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I've been looking at a lot of demonstrator pens recently, and I must say that the idea of having a clear pen has grown on me. When I first started lurking on FPN after I made my first FP purchase around 9 months ago, I honestly had no idea why anyone would ever buy a demonstrator. The clear body looked so cheap, and with inks like Baystate Blue out there, it seemed like you could almost ruin a demonstrator simply by filling it with the wrong ink. Not to mention that it seemed as if you were paying $80 (or more in many cases) for an easily breakable piece of plastic. I held this opinion for a fairly long amount of time... until I went to the Fountain Pen Hospital in Downtown NYC for the first time. Considering I'm only a 30 minute train ride away from most of the bottom half of Manhattan, I decided that I had to make the pilgrimage. During my first visit, I only stayed for around 10 minutes or so. It was nearly closing time, and a family of three tourists and I were the only customers. Knowing that I couldn't afford any of the beautiful pens displayed, I looked at their ink selection before leaving. (Don't worry, this story is actually going somewhere) On my way out, I picked up their annual catalog. On the cover was the absolutely majestic Visconti Opera Crystal with the extremely cool looking Mosquito filler. I was absolutely awestruck that a demonstrator could be so beautiful. As a matter of fact, I liked the clear body better than the Blue Typhoon solid design. This caused me to give demonstrators a second chance. I decided to do some research on TWSBI's (which I am now dying to get one of. Though I've promised to not buy any more pens until next year, there is always my birthday and Christmas ) and various other pens that come as demonstrators. Nevertheless, I no longer hold my prejudice against a very good deal of pens that actually look very nice if made correctly. What are your feelings on demonstrators? Did you start out with a prejudice against them/a preference towards them? (On a side note, this is the first time I'm posting a thread on First Stop that won't end in me spending massive amounts of money! Yay!) Pic Related: I would probably shave my head right now for this pen.