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Finally Getting around to reviewing my Al-Star. I got after Brian Goulet announced on his weekly Q&A that he got a few in from Lamy, and was selling them at a deep discount. Got mine for $28.20, less than a Safari. As of this writing, he still has a few in F and EF available here along with the "colors" gift set that includes a bunch of ink cartridges and a converter, for less than the cost of a normal Al-Star. I don't like the 1-10 rating system, since what I like about a pen you may hate, so read the entire review if you are legitimately interested in buying the Al-Star. My first Lamy was the Safari Petrol in F, and I was less than enthused. I didn't love the F nib. It wrote fine, but I found it to be a little too smooth for what I like in an F (I like smooth nibs for anything M or bigger, but for EF and F, I like a nib to give me the sensation of the texture of the paper I'm writing on, I found the Lamy F steel nib to feel a little more like a #2 HB pencil) and I was really unimpressed by the plastic. It may be much better, but it felt like a dreaded jinhao 599's ABS. The Al-Star alleviated every single complaint I had. The nib is perfect. I feel the texture of the paper, but it doesn't drag or catch. It's not too wet, not too dry, showing shading (though usually no sheen) of every ink. It behaves perfectly on cheap paper. Truly the jack of all trades nib. If you were disappointed in your steel lamy nib, I highly suggest grabbing an EF and putting it on (though god only knows why the Lizard people that run Lamy have decided to stop selling whole pens with EF nibs to America in order to focus on abroad, I am glad they do sell all their nibs separately. Now I want a black 1.1 stub.) a TINY bit of flex, F-M when pressed down on, but mostly it just writes wetter. Wetness is a perfect medium and it does not appear to be picky regarding inks, The grip section is transparent and smoked, which is fun, letting you see the ink flood the feed as you twist the converter (I have a Z24, unsure about the new Z28) which is a nice effect to tone down the rather bright anodizing. Speaking of the color, I love this pen's color. It's bright, but not obnoxious. Just enough yellow drab to not be garish. It has the typical plastic finneal, and the fit and finish are superb. There are a few small differences between the Safari and Al-Star. The barrel on the Al-Star is about 1mm thicker when measured at the flats. That means the Safari cap will not post or cap the Al-star, but the Al-Star cap will cap the safari but not post on it. The safari posts slightly deeper, but the Safari/Al Star are both usable unposted for anyone with even the largest hands. The anodizing on the Al-Star is perfect, and the cap does post securely, but I find it backweights the pen a bit more than I like. The pen's overall heft is perfect. I think the Safari is a bit too light, but the Al-Star has just that little bit more heft to make it feel solid, but not heavy. The grip sections are identical. The Al-Star's "ring" is solidly secured to the barrel, but the grip section has the component that lets the Safari's grip-mounted ring snap right on, making them interchangeable. The clip is perfect. On the Al-Star, the top of the clip actually slides into the cap, making it sit more flush with the barrel, and in the Safari, the clip juts out more. You can make the Al-Star clip stick out that far at the top, it is a pseudo-sprung clip, whereas the Safari's is fixed. If you are like me (a medic) and wear a uniform shirt with a breast pocket for your pen, you may not like the safari/Al-Star. It does not have a tapered barrel, and I find that I require pens with a tapered barrel and small, rounded bottom to slide easily in and out of a breast pocket. In that case, I prefer the Jinhao X750, Jinhao 992, Platinum preppy, Pilot metro, Pilot penmanship, Pilot C.H. 74, Noodlers Ahab/Konrad/Charlie, Lamy 2K, platinum 3776, or platinum balance as examples of pens that slip easily inside a breast pocket. The thing that really cemented this as one of my favorite pens was when I found one of those few grail fountain pen moments - the perfect ink pairing. It will now, and forever more, have Rohrer and Klinger Alt-Goldgrun in it. The color and pen pair perfectly. I have had it inked for weeks now that I discovered it, and no matter the pen, my Schaeffer Statesman, Visconti HS, even the Lamy 2k (which I bought because of this Al-Star making me realize that I did, in fact, like Lamy) I keep coming back to this Al-Star, particularly for use on cheap paper, where the ink shades without feathering or bleed, and just clicks with this pen in so many intangible ways. If you have a Charged Green Al-Star, and don't have a bottle of Alt-Goldgrun, GET A BOTTLE OF GOLDGRUN. You will not regret it. Overall, I think the Al-Star is the true "beginner's Lamy" pen. I will keep my Safari petrol because I like the color, but it will be my only one. The EF nib made me actually realize that I could like Lamy pens, and I recently just ordered a CP-1 EF so I could keep the Al-Star left alone while I use the CP-1 with EF, F, M, B, and 1.1 to review inks. If you have about $30, go clear Goulet of their stock of Charged Green Al-Stars. Right now, for $28.20, it's currently the best fountain pen deal on earth. And if you don't have a Lamy and want to get your first one, spend the extra $5 and get an Al-star over the safari. You'll be glad you did. Pictures are on Rhodia No. 16 dot pad, the final picture is on the literal worst paper you would ever possibly see in your entire life (not kidding. Feathering on this paper happens even with noodlers X feather in the driest nib I own. This ink/pen behaves insanely well.) (I'll remove the references to the price and source of the charged green Al-Star when goulet sells out)