Celebrity Fountain Pens? Really? From Taylor Swift?

Recently, Taylor Swift set the fountain pen world on fire by releasing her own fountain pen... only one, for the low-low price of only $15 USD as a part of her Tortured Poet Department Tour. It promptly sold out, and speculators are relisting them on eBay and other places for 3-10x the original price. 

Screenshot of Taylor Swift Pen Listing on Her Own website

Keep in mind that At $15, this is cheaper than "cheaper mainstream" fountain pens such as Pilot Metropolitan or Lamy Safari, which usually retail in the $25-35 USD range. Only the beginner fountain pens like Pilot Kakuno or Platinum Preppy, the disposable fountain pens like Pilot Varsity or the Chinese branded Xpen or Aretza disposable fountain pens, and a good majority of Chinese fountain pens, are cheaper. 

The question is, are Swifties (Taylor Swift fans) actually going to learn how to use fountain pens and write poems? Or are these pens just going to sit in a shelf, or worse, in a storage box until X years later? When you think about it, the Swifties will probably pay $150 instead of $15. And I applaud TS for pricing it at $15, but she really should have cut the max per order qty to 2 instead of 4 to discourage flipping. 

Of course, you're really just buying a logo, since it's pretty obvious the pen's made in China for about $5 or less. 

I mean, I wouldn't mind getting one for my own collection, but I am NOT paying 2x-5x retail. 

GOP's "Crusade" Against ... Taylor Swift?

It's pretty obvious Fox News can't exist without GOP, as they feed off each other. But today, both seem to picked an opponent they don't realize they how much of a juggernaut will be... The mega-star Taylor Swift. Yes, that Swift. 

I am NOT a Swiftie. I like her music well enough, but I liked a LOT of artists, and I have eclectic tastes in music, from speed metal to country, I listen to all sorts of stuff. But this is not about my tastes. 

It's how Fox News (and presumably, GOP), turned on Swift... because she Instagram'ed at her followers to register to vote. Not for any party leaning, just "register to vote, and exercise your rights". 

Now you're probably going: why would Fox/GOP be hostile to that? Turns out, younger voters tend to vote blue. 

Now that Swift is dating Travis Kelce, Kelce, who was never political, was getting Fox pundit ill wishes such as "how will his heart break: by Swift, or the COVID vaccine". This is all well documented on X / Fox News. 

Apparently, Swift, who's rich, has a rich family, and is lily white, is an enemy of Fox and GOP values because she tends to lean Democrat (for whatever her reasons are, not relevant) though has mostly remained neutral. And Kelce is getting ill wishes because he's close to Swift... collateral damage. 

But has Fox / GOP bitten off more they can chew this time?