Less than glowing Lamy Al-Star review

[bphollin]

Thanks all for the replies and suggestions. I ended up ordering a custom Pelikan M215 from Richard Binder--XF nib. It is an absolute dream to write with (loaded with Waterman Blue-Black ink). I'm very pleased with the piston; it has a great ink capacity. To my hand the Pelikan feels heavier than the Al-Star, which is one quality I was looking for. It is well balanced and feels great writing for hours at a time. I haven't found a paper it doesn't like--cheap filler paper, Mead composition books, cheap 3x5 cards, a bevy of Moleskines, computer paper, and on and on. Best of all, it is a very handsome pen. The pictures below don't do it justice.

 

The pen is smaller than I anticipated, especially after writing with the posted Al-Star. Here are two comparison shots.

 

Closed:

 

Posted:

 

This isn't as big of a deal as I initially thought it would be when I pulled it our of the box. I write posted; otherwise it would be too small. I'll eventually upgrade to the M600 or M805, but for now I'm quite satisfied with my purchase! By the way, the Al-Star will stick around as a knockabout, loaded with a different colored ink. I may even give an italic nib the ol' college go since they are cheap enough to get.

 

The Pelikan was purchased with every intention of it being a working pen, so I sewed up a case for it using some "duck cloth" (cotton-y canvas) and an old pair of fuzzy PJ pants for the liner. It has a secure hook and loop closure. It isn't anything fancy, but the price was right and fits very comfortably in jeans and pants. Best part, no animal parts were directly used in its creation.

 

 

 

Now, off to write that thesis...

 

b

 

[duna]

Really nice pen and nice DIY 2 pens case, reminds me of the case I made in blue leather to host my Parker 25 .. worked fine for many many years (college, university) until the pen went lost ... I made last batches of handwriting with Bic Crystal disposable ballpoints. Couldn't find a replacement for some 10 years... Looking forward to the delivery of my M215 from pengallery. I'm not in a hurry.

[ralfstc]

This is really wierd. After reading the initial post I thought I'd write and suggest a 215, and you've got one! It's a great choice, a really under-rated workhorse that's pretty handsome too! I almost sold mine a couple of weeks back, but luckily didn't, and I'm glad. For some reason mine especially likes Waterman Florida Blue ink, and it goes with the blue barrel on mine . . . Anyway, glad you got a happy ending.

 

Ralf

[Silvermink]

On another note, am I the only one here who has and uses an Al-Star that still doesn't have a single scratch or dent on it? :blink: Granted, I've only had it for a month, and haven't been using it as much as I'd like, but still...

 

My silverblue AL-star is still scratch-and-dent-free. However, I've noticed my silvergreen one's developing scratches under the clip, but this is almost certainly because I've been clipping it to my spiral-bound notebook at work (I'm going to stop doing this...).

[jdboucher]

Sorry if this was already answered, but I didn't see it. What ink was used in the written sample?

[bphollin]

What ink was used in the written sample?

 

That's Sheaffer Skrip blue, as I recall.

[jdboucher]

What ink was used in the written sample?

 

That's Sheaffer Skrip blue, as I recall.

 

Thank you.

[schizosoph]

 

If you want some thing more rugged but still minimalist, why not go with a Rotring 600?

 

Btw, I wrote a shootout comparison review of the 600 vs. Vista, if you're interested.

 

 

 

I've had an Al-Star for a couple of months and love it. It is my workhorse pen and has held up quite well. I'm not sure what you do to put your pen to such abuse - geological research among the rugged rocks and terrain of Utah? - but I've not had those problems yet. I do agree that the Rotring might be the right pen for you but it's somewhat challenging to find since it has been discontinued. And if anyone on this thread knows where to find one, let me know.

 

 

[Metro Boy]

If the only fault you can find with the Al-Star is its material, then by all means go with a Safari or Vista; they're the same in plastic. Unfortunately that's all the advice I can give you; I'm still really green as far as fountain pens go...

 

On another note, am I the only one here who has and uses an Al-Star that still doesn't have a single scratch or dent on it? :blink: Granted, I've only had it for a month, and haven't been using it as much as I'd like, but still...

 

 

No! I've had mine for over six years and it's still pristine! - mb

[DrPJM1]

All my Lamy's are doing great and looking good too. The aluminium material is prone to scratching as are other metals.

[the hobbit]

I think I'll throw my hat into the "Vista or Safari" ring here.

 

I've owned both. I started of with a Black Safari SE with a F nib. I loved it. It was my workhorse pen through my first semester of college. However, I lost it (*sob*) along with the converter (*doublesob*) which probably means someone somewhere is busily filling it with Black India ink (*triplesob*).

 

So I bought a Vista as a replacement, because it looked really cool.

 

I have to say this up front. This pen spent about 5 months stuck in jeans pockets daily, thrown in a backpack, or stuck behind an ear. It has been used and abused an it keeps on ticking.

 

But the "LAMY" logo, I can tell you, is not durable at all. The nice shiny "LAMY" now looks like a less shiny trainwreck that might have, at one point, said "LANIY" or something. It is pretty much gone.

 

In addition, since the cap is clear, you can see the marks from every single time I jammed the nib back in the cap as soon as class was over. There a a bunch of scratches and ink stains that I can't quite get out. Same issue at the point where the converter connects to the feed. There are some nasty-looking ink stains that I can't quite get out.

 

But the pen still writes wonderfully. I love it for daily use.

 

It started out a bit toothy, especially on the cheaper notebooks I was using it with. I'm going to give it a go with the Binder smoothing kit later today and see how it goes.

 

Another thing that might annoy some. I use exclusively bulletprof inks, since I don't want to spill a glass of water and loose my last month's worth of notes. This means that I get some pretty nasty nib creep. It doesn't really bother me to much, but it is a bit obnoxious.

 

Oh, and compared to a Binder M200? Hah. The Pelikan wins hands down. I splurged on a M200 with a custom 14k cursive italic nib, and it is my favorite pen now. I'm just afraid to loose it, so it stays at my desk almost all the time.

 

So, in summary:

LAMY VISTA

-Awesome knock-about pen

-Writes well for the price

-Don't expect it to look great in a year

[Anne-Sophie]

I didn't buy my Lamy Vista(s) to look great but to be purse/backpak pens.

 

I used to take my Blue Safari set (2FP, RB, BP and pencil) everywhere but I got scared of loosing them (they were the pens which started my collection) so I bought the Vista(s) instead. I will probably buy a Vista pencil and ballpoint too.

 

The clear body makes it easy to check when I'll be running out of ink.

 

 

If I wanted a fancy demonstrator, I would buy one from a fancy brand: Omas, Visconti, Pelikan etc... and use it only while at my desk with non staining ink.

 

 

I think that it is possible to make cheap "custom" pens by using a clear Vista Body and a Safari Color cap and nib section.

 

 

In my experience, the pens that hold their best against school work/busy life are student pens made of stainless steel or plastic by European manufacturers. Lamy, Pelikan, Waterman (no longer European per say).

 

In Europe, fountain pens are still used by students to take notes.

 

Now students pens made in Japan, China and India are coming to the student/cheap market and many people on FPN have tried them.

Edited September 5, 2008 by Anne-Sophie

[Pippin60]

I would say you can't go wrong with either the M600, Lamy 2000, or the Studio. I have all 3 and I would say they all write smooth. I have the Palladium studio with the 14k nib and it has some weight but not the girth of the 2000. (I like a large hefty pen as it helps my penmanship by making me slow down ) By the way a graphite colored Safari will take a beating and because its not the shiny plastic the scratches won't show up as easily. I do have 1 Al Star that has a nasty scratch on it but I look at it as a character mark. Also the silver Al-Star doesn't show scratches as easily.

Edited September 5, 2008 by Pippin60

[oberon]

I would vote for a Lamy 2000. I love mine . In fact much better that a much more expensive Mount Blanc that I no longer have. As far as the little nubs or ears I actually like them as they act as a reminder of the nib orientation. Can not understand all the hubbub about them. They fall right where my finger pads are, very useful to me. Great value pen for the money. My L2K BB nib writes first time every time even when not used for several days or even a week. And they feel like they are almost indestructible. I only wish that they were a bit weightier.

Oberon

[oberon]

Besides my L2K I also have an old style Rotring Newton 600 with the knurled section. Just got it and inked it today with Noodlers Zhivago. A very cool little pen and built like a tank. Think that after I have the OB nib re worked into a stub it will be a stellar daily user.

Oberon

[DeaconKC]

If you like a heavier, heavy duty pen, try the Cross ATX. It is a very solid pen, mine laughs at the abuse it sees. Right now there are some very good deals on the auction sites. The nibs are fairly wet so be prepared.

[Loveforwords]

I own three All-stars and two vista's and have been using them for roughly three years now. I'm also a student that constantly uses these pens and has them in a rotation. I'm getting the impression that you and I have the same taste in pens. The problem is that it is very difficult to find a pen that meets our criteria. For example, I want a pen that handles bulletproof ink (no feed problems)(no nib flow issues), is contemporary, reliable (no fragile parts), ergonomic, line with equivalent to a Lamy EF and more refined aesthetics than what I currently have. I would suggest that you stick with the pen you have or go with a brushed stainless studio that will hide scratches. Then, reward yourself with a nice pen that will not leave the indoors and will be used for more personal things. The largest compromise that you will need to make is giving up your line width if you want something different that meets all the other criteria. But to me that is a large compromise because my writing is a certain size and a broader line width significantly impacts its legibility. I find that there is a correlation between nib width and ink flow. From my experience it seems difficult to find a pen that can give you a fine line with bulletproof inks and meet the other criteria.

[xuan87]

i'm using the Lamy Vista F right now, really awesome and smooth writing. lookwise.... not as great. like some have mentioned, you'll start to see ink stains, dust and other stuffs getting trapped inside. on the other hand, it's still transparent so..... for a student like me, this workhorse pen is perfect.

[y_bauluck]

Do you think this is a good deal to good for its own good?

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PELIKAN-Fueller-M-200-B-ALTERNATIVE-z-SOUVERAN-M600-400_W0QQitemZ360248635975QQcmdZViewItemQQptZDE_Haus_Garten_HomeOffice_Schreibger%C3%A4te?hash=item53e07df247#ht_2893wt_939

[bphollin]

Woah! I love it when these old reviews get zombied...

 

I guess this is a good opportunity to add some thoughts two years on. First, I should have bought a Lamy 2000 straight away! If you like the Al-Star but want an upgrade, go for the 2000. The Studio was goofy: just too damn heavy. The Pel 200 is too short; 600 is just right.

 

The Al-Star is still knocking around. I won't post pictures because some of our members have delicate sensitivities; I've since added a textured charcoal Safari that has preformed like a champ as a pocket pen (yes, even with keys and a SAK). Notsomuch Al-Star.

 

The Safari/Al-Star nib is such a fickle beast. Get a good one and you've got a good one; get a dud and you really know it. These pens are much more paper and ink dependent than any of my other well-behaved pens.

 

Verdict almost two years on: unchanged, really. I like the Safari better than the Al-Star in terms of durability. I'd rather have a Lamy than a BP/RB.