Hello and welcome to episode one hundred and one of the pan addict podcast on five by five. The pan addict is a weekly show where we discuss pens, paper and the analog tools that we love so dearly. My name is Mike Hurley and I'm joined as I am every week by the pan addict himself, Mr. Brad Dowdy. What's going on, Mike? Hey, man, how you doing? Good. Is that boring? Is it boring now? Huh? Huh? What did you say? I was gonna say I didn't get a nickname this week. What's up with that? No, is it boring now? I think I'm not boring now, but I don't have the brain capacity anymore. Yeah, that part of your brain has been shut off. Yeah, no more nicknames. Even if I wanted to, it's not possible because I've removed that part of brain functionality. It just has been burned away. I think you were burned away by all the feedback we got off last week's epic episode 100, huh? It's probably them. Well, no, not probably. It is the most feedback I've ever had for any episode of any show I've ever done. Are you serious? But none. It has been constant all week. It has been constant. Like, I woke up as after replying to a bunch of tweets before going to sleep on Tuesday night. I woke up to maybe 50 and that was before you had even started replying because, you know, I'm just gonna say something this is now. I haven't said this to Brad yet. I think about Brad when I'm replying to tweets and I don't include him. Brad includes me. So every single person that I thanked, I then received another message from Brad later on in the day. So I would just be scrolling through just his face over and over again. Is that bad? Twitter tweeting protocol? I don't know. I don't know. Maybe, you know, sometimes you do it and it's and I'm thankful for it if you answer a question because then I know I don't have to answer it. But just on this week alone, it was it was it didn't help me so much because it was just lots and lots of Brad's Brad's face. There's nothing wrong with that, is there? If anything, it's probably made my week go a little bit better. Well, that's good. You know, it it was really I didn't know what I mean. I kind of knew what to expect in the general terms, but until like we wrapped a recording and sent it out into the wild, you don't know what's gonna happen. And then, you know, within like 30 minutes, you know, people are starting to pick up on it. And you know, I watched a bunch of the tweets and everything roll in. And I just wanted to say how thankful I am to have the audience that we have and to be able to do this every week and that these people out there listening. And you know, I'd love to point out specific people to say thank you, but that would be just impossible in the amount that we got. So, I made an effort and I know Mike did to just I made sure that, you know, to thank everybody who sent us a tweet or an email or a message of any kind, you know, I would just wanted to thank them individually for doing that. So, that's why you got a lot of extra of my face in your feed this week. I mean, I'm happy to take it this week because, you know, it was well worth it. And we spoke a lot last week about how the show is also because of the listeners and like how great you are. And this week, you definitely showed like in the last week, you've definitely shown us how amazing you are. And word is word is definitely spread about the show because in a strange turn of events, we had about a 50% increase in downloads than usual, which is kind of strange because I don't know if you'd listened to the show before if you were going to get anything out of last week. Like because I feel like it was it was pretty much just us talking about us. But if you're new to the panatics, which you may well be, thank you so much. And we've definitely got some after we've done the follow up. We've got some really cool stuff today that you'll get a feel for what the show tends to be like on a more weekly break basis. Probably Brad will cry less this week, maybe a little bit like he might still cry some, but probably a bit less. Yeah, so two things on that. Number one, our friend Thomas Hall, he pretty much nailed it on this one. He said that he said essentially that if Mike's girly drinks, you're now crying, boy. And I kind of I'm kind of upset about that because I now can't give you as much grief. Nope, about that because now you have something to hang over my head like I've been hanging over yours for all these years. And two, my parents sent me an email. They're listeners of the podcast. So hey mom and dad. Oh, that's awesome. I know your parents listen. Yeah, they do. They do. So they just they listened and said, Oh, we were tearing up to you. And it's your and Mike's friendship. So awesome. And that's y'all just did a really good job and things like that. So it was nice to get a note from them on the show. But it was cool. Last last week was awesome. So it was it was definitely kind of a kind of mind blowing. I mean, the entries we've had for the contest, what what did you did you have a number in mind? I didn't have a number in mind. So I'm I'm good with what we're at now. But you I think you kind of had some number phantom number in your head, right? I thought if we got 50. There was honestly a big part of me at one point that was concerned if we'd have enough people feeling to even give one gift away to everyone. Like I was worried like, Oh, what are we going to do if we don't get five people that fill in the thing? I was concerned. I was definitely I was like, Oh, but we only have a few. And then I was like, well, if we get 50, that's really good. I feel like we're 50. Then we will and I think 50 was my number that we spoke about obviously off the air. Yeah, I can remember if it was 50 or 100. I was like, well, you know, I think if I forget 50, then I'll be happy because it means that we're at least having enough that when we do like the random number drawing to allow us to to give out, you know, the prizes, then it will be fair. If that makes sense, like, yeah, there'll be enough people that like there was a minimum. Yeah, like if we have 50 people, then it will be I don't know to me, that just feels good, rather than there being 20 people. So it's like a one in four chance of winning. And I feel like it needs to be a bit more than that. So currently, as we as we stand right now, we have 477 responses, which is way more than I expected, like just the sheer percentage of people compared to the amount of downloads that we have every week, that percentage of people that have entered is insane. And it is increasing every single day. So there is still time because you still got just under a week, right? Right. Yeah, we're gonna we're gonna finalize the prizes next Monday, so we can announce them on Tuesday's episode. So the competition entry form is still in the document. If you if you listen to the show, just go check it out and try and fill in a few questions as we said before, you know, we haven't got a sort of a strict limit on how many answers you need to give, how many need to be correct. Just give it a go and see how you do. Yep. And you know, go back if you if you somehow missed last week's episode, you still have time. So make sure you get back in there. Yeah, that you definitely do. And you should definitely definitely be going for this. But no, I knew I knew it would be several hundred entries. I didn't know that we'd actually crack like 500 or so, but just doing the basic giveaways on my blog. I know there'd be enough. I know there'd be at least be a several hundred that would go and fill out the form. And, you know, try to win one of these awesome prize packages. And on top of that, we sold what like 113 t-shirts so far, something like that again. Yeah, I was worried we would sell 13. I was like, Oh, we have to sell 30. I really, really hope that we'll sell 30. And we sold 110, which is insane. So I've I've sold t-shirts once before. When I mentioned this, I used Teespring for the 70 decibels t-shirts. And we sold 93 in two weeks. And we sold 113 in one week. And again, you can go and buy the t-shirt. At the point now, like we tried to sell them for and not intending to make much money from them. But now because we sold so many of them, it's profit, which is good, which helps me and Brad do this show. So there is now an added incentive. Like if you enjoy the show, it's a great way to now before it was just we want to make a t-shirt for everybody. We feel like we've done that now. So if you enjoy the show and want to help support me and Brad. And also if you want to help try and fund the kaya for Brad, go and buy t-shirt. And that's at teespring.com/pennadict. Yeah, and you still have another week or so for that too. I think it expires like Monday night or maybe even Tuesday morning, something like that, a little under a week left to get that. I can't wait to for people to get these in the hands. I can't wait to get mine. I'm pretty excited about this t-shirt thing to be quite honest. So hopefully we'll see them out in the wild and we'll see some pictures. Maybe we'll have to have our own flicker photo set or something. Yeah, I was going to say I wanted to do that actually. It kind of sucks because so many people are going to have one before me. I remember the same as I was t-shirt. Maybe for like nearly two weeks, people are sending me pictures of them wearing them. I was like, it's my network. Because obviously it takes longer to ship them to outside the US. And I think they give estimations of it all. But I remember getting mine super quick once it closed. It was here like fast. So yeah, they still wear it all the time. Teespring are actually really awesome. I've been super impressed with them and pleased with them on the times that I've used them. And this time too. If you are someone who wants to set a t-shirt, they just go for it because they're a great way to not have to worry about it. Like we could have got t-shirts printed ourselves and all that sort of stuff. But this means that we don't have to worry about any of it. Like we don't have to get a stock and try and work out how many to make that sort of thing. Yeah, totally worth it. Totally worth it. Well, we got back to some normal topics this week, Mike. So we got the Atlanta pin show coming up. But dumb. Oh, I have one more piece of follow up. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Shelter wood. Yeah. So you've got to spend some more time spent a week of it. And love them. Good. I love it. I'm really, really happy. It seems that after a bit of usage, they stay open. Like you remember I mentioned originally that it wasn't staying open. I was writing in it. Yeah, it's doing that now. OK. So for me, that was the only point that I didn't like has now been kind of cleared up because the idea of them not staying open when they're closed is not an issue for me. And it's proved not to be one. It's just my pen to the script at the front or I've got my phone on it or it's still on my keyboard, just like all other field notes. The paper is awesome. I love the covers. I've already had a couple of people. I was sitting in a meeting on Monday. This is the first day I had them in. Right? Oh, no, no, I hadn't. I had them for a few days. Anyway, it was just I was in a sitting in a meeting on Monday and somebody sitting next to me and I'd said something in the meeting and I put my notebook down because I had it in my hand and they just, he, the guy, literally picked it up and just looked at it, like turned it over and then put it back down again because he was like, and I was like, yes, made a word. And he was like, oh. So that was exactly that was actually it was that was the guy that I was hoping to and expecting to get that react kind of reaction from. He was the one who I'd mentioned before, had like commented on pens in the office or had come over. He once came over to my desk to ask to see my pen. What was in my pencil case? Because he'd heard that I had like a big pen case or whatever. He's a he's a hypnotic. I think he might be I think he might be. I don't I don't have any of those. I don't have any one in my office. I can come this right with over pens. He doesn't do it over the internet. Well, see, he doesn't use anything fancy, but he's just interested in nice things. Yeah, he has a pebble. Oh, okay. He has a Kickstarter edition pebble. So, you know, he's just he's he's he's kind of similar to me in those sort of regards. Yeah, he's tuned in a little bit. Indeed. So we have a new sponsor. We have an excellent sponsor. All of our sponsors are excellent, but this one is super excellent. And let me tell you who they are. They are. Pencell A. Now, pencell A, let me tell you about what what pen shall they do. You can probably guess, right? They sell beach. No, they sell pens. Obviously, they're a pen sale, a pen website. We can go and buy all some stuff. Let me tell you about some of the things that they do. So, pencell A sell authentic, amazing rollables, fountain pens, ballpoints, mechanical pencils, and so much more. I mean, I'm sure you've already gone to pencell A.com because after mentioning that, I mean, what more do you need to know? If they're pencell A.com and I'm calling them authentic and amazing pens, you know, they're going to be great. They and so here's where it starts. Here's where it starts to get crazy, Brad. They have all of your favorite brands. They have Monteverde, Pelican, Pilot, Nimiki, Sailor, Kawiko, and of course, an authorized dealer of all of them. They have so many more brands as well, but I went on to their website and was like, I'm going to pick these ones out because I know the pananics audience are going to love to hear that pencell A have these brands because they're the brands that we all use all the time. We talk about these brands every week. They have really fast and really reliable customer service and they run special discounts twice a month and they include close out specials every two weeks. So, they're always doing loads of great deals as well for stuff that they've got. They're adding new styles of pens. Every single month, they've got new pens on there. You can go over to pencell A.com and check all of their new stuff that they've got. And as well as the brands that I mentioned earlier, pencell A sells a bunch of limited edition pens and they also have all the pen accessories that you need, like carrying cases, pen holders, refills, fountain pen converters, and so much more. They have free shipping on orders of $50 in the continental United States. And I mean, come on, pen addicts, you're all spending more than $50 every time you make a pen order, let's be honest. And they also have really reasonable shipping rates internationally as well. And as I said before, even when you're adding on shipping, once you've got the benefit of that conversion rate, you're kind of golden. Pencell A has low prices on a high-quality pens and they offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee, which I love to see. Now, this is where it gets even better for you. Go to pencell A.com, that's P-E-N-C-H-A-L-E-T.com and you want to use the code pen addict. That's going to save you 10% off your order at pencell A. But even more than that, if you go to the website, you go to the page and you click the podcast link at the top of their website in the right at the top, it says radio slash podcast. And if you enter the password pen addict, not only will you get your 10% off when you go to buy something, you'll also be given a page of special offers and even more savings that you can get over at pencell A. Thank you so much to Pencell A for sponsoring 5x5 and the pen addict podcast. And this is that bit where I ask you guys to do something else. Now, Pencell A are a new sponsor. We think they're really cool. I love what they do. They have some great products. They have great service and I want them to sponsor the show again. So go and use them. If you've got a pen that you're looking for and they've got it, buy it with Pencell A and you get 10% off, right? There's the deal. You get 10% off from free shipping if you're in the US. You get 10% off if you're outside as well. But as I mentioned, you have to pay for shipping, but you get the exchange rate on your site. You're going to get your 10% off, but if you do that, then they're going to want to come back and sponsor with again. If loads of you guys go over there and use pen addict as the code, I don't ask for a lot of this sort of stuff, but these are the exact type of guys that we want to see sponsoring the pen addict all the time. So thank you so much to Pencell A. Go and support those guys because they're supporting us. Yeah, this is awesome. And I have a few things to mention. One, I've talked to them over email. I haven't ordered from them yet, but I will try to, like maybe I'll order something while we're on the show. But I've talked to them over email. The founders seem like really nice guys. I believe if I'm not mistaken, they're based out of Arizona, not too far from where our friend Mr. Mike Dudek is. And I think he might have even met these guys. And he told me about them. Told me they seem like super good guys. And they have certainly put together a beautiful looking website and the brands that they have chosen are the best part about it, I think. Pelican, Pilate, Namiki, Aurora, Conklin, all kinds of cool stuff. And you'll see a bunch of my pen friends have been reviewing pens from them recently. I know Ed Jelly has and a few other, and Mike Dudek has and a few other people have. But while you were doing the read, I think I found like one of the best deals on the site. And this one, this totally wasn't planned at all. But I did put in the code pin addict and radio podcast. And on that list came up, the Pelican M205, that I love so much and you love so much. You know what you want to talk about, Mike? Full schedule. 97.50. No way. Way. Really? So yeah, they're usually run about 130 from most other sites. Right now they're on sale for 97.50. They have the black one, which I have. Do you have the black one? I don't know. I have the black one, they have black, taupe and white, the M205 for 97.50. That's a really good price. Like I said, it normally runs about 130. So make sure you hit the view more special offers. Yeah, and then if you get 10% off of that and free shipping, so you're looking at what, about 90 bucks. To get that pin off your wish list for such an awesome pin, that's a really good deal. So I just stumbled across that while you were talking here. But yeah, the site looks good. They do a beautiful presentation job. The brands they carry are awesome. And I'm going to finish scrolling through here after the show and see if I can order something up. 87.75. Yeah. That's how much you get it for. Yeah. That is a, that's a steal. That's a special steal. You guys. Go pin, shall I? Yeah, I know, right. Wow, that's an incredible offer. I didn't notice the Pelican in that list. Yeah, I haven't gone through everything yet, but that was something I noticed immediately. So you guys go check that out and buy them all up. Sell them out. Apply that metropolitan 1498 before this count. So this week's pin blog of the week is more of a pencil blog of the week once again. And this time it's pencil revolution. My friend Johnny Gamber, I wanted to give a special shout out to him. He does an awesome job. It's one of the oldest pencil pin analog tool review blogs that I know of. He started way back in 2005 and he's finally converted me over to the dark side into the wooden pencil realm. And it's a pretty fun place to be. Johnny's does a great job of reviewing and photographing and talking about all the products that he uses. But he's in following him over the years on Twitter and on Instagram. He's gotten me into, he gets his kids really active into the pencils and paper thing. And so I'm trying to learn from that and get my kids. Like he gives his daughters some field notes and some pencils. And that's kind of her fun thing to play with. And I've kind of picked up on that and give my kids the same kind of thing. So they know they have the special tools that Daddy gets to use too. So I appreciate Johnny doing that and sharing that with all of us. So y'all probably already know about pencil revolution. But if not, you should definitely add that to your reading list. And he's also part of the three musketeers of pencildom who do the erasable podcast. So you can check out him on erasable too. So thanks Johnny. Our nemeses, yes. Will always be basically 100 in front of them. Unless they start doing one a day, then we're in trouble. Then we'll have to do two a day. That's right. That's right. I'll let them catch up. I don't want to do that. So please don't do one a day. Yeah, they're doing a really good job. They just had episode three earlier this week. I listened to it. They gave me a couple shout outs. I appreciate that. And yeah, definitely check them out. So thank you Johnny for being awesome. All right. So you know what this weekend is, Mike? Let me think of something. What is this weekend? What's going on in your neck of the woods? Nothing that I can really speak to. Nothing for you. Well, for me, it's Atlanta Pen Show Weekend. And that's always a big deal for me. Well, I'm going away for the weekend, but that's not necessarily what people are looking to hear. So three, this will be my third. Yeah, this will be my third Atlanta Pen Show. And usually starting about in January, I know it's coming up in April and I started getting anxious and start saving up the secret fund for my Pen Show exploits and you know this year is going to be, I don't know, I think better than ever because it takes a while to kind of get into the flow of what a Pen Show is like. I remember the first time I went in 2012, I was a deer in the headlights. I had no idea what to expect. No idea necessarily how to handle myself, you know how to deal with the vendors, how to purchase a fountain pen. That was the show where I purchased my black matte palette vanishing point. My first kind of expensive fountain pen, I'd had some Lamy safaris I think before then, but nothing else. So that was where I broke down and got that vanishing point. So that was kind of my first experience. And I remember being really nervous and just kind of running around the show, just not really knowing what I was doing, not really comfortable talking with the vendors and not real comfortable handling the pins on the table, which they're more than happy to have you do. So by the time last year rolled around, I felt, okay, I kind of got that first experience out of the way. And now the second time I'm going to come with a shopping list. And these are the things I'm going to look for. And I had a much better experience just because I was more experienced going to a Pen Show. It is a little intimidating the first time. So the second time around, you know, I had an idea, a better idea. I picked up a few things on my shopping list and was really, really happy. You know, I met the Anderson's that year from Anderson Pens. And, you know, I talked to a bunch of other vendors and found out what they were doing. I had some nib work done, which I had never done before by Mike Masayama. So it was a real kind of branching out experience last year. Now this year, as I'm getting ready, I find that I could almost go with no list, if that makes sense. Like I have a general idea, but not necessarily any, like, very, very specific pins that I want to pick up. Like last year, I had some very specific pins I wanted to pick up. And I think I maybe only got one on that list. Because the Pen Show, you just find different things. It's about exploring and trying new things. And trying new brands and talking to people. And, you know, maybe discovering something new. So I've got a general list, which I'll go over. And, but I think out of this list, you know, I might end up with one of the pins I have listed on here, maybe two. Because I'm just going to kind of take it all in. Because last year I went and I found some other things that were very cool. Like I found an Edison Pearl, which you don't normally run across. And that was just something I had to have. So, you know, that's what it's for discovering new things and finding new pins that kind of really fit your style and things like that. So one of the things I want to look for this year is a vintage pen with an ultra flexible nib. Sometimes they call them a wet noodle. I don't know if I'm going to go like super, super flex or just kind of like a medium flex, but more flexible than like a Falcon. But there's a couple of brands that are kind of known for that. Waterman makes a lot of, well, made a lot of older pens with really flexible nibs. And a brand called Maybe Todd back in the day made some pins. So I'm going to check there's usually a bunch of vintage pins outweigh modern pins by a large number at pin shows, I'd say. So I should have a lot of choices there. But I remember last year, like one of the things I wanted very much was a Parker 51. Do you remember that? Sure do. And I knew that I was going to come away with a Parker 51, just because there's so many available at a show like this. Well, I looked at dozens and dozens and dozens and none of them spoke to me. Like either the color wasn't right or the condition. I had exactly the same. Do you remember? Yeah, yeah, I went for the exact same process that you did when I went to the London picture. Yep, exactly. So I thought for sure I'd be able to find a good vintage Parker 51 and I came away with zero. So I'm saying that I'll have lots of options and lots of choices and I should be able to come away with something that I like. But maybe I don't, you know, this pins probably, I'd say I'm kind of ball parking like $100, $150 for that pin, but I'm not dead set on coming away with one. And if I don't find one that I like kind of like I did and put the Parker 51 last year, like I had to have a 51 and I was disappointed that I didn't get one. But in the end, I mean, everything worked out fine. One of the pins I'm definitely going to come away with and I don't know which model exactly yet. But Franklin Christoff is they're only about, they're in Raleigh, North Carolina. So they're only about eight hours, so they bring a bunch to this show. And they have usually have like three huge tables of stuff. They've been coming out with a few new models that smoke and ice pocket fountain pin I have. They made a larger model. I don't know the exact model number off the top of my head. I'm going to look at that one. And since the two smoke, I have the smoke and ice and fired ice model 40 pocket, I want to get one of the larger size. And both the ones I have have cursive italic nibs. I want to get one with a needle tip this time. So that's the one pin you can pretty much bank on me coming home with. Something from Franklin Christoff with one of Mike Masuyama does their needle tips, their cursive italic nibs. And I want to come home with one of those, that's for sure. One I probably won't come home with, but it's kind of on my watch list is the stormtrooper vanishing point, the white barrel with the black trim. For some reason, I can't figure that out. Maybe a listener can help me figure it out. And I've actually emailed Brian Anderson about this, is this doesn't seem to be like a full release vanishing point. Like not everyone carries this one. Like the gun metal one that they released last year, everyone carried that. It's like a normal line, normal stock line pin. This white one with the black trim, not everyone carries. Like coat pins has it, but it's at a premium to the regular line. So I don't know if this is some kind of special edition or what, but if I can find one for a reasonable price, I want to get that. - Dude, can I just stop you for one moment? - Sure. - And I'm sorry to do this, but would you be able to pick me up one of those Masuyama, Frank and Cliff crystals if possible? - Yeah, well, let's look at, we will look at the site, and I want to show you the new ones that they've come out with, and then we can pick one out for you, and I'll get it for you. - That would be amazing. - So we'll work on that. - I really want to get one, like bad. - Yeah. - I just really want one, and this, yeah, I just haven't got around to it yet. - Okay, so we'll figure out the model and the nib, and I would wait, or I should be able to get it at the pin show. So let's do a little shopping. - Oh, yeah. - I like this, I like this across the ocean shopping spree that you're having. (chuckles) One of the new vendors that's going to be there this year, and I didn't realize it till last week, but Van-S-Pens, which we talked about when I talked about the Ackermann Inks, remember that like two weeks ago, or maybe even last week, they're actually going to be at this show for the first time. They're based out of Arkansas, so they're going to make the driveover, and they tweeted out, you know, "Hey, does anyone want us to bring anything from the store? I said, "Are you bringing Ackermann Inks?" And they said, "We are, we're bringing about 75 bottles. You want us to hold any?" So I picked out two colors that they're going to hold for me when I get there, so I'm excited to go talk to them when I get there and see what else they have. They're pretty much the only ones in the US that carry Ackermann Inks. So I expect those to go quickly. They said they're bringing about 75 bottles or so, and they're going to hold two of them for me. So I hope to pick those up on Saturday. One of the things that you got me thinking about was when we were talking about the Pelican M205, just a minute ago from PinchLA, and you actually bought a separate gold nib for yours, because the 205 comes with a steel nib, but they're easily swappable, right? So you bought the 14-karat gold. Which nib did you get? I'm going to say medium. Okay, yes, you got a medium. So I'm thinking, I don't know what the availability is going to be, but I'd like to get a spare nib unit for my pelicans, just a half. Something like a stub or a curse-fatalic nib. I don't know that the availability is going to be there. The benders who were there last year have the full stock of pelican. They're not going to be there this year, so I don't know if anyone else will have all the spare nibs and stuff. So we'll see. That's kind of on my radar. I'd like to get something that I can swap in and out, because I've come to the realization on the pins that I really like. I end up having an extra nib for each of them. I'll have an extra fine nib, and then I'll have something like a stub or an italic nib that I can swap in and out, however. Do you have a gold nib for your pelican? I do. Well, I have three pelicans. I have one M405 that actually came with a gold nib that I got ground down, extra fine. And it works really, really well. And then I have the M205, and then I have the pinstripe one that we both have, that Thomas Allsonus. Both of those have steel nibs. So I have one gold nib and two steel nibs. Okay. Do you have a question about it? I was just going to ask, because I was going to say if you don't have a gold nib, then you have no idea what's about to happen to your life. Yeah, they're pretty crazy. I just love that pen so much. I keep using it now. Like, it's my pen. It's my pen. Yep. Just, it's, yeah. Another reason why you have to take advantage of that deal that we mentioned earlier. A pensioner. Yeah, really. You have to. Because, and I'm not just saying this, because we mentioned it earlier. Like, I use that pen with the fuyugaki ink every single day, and I just don't want to use anything else. Like, I was thinking today, like, I have not bought a new pen in a while. And that was part of the reason why I would like a Frank and Kristoff, especially with a messy yum. And because it'll be like two new things for me. But I realized I've not bought a new pen in a while. And it is because of this M2F5. Like, I just, it's perfect. There's nothing wrong with it. No, I'm glad you like it so much, actually. And I mean, everyone who has one seems to love them. And it took me a while to get on that bandwagon too. But once I did, it was pretty obvious how great of a pen that is. And that's just a really good deal. Not to totally pimp out pinch a lay. People are going to think we're on the take or something. Well, I mean, they are paying us. So it's, you know, this is kind of as much on the take. Did you compete, I guess? Yeah, yeah. They are an advertiser. But still, they didn't ask us to pimp that. They didn't. I just happened to stumble across it and that's a really, really good deal. So yeah, check that out. Because you can get extra nibs. I'll have to go see if they have extra nibs. That's one thing I didn't look at. So I will see if they have something like that if I don't find something at the pen show. And one thing I'm definitely doing is getting a couple of pens, nib grinds done. I don't have as much as I normally do because I've got pretty much everything that I want in the proper condition that I want it. I think I am going to get my Sailor Black Luster. It's a Japanese medium nib. I think I might get that ground down a little bit. I can't help it. I love how it writes and I'm kind of scared to do it. So I'm kind of on the fence on that. The Sailor brand, the branding is so... It's such so unfortunate when you talk about it. I mean, all the innuendo? Yeah. Yeah, okay. Yeah, it's such an unfortunate brand name, I think. Yeah, I don't think about it, obviously, when I say it out loud until you remind me of what I've just said or something like that. So I appreciate that. I'm not as childish as you, Michael. You're not. No, I'm more. So I'm going to get on Mike Masayama's list because he's going to be there. One of the few pin shows he's attending this year now that he's moved to Los Angeles. And I wanted to get a nib done by Pendleton Brown, who is well known for his cursive italic nib. So I want to get one of those done. I know our friend Keegan from One Star Leather sent him a couple pins and he raves about the work that Pendleton did for his pins. And I haven't had one done by him, so I want to get that done. So that's kind of my general list. I mean, I'm pretty sure what's going to happen is, you know, I might come home with one of these things, you know, like I said, the Franklin Christoph, plus the acriman ink, which is already pretty much on hold for me. And then I'm just going to wing it and see what I can find. You know, Brian Anderson always has some great, Brian and Lisa always have some great vintage pins, plus all the new pens, the new modern pens. I want to see what sailors they bring. Now I can't say it without thinking about it. See what sailors they bring to the show. Hello, sailor. You see? This is all I'm talking about. I appreciate that, Mike. And, you know, like I've recommended to people who it's their first show or even, you know, tenths show, what you want to do when you get there, it's number one, if you're getting nib worked on, get on the list. And then number two, walk around the entire show, look at every table, look at every pen, without buying anything. Take it all in. Talk to people, see what they have, because a lot of people will have the same thing. You know, the prices are generally the same. But you want to take it all in first, kind of get the lay of the land, and then kind of go into shopping mode and, you know, go back to those tables that you had seen before, where they had a couple of things that you were interested in and, you know, talk to them and try out the pens and things like that. So it can be overwhelming if it's your first show. But all I can say is, you know, don't let it get to you. Everyone that I've ever dealt with vendor-wise has been more than happy to help and answer questions. Even what you might think is a stupid question, which I've had plenty over the years and still have plenty. They will absolutely help you out. I mean, that's what they do. So these people have way more experience than, you know, me and you put together. So, you know, rely on that experience and let them help you out. And they're more than happy to help. So it's a real friendly crew. I expect the show to be crowded on Saturday, which is good. So that keeps all these vendors coming back to it. And I could not be more excited. So I guess next week we'll see what I come home with, right? I'm really excited. I love when you go to the pen shows. Because thinking about last year, how much the show changed and you changed after the last pen show, like looking at some of that stuff that you bought that you came away with, those fountain pens and stuff, you know? That was like a big, it's some interesting stuff came out of that last year. And over the last year, the show has changed. It's been a huge transformation. Yeah, like just a couple of the things that you bought and it spurred me on to go to my first pen show. Yeah, it's a really cool experience. I hope that people listen to this. And if you're in the Atlanta area, go. And I'm sure Brad will be around as well. And I put a link in under that you're looking at trying to meet up with people while you're there. Stuff like that. Yeah, so I'm going to be there all day Saturday. Definitely reach out to me on the blog or on Twitter. If you want to meet up, I've got several people. I know we're going to be there already. Jeff Bruckwicky, obviously my not co-partner. He's going to come with me for part of the day. My other co-conspirator at the Penag, Mr. Jeff Abbott, I know is going to be there. So we're going to hook up on Saturday and several other people. I know Heath from a pen paper ink letter, he's going to be there on Saturday. All kinds of readers are going to be there on Saturday. And then the show ends at five o'clock on Saturday. And I just wanted to have a specific time if anyone wanted to do, have like a panatic meetup in the hotel bar. They have a pretty decent size seating area in there from like five to seven that night, which I posted all this on the blog. From five to seven that night, we'll just hang out in the bar and see what everyone bought and just kind of chat and meet and greet and things like that. So just a real informal non-official type of thing. So just if anyone wants to show up, they are more than welcome. I'm trying to get Brian and Lisa to show up there, but I need to remind them. They may have other plans because I know they do several meetings and go out with vendors and things like that during these shows. So I'll have to see if I can round them up for that. But I really look forward to it. It seems to get bigger and better every year. And I get more involved in it every year. I'm actually going to be sitting at the Southeastern Pen Collectors Club table. They asked me to come over and sit with them for an hour or two during the show. So I'm going to do that and it's going to be cool. It's cool. What are you going to do? Just sit there and look pretty? I have no idea. Yeah, just I guess just sit there and say, hey. Hey, buddy, next year, you could be a son. It's like, you remember the guy that he tweeted you? He said, hey, why don't you come to the pin show? He was actually looking for me. Oh, you remember that last week? Yeah, then he was asking me questions. Yeah. Hey, Tom, Tom listens to the show. Hey, Tom. Next year, maybe next year, we'll get Mike to fly over and we'll do a live, kinetic podcast from the pin show. Do you know what? I should probably make that happen. Yeah, one of these years. But actually, you could have your own table selling not co-products. You know, we were supposed to do this year. We just couldn't catch up enough inventory wise. So next year, we definitely plan on it. Oh, I was maybe next week. What? We were going to talk about knock. But we'll say next week. Yeah, we can save it till next week. We'll probably have a little less follow-up. Yep. Yeah. So when is the show? It's Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the 11th through 13th. And what day are you going to be there? I'll be there all day Saturday from, I think it's open. It's open from 10 to 5. So I'll probably get there about 9.30. I'm having breakfast with one of our mutual friends that morning, Mr. Aaron Mankey. Oh, awesome. So I've got lots going on on Saturday. So it's going to be a good day. And do you have a budget? You don't have to tell me what it is, but do you have a budget this time? I guess so. I have a general budget, yes. I have an amount of money I'm taking. But it's more money than I have to spend. No, I have an amount of money I'm taking in cash. And if I am overcome with lust, I will. For a sailor. Yeah, for a sailor, I will go higher. I don't see that happening though. Based on last year's experience, I kind of have an idea. So, and based on the things that I'm looking for, something would have to like, the only problem I foresee with me and my budget is there's a couple of pins by Visconti that are amazing that they've come out with that I've been really looking at. Well, I've shown you the Visconti Wall Street, I think, before. And I know that Anderson's carry it. So we'll see. It's a very expensive pen. But I'm kind of I'm still holding out for that Nikaya. So I don't want to go too insane crazy on the budget because that's still, I wanted to get past this pin show before I bought the Nikaya. So we'll go from there. Unless they have on there, of course. I've never seen one in the two years I've been, so. If they do, do you think you might might do it? How much do they start around like the base ones around 600. Between six and seven. Okay, go buy some t-shirts. Yeah, I doubt I would find the specific one that I would want there. With all the specific, the exact right color and the exact right nib size and the exact right furniture on it. So I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to order whichever one I want. If you're going to be going to the Atlanta Pen Show this week or just in general, and you want to connect with Mr. Brad Dowdy on the internet, then you should go to panatic.com and you should also follow him on Twitter. He is @dowdyismdowdyism. My name is Mike Herley. I am @imike. I am YKE. I do a bunch of shows over at 5x5.tv and talking about that. If you want to find the show notes for this week's episode of the Pan Act, go to 5x5.tv/panatic/101. Thank you so much for listening to this week's episode of the Panatic Thank you so much to Penn Shelly for sponsoring the show this week. Thank you all for being awesome, especially if you bought a t-shirt and/or entered the giveaway. If you haven't done either, then you should consider it. Until next week, say goodbye, Brad. Goodbye, Brad. [BLANK_AUDIO]
