Newest Acquisitions (Virtual "Show & Tell") ~ part 409

Earlier this month, I attended an outdoor gathering arranged by the Canadian Fountain Pen Enthusiasts (CFPE), a very active group of pen lovers (currently numbering over 1.7K members) on Facebook. I'd heard that one of their members was going to be selling some pens there, so I took some cash with me (and some buffalo chicken bites to share) and headed out. 

I was happy to see several of my fellow Vancouver Pen Club members at the picnic, and I had a great time catching up with them and meeting the other nice pen folks from the CFPE. Many thanks to Sharon T. of the CFPE for organizing the picnic and reserving the site for the gathering. While I was there, I bought a lovely fountain pen from CFPE member Jayne ... and here it is!

(please click on images to enlarge)

Meet my new Lamy 'Al-Star' in "Vibrant Pink"!

The colour is really hard to capture, but trust me, it's more fuchsia than the purple shade I see on my monitor (late note: there's a better shot of it here in a newer review I did). The "Vibrant Pink" was the 2018 Special Edition of the Lamy 'Al-Star' and it's a very cheery colour - a lovely shade of pink that's as vibrant as its name, but not loud or obnoxious. I love it!

The pen was in new, unused condition, but Jayne was kind enough to include a Lamy converter with the pen (which came with a Lamy blue ink cartridge). The nib on it is a Lamy 1.1 mm italic stainless steel nib that writes smoothly (as expected :)

Now, here are some comparison shots I promised at the very end of the last blog post--my new Lamy 'Al-Star' with my Lamy 'Lx'"Marron":

As I mentioned in that post, the 'Al-star' clips are all chrome, while the 'Lx' models have metal clips that match the pen bodies. My 'Lx' "Marron" is sporting a bronze-coloured clip that's PVD coated with bronze.

I also mentioned the differences in the Lamy logo at the end of the barrels; the 'Al-Star' has a simple engraved Lamy logo, whereas the 'Lx' has a shiny, raised logo that's double-anodized.

The black ABS plastic cap top finial on the 'Al-Star' and the shiny metal finial on the 'Lx'...

Both pens have barrel end finials with "Germany" stamped on them, but the 'Al-Star's is made of black ABS plastic, whereas the 'Lx''s is made of the same metal as its cap top finial and clip.

(Top: Lamy 'Al-star' section; Bottom: Lamy 'Lx' section)

When I posted the review of my 'Lamy Lx' on Thursday, I said that I thought its section was a darker translucent grey than the 'Al-Star's. I looked at both sections today in bright sunlight, and I now think they're exactly the same, so I edited yesterday's blog post.

I am very happy with my new Lamy 'Al-star' fountain pen in the gorgeous "Vibrant Pink" colour (I'm more of a Lamy 'Safari' collector, but I couldn't resist buying it :) Many thanks to Jayne for the pen! (I also bought some ink from Jayne, but I'll review it another day -- Update: here's that ink review, posted on August 3rd --link )

(photos & review by Maja)

We'll be featuring a handsome vintage fountain pen on Monday, courtesy of Christopher. Have a safe BC Day long weekend (Civic Holiday)!
~Maja