Hi,

A friend of mine who is flea market freak and pen finder told me that he remembered seeing demonstrator Safari's back in the late '80s or early 90's. I asked him if he meant the Vista and he said no. There are two differences - the demo has a molded logo instead of the hot-stamp chrome print and it has the ugly plastic inner cap instead of the fancy metal one in the Vista.

Can anybody confirm such a beast exists? I have a thing for Safaris and would love to find one or at least see a picture.

/Woody

I take it your friend didn't buy them. That's too bad.
I think I've seen one on eBay before, and eBay doesn't search back far enough to find it now. Your description sounds about right. I can't remember what the clip was, but one would guess black, right?

No, he didn't buy them. I assume the clip was black but he didn't mention that.

The hunt continues...

/Woody

Maybe it was a real demonstration model for fountain pen dealers. I read somewhere that these were the predecessors of the "normal" demonstrators (as we know them today). Sorry if I'm wrong.

Regards
Hans-Peter

As Nick mentioned in another thread, the demonstrator exists. I got one of the old style ones a few weeks ago, thanks to the help of a kind FPN'r. Thanks also to kernando for sending me proof of its existence long ago. The differences between the demo and the Vista are:

Demo - black clip and inner cap, debossed logo
Vista - chrome clip and extra inner cap, printed silver logo

Like most Safari colors the demonstrator exists in two versions... the older one with the metal screw holding the clip and the never one with the plastic snap holding the clip. I have seen them both... the previous owner of my pen sent me the older one and kept the newer.

As you can see in the photo below my demonstrator has yellowed a bit with age...

I had a tough time getting a decent photo of this thing. I will replace it with a better one when I find some time.

Click to view attachment

/Woody

Wow, you found the Yeti ... I'm impressed.

Indeed- totally awesome!

I don't mean to change the subject, but I thought I'd also say: Lamy demos are rad! I can't wait til I get my Lamy 80 demo. If only I could find one of those elusive Lamy 27 demos...

Nice find there Woody!! Congratulations

Yet another cool pen in your fantastic collection

Nikolaos

Sorry for my lazyness, still don't have a picture.

Mine also has a yellowish tint, but it does not seem to be aging, just a different material from the current vista. I see the most difference in color when I look at the bottom, with the pen in line with my eye (top hidden behind bottom... clear?).

The vista then seems to be kind of a dark gray but the demo seems yellowish (amberish?).

So don't mind the yellow tint...

nick

Whoa, some action... and I was beginning to think nobody cared .

Thanks for the comments.

RevAaron, that Lamy 80 looks very nice. Cool pen but I wish mine worked. It leaks around the piston seal (real tears this time).

/Woody

That sucks! At least with the old cork using pistons, we can make new ones- a lot harder with this kind of pen.

Unfortunately, it seems that many people like safari, but very few have the interest of getting multiple\all colors... and the demo being the top of the list, I thing you have to go get the other difficult ones before...

Now, should I get one of each texture\color, not just color... (this will never stop)

nick