Will the REAL Lamy Al-Star please stand up?

The LAMY Al-Star mixed in with it's illegitimate siblings. 

If you don't understand the title reference for this post (and that matters to you), Google "What's My Line" game show.

Fifty percent of my readers requested a blog post comparing my journals, fountain pen sketches and prices (thanks Sis!). I already had in mind a post about my LAMY Al-Star and its illegitimate family. The rest will be for future posts.

The LAMY Safari/Al-Star pens are German made pens designed for those who are starting into fountain pen obsession usage. The Safari is the lower priced plastic version, the Al-Star is the aluminum version. I am not as attracted to plastic. It's not as shiny and smooth as aluminum. At least, not to me. The nibs are easy to swap out with other LAMY nibs. The nibs come in EF (extra-fine) to Broad widths as well as stubs for calligraphy and a left-hand tuned nib! They have a triangular section (where most people grip the pen) that people generally either love or hate. It felt awkward to me at first, but now I do love it. I rotate pens toward me, and the grip helps to keep the nib aligned at a smooth optimum for my writing style.

There are many posts (such as this one) from people who love this pen for writing and for sketching. So, of course (shiny collectible things, remember?), I wanted one. However, my pen budget runs in the range of less than $10 each. That is quite limiting. Then I saw an Al-Star (with a fine nib) on eBay as an unused return from a stationary store. I paid more than $10, but less than the usual price. 

I stumbled onto a video that gave a very positive review of Chinese made imitations of various popular pens. I blush to say that I have been corrupted by cheap Chinese goods off eBay. Did I mention my frugal (read income-limited) lifestyle? If I was still working, with the wide disposable income I had at the time, I would buy all my pens from Goulet Pens, because I am enamored of Brian's wonderful and informative videos. And I have purchased several pens, ink, tuning supplies and samples from Brian and the crew, so stop giving me that look! I ordered several Wing Sung 6359 pens (the LAMY Al-Star imitation) from eBay for less than $2 each. But wait! I learned that there are Chinese counterfeits of the Wing Sung imitation LAMY A-S! What?! Of course, I then had to order two pens that I could tell were genuine Wing Sung 6359. After this long introduction, I will try to quickly give my assessment of each.

If you can't tell which pen is the LAMY and which two are genuine Wing Sungs, here is the reveal picture:

Notice the brand imprint on the barrel of the three farthest left. There you see the most obvious differentiation. 

Here is a sample of hand-writing for each pen in order top to bottom of the above pens from left to right.

Comparison of the LAMY Al-Star and imitations. They are listed by color, brand, nib size, price and my assessment of how they feel when writing. Each pen is inked with a different ink. Rhodia #16 paper.

The LAMY Al-Star with fine nib: initially I didn't like it. The German version of the fine nib lays down a thicker line than the Japanese version. For writing, I favor a finer line, preferably comparable to a Pilot G2 0.38 gel pen. The nib felt scratchy to me (remember I am left-handed), not as smooth or as fine as my Platinum Preppie fine nib. So I decided to try the Left Hand nib, ordered from Goulet Pens. That nib has about the same line width as the fine nib but has become smooth and juicy as I have learned to keep it in the sweet spot. Now I like the pen much better.

The "Wing Sung" counterfeits with EF nibs: The four that I have are all very smooth writing, some of my favorite pens. The ink flow seems medium wet so they keep up well when I am writing quickly. I rarely have a problem with dry starts (that is where no ink comes out when first uncapping and writing with the pen). The only exception is the gold colored pen, but I think that is the ink. It has Herbin Vert Empire ink, a naturally derived color. I have not tested the ink in any other pens, but I think it is a dry flowing ink. In the writing sample, it leaves a visibly finer line than the other pens. However, I love the color and it works well in sketching because I move the pen more slowly than when writing.

The genuine Wing Sung 6359 pens with EF nibs: Both pens are disappointing in fit and finish. Each one came with curls of plastic hanging off the outside of the section and mold seams on the section threads that interfere with smooth removal of the barrel. One pen writes smoothly, but one pen (the purple colored) is scratchy to the point that I feel like it is catching on the paper. In addition, the smoother pen, the coffee colored, came with a dent in the cap, which came off the barrel with such difficulty that after few days, the barrel came free from the glued in section. I then could see a stress line in the inside of the metal that indicated it had been squeezed at some point. I Gorilla-Glued it back together, but now the nib leaks big blobs of ink when I am writing.

Here is the coffee colored Wing Sung showing the dent in the cap and the Gorilla Glue that squeezed out of the repair.

In summary, I like the counterfeit Wing Sung 6359 pens the best of the family. I am adapting to the LAMY, and I like the sturdy build. I will not be getting more of the genuine Wing Sung 6359 because I feel the quality is disappointing. Well, really, I don't need to get any more pens anyway...

Today's sketch is a meta-sketch (a sketch of sketching materials) of the hand-made mug and some of the pens that live in it (none of which are LAMY or Wing Sung).

Pens and Inks: Pilot Metropolitan (stub nib) with Krisha MYC 5Y+1B
Wing Sung 3008 (fine nib) with De Atramentis Silver Grey
Iraurita Brass Pen (F) with Noodler's Apache Sunset
Pilot Petit 1 (F) with Pilot red cartridge