Goulet Q&A Ep.252: Cult of New, Defending Pen Costs, and When Brian Will Fire A Customer

In this episode, I talk about the Cult of New, defending your pen costs to strangers, and when I will fire a customer. Enjoy!

1) Mentat V. (08:09)
Hi Brian and team. Have a couple of questions that you may have already answered, in which case sorry for repeating them. Why aren't many coloured nib and feeds around? I get that the gold nibs need to reflect the gold, but steel nibs are almost always limited to black, gold or silver. And why not have coloured feeds matching the colour of the pen? Most manufacturers don't make ebonite feeds anymore so why not shake things around a little? Are you aware of any technical problems with this? Cheers and thanks for the videos.

2) Ian S. (14:20)
Are breather holes required I remember on a previous write on that either Drew or Brian mentioned they was not required so why do some pens have them and some not?

3) gkschick112 (16:37)
I would like to know how Brian would respond to a scenario that recently happened to me. I was discussing my fountain pen hobby with a friend who is interested and supports it. He mentioned the cost of a pen I was holding... another co-worker overheard, and said "OMG.... $120 for a PEN. I'd rather feed my family." I didn't know what to say.... what would you have said? (btw- I do feed my family LOL!)

4) Candice B. (21:16)
I need to catch up on a few Q&As so I apologize if it’s already been answered, but could Brian show the Lamy LX gold pen next to the new Bronze Al-Star so we can see the difference in color? Write Now only compared past Al-Stars which doesn’t help me because I don’t have any of the ones they talked about. Thanks!

5) Steven G. (23:42)
how did big historical events of the last century (like WWII) effect the development of fountain pen technology/industry/etc? It’s hard to not notice that most (if not, the best) pens are coming from Germany, Italy, & Japan... I think I’ve posed this question for Q&A several times before, and maybe you guys thought I was joking, but no. I was not, haha...

6) muallaemine (32:44)
I was wondering why Aurora as a brand isn't mentioned more. I mean it's their centennial year and I know you mentined it a couple of q&as ago; but nowhere near as much as Namiki/Pilot or Platinum. İs it a business strategy on Aurora's or your part? Or is the brand not as hot as other italian pen makers such as Visconti or Pineider etc? I'm curious about it because Aurora is my favourite italian brand, and I might be totally wrong, but somehow I feel it doesn't get as much attention as the others. Why is that?

7) @RadicalxEdward (37:49)
I’ve been REALLY wanting to know since I got my Travelers notebook, has Brian ever gotten ink on his notebook and since I’m so paranoid about it happening to me, is there anything that can be done to clean it without ruining it if that happens? I get ink on myself constantly.

8) Savannah S. (41:37)
How do you find local fountain pen peeps? I know there’s gotta be more pen people around me but I feel alone.

9) Christopher L. (45:07)
In some other hobbies, there's a phenomenon called cult of the new. It refers to people who spend inordinate amounts of money on products that are very heavily marketed on kickstarter and at conventions, but after receiving the product they find that it's fairly mediocre for the price, gets used once or twice, shelved, and never used again. However, there's always tons of industry hype surrounding these releases (or things like limited editions/add-ons on kickstarter) to convince people to continually buying these.
My question is, do you see this problem occurring in the fountain pen world? I mean, every new pen seems like it is the greatest thing ever and marketing (as it should) makes many people feel like they need to have it. What guidance can you give to help people be more discerning or selective about what pens/inks/etc that they buy so they don't end up buying tons of pens that they'll never use?"

10) Mark H. (54:31)
Have you ever fired a customer? Has anyone done something, such as verbally harassed a team member, that made it worth turning down any of their business?

QOTW: Have you ever been to a pen gathering of any kind, including a pen show, club, or meetup? How'd you get involved? (01:01:07)
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Видео Goulet Q&A Ep.252: Cult of New, Defending Pen Costs, and When Brian Will Fire A Customer канала The Goulet Pen Company