Editing The Pen Addict 580/transcript (section)

== Return of the Scribble/Color Pick pen ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Myke, what is dead may never die, my friend. The scribble pin is back, now known as the Color Pick pin. And our inboxes are full because it is live on Kickstarter right now. And it has met its funding goal. And it is just very problematic. And I put in the show notes.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Of this product, the last time we did this, when they made that really weird video. Do you remember?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, when they made the failure video and published the failure video.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Where it was like meant to show you why is this thing working. Yeah, yeah. I would have to go back.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' It did not work. I would have to go back into... So it was post-scribble, it became something else. And then they were posting videos on that. We got links to that. It never made it to Kickstarter at that time or to Indiegogo or any other platform. But they were releasing these videos.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I think it might have been Color Pick, you know?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' It might have been. It might have been. It was just failure after failure after failure. And it didn't work. And it never worked. And it was just... It was making the grinding noise like when it was mixing the colors. It was like, oh my gosh. This one, it's the same concept. And if you're new to the podcast, we've been covering... The product kind of initiated the pin was called the Scribble Pin. And it ended up being like a huge, huge mess on Kickstarter. And this was probably, what, six or eight years ago at this point. So we've been covering it that long. We kind of did a recap of the Scribble Pin probably in episode 400 or 401 of the podcast. Where we kind of went back through some of the highlights. Some of the things that we were known for at the time. To catch people up like the new Starting Point episode. So if you want to hear about the Scribble Pin, either in 400 or 401, we should cover it. It was in 400. Okay. Because it was a big topic, right? It was... It was... At the time, it was... And I don't say this lightly. It was a scam product, right? At the time. And I'm not relating that to this product. Because I think you and I will agree that the Color Pick, based on the videos that they've shared now. It... I'm going to go out here and you can correct me if you see it differently. It technically works. Yes. Is that fair?

'''Myke Hurley:''' This thing that they have shown us, there is a video which shows the product. And I've put it on... In the show notes. It's called Color Pick Pen Test in Five Colors. This is a video. A single video. No cuts. So they should just...

'''Brad Dowdy:''' You can see that it works. To give you the context, this came out of their comment section on the Kickstarter.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. Well, unsurprisingly. Because how many times has this happened, right?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. It technically works, but I don't understand why you would pay money for this product in the results that you get, right? Yeah, it's terrible. It still looks terrible.

'''Myke Hurley:''' And also, I think that this is only working within a very set parameters. These four colors. That's what I reckon this thing could produce. A blue, a red, a green, and a yellow. I do not think it can produce the 16 million colors that they are purporting that it can cover. And it still suffers from a lot of the same problems that we've seen last time. Because it's just the way that physics would stop this thing from working. Yes, you can scan a color, and the pen is doing some kind of mixing inside with a bunch of cartridges to provide you with the ink that you need. Yeah, but then when you change color, you have to eject a ton of ink until the old ink has run through it. Right. This is just a terrible product. Like, it has improved, but it is never going to be like what they're showing in the videos. Which, by the way, this video... I'm sorry. If you watch the video on their site and back them, I don't know what to tell you. Right? Like, the people that have watched...

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I thought the exact same thing.

'''Myke Hurley:''' ...this video, and they're like, yeah, okay. I will give these people... I will give these people... What is it? $160? Like... Okay, we found it. Kate is the best. Episode 480. So, like, literally 100 episodes ago.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Oh, this is the one where it's plugged in.

'''Myke Hurley:''' This is the one... Yeah, but this is the last time that this thing popped up. It was called The Scribble, again. Okay. And they made that... It's just... This episode is worth listening to just for our reaction to the video that they made. It was just one of the most...

'''Brad Dowdy:''' It's one of the worst things I've ever seen. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. In every possible way. You do not publish this information.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. Because it just made the product look terrible. Yeah. But, yeah, this thing... I mean, look, if you see this and you're like, yeah, I want this, I mean, you're going to get what you pay for, which is this thing is trash. And, like... Right. All the... You know, it's truly wild to me that this thing exists. The video is very clearly using some kind of AI voice generation system, which I don't understand why they're doing it. It contains multiple inaccuracies, like, in grammar and just, like, words being left out in sentences. Like, or if you... I mean, I don't know what to say. And also, like, they showed one thing in this video of, like, using this pen and then using it in an app to, like, make... That's what this product should be. Like, it shouldn't be anything else than this. Like, it should be, like, you get a light sensor and you can sense a color and then it recognizes the color and lets you drawing a drawing app. That is where this product should start and end. And that sounds like not a great product, but that is as much as it should ever be. It's as useful as this thing could ever be because the idea that I could go up to an Apple, scan the color of an Apple and immediately be able to draw... And, like, and there's, you know, they like to say so many times in this thing, you can just get rid of all your coloring. No, you can't. You can't do that because this thing is trash. It's never going to work the way that you want it to. And I just cannot believe this thing continues to exist. Like, it just, like, it makes me frustrated about Kickstarter.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Mm-hmm.

'''Myke Hurley:''' This should never have been allowed on the platform in the first place and it shouldn't continue to be allowed on the... Like, what...

'''Brad Dowdy:''' They even say in their mic that it's not 100% functional yet. Like, in their comments, the creators. We're not 100% there. It's like...

'''Myke Hurley:''' I mean, that, though, like, I'm sure that's the case of a lot of Kickstarters, right? And they're hoping to get... I mean, I don't know. Like, I don't know if that's against the rules. I know not you. Like, but, like, you know, I imagine a lot of Kickstarters start that way, but they have a path. Like, these guys clearly don't have a path to getting this thing to work because it's just, like, not possible. But, like, I just feel like, in my mind, Kickstarter is supposed to review stuff and this just doesn't pass the common sense test.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, I agree. And I don't... So, I don't understand why it's here on the site. Like, it's wild. It's really wild to me. Like, I just don't get it. I don't understand it.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. Well, you said... I can't believe you said this because it's my exact feeling on this. If you go and watch that YouTube video that the creators linked in the comments and you still give them your money, that's on you. Yeah. Because...

'''Myke Hurley:''' I don't want to be mean, but it's like you kind of deserve what you're getting. Which is... If you watch that video... Either your money's stolen or something that's not going to work. Yep.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yep. So, it's unbelievable. It's... I... It's unbelievable. Unbelievable. So, anyway. You know what, Myke? If you want to buy a real pen, can you tell people where to go cleanse their palate and get something they can really love?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Oh, okay.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I was like, where are we going now? Have I got something else? No. I was so professional there. I know. I'm sorry. I didn't have the document open. I was still looking at the Kickstarter page because I was just lost in the fact that they claim they've won awards for this thing. It just annoys me so much. Like, but like, yes, we have to talk about it. We have to talk about it. We do. I just can't... I'm glad I got you so fired up.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Like, I didn't think this was coming, but it's on.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I just can't believe that we're still doing this so many years later. And it's so ugly, this thing too, right?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' That's the other thing is like, I couldn't even get past, like, we're still talking about this. I can't believe it. Like, the functionality of this is horrible. And that's before you even like have to look at it. It's literally like... It looks like a dentist's tool. Yeah. Or it's like a standalone mixer or something. I don't know. Like, I mean, it's definitely something that people aren't going to repeat on this podcast. Like, it is like outrageously ugly.

'''Myke Hurley:''' And it's just like the idea that this would be for any artist, right? And that they would like be able to use it. Champion this product. Yeah. Like, I just... I just don't know. I really don't know. This episode is brought to you by PenchLA, who sell authentic products.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Can we get a shout out to my segue that you botched? Like, I feel pretty good about that. You knocked out of the plug.

'''Myke Hurley:''' A star, A++++ would segue again. You nailed it. I did not. Thank you. PenchLA do. They sell amazing roller balls and fountain pens, ballpoints, mechanical pencils, fountain pen converters, inks, carrying cases, pen holders, refills, all the accessories you're going to need. They have products from your favorite brands, and they have the best prices around. Every couple of weeks, you're going to find not only new products coming to PenchLA, but also tons of great deals. They're adding new styles of products all the time, and they believe in fast and reliable customer service. You get free shipping on orders of over $75 when you're in the US, but they sell internationally with great shipping rates as well. PenchLA believe in a simple thing. Low prices on high-quality pens and a 100% satisfaction guarantee. I want you to go to PenchLA.com, P-E-N-C-H-A-L-E-T.com and click the podcast link at the top of the website. Enter the password PenAddict. This is where you will get this week's special offer and to get the code that you need to save 10% on anything at any time over at PenchLA. What special offers do we have on deck this week, Brad?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' They have this really cool Conklin crescent filler, which is one of the classic Conklin designs, right? It has this crescent, for lack of a better term, on the barrel. And I believe it's like a lever filler under the crescent. You kind of twist it and manipulate it to fill the pen. And it's kind of a modernization of a vintage filling system for fountain pens. And it's really cool. The ones I've seen in the past have been really neat. And it's kind of one of the cooler things that Conklin does. But this one, this chrome pattern in like this, it's like a chased rubber pattern, right? You remember seeing on like ebonite and hard rubber pens, you know, like from the early 1900s and mid 1900s, but they've kind of done a chrome version of this. So it's a very modern version of a classic design, which I think is, looks pretty neat. Also the Pelican M205, the Appetite color, which I think was last year, one of last year's colors. The demonstrator is a really, really great pen. The M205 is a fantastic pen, one of my favorites. And this is a really great price off of that. There's a couple of Benus in there, which I don't know that I've ever seen Benus in the, on the podcast page before. So the Minima, which is their smaller version, you can get for quite a good price for some of these Benu pens, which I haven't seen before. And then lastly, something I found way down the list, which if you ever go to our Pen Addict page on Pen Chalet, you got to keep scrolling. They have loose nibs or a loose nib for the Pelican 800. So this is an 18K gold replacement fountain pen nib. And it's a crazy good price. Like you don't need, you normally can't find these loose nibs, especially at this price. So I imagine that's not going to last very long there at Pen Chalet. So go check them out. There's even some great stuff further down the list, Platinum Procyon and just even more. Just go check them out. And thank you so much, Pen Chalet. So yeah, definitely hit them up.

'''Myke Hurley:''' P-E-N-C-H-A-L-E-T dot com. Go there right now. Hit the podcast link at the top of the website and enter the password Pen Addict to get your hands on these offers. A sincere thanks to Pen Chalet for the continued support of this show and RelayFM.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' All right. Shout out of the week. One of my Mastodon friends, Cheryl Lindo-Jones, who I've actually been following online for like before I was on Mastodon and they were on Mastodon. Um, but they've never really, uh, had like a dedicated, uh, pen space, but now they do. So you can go follow their blog, uh, online. Um, Cheryl started doing a 30 inks for 30 days, which is a popular September, um, thing to do in the stationery space. So a lot of people are participating in the 30, 30 inks, 30 days challenge. And Cheryl's, uh, been posting all of the inks. Um, and you can go check out why they're doing it, what they're doing. And, uh, it's really fun. So, uh, go check out Cheryl Lindo, Cheryl Lindo Jones.com. And then, uh, she will yell at me on Mastodon later for going, why did you put that in there? And because it's awesome. That's why, that's why I did it. So, so shout out of the week, shout out of the week, pen show of the week, Myke. That's what it feels like these days. There is a certain season of the year where it really is just like, which one is it this

'''Myke Hurley:''' week?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. Um, to me, this is kind of the end, but that's a little bit unfair because I know, uh, like Dallas is always a good show, uh, later in September in the U S and then you, you have, um, the Columbus pen show, I think in October, November. And there's a couple, definitely a couple, a couple more, but this is the last one I'm traveling to this year. Um, the Orlando pen shows this week, I'm heading down, like I mentioned at the top, um, right after the show. So that's a little bit of a different schedule for me this week. The Orlando pen show has a great schedule. It is essentially a Friday, Saturday show, no Sunday show there, uh, 10 to six, uh, to the public Friday and Saturday, but they do Thursday night. They do kind of a vendors kind of like a soft launch, you know, hang out, get together party, which I think is a great benefit for vendors and weekend pass holders. If you're coming in Thursday to be ready for Friday morning, the show promoter, just buying the vendors pizza on a Thursday night when they've traveled to get there, I think is a pretty cool. It's like, it's a small thing that I think goes a long way for vendors. So I think that's pretty cool. So I'll be doing that Thursday night. Um, and then go into the show Friday and Saturday, but Myke Thursday morning, I am playing golf, which I think I might've mentioned on the show before I've certainly, well, no, me and you

'''Myke Hurley:''' spoke about it. Yeah. And I'm very jealous because I'm going to play golf with you.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. Well, I don't know that you actually want to, because I have not swung a golf club in over two years.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I'm like, I'm an absolute novice. It would be perfect for me.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So this is going to be a mess. Like it full stop. Like it's going to be, uh, hilarious and fun. And like, I don't take this stuff seriously anymore. I literally have not been to a driving range or a top golf, or I haven't hit a putt in the house in over two years. So this is going to be fun. So I'm playing with my friends at Kenro industries, uh, distributor of all of our favorite brands like the, like Estherbrook, Aurora and Y studio and all kinds of fun stuff. So, um, they asked me, said, Hey, you want to come in early? Um, and, and play golf for this Thursday morning before we do the show. And I'm like, yes, I do. Which, um, you know, I would, I rarely do that, right? I rarely take the days before the days after shows to like do something fun and chill and relax. So I am taking advantage of that. So that's going to be the schedule this week. I am going, uh, Wednesday night. I'll be getting in there driving. It's about a five, five and a half hour drive for me. So it's not too bad. I don't mind doing that. Uh, playing golf Thursday morning, doing the vendor opening Thursday night, going to the show Friday and Saturday, and really just planning on having fun. I really liked the venue that they have for this show. The hotel is massive. It's kind of like a conference type hotel, which you can imagine Orlando has a lot of facilities like this, but where this one is different. Um, it's not like say some of the resort type hotels. It's more of just like a conference hotel, but it's attached to a mall and giving the state of malls, at least in the U S you might not think that's a very good thing, but this is one of the malls that has been, I guess, very successful. Um, it's kind of like a high end mall. It's gigantic. It's got all these great shops, great food, which is important to pen show attendees. And it's literally attached to the hotel. Like you walk out of like the hotel for you're through the door and then you're in the mall. Um, and it's like, like I didn't even scratch the surface of the mall last year. Like it's a big, big, like it's a, it's a destination type of place and therefore it gets all the destination type stores. Like pretty much anything you want is there. And like I said, it's got all kinds of like crazy food choices last year. Like I ate Brazilian last year, like just wild stuff. And you know, as well as steak shack, you know, things like that. But, uh, yeah, I, I really look forward to it. It's a good location. What I realized, like, I didn't know what I was getting into last year, right? It was their first show at the hotel, new promoter, new show. And it was small, like, and it's going to stay, you know, small ish, right? And, you know, Atlanta sized or maybe a little bit bigger between Atlanta and Baltimore, maybe. Um, there were a lot of makers that attended this show and that was something I pointed out from last year's events and how much I enjoyed getting to spend time with makers at a show where you can actually like sit and talk with them, you know, for a while and learn about what they're doing. And that maker list has expanded even more this year. They have increased the size of the rooms, the, um, the, the show floor space. They're moving to a different section of the hotel to, uh, give it a bigger floor, which is great, which has attracted more vendors and more makers. So it's really, really neat to see, uh, the growth. And I think Joe does a good job and his whole, you know, his, his wife and the whole team that, that does everything for Orlando. They, they're really like on top of the information that you need shared before the show. Like when you go to Washington DC, like you can get all the information like statically, like on the page and, you know, like on the website and you just cross your fingers and go. Or Joe seems to be like very proactive. Like just randomly, we'll put a post on Instagram saying, you know, if you're coming in Thursday, be sure to check, you know, your email, because we're going to tell you everything that's going on on Thursday. It's like, I appreciate that. Like it makes everything so much easier and more comfortable for me to go to a show when I know like what's going on, what to expect when I get there and not have to be just like blindsided by, you know, where do I go? What do I do? So I do appreciate that. And it's noticeable compared to some other shows. So the one thing that I did going into DC was take a look at the vendor list to kind of get an idea of what I wanted to check out. And there's a few people that I haven't seen before or some that I have seen before and haven't ever shopped from before in Orlando. So I wanted to give a couple of vendors a shout out and I know I'm leaving everybody out. Like I could literally just go down the entire vendor list and can't wait to see all these people. So, you know, a lot of friends that are going to be there. A lot of people I talk to every year and I'm definitely going to hang out with. But I'm going to make a point to go to the London Pen Code table, which not not from your area, Myke, from from London, Ontario, Canada. So unfortunately not local to you, but they will be at the Orlando Pen Show. And I got to meet Sean for the first time in DC, checked out his pens. I did not pick one up at the time, but I think that's in the cards probably this time. So I definitely want to spend some time talking to Sean, getting to know him because I just kind of, you know, got introduced to him at DC. And I appreciate the fact that he is already making the return trip back to the Orlando show. Someone that I just learned about yesterday when I was streaming, Abigail Markoff, Florida resident pen maker, someone brand new to me, makes some really neat looking pens that I'm looking forward to checking out and getting to meet them and seeing all the cool stuff that they make. I've been browsing her site and it looks just kind of amazing. And then Joe Little from Little Pen Designs. I've actually ordered from Joe online. One thing Joe does, Myke, and I'll have to show it to you. I don't have a link directly, but I can find you one before the show ends randomly or just sporadically, I guess is a better word. Joe will take acrylic blanks and make them around the Pentel Sharp Mechanical Pencil mechanisms like we do for spoke pen. Like take that mechanism and we make metal barrels. He makes acrylic barrels. Like you see, you know, from like your fountain pens and things like that. So those are cool. I've ordered a couple of those from them from Joe. I enjoy those pencils. So I'll be checking them out. And yeah, I'm just really excited to get down there. I need to look at the classes. They have a, they had a bunch of good classes this year.