Editing The Pen Addict 249/transcript (section)

== Aurora Flex ==


'''Myke Hurley:''' All right, Brad. So we have been spending so much time over the last maybe couple of weeks talking about and anticipating the Aurora flex, right? So like this came up weeks ago, the news that Aurora making flex nibs. And then I think it was either last week or the week before we spoke about the interview that you did with Aurora and brought it up again then. And there was a model provide, of the 88, the 70th anniversary. What is it like a few hundred of these being made or something?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. So what they're doing to launch this product is they're going to make eight barrel colors. They're going to release one color per month for eight months, and there will be 188 of each of those colors. Okay. So did you track that? I think so. For example, blue is coming out this month and there are 188 of them available worldwide. Okay. Yeah. And the next month, next month will be whatever the next color is. I don't know the complete order.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So it's an interesting decision, but like I can see it, right? Like you're making different colors, doing limited editions, that kind of thing. But the star of the show, right, was the flex nib. Right, right. Making a flex nib. So Susan, she did the review for you over at the Pen Addict. And it seems like it doesn't cut the mustard would be a phrase I would use here.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Well, I mean, it's all relative, I think. So I had the chance to use this pen at the LA Pen Show. So, and I've had a chance to use it at the Little Rock Pen Show. So whatever Aurora's been out since they've launched the pen before sales have started on the pen, they've had samples that we could try. Okay. And, you know, it's a perfectly nice pen. It just doesn't, it's not like a super flex nib. And that's fine. It's just like, you know, the original Pilot Falcon is a soft fine. It's not a flex nib. It's got some flex in it. But it's not going to go crazy like some kind of wet noodle flex. And the issue that I found with the Aurora Flex, while it's a, it's an awesome writing pen, I didn't find it to be a super flexible pen. I mean, you can push it some, but it's not as flexible as the Omos Flessabile nibs, which Susan compared it to, which I also have. And it's not as flexible to me as the Pilot FA nib, which is becoming a more readily available nib in the US market. And even if it's not as flexible, or if it's as similarly flexible, it's three times the price is like a Pilot 912 with an FA nib, which you can get for like around $225, something in that ballpark. So it's a, it's a great pen. I just didn't feel it was necessarily, it wasn't a mind blowing pen. And I think Susan found it to be the same way. So like, we've talked before, how, when the writers of the Pen Act do reviews, I have no involvement in it. And I, it's, that's on purpose. Like, I don't want, I don't say anything about any of the products that we review before the review's done. And they just, they get the pen, they review it, and then they turn it in. But my expectations and my time with the pen, my thoughts line up like verbatim, almost with what Susan said. And I mean, it's, it's a really good pen. The thing about this pen, they will sell out immediately. Like, this isn't going to have any, any ramifications on them selling every single one of these pens, because there's only 188 of each color. But if you, if you come to me and say, Brad, there's this Aurora Flex pen out there. Should I buy it? Or should I look at something else? I'm going to recommend the Pilot FA nine times out of 10. Unless there's a real good reason you want this Aurora, you know, maybe it's the barrel color, maybe like the limited edition aspect of it. And that's where the expense lies, right? They're not making, this isn't a perma release pen. You know, if this was just a stock pen that they were doing, maybe the cost would come down some, but it's a limited edition. So they're not making as many, making fewer colors. So it's going to cost more. It just doesn't feel like a $650 pen when really all you're getting is the nib. And the nib is really awesome. It is great to write with. It's just not some kind of crazy super flex. So your expectations should be set accordingly.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Because I think people are expecting different though, right? Like, I think it, there seemed to be the expectation that it was going to be this kind of cool, fancy, different, weird, super flexible nib. And it seems, you know, like Susan was just like, it's, it's flexible, but it's not super flexible. It's not anything like as she compares it to the Omas Extra Flexible, which I still hate that name. It's an interesting name. I hate that name. Anyway, but it, you know, it seems like an issue, and as you said, and she put it really well that like, this is a really nice pen, but it doesn't offer enough to justify its price.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Right. Right. But, you know, it's going to justify its price all day, every day, because it's limited, because of Aurora's name. The 88 barrel is night is a piston filler, you know, these other ones that I'm talking about, like the Pilot 912, you know, that's a cartridge converter. So, you know, it definitely has some features, but you just gotta, you got, you have to decide why you want this pen, right? Which is our buying decision every day, right? Why am I choosing pen X over pen Y? And so, you line all these things up, and then you make your decision on that. So, there's certainly valid reasons to purchase this Aurora, and believe me, they're already pretty much sold out of blue. I mean, they're, they're just gonna fly off the shelf, and I tell you, if you want one, you better get on it, like, quickly. Like, if you see a color come out that you want, like, we got, Aurora got one of each of the eight colors, I mean, excuse me, Kenro got one of each of the eight colors to send out to people. So, Myke got the, Myke at Ink Dependence got the yellow one, Joe Crace, I think, got the green one. So, if you see a color you like, you need to talk to your vendor and get on the list, because I know we were working with Van S. Pens on this one, and it didn't even matter linking to them, because you couldn't buy them anymore. All

'''Myke Hurley:''' their pre-orders were sold out. Basically, what it seems like is that, like, the way that I'm looking at this is, like, this is a great pen, but don't really think of it as a Flexnip so much.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Think of it as a regular pen with something extra.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, it is, like, the baseline of Flexible, but it writes really nicely on a day-to-day basis, which I think is, you know, that's fine if that's what you're looking for, but what I'm saying is it's not what, I don't think it's what we're expecting, right? And so, just, I think people just should adjust their expectations a little bit.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I was expecting that because it's impossible to make a modern Flex pen like any type of vintage Flex. So, this is kind of in line with what I was thinking, to be honest. Right. Like, it's not a disappointment from that aspect. There are technical limitations to what you can do, and, you know, that's why it's not an outlier for Flex, right? It's in the range of normal for Flex, which is cool. That's fine.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Okay.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Whereas an outlier would be, like, your vintage stuff, which you just can't make that kind of thing anymore.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Why?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I don't know. I'm not a nib meister, but it's just to, it's the way the nib has to be manufactured. And to get a thinness for Flex while we're maintaining the ability to spring back and not have people returning your pens every month because they sprung the nib.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Okay. Right. Okay. It's like a quality control type deal. Yeah. Because otherwise, people would just be breaking them left, right, and center and be returning them and your business would go under. Right. Right.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Put it simply, I guess. Right. Right. All right. Well, you know.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' This is not an easy, this is why no one does it because it's not an easy thing to do.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Okay.