Editing The Pen Addict 233/transcript (section)

== Price Increase ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. It's, I mean, as far as you and I are concerned not to put words in your mouth, we've talked about this forever. However, how do they do it at the price they do it at? This is normal. I mean, that's what they should have been for years to be quite honest. It's still like the price does not even make me blink, but they've gone up $3 per three pack without really any racket about it, which is good. So here's my thinking.

'''Myke Hurley:''' They make 20, 25, 35,000 books, right? They sell out every time. No, three packs. Yeah. Three packs. Yeah. Yes. Sell out every time. Put the freaking price up. Yeah. You're selling out, right? Like, you know, these aren't stupid people, but it's like, it's basic economics, right? It's like, we'll just put the price up. And if they continue to sell out, which they are, you know, or getting close to, I assume, keep, you know, just keep doing it. And then it gives you more, it gives you more leeway to do more interesting things. You know, maybe they could only do these last three sets of books because they're selling like $12.95.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Oh, I agree. I agree. And the subscriptions are still the same price.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. Which is great, by the way. Right. Because I just did mine.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' But it's just funny with most brands, a 30% price increase does not go unnoticed. This one essentially did.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. I mean, you know, it's maybe it's one of those things where people saw it and they were just like, all right. Like, that's what it is.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, that's something to hang your hat on as far as what Field Notes does right. So, I mean, we're obviously super fanboys.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I assume Lunacy will sell out soon and then these will sell out soon as well. And it's like, go for it.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Sweet Tooth will still be in stock, though.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Sorry, I had to. Shenandoah is still in stock as well. I like that addition, but I understand why. I understand why.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I think weirdly, so is Workshop Companion. They only made 17,000 of those.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' That's a weird addition.

'''Myke Hurley:''' It is, but it's six notebooks and they look real cool. You know, it's like National Crop sold well.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' We're going to get so much hate mail on this episode.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Why? What have we done? What, because of Sweet Tooth?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' No, because of Field Notes in general. We actually haven't talked about them that much.

'''Myke Hurley:''' No, I mean, look, if you're listening, if you're still listening to this show and you either A, don't like Field Notes or B, don't like us talking about it, I don't know why you're here. Because this happens almost, this happens like every month. Every three months, at least. Well, every three months we go deep, but we always, we talk about them all the time. It's one of our favorite companies, in case you would not guessed. Yeah. Yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Let's talk about another one of our favorite companies.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, I think that's, that's probably a good idea for right now. This week's episode is brought to you by Harry's. Ladies and gentlemen, the holiday season is coming up fast. Look, we all know how difficult gift shopping can be. Harry's are here to make it that one bit easier for you, because sometimes the best gifts are the ones that are thoughtful and practical. And that's what Harry's product's all about. For this holiday season, why not buy a loved one the Harry's limited edition holiday set? It features a midnight blue chrome razor handle, which you can have engraved for that extra personal touch. You get three of Harry's German engineered five blade cartridges that provide a comfortable shave each and every time. And their foaming shave gel that smells great. This all comes in a beautifully designed box, perfect for gift giving. And it costs just $30 at harrys.com. And they also have a range of other sets starting at just $10. And I can tell you in a moment how you can make those prices even cheaper. Harry's believes in the qualities of their razor so much that they will guarantee it. You'll get a full refund if you're not happy. Now, I believe that Harry Claus has rained down upon you, Mr. Brad Gowdy. He has. So you've got the Christmas set.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So I have the Christmas set right here in hand. These are the magic boxes that show up at my front door. It's a great gift box. It's like a hinged, very nice band and button seal gift box. So it'll look great under the tree. What did you call the handle? What are they calling this?

'''Myke Hurley:''' It is called the Midnight Blue Chrome. Chrome.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' It's killer. It's maybe my new favorite handle. I might have to steal this one for myself. Even though I'm all on the orange train, this one's pretty sweet. You could just double hand it. Oh, that would be good. Double shave at the same time. You know, I was thinking while you were reading this, like, we're giving people socks and razors for Christmas, which traditionally would draw some funny looks.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' But between foot cardigan and Harry's, I think you're going to, like, kill Christmas. Like, you're going to be like the man or the woman if you're, like, hooking people up with some sweet socks and razors.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Traditionally, if you bought people these types of products, they would be like, oh, you don't even care about me. But we have companies that make stuff that's so good, you'll be the most popular person around the tree.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. So this box for $30, it has the 3.4 ounce shave cream. It's got the extra blades and it also has the razor head protection sleeve that, you know, like I carry in my dop kit or whatever. So it's great. It's fantastic. It's tailor-made for Christmas. It's a deep blue box with some silver trim. It will look great under the tree. So definitely look at this.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Go to harrys.com right now. Use the code PENADDICT to check out and you'll get $5 off your order. So you'll be able to get that amazing holiday set for just $25 while supplies last. Free shipping ends on December the 9th. So act now. Once again, that's H-A-R-R-Y-S.com. Code PENADDICT, all one word, to get $5 off your order. Thank you so much to Harries for the continued support of this show and RelayFM.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So we had a fun little game come up in the Slack channel, the PENADDICT Slack, the other day and people wanted my opinion on it. And I said, you know, this is a great one for the podcast. So let me save it for there and I'll answer there. So it didn't have an official name, but I'm calling it the $500 game. Someone basically brought up, if you had $500 and you could buy three pens, what pens would those be? And you have to buy three pens. You know, there's not, well, I'm just going to buy one for $450 and be done. You fit three pens in your $500 budget. So I thought one pen was extremely easy for me. And it's the Pilot Custom 823. And I basically looked at standard U.S. retail prices. That one goes for like $288. So it's a very expensive pen. It's one of the most unique, well-designed, fun, functional, amazing pens. It could definitely be the only pen you ever owned in your life. But if you're listening to the show, we all know that's not going to happen. Pilot Custom 823. Was a lock on my list. Everything else after that was a challenge. I didn't want to put the Lamy 2000 on there.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' But I couldn't come up with a good reason why. If you buy the Custom 823, you get a wonderful Japanese pen. One of the best designed classic Japanese pens ever. You add in the Lamy 2000 for about $160. You get maybe the single best German pen ever designed. So that takes up most of your budget right there. And I had to have a little fun. And of course, I'm going to throw in the TWSBI Eco with mine for $32. So between the Custom 823 and the Lamy 2000, you get two of the greatest pens ever made. And then you get just the ton of fun TWSBI Eco. It leaves you $20 left over. I figure you can get a bottle of ink with that to load up all your inks. Because you actually, all of these are piston, well, two piston fillers, one vacuum filler. So no cartridges, converters here, Michael. So what do you think about my list?

'''Myke Hurley:''' So I was annoyed to come to this list because you had picked pens that I wanted to pick. So that was a struggle for me because I mean, the 823, I've never used one. I don't really get it. I'm not a big fan of the look of the pen, to be honest. It doesn't really float my boat. But I really wanted to pick your other two. I really wanted to pick the Lamy 2000 and I really wanted to pick the TWSBI Eco. Because I think for the exact reasons that you chose, like the Lamy 2000 is probably the best pen you can buy for $160.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Like it is out and out one of the best pens ever made. It feels incredible. Lamy nibs are amazing. I mean, there are some problems with the 2000 line here and there. But you can just get it replaced and you'll get a good one, right? Like it just seems to be a bit of a bad lottery at points. But the way that pen feels, the material, that Microlon that it is made from, you've never felt anything like it. It's like warm metal. It doesn't even make any sense. It like breaks your brain. So I struggled because I really liked both of those. A lock for me was the Sailor Pro gear. Yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. So that was my second choice. But the math didn't work. Right. I think that's a great first choice. So yes, totally agree.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Because you can get those for about $250. Yeah. Right. That's what I got mine for. I found them online. They can be more expensive. It depends on the color. But you can get one for $250.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah.