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Hardest To Find Limited-Edition Or Discontinued Safari/ Al-Star Pens?


gammada

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While reviewing eBay and other classified sites looking for specific limited editions of Safari/ Al-Star pens, I've found that the 2004 Safari Orange Flame is well past the $200 mark as a NOS condition pen.

 

What other Safari/ Al-star pens have reached such highs -aside from the Savanah and Terracota?

 

Which do you think will follow suit?

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The Lamy Sweden limited editions which are limited to a number of 350 each are really rare already...

One of the rarest regular Lamys is the original Lamy Demonstrator.

I think the aquamarine lamy is going to get more rare than it is already.

It's already offered for a much higher price than for example the 2009 orange SE.

 

C.P.

Edited by Cole_Phelps
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The Lamy Sweden limited editions which are limited to a number of 350 each are really rare already...

One of the rarest regular Lamys is the original Lamy Demonstrator.

I think the aquamarine lamy is going to get more rare than it is already.

It's already offered for a much higher price than for example the 2009 orange SE.

C.P.

I only know the blue/ yellow clip pen, are there any others from Sweden? And yes, I totally agree, the Sweden edition and the Demostrator are two of the most sought-after. The Sweden trumps the Japanese 150-jahre Freundschaft edition in desirability and price.

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In my view it definitely is! Judging by the many (albeit expensive) Savannah and Terracota pens that show up for sale on eBay on a frequent basis, yet I've never came across a Demostrator on eBay, here or elsewhere and of those I've seen on fellow member's collections, all were bought used. Only heard of one bought as an NOS pen.

 

The thing is, not many people know that much about this pen. It usually gets mistaken for a Vista.

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That's right, I also gut lucky to purchase some of them from ebay (but in excellent condition)... I've seen somewhere that those kind of pens were intended to be given to members who attended several lamy trainings (I don't know how to call it)...

My demos are labeled as W. Germany models so they seem to be quite old. I guess it's rather hard finding someone who bought them in new condition because they aren't produceded anymore since at least ~20-25 years...

 

PS: The eBay seller I bought them from also labeled them as a LAMY Vista, seems to be a common issue...

 

C.P.

Edited by Cole_Phelps
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That's right, I also gut lucky to purchase some of them from ebay (but in excellent condition)... I've seen somewhere that those kind of pens were intended to be given to members who attended several lamy trainings (I don't know how to call it)...

My demos are labeled as W. Germany models so they seem to be quite old. I guess it's rather hard finding someone who bought them in new condition because they aren't produceded anymore since at least ~20-25 years...

 

PS: The eBay seller I bought them from also labeled them as a LAMY Vista, seems to be a common issue...

 

C.P.

Some of them? Meaning you've got several? Wow! 🙌🏻 would love to see some pictures of your collection.

I really don't know the specific purpose of those pens but wouldn't be surprised if the story you were told turns out to be true. Somewhere in the depths of this forum, there's a thread that shows what I thought to be a frankenpen at first, but that turn out to be a special Safari edition that was only given to Lamy sales reps. It is an apple green barrel and cap pen with an Al-star section. On that same thread (guess) there's a similar pen but in white barrel/ cap that was made to order for the Polish pen club.

 

And yes, Demostrator pens seem to be quite old but to add to the intrigue, there are two versions!!! One is marked W.Germany and doesn't have the notches for the Z24 converter, while the newer one has Germany markings and notches for the converter. Look here: http://kmpn.blogspot.de/search/label/Lamy?updated-max=2013-04-20T23:27:00%2B08:00&max-results=20&start=18&by-date=false

 

Also, just saw on that blog that the good'ol blue and red pen that is so desired by many, has a newer batch! Did you know anything about this?

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Are any of the Al-Star limited editions valuable or is it just the Safari?

 

Some Al-Stars are starting to climb the price ladder but they are well below the rarest Safaris and the aforementioned Demostrator. The Al-Star Silver Blue fetches $150 plus prices, the Ruby Red, Coffee and Raspberry are about $100 in Germany and some $120-150 if you manage for find NOS pens stateside.

 

Which is odd, because I'm frankly in love with my Coffee Al-Star. An incredibly beautiful pen!

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Some of them? Meaning you've got several? Wow! 🙌🏻 would love to see some pictures of your collection.

Yes that's right, I've got 4 demos... :) they're all W. Germany models, I didn't know that there's another one, thank you for that information. As requested I'm adding a picture from my collection (it's by far not completed yet):

 

post-124685-0-16336600-1444467409_thumb.jpg

 

(sorry for the bad quality of the picture)

 

C.P.

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Yes that's right, I've got 4 demos... :) they're all W. Germany models, I didn't know that there's another one, thank you for that information. As requested I'm adding a picture from my collection (it's by far not completed yet):

C.P.

Wow 4 Demostrator pens! That's amazing. Ever had the chance to compare them to a current Vista?

 

The third pen from left is a Griso?

 

So what do you do with your pens, do you keep some NOS and use others or all your pens are remain undipped?

 

In my collection I keep several pens NOS but lately I've been inking some of my precious finds to use them with matching inks (Lime green with Vert Pré, Al-Star Coffee with my very own brown recipe, Blue/ Red awaitign my bottle of Emerald of Chivor)

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Wow 4 Demostrator pens! That's amazing. Ever had the chance to compare them to a current Vista?

 

The third pen from left is a Griso?

 

So what do you do with your pens, do you keep some NOS and use others or all your pens are remain undipped?

 

In my collection I keep several pens NOS but lately I've been inking some of my precious finds to use them with matching inks (Lime green with Vert Pré, Al-Star Coffee with my very own brown recipe, Blue/ Red awaitign my bottle of Emerald of Chivor)

Yeah,it's a griso one. I compared them, I had a Vista a longer time ago, I gave it away to a friend. I don't use my rare pens for writing, some of them are brand new so I don't wanna "damage " them :) I have my workhorse, a W. Germany labeled charcoal. I got it from my dad and used it all my life.. It's quite beaten up but still works just fine ;) I have some writing pens which are not on the pictures :) I can use them without being scared to break something..

 

C.P.

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I can use them without being scared to break something..

C.P.

LOL, yeah I guess a prefer a much proactive attitude with my pens, thou I've still got several in NOS condition. That Charcoal pen of yours confirms the 'indestructible' reputation of these pens.

 

BTW Another pen that is also quite rare is the transitional yellow version. A pen that was issued with the modern yellow barrel/ cap but with the black clip. This pen also has the added problem that over an ordinary publication, it's easy to mistake for the old yellow edition to the people outside the Safari collecting loop.

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Some Al-Stars are starting to climb the price ladder but they are well below the rarest Safaris and the aforementioned Demostrator. The Al-Star Silver Blue fetches $150 plus prices, the Ruby Red, Coffee and Raspberry are about $100 in Germany and some $120-150 if you manage for find NOS pens stateside.

 

Which is odd, because I'm frankly in love with my Coffee Al-Star. An incredibly beautiful pen!

 

I'm letting go of an un-inked, un-used Ruby if anyone is interested.

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/classifieds/item/33865-lamy-al-star-se-collection/

Semper Faciens, Semper Discens

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BTW Another pen that is also quite rare is the transitional yellow version. A pen that was issued with the modern yellow barrel/ cap but with the black clip. This pen also has the added problem that over an ordinary publication, it's easy to mistake for the old yellow edition to the people outside the Safari collecting loop.

Indeed, the transitional yellow is quite difficult to find. Often sellers take very bad pictures of the pens and it's more a guessing than a knowing which particular model you're buying... :D

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm missing a few in this picture (Charcoal, Vista, and a Calligraphy Safari), but this is most of what I have at the moment:

 

21977359913_2e7e5f5ca1_b.jpg

 

I haven't been on FPN for a while but the Safari always gets my attention :)

 

For me, the Savannah Green and Terracotta Orange were the most difficult ones to find - I didn't even bother looking for the old demonstrators.

Edited by chainwhip

Geaux Tigers! Visça el Barça!

WTB: MB Kafka, Lamy Safari 2009 Orange, Pilot MYU (Black or Clear/White Stripe), Seiko FrankenTuna SKZ253 / SKZ255

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That's an impressive collection indeed, I'm still looking for a terrared or savannah green model. I assume it's like with most collectible things, you can get them quite easily but for a high price. Finding low priced terra / Vannah models seems almost impossible, unfortunately!

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