Editing The Pen Addict 470/transcript (section)

== Ajoto Pen Introduction ==


'''Brad:''' You know who I've just mixed them up in my mind with? Namesu. They're in Scotland. So I apologize to everybody involved. There was a reason. But no, Ajoto. I know that they're in this country, but I couldn't remember where.

'''Myke:''' You're very much going to get commentary on that.

'''Brad:''' Oh, I don't even want to think about it. It's- See, like, that's already happened in the Discord. People are upset at me. Yeah, look good. I'm a Londoner. All right? We all know about Londoners. Londoners only know about London, and everything's up north to a Londoner. All right? I've said it. Okay? We can all move on.

'''Myke:''' Chat, do not lump me into this.

'''Brad:''' Look, Manchester is far from Scotland, but it's closer to Scotland than I am. All right? Just leave me alone. We've been there. We've done it. Okay? It's over. Finished. Roasted. Done. Okay. So, but they made beautiful. I don't remember if the pen has a name anymore, if it's just the Ajoto pen.

'''Myke:''' It used to be just the Ajoto pen, and that's a great question. I think it's still just the Ajoto pen, and then they elaborate on that concept with materials. Yeah. They've really kind of stuck to it.

'''Brad:''' Which I actually really appreciate. They haven't like, oh, here's the other pen that we make. You know, like it's, this is the pen we make, and we're going to do it in a bunch of different materials, a bunch of different styles, that kind of thing. Right. We've respected them for a long time. Really great. Like, we used these for years, and still, and have continued to. I received a package, which was, I didn't know it was coming, but as soon as it arrived, I knew what it was, which is the pen addict Ajoto edition. I got this beautiful packaging, which is orange with these black spots all over it, and it's, you know, it's like a little sleeve you take off, and there's cork and everything. Interesting. And I have it here, and funnily enough, I had mine before you did. I've also got a little note from the Ajoto folk. So thank you to them. But yeah, this is the, you unboxed one as well, right? Because you just got yours too.

'''Myke:''' Yeah. So I got mine, I think the day, a day or two after you got yours, mine came pretty quick, but I was holding mine because I wanted to unbox them on stream. I like to do that, you know, if I get the chance to kind of share it with other people as I go through, like, get my first impressions of the thing. And I wasn't in a super hurry because, number one, I knew you got it. And number two, like, I literally worked on this project for months, so I'm pretty sure I know what it looks like when I get here, and I'm pretty sure it's going to be killer. So, like, I had the patience to be able to do it. But what this project was about was me asking Ajoto, could we do a cool Pen Attic version of their pen, which I'm so fond of. Like, I rave about the Ajoto. It's just one of those pens that really gets me in, like, what I like in products. You know, it's simplicity, it's refinement, it's beauty, it's quality. It's just kind of everything that I like. You know, it's from a small maker that, you know, you get to talk to them. And as they've grown, they started to expand, as I was saying before, they started to expand materials, right? They made ebonite pens. And then they started to do different types of finishes on the pens, be it in this case, like, a paint splatter type of finish. But it's a little bit, you know, more refined than just, like, slapping paint on there, even though that's what it looks like. It's a real process to get this done.

'''Myke:''' And so they were cool enough to work with me. And, like, I appreciated that because, you know, I'm not, I would never be, like, a huge customer, right? Like, we settled on 20 pens. I have 10 orange with black splatter, and I have 10 black with orange splatter. And Myke and I each got a different one. I, of course, wanted the orange. That was where the project started. Then they're like, you know, we could do, like, reverse it and do a black too. I was like, you know, I think people probably will like the black better. Just, you know, black always does well with the orange splatter on it. So what do you think about the pen?

'''Brad:''' Oh, you know, I mean, I already told you. I absolutely adore it. So it's a black pen with, like, it looks like, you know, if you put orange paint on a paintbrush and flick the paintbrush, you know, it's that kind of splatter effect. I don't know exactly, I don't know how they're making it. Is this Cerakote? Do you know?

'''Myke:''' It's not Cerakote, but I know it's a, it's like a involved process. Right. Because there's a texture to it,

'''Brad:''' which I was not expecting, and I love that it's there. So you can feel the splatter.

'''Myke:''' Yeah, like the process is detailed enough that they actually, like, rejected the first batch that they did. Like, this is like, I don't know all the details on how it ends up in this state, but it's more than just, hey, let's do some black pens and throw some stuff on it. It's like a, it's a longer involved process.

'''Brad:''' And it's super great. I mean, like, so the Agiotto pen itself is really amazing. So one of the things that's interesting about it compared to other pens, which I had to get used to for a bit, because I've been used to using my Mark I for a while, that the Agiotto is both thinner and longer than other pens like it. And it's because they use a twist mechanism rather than a click mechanism, which I think requires more space in the pen. But it is the, what I like about it is that even though it is longer, the thinness of the pen, just how thin it is in the hand just makes it really comfortable to hold. Like it makes an overall really balanced package, especially because the mechanism they have is very simple. It's like a twisting mechanism, but it's quite solid, right? So there could be some weight to that, but they've done such a good job of balancing it. You know, is that they really know what they're doing. This is a very refined pen. You know, I've been making this pen for years and I think that they have gotten it down to a real science. But this texture and this design, I absolutely adore it.

'''Myke:''' Yeah, since I have a ruler here, Myke, I was able to measure the difference between the Mark 1 and the Agiotto and it's about three quarters of a centimeter. So, you know, it's a, when you're an avid pen user, you notice those things like that. That may sound like not a big dimension at all, but you noticed it immediately. Like I know Myke noticed it immediately when he grabbed it. So yeah. Yeah, it's just great. So like you mentioned, the twist mechanism, this is something that they designed. You know, they designed and refined this twist mechanism over the couple of years. They changed it from their original Kickstarter to like their next batch of pens and they just keep working on this refinement and they get all the little details right. And it's extremely work intensive process to get these pens made in the end for what is a simple pen. And that's what, you know, attracted to me to them in the beginning when they just had this simple brass pen, right? You look at it, you go, wow, that's really basic. And you get it and you realize this isn't basic at all because of the attention to detail that Agiotto puts into each pen. You can see that in the packaging of this box. Oh, the packaging is so good. I mean, of this pen. And so like, it's just detailed and like every little piece works together. And there's like a little sneaky engraving on the twist mechanism. If you remove it, it's got the Agiotto X pen addict, you know, on there that you can't see when you're writing. But if you unscrew the twist mechanism, it's all these little details in it. And it came out great. I'm loving it. I have my orange one. Myke has his black one. And so like I said, I ordered 20 of these just to see, just kind of feel it out because these are very expensive pens. I don't want to sugarcoat that. I feel that they're worth it. Obviously, I've been a fan for them since their Kickstarter launch, which I don't know, that's got to be like five years now, four years. And, you know, the price makes sense to me, but it doesn't make sense to a lot of people. And that's understandable.

'''Brad:''' Oh, we haven't said it, by the way. It's really, like, in case you hadn't guessed, by the way we're talking about this, this pen's really expensive. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's not a cheap pen. You know, the materials alone are, you know, the way it's made, it's made in a really, as we say, a particular way it's expensive. And then the fact that it's got the special finish on it and it's a limited edition and all that kind of stuff. So we haven't said the price, but, you know, just understand that that's why.

'''Myke:''' Oh, I'm going to say the price, but it's a time process that goes into the cost of this as opposed to necessarily a raw materials process. You know, same thing with, like, a Nakaya, right? I'm not relating the two, but you're like, why is a Nakaya so expensive? It's just this simple black pen. I was like, well, there's, the time is what you're really, you know, paying for in a lot of these cases where there's so much detail and so much perfection that's required for the end result. So price, these are going to retail for $320. Pen Addict members are going to get first crack at this batch of 20. And Pen Addict members, as a benefit for being a member, they get 25% off. So in the end, it's $240, which I think is a great price for this pen. Obviously, I'm making it and I accepted all the things for it. And I guess I keep saying 20. We really only have 18 because me and Myke each have one. And we can make more. I feel like I owe you some money, Brad.

'''Myke:''' We'll put that on the tab. Yeah. But there's only 18 of them, nine of each color. And while, yes, it's limited just in the amount that I can get, like, there will be more. Like, if there's, if people want these, we'll make some more. So, you know, I know it's, it's not a, you know, just a quick purchase spending that kind of money on a pen. So don't worry if you eventually want one of these, we will have them because I could just make another batch and I would be happy to do it because I love this company. I love this pen. I think this is a great product and I want to have it around for a while. If that means, you know.

'''Brad:''' I feel like you should consider setting up like a wait list or something.

'''Myke:''' Yeah, yeah. I'm going to work on that imminently. We're probably going to do, like, a raffle is the wrong term, but we're going to do, like, random names for the first batch to be able to order them and then I'll go ahead. If that goes well and, like, the feedback's good, I'll just go ahead and get a second order in with a Johto and we'll get the second order faster.

'''Brad:''' So how, what is going to be the process for getting one?

'''Myke:''' They will eventually be on the Panatic website in the shop. Right now they're not up yet, but I do have all the photography and all the specs and all that to put up there. So I will probably launch them to Panatic members this weekend, set up the kind of wait list raffle type of situation just to make sure everyone has a fair chance if they want to buy it. So yeah. Sweet.

'''Myke:''' I'm excited about it. I'm using it constantly. I don't know. I love it. I'm an a Johto fan, so that's just kind of how it works. I make, I like to make the things that I like to use and this is one of those products.

'''Brad:''' This is a very good project. I know you've been working on it. It's come out really well.