Editing The Pen Addict 522/transcript (section)

== Buying Decisions in Stationery ==


'''Brad:''' I have a big topic I would like to discuss today, Myke. Something I'm trying to figure out for myself. Something that's come up many times over the years, but I've never really spent too, too much time digging into it. I'm wondering, Myke, what's your pen type?

'''Brad:''' Yeah, that's kind of how this idea started in my head with an um, to be honest. I had a friend I was talking to earlier this week who is extremely into fountain pen, like very in-the-know fountain pen user. And just as part of our conversation, they asked me what my favorite pen was. And I just, I froze, right? I like, hmm, like I, I, I can't tell you. Like I don't, there is not an answer to that. And so in the, you know, way of trying to figure out, do I actually have an answer for that? I started thinking about what I like in a pen. Like what are my pen preferences for me specifically? Um, you know, I'm thinking about this in a lot as far as, I think about it in two ways. One, about what I currently own, right? Do I own the right pens? You know, I'm going to be selling some pens, right? So how do I decide what pens to sell? Um, and then buying new pens. Like why would I decide to purchase a new pen? You know, what is the decision-making process that goes into that? So later on, I'm not looking to sell that pen, right? I'm not someone, you know, I'm someone who tries to manage their, their budget as far as buying pens to where I want to spend my money wisely. And I don't, I'm not a catch and release person where, you know, I buy it a try. And if I, knowing that I don't like it, I can sell it immediately. That's not my, really my move, but sometimes we make mistakes too. So I'm trying to figure out, you know, where, where my biases lie in an effort to make the right purchasing decisions, right? And make a decision to sell a product that I already own easier. So I kind of came up with this checklist of what I like, what makes me like a pen, you know, what makes me consider looking into it more or making a purchase or what don't I like that makes me think about selling a pen. So I kind of did these in order of importance. I could argue that maybe there's some, a little bit of flexibility in that, but the first item on the checklist is the size of the pen.

'''Myke:''' Okay.

'''Brad:''' And everyone's going to have their own list, right? This is kind of why I'm doing this. Everyone's going to have their own list. Some people are going to start with different things further down my list, you know, might be the number one important thing, but the size of the pen always grabs me first. And in general, I like smaller pens, right? I do have plenty of large size pens or pens that people will call oversized or bigger pens. And there's reasons why we have that. But in general, I start with a smaller base pen, right? And the size includes a lot of things. It's not just the overall shape. You know, what does it look like on the table or in my hand? It's, you know, it's the length combined with the diameter combined with the weight, right? Like all of those things are the size of the pen to me. So I like something either short to medium length, narrow in diameter, and light to medium weight on the barrel. So not big and not heavy. And I was trying to think, can I pull an example that would kind of check all of these boxes? Kind of like the sweet spot pen. And I had to think about that. Like the first pen that came to mind was honestly the Platinum 3776. But I would say that's lighter than like the kind of the middle range of what I'm looking for. So the Sailor 1911 Large is kind of the sweet spot where it's not too small, not too big. It's kind of the just right spot as far as size, length, shape, weight, diameter, all of those things. I pick it up and it just fits my hand, right? So something like the Platinum 3776 is smaller, but then we can go bigger into like the Pilot Custom 823. Like that's a little bit bigger than the 1911, bigger and heavier. So I'm trying to sort out my tendencies and the way I think about the pens. What are the pens that I pick up the most to use? And that size and shape tends to be kind of like the main, one of the main driving forces behind my decisions. Next up would be the appearance and the materials of the pen, right? Like the aesthetics outside of size, right? Size does matter, right? To the appearance of a pen, right? Well, I did not mean that. This is the traditional talking about pens has a lot of innuendo into it. I think there's probably a lot in this section. So it matters in how the pen looks, right? With you have a bright, crazy acrylic, it's going to look different in a small pen to a big pen or an Arushi finish. It's going to look different in a small pen or a big pen, but it does matter. But it's really like the combination of that first topic, size, and then secondly into appearance and material, right? The combination of those two things is going to make me go, oh, let me look at that more, right? Or if I'm at a pen show, oh, let me pick up that pen and inspect it, right? So materials, though, like specific materials outside of just like appearance of materials, I don't really have a favorite, right? I'm good with plastic pens, right? Lamy Safari, all day long. You know, I don't necessarily care about is it solid color, opaque, translucent? You know, I do have a tendency to choose translucent pens, like, but I'm not like just completely dead set, you know? Oh, I'll never buy like a solid construction pen. I only use translucent pens or vice versa. Yeah. You know, I love custom acrylics. We both love custom acrylics, right? Give me the swirls. Give me the brightness. Give me the rainbows, whatever. Celluloids, ebonite, Arushi finishes, Makie finishes, metal pens, wood pens. I'm not super particular, right? They would have to just check my personal boxes of taste, you know, as far as size and appearance and materials and how all of that works together, right? That's kind of like the personal aspect of this list where it actually, it matters to me, right? Like if you look at the pens that I own, it's not a lot of standard basic things. I like to play around with materials and colors and sizes and shapes and things like that. But they all kind of generally check, you know, a few boxes as opposed to being like super broad in those decisions. So I wonder for myself, and part of this topic is me trying to figure things out for myself. Does how it look come before how does it work?

'''Brad:''' And I giggle because that's how I think I get in trouble, right? I was like, oh, this is beautiful. Look at this material, Myke. And then I've discounted maybe it's overly large for me, right? Maybe it's too big of a pen.

'''Myke:''' But you won't, you have to, I feel like with these kinds of stuff, you need to start with the look because you can't use every pen. Right. Right? Mm-hmm. So like there's no way to know how it feels to use it until you've used it.

'''Brad:''' Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And so what I'm trying to narrow down with this topic and maybe help other people is maybe I have a baseline of, hey, I think, you know, as we get to the end of this, it turns out I really don't like oversized pens, right? Like, and I've bought large pens by how they look or an external feature of the pen as opposed to, hey, does this work for me when I write with it?

'''Brad:''' And I overlook that second part too much sometimes and maybe don't make the best buying decision. So this is like what I'm thinking about. Like, you know, if this is not a black and white situation, we're not going to get to the end and there's a definitive answer here that Brad only likes this type of pen X. And if it doesn't fit in this category, Brad cannot own the pen. That's not what we're doing. You know, it's, there's, there's gray areas and, you know, exceptions. But in general, what stands the test of time for me? And that's what I'm trying to figure out here. Those two things, size and appearance slash material come before the nib.

'''Brad:''' It was funny. I, I, I'm going to read, I'm going to read this. It says, what am I looking to get out of this pen? A fine line, inky expression, something to modify later. For me, the nib size and the pen size have to complement each other. In general, I don't use an extra fine nib on a wide diameter or a heavy pen. The opposite is true. I also don't use wide nibs on small pens. Those things work against my handwriting. So I wrote this little section when I was talking about nib because it kind of matters and it kind of doesn't, right? So because I always know that I can do something later with the nib or I can swap it out or, you know, I can change the size. Or if I just buy what I'm used to, it's going to be fine. Things like that. But the funny thing was, Myke, it wasn't until I was reading the show notes later that I didn't even mention the nib material.

'''Brad:''' I didn't mention steel or gold. It didn't even register with me when I was writing this. And I think that says a lot about how I think about products. It did not even register. Is this pen, does this pen use a steel nib or a gold nib?

'''Myke:''' Well, that doesn't matter to you really, does it?

'''Brad:''' Yeah, and that's kind of my point. It's like, okay, that actually does not matter to me. It never has, right? Like, I like my steel nibs. I like my gold nibs. But is that going to drive a buying decision or a selling decision?

'''Brad:''' When I think about, you know, what's my pen type? The nib almost never comes into play. But a lot of people, it does. I need a gold nib pen. That's where we start. And, like, that's fine too, right? Like, I'm trying to sort this out for myself. But I thought it was funny that I actually had to circle back on these notes when I wrote this little nib section that, huh, I didn't even mention gold or titanium, whatever you want to do for nib. It almost doesn't matter to me, which is funny. The other thing, it's harder to say. It doesn't matter because it does. But price. So that's the next on the list. So we have the size, the appearance of material, the nib, and then price is next.

'''Brad:''' Price is a very, very personal thing, right? Like, some of us have the budget for, you know, that can afford, like, a Nakaya. Some of us have a budget to afford a Platinum Preppy. And, like, it's all good. So, like, none of that matters, right? So I think a lot of people who listen to me or see the things I use know that I love the lower tier pens, like the entry-level pens. I get so much enjoyment. Like, I haven't stopped using Platinum Preppy for about two weeks straight now, right? It's just, like, my thing, right? I really enjoy it. But then I'll sit that down right next to a, you know, I'm trying out, like, a $250 pen sitting right next to this. I'm looking at my desk right now. And on the other side of it is, like, a $400 or $500 limited edition vanishing point. Like, all those things work together. So I'm not going to say price doesn't matter because it does in the budget. But it's going to be more about the fit and feel of the pen before I get to the price. You know, the more expensive it is, the more I have to think about it, right? Like, hey, is this in the budget? I'm going to blow the budget. Is this too expensive? I do feel, and I don't know how you feel about this and other people feel about this. I have a lot of very expensive pens. And I, right now, like, I don't even consider buying another, like, say, like, over $500 pen. They just don't appeal to me more than, say, the over $500 pens that I currently own, right? Like, I feel like I've done a really good job sorting out the higher end of the budget and have spent that money well because that's a much more stricter budget decision. So maybe there's more clarity when I make those purchases. I don't know. That's certainly probably the case. But you can get in just amount as much trouble as buying 10 $50 pens and only using two of them, right? So that's not money well spent either, even if it's a less expensive pen. So you want to spend money on products that you use, whether it's a $5 pen or a $500 pen. So it does matter in the broader scope. Like, I could not put price in here, but it's just so dependent on the product, on the budget, and just so many different things. But I appreciate, you know, every level of pen. You know, like I said, the $5 pen, I can appreciate that as much as a $500 pen, which is a weird thing to say. But if anyone knows me, you know it's the truth. And I'm saying that, you know, like because that's something I believe in. I just get so much joy out of all types of stationery.

'''Brad:''' So when I'm thinking about making a buying decision, kind of in the same category as nib is filling system. We've talked a lot over the years about, you know, what's people's favorite filling system. Should I buy a fountain pen that's not a piston filler? You know, that comes up a lot. You know, what about eyedroppers? Are you okay with only cartridges and converters? And a lot of people, this is one of those, maybe again with nib, would be more towards the top of someone's list, right? Some people will only buy a piston filling fountain pen or maybe a VAC would fall in that category. And like, that's cool. I like that you have rules on how you spend your money, right? This is kind of what I'm thinking about in a broader scope to spend my money well. Filling system doesn't matter to me. Like I'm completely filling system agnostic. It just does not matter. You know, I will use a cartridge pen right next to an eyedropper pen right next to a piston filling pen. It just almost never pushes the needle one way or the other for me in deciding what to buy a pen. This last one might be the most important for me, but it can't go at the top of the list because it's kind of a combination of all the things. And it's probably the hardest to define. And that's why this is a personal list and it's uniqueness. So I have a category called uniqueness here.

'''Brad:''' I don't want too many of the same thing. And I say this from experience. As someone who has bought too many of the same thing, I don't benefit from that, right? Because I don't look at the things I buy as a collection, right? I don't need all the things. In the past, I used to buy all the things. Give me every Lamy special edition color. Give me every TWSBI limited edition color. Give me every Sailor limited edition. Well, the next thing you know, I have 10 Sailor limited editions. And again, I use two of them or three of them. So what have I done besides added to a collection of pens? And that's not something I personally want to do. So I don't mean uniqueness as in, hey, this pen has to be like the most stunning, unique pen on the market for me to consider. It means that I don't already have several of this pen. And now I'm just not going to reap the benefits of money well spent from a usage perspective, right?

'''Brad:''' So, and I will probably buy too many of a certain brand or a certain pen again. You know, it's experimentation. It's learning about what I like. Like, you know, I try to, you know, keep a broad outlook on things and then I'll refine it. And then maybe I'll have to broaden it again. But I'm trying, you're always, I'm always trying to like still continually work towards narrowing it down to making the right decision in the beginning. Right? So I'm kind of loose with the rules in the beginning and then tighten them up as it goes. And then next time they'll be a little bit less loose. Right? So like the Leonardo Memento Zero is like a really good example of this. Like that's one of my favorite pens, period. I don't need another one. Right? And I have like three and I think I've sold two or three of them. Right? I don't need six Leonardo Memento Zeros. Right? That's not how I operate. But some people do. Like some people enjoy having 12 of those. And that's cool. You know, there's a lot of reasons to have that. But this is, again, trying to sort out like what is my pen type and how can I make the best decision possible? So that's something, uniqueness, when I like open up my pen tray and look, you know, do I have some variety in there? And that's important to me, you know, in style, in color, in materials, in brand, in shape, in all those things. I like that. So that's kind of my overall group that I'm thinking about as I have a pen type. Right? The size, the appearance of material, the nib, the price, the filling system, and the uniqueness. So can I take all these categories and kind of refine that into either a purchasing decision or a selling decision? I found the biggest mistake I make repeatedly, and I mentioned it a minute ago, it's pen size. Right? That's my bugaboo. That's kind of the thing I can't get past. Right? If I love everything about a pen, right, the materials, the shape, the nib, the filling system, the uniqueness, like something new, something I haven't seen before. But from a usability perspective, it's outside my normal comfort zone, right? Like the diameter is wider or it's a little bit heavier. I talk myself into saying that I'm going to make myself use this pen, right? Just look at it, Myke. Look how cool this is. I'm totally going to use this. And I don't. Like secret, I don't. Those are the ones I end up buying, and I don't ever regret buying pens, but I do think that that really wasn't my best decision from a usability perspective, and here's why. And it always comes down to size. So I'm trying to learn to manage that on the front end, right, as I get ready to go to the San Francisco pen show in a month. And as I get ready to sell some pens to narrow down how many pens I own, like these are the kind of things I think of. And then you know what? It's going to be a lot of big pens that are going to go this round because I just don't choose them to ink up when I'm looking to experiment with the nib or test out a new ink. When I go look at the pens that I have, which pens am I going to choose to use today? And it's almost never the biggest pens that I own. So I have to try to stick to my rules a little bit better in that aspect. So, yeah, I don't know if this is helpful for anyone. I don't know if I can completely define my pen type, right? Like I wrote down in here, so what's your pen type? Can you define it in one sentence? Can you say, hi, my name is Brad and I like small pens and fun colors with fine nibs? I think that's a pretty good rule set, right? Small pens, fun colors, fine nibs. Like that's my pen type. And like that bias shows in the things that I buy and the things that I choose to review and the things that I love long term, right? Like I'm looking at this from a long term perspective. What are my most favorite pens? Well, they're smaller, they're fun, and they write fine. So it's kind of cool. Like I'm trying to, again, think about this from like a purchasing, it's like a purchasing decision tree, right? I don't have like a chart that I'm going to go down and a checklist. Like when I go to San Francisco Pen Show, I'm not going to bring out the checklist, Myke, and go, okay, what boxes does this check? Because, you know, it's, we're shopping for like creativity, right? A lot of, there's a lot of creative stuff out there. So you don't want to be too rigid in your rules. At least I don't want to be too rigid in my rules. But it's like maybe just like a mental checklist. Like maybe, maybe skip the giant size pen, Brad, because you know long term that's not going to be something that you keep. So why not do a better job in the beginning and maybe figure out which ones to sell. So that's kind of what I was thinking about, thinking about your pen types. Myke, do you have a pen type?

'''Myke:''' I mean, looking at the list that you've got, like, as I think what you're saying about, it isn't really a type so much. It's this checklist of broad buckets, right? I think that we're pretty similar. I would maybe move a couple around. So size of the pen, definitely. Appearance and material, definitely. Uniqueness, I think, could maybe sit higher for me.

'''Myke:''' Then I would go to nib. Because, like, this is kind of what I was alluding to earlier, right? Before I pick up the pen to try and see what it looks like, it's got to grab me. And so then I would see what the nib experience was like. And if that wasn't good, then I wouldn't be interested.

'''Myke:''' After that, I go to price. Because price, I feel like, is then just an equalizer, right? Like, I've tried it out. And so I have in my mind, how much do I want this? And then I can stack it up in, like, a value question when looking at the price.

'''Myke:''' Then I would be filling system last because I kind of don't really care. Like, I can use – I can and have used basically all of the popular ones. Like, I'm set up well enough to do that. Right. So it doesn't bother me.

'''Brad:''' Yeah. So it's interesting. And, you know, the end result of this little – Little path I went down here. Yeah, exploration is – I don't have an answer. I can't – Like, the question is, can you build the perfect pen? And, like, it's an impossible question to answer, right? So, you know, I'm trying to figure out, like, what's the sweet spot for the things that I like? And then what are the branches off of that, like, really kind of perfect situation that I'm willing to, like, you know, play on and decide if those are the things for me? Without getting, like, too far away to where, like, I'm making poor decisions.

'''Brad:''' So, like, I think that – I think it's important to think about that just from, like, a budget and, you know, a money well spent type of thing because we talk about this all the time. This is, you know, a very capitalist hobby that we're in, very consumerist hobby. You know, it's – a lot of people spend money, you know, to buy stationery and you just want to make sure you're spending it well. So, I think it's a fun little exploration. I'd be interested if anyone has, like – if anyone has, like, any, like, real shopping rules that they keep for themselves, right? I know we all have our favorites and our types, but have you ever really defined it in a – I hate to use the word rigid fashion, but just in a more, like, checklist fashion. Like, hey, let me make sure that I'm actually making the best decision I can here when I'm choosing to spend my money. Again, whether it's $5 or $500, am I spending it with good intention and spending it well? So, I think that's something to always think about, always consider.

'''Myke:''' I have one last question for you on this. This list that you've outlined seems to be very much focused on how you choose to buy a pen. But you also mentioned that you wanted to think about this as a way to choose which pens to sell. Yes. Do you start from the top for that or the bottom?

'''Brad:''' Hmm.

'''Myke:''' See what I mean?

'''Brad:''' The top. You still start from the top? Yeah. Because I'll almost – so, let's say I look at a tray of pens, and there's 20 pens, and I look at it, and my first thoughts looking at it is, what pen has been the longest since it's been inked up, and why? So, why haven't I chosen this pen to use recently? So, a lot of times, it's just what I'm comfortable using is a smaller, lighter pen. Again, those things also tend to benefit my writing style, right? So, all of these things work together. Like, again, I just keep pointing it out. This is a very personal thing, right? These things that I like tend to make my writing look the best and are the most comfortable pens to use and enjoy, right? So, that's kind of the end game here is I want to enjoy writing with this pen. Well, what are the things that make me enjoy writing with this pen? A lot of times, it comes down to size, and I will just choose the smaller pen next to the larger pen a lot of times. There's exceptions for sure. But, the general idea is that, yeah, I tend to choose the smaller, finer pens. So, yeah, that's what I'm thinking about as I'm getting ready to, like, sell some pens. I'll be selling some pens. People will be surprised at some of the pens that I'll be selling. But, yeah, it's okay. Like, that's the way it should be, right? I should own the things that I intend to use the most.

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'''Brad:''' I'm sitting here as you're talking. I'm going, man, what if I could build, like you were talking about building a perfect pen. What if you could build your perfect pizza? What's like your perfect toppings on your pizza, Myke? And I'm thinking about using my Uni and how crispy those toppings get. Like, I like a good pepperoni on my pizza, not going to lie. Easy. I mean, that's going to be the number one most popular topping, but the way the Uni cooks the pepperoni, where you get the crispy edges. I stay on the way to go, man. It curls up, too. It makes little cups. Yeah. Little curls up, and then you throw in some onions that get, you know, little brown edges. Throw in some mushrooms, and then you remove it, throw on, like, some fresh basil. Oh, my gosh. Like, this is problematic.

'''Myke:''' Brad, I want to encourage you, all right? Pineapple and pepperoni.

'''Brad:''' I'm not opposed. Like, I'm not going to- I am very much down the middle on that. Try it. Like, I am- So good. I have tried it before. Like, it's perfectly fine.

'''Myke:''' Or pineapple. No, sorry. Pepperoni with some honey that's got some spiciness to it, like some chili oil and some honey.

'''Brad:''' That's interesting. I could see that. I could see that. Okay. Super good. I would be behind that. So, yeah. I am not anti-pineapple pizza. I'm just not going to go bang the drum for it, either.

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'''Brad:''' Staying on the pizza thing, real quick, before we get into STPA, I did enjoy the pineapple pizza scene in this season of Stranger Things. If anyone has watched that, there's a good pineapple pizza scene in there for all of you pineapple pizza lovers.

'''Myke:''' Never seen Stranger Things. It's good. It's good.

'''Brad:''' It's good.

'''Myke:''' It's got some creepiness to it, right? It's got some scariness to it.

'''Brad:''' This was far and away. I don't do scary. I dislike horror. However, I had a hard time watching this season. The previous seasons, I could get through. This was another. I have lots of comments on this season. Not my favorite season. So we'll leave it at that. But still, that's like my least favorite pizza, right? It's still pizza.