind the ranking number right like I mentioned in the intro like what does it mean to you if I rank a wooden pencil number three and a bottle of ink number six what does that mean and I just don't think it means anything

Myke Hurley: well you could have ranked them in like their impact or like you could have at least attempted to do that right like that could have been a way to rank them but again that would have been quite nebulous yes

Brad Dowdy: because we'll look when you look at the list and impact is a great way to put it you know one of the items on the list the first item in the list and we'll talk about them all the black wing 602 pencil there's a lot of reasons

Myke Hurley: 2011

Brad Dowdy: there are a lot of reasons why this is impactful and it's a product I use but if you jump down the list you know one of the products that is impactful is the the platinum 3776 kampu and we'll talk about why in a minute but that's not a product I own right so how do you rank that numerically yeah and impact when one of those products I think fits on this list but I don't even own it right so you know I think it's cool I so that's why I didn't want to put a number down on them because these are all like number ones right that's it's a full list of number ones yeah especially

Myke Hurley: you did select a bunch of different types of things which is good yeah

Brad Dowdy: yeah so um let's just start at the top I listed them alphabetically so the blackwing 602 which I just mentioned this was important because I think it kind of changed the landscape of what we think about good pencils right it changed even though there was you know nice pencils out before these black wings like you know a lot of the Japanese brands were making really exquisite pencils like Tombow and Mitsubishi that were a step or three above what you consider just your basic school pencil and then the blackwing acquisition and spin up of the new company and the new brand just kind of you know turned everything up to 11 in the pencil world and made people sit up and you know think about woodcase pencils as a good choice for an everyday writing instrument where they would have just considered you know pencils to be for kids in the past and that used at school work instead of you know used in the office for your daily tasks like we would normally use a pen so and it was also an interesting story at the time because there was a lot of drama behind it we won't go into all the in-depth of the things and links that you can go read in the post but you know it was you know and I think rightfully dramatic at the time but it's it's turned out to be a really good thing for the stationery world in my opinion

Myke Hurley: so have come to this the bungbox sailor pink love from 2016 so it was the first one and then I got the sweet love which effectively the same it's like a darker pink though yeah this really started the limited edition fever right to

Brad Dowdy: me it did right I think it did to many

Myke Hurley: people

Brad Dowdy: yeah to my paying attention of that market and that's why it's important this was far far far far from the first limited ! sailor pin right but it was the one that made me realize that these different companies are doing these highly specific releases in super limited fashion and I wanted to be a part of it right that's when we started to look to Japan for these highly customized pins where before we were just kind of taking what we were given right you know if we were allowed to buy the pin in the US or Europe you know those are the pins we would buy where this pin was never accessible to us before but as always with the internet where where there's a will there's a way and this was the pin that kind of kicked off that whole scenario for me just getting into these highly specialized custom tiny shop tiny release based pins you know there were a hundred of these pins made and I just remember like I had to have this pin and you know like hunted it down like you were talking about earlier and yeah I'm glad I did and it just kind of opened up the door to everything else and I think it was just kind of that flagpole moment where I realized how much is really out there that I had no idea about

Myke Hurley: so next up it's similarly I think the J. Herban Emerald of Chivu and you rightly call it the shimmering that started a revolution

Brad Dowdy: yeah a lot of these products are far from the first product that did a thing right you know this is not even close to the first shimmering but this is the shimmering that made everyone sit up and pay attention to what a shimmering could be

Brad Dowdy: for this one were just kind of boring like they were just like a flat blue with silver or red with gold and they were just kind of basic looking and it's like well why do I want to clog up my pen for just the regular old blue ink and sprinkle some glitter in it and then J. Herban just dropped this out of the sky and you look at these ink

Brad Dowdy: letters and how this ink behaved on the paper it was like oh that's different and I think it was pretty clear that it turned a corner for shimmer ink and ever since then that whole market that was about the time that was 2015 that was about the time that shimmer ink market took off when people saw this and then a bunch of companies were making it already but this allowed them to be I think a little bit more free and open in experimentation of colors and shimmer and you know how the ink behaved on the page and what it looked like and how just kind of fancy it could be right this is a fancy ink and it just it looks cool it looks pretty it and that's why everyone kind of latched onto it and I really think that was a turning point so there was this was one of the first items that I wrote down on my list as you know this has to be one of the top products of the decade just because of what it did to the shimmer ink market

Myke Hurley: why is the Kaweco

Brad Dowdy: Lilliput fire blue on this list because I love this pen and I remembered so this is a me list right so Kaweco have been making pocket pens forever I mean hell since the early mid 1900s and I don't know when the Lilliput first came out like in the aluminum barrel it's been a while but this pen I just had this fond memory of how hard this pen was to buy at the time it launched I don't know if that's a fond memory from everyone because people who wanted it couldn't get it at the time and it was such a unique pen the way it was torched so it's a steel pen that was flamed right you take a high power like basically like a mini blow torch and torch the pen and

Brad Dowdy: that was the party line and that just makes me crack up like that just it's it's silly but you know that's where the marketing comes in and a lot of these pens and or products on this list like the jherban a lot of them have a marketing aspect to it right that's why they kind of turned turned it

Brad Dowdy: right everyone does like a flame torch thing now and it's pretty popular and it's pretty pretty hot to do that in your product lineup and this was kind of the first and this was just like a fun and somewhat funny with the story behind it and to this day is still a pen that I use frequently and that's another aspect of a lot of these products a lot of these products I use them or something closer related to them all the time for years and they've withstood the test of time in some cases a decade so yeah I just think this is a fun pin to have on this list because of all the different things that were involved with it

Myke Hurley: and as a man with two of these sitting on his desk I clearly agree with the Nanami Seven Seas Crossfield Journal

Brad Dowdy: yeah this seemed like an obvious one that had to go on the list because when the Tomoe River paper came out when the fountain pen users started saying have you tried the Tomoe River paper and people are going how do you spell that what is this what is this paper and how do I get it and it you know it makes my inks behave in these crazy ways and it looks beautiful but it was inaccessible and when we first got Tomoe River paper in the US it was just like in loose sheets like you could get some loose sheets for it no one was making notebooks for it certainly these big notebooks that Nanami was making with the Seven Seas journals they were doing an A5 bound journal that was 400 pages of Tomoe River and I remember once that launched everyone was just basically queued up to get them and to this day they still have trouble keeping stock of these items I get emails all the time it's like do they ever get more in and now there's at least options out there right now everyone makes a Tomoe River paper but this was the first one that I recall being at least moderately widely available to where we could click on a website and go buy a really nice notebook and like I just said with the Kaweco it's withstood the test of time it's kind of you know it's not the biggest it's not the brightest it's not the fanciest but it's just really good right it's the workhorse it's the one that kind of started all of these things so it was very very cool to see them do that and have these available and expand on the lineup and sell out of them all the time it was very cool

Myke Hurley: pen type A it has to make the list right I agree it is a very important product in the history of Kickstarter and pens right like if anything other than that's the reason right like it is it was a big success at the time it everybody learned a lot from the way everything unfolded right because it was like a complicated production it is it is like on the Mount Rushmore of Kickstarter projects I think

Brad Dowdy: right and it was like one of the first times that we all kind of collectively realized not everything is you know roses and rainbows you know this was an ugly campaign and you know I've gotten to know I've never met Saeway and Taylor in the beginning I mean I've never met them in person but I've known them since the beginning and we we've talked online I'd call them friends but man this was such a dramatic event in the pen community that I felt it had to be in there because they weathered the storm and they came out better for it and have made even better designs than what this pen is right so I use the pen type B all the time that's one of my favorite favorite so yeah like and I and I also thought this was a great addition to the list not just for the story and the product but this was in 2011 and maybe a lot of our new listeners and readers to the blog have never heard of this at all and it was just such a turning point in the community as a whole in the way Kickstarter pen projects were viewed in the way products could be made on a on a technical and engineering level so this just kind of had everything like I joked as like I was surprised this doesn't have like a Gimlet miniseries podcast written about this product in this story of how this this pen was because that's what it was like it was it was it seemed like it had to be at least 12 months I didn't look at the the total entirety of the drama probably over a year's worth of just dramatics and it took a while to to shake all the way out but I think it was in the end 10 years or nine years later we're in a good place so and you know maybe this had to happen

Myke Hurley: yeah I mean it could be easily argued though that it started a revolution yeah for sure stationary

Brad Dowdy: products for sure yeah because in 2011 they did like 280 grand like that's that was outrageous at the time it's outrageous today but at the time that was especially crazy mm-hmm yeah so

Myke Hurley: yeah I think like this the glyph was a big one mm-hmm right like they're like some of the really early on products that made Kickstarter what seemed like a legitimate business like proposition yeah you can go

Brad Dowdy: back Kickstarter did what they they called the almost like these Kickstarter founder projects there's a special name they have for them and the pen type a and cwt cwnt were were one of those companies and I guess maybe along with studio need and they picked like eight or ten companies when they did their anniversary projects that were kind of like the leaders at the time that they launched the thing so it's pretty cool the

Myke Hurley: retro 51 pink robots which is the pen you made

Brad Dowdy: list yeah you skipped one but we'll go back to it today you've done that a lot today so I don't know what's wrong you need to get your eyes checked or something yeah so it's like I don't know that a retro 51 a specific retro 51 would make the list other than this

Myke Hurley: one and I disagree with you horrifically well

Brad Dowdy: like in a a needle mover type of way and maybe there is something that I'm looking at all of

Myke Hurley: the kickstarter pens that use the schmidt refill sure none of those would exist about the retro 51 well maybe I should have just listed the refill I think honestly the refill would have been a good list but I think the retro 51 is a good product to put on here for its design its prolificness and for really showing the world like one of the best refills that you could buy which has then started like a whole subculture of other pens that use it

Brad Dowdy: yeah I think that's a good I think that's a good one I think that's totally would have been a great choice for this so by proxy I did the retro 51 pink robots because I love this pen so much I'm really proud of all the buttons it pushed for everyone on this design and Matthew's help with this was fantastic and it enabled me to tell stories and I love products that you can tell a story about and I just have a fondness for this pen even though it's mine and you know that's a little bit self-serving in a list like this I'm okay with that because I'm really proud of the product and yeah I just think it's great and you know I wanted to put something like that in there so there you have it

Myke Hurley: the Platinum 3776 Kumpu which is you mentioned this already

Brad Dowdy: yeah so we talked about with like the Jay Herban how that was the start of the shimmer ink revolution I think the Platinum 3776 Kumpu is at the peak of Platinum's you know foray into limited edition high quality pens they were for the longest time a very basic pen maker in my opinion you know they had some very standard safe products products that you know appealed to a lot of people but once you get into the pen addict world you realize there is a whole world of products out there that may fit your your personal style and aesthetic better and Platinum was kind of the last one to figure this out and then they started slowly changing it like in the early to mid you know 2010s trying to do some limited editions and then like they did this lake limited edition that were all very pretty but they were all kind of clear barreled and they each had kind of different bits you know that made each barrel stand out and then they started with like you had the the Nice Lavon and they had the Nice Lelos and then they had the Shunko I was like oh Platinum's getting it now like they're they're getting they're turned it around a little bit not that they had to but in the conversation around the big three Japanese pen makers Pilot, Sailor, and Platinum Platinum was a consistent third they were risking irrelevance yeah and then they've just been on this upswing and I think the Kumpu was the culmination of that upswing this was a beautiful pen that resonated with everybody sold out almost immediately is impossible to get and just kind of set them you know set their story as being a player now in the big three right alongside Platinum Platinum Pilot and Sailor so I think they're you know all maybe on a more equivalent playing field when Sailor and Pilot were out ahead of Platinum for a while and I think the Kumpu was finally that point where they kind of reached peak the peak of Mount Fuji if you will and I think I'm interested to see they now they have to keep it up right so can they keep it up we'll see Star Wars pens yeah those exist shown design 01 from 2012 this is very similar to the Kaveko Lily put in that these are very specific Brad pens right I like the small pen and what was funny about this one is I skipped this one when it came out usually this is something I would jump on you know a small pocket pen made of metal that can fit you know like a Fisher's space pen refill or in the case of the Lily put a fountain pen whichever it was like okay it's like I see it you know I see you Kickstarter and I don't know if I need this and then I started seeing them more and I started trying them more and I was like okay maybe I'm missing something here let me get one of my own so I just ordered one off the website I think at the time just the basic black one I was like oh I get it like the fit and the quality and the machining on these pens is perfect and it's exactly what I want in a pocket EDC pen it's everything I want and then you and I met Ian for the first time in person at the DC pen show was that 2017 I guess and that's when he started doing the anodization so he started doing all these gone from like black and you know silver pens to just wild crazy colors and now I end up I have like three of these pens and I just love them they have come in cool colors they really fit me I think the pocket design is great and I also wanted small makers to be represented on this list because I think if there's any story to be told in the stationary world is the the rise of the the small maker during this time frame and this isn't to single anyone out necessary or to leave anyone else out you know I could have done an entire small maker list top 10 easily you know so maybe I'll maybe I'll do that too but I just think it's a good story to tell about this last decade about individuals making cool things that turned them into into companies of their own so I think it's just a great pen and it's a great story and it deserves to be on this

Myke Hurley: list and then also we have I think this is the last one right the TWSBI Eco from 2015 which is yeah like just a fantastic really just like a really excellent pen

Brad Dowdy: yeah I had to think I didn't I knew the product should be on here but like writing about it I was like well what do you say about the TWSBI Eco like we brag on it for like it's a great entry-level fountain pen but I think it kind of righted the ship for TWSBI if you will not that they were sinking or doing anything you know crazy but they had you know they had a lot of issues in the first many many years of their company and people swore them off like I will never buy a TWSBI again because of a lot of quality issues that they had early on I never experienced really those issues quite so I kept kind of plugging away on the brand and kept trying all the new things that they made and I enjoyed them the Eco was different in that it was such a high quality pen for such a lower price point than the rest of their pens that it was almost it's almost shocking how good that pen is for the price like a value proposition and I even wrote to the effect that they may have cannibalized their own like 580 brand which is twice the price why would you necessarily recommend the 580 you know there's differences you know the nibs a little bit different and you know a few little designs and hardware designs and things like that are different but still it's pretty close and this is like a $30 pen and that's what gets me every time I pick up this pen that this is a $30 pen and I'm fine using it right alongside like my Aurora Optima Flex which is like a $500 pen or whatever you know it's they're the same category of I enjoy writing with this pen pen you know that's the category it's in you know it doesn't have to do with price it's just freaking good and you know I think Twisby knows it they've gone all in on the Eco they're doing all kinds of designs and colors like it's it's the star of the lineup now and I don't know that they intended it to be because it's at a lower price point than all kinds of other pens that they sell but do you see any movement on the you know the top end of their lineup which you know is less than $100 still but I have to say like this is

Myke Hurley: what they're doing is anyone really focusing on that like their low end is so good right I don't know what the value proposition is for a higher end Twisby in 2019 2020 yep I know

Brad Dowdy: it's like they're gonna have to like they did what they do earlier this year I forget what it's called like that Aurora Borealis looking one the green one you know that was unique but it was so limited like they're gonna have to do

Myke Hurley: more of that the one that had like a large body but like a super small nib yes yeah yeah yeah it was a

Brad Dowdy: black nib we got to see in Atlanta from our friend cat she had one and let us use it and it's great but that one was like a hundred maybe low hundreds and like that's fine I could see them doing more of that but you still have to answer the eco question it's like a it's like a self-fulfilling prophecy kind of thing where they made such a good pin here they now have to answer you know if they make a hundred dollar pin it's like well is it as good as the eco it's like well I don't know it might

Myke Hurley: not be yeah but then as you say like the the the overall trend of this decade has been the increase in small

Brad Dowdy: companies yes right and that's what I'm here for right this

Myke Hurley: is what I enjoy the most me

Brad Dowdy: too like I enjoy my favorite price point is zero to thirty dollars you know in as far as

Myke Hurley: what I was talking about but but like I know more like the independent companies making acrylics and turning pens and beautiful and wonderful ways but I also yeah your point well no

Brad Dowdy: that's that's yeah that's a sorry that was I did miss the point there but like I was saying earlier when I was talking about the shown design pin I could make a top ten list of that you know Brooks and Newton and you know I you hate reeling off those names because you know you're going to leave someone out you know I'd put not go in there and just all these things like this is why I enjoy that independent maker and I enjoy the accessible price points is maybe what I should should talk about where you can get something that's super unique super you know perfect fit for you as a person as a style and at a price point that's reasonable even if it's a you know a three hundred dollar Brooks pin that's still you can't get that from you know necessarily from Mont Blanc or something or Pelican you know you can't get that perfect pin that's for you and you can get that from these makers and that has definitely been a boon to us as a community in this past decade

Myke Hurley: what a wonderful way to end the decade yes yes and it's it's not

Brad Dowdy: our last show of the decade is it

Myke Hurley: though no we have one more episode next week are you sure what you're like yeah one more next week which is going to be next Thursday so it's a slight schedule change schedule update and then we'll be back again on the second and on the second we're going to talk about 2020 journaling plans yes yeah I'm anxious to talk about

Brad Dowdy: that I'm I'm I've got things I got all kinds of things to talk about on that so yeah next week we'll go on we'll record on Thursday because I have a sudden engagement that I need to attend to I'll be out of town for a few days early in the week so I won't be back in time to record Wednesday we'll record Thursday we'll get that out to you and then we'll take Christmas off and then we'll be back on Thursday again January the second at our normal time in 2020 Wow so

Myke Hurley: fast if you want to find the show notes for this week relay.fm slash pen addict slash 389 or you can find them in your show you can find them in your podcast app of choice as well you can find Brad he's a online bunch of places pen addict.com knock.co twitch.tv slash pen addict dowdy is on Twitter pen addict on Instagram I'm I'm Myke I am YKE the show is a part of relay FM if you listen to this show go take a look at some other shows we have relay.fm slash shows where you can find something else to tickle your fancy thanks to Squarespace and Harry's for their support of this episode and we'll be back next time until then say goodbye Brad goodbye Brad