We had our first snow yesterday, which, boo. But walking through the room, even with the lights out my eye was drawn to my pen cup. That Lamy Lx in Rose Gold certainly stands out.
It’s the cap medallion. Bling city.
Tag: Lamy
A Review of the Lamy Lx in Rose Gold
Lamy Lx Rose Gold with medium nib. Clearly under the influence of too much Thanksgiving pie, as well as the word “sale.” I succumbed to Black Friday frenzy and ended up with a Lamy Lx in Rose Gold with a medium nib. And now it’s here.
I think the Lx is a very nice-looking pen in rose gold. The Lx nib writes noticeably more smoothly than the normal Safari nib. But I don’t like the Lx so-called case. And I think the Lx price is easier to justify if you’re buying it as a gift, or you are a new user, or you have a serious yen for one of the colors.
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A Peek at the Pen Cup: Dazed and Distracted Edition
You know what I like? I like the reflection of the window in the cap medallion of that Lamy Safari.
My pen cup is reasonably full again, but it’s mostly full with pens I’ve already talked about. Pens of the past. I really haven’t had the time or the oomph to think about new things. My brain is just overstuffed. We’ve had two big family birthdays in the past week, while work has been crushing. Then there’s been baseball to watch.
At first nervously, then merrily. The Cubs did the nearly unbelievable, winning the pennant for the first time in 71 years. Thus ending the failure and futility that has been Cubs fandom for longer than my lifetime. It’s like when you come out of a movie theater into the blinding sun: everything looks nice and bright, but you do have to reorient.
So about pens, I can’t really say I’ve spent too much time thinking about them.
Looking at the pen cup, there are a lot of Lamy Safaris and Pelikans, and a few Kawecos. All good. But I’m going to have to clean out some of these pens of the past and try some different pens and inks. Once baseball releases its hold on my brain.
Maybe that will happen during the Ohio Pen Show. Or when the new Pelikan M405 Stresemann comes in — that intrigues me.
If only they had a Pelikan M605 Stressedwoman — now that would be my pen. It would be hot pink, or maybe orange, and it would come with a giant coffee mug.
Lamy Safari: The Chicago Cubs Version
We do what we can, here at Fountain Pen Follies, to cheer on our favorite baseball team. And this year has been magical. On Saturday night, the Chicago Cubs baseball team won the pennant for the first time in 71 years. Tonight they will play in the World Series, for the first time in 108 years. What in the fountain pen world can commemorate that? How about a Chicago Cubs Lamy Safari.
Cubs colors are blue and red with white, and a baseball is white with red stitching. My Chicago Cubs edition Safari is made from the cap of a white and red Safari, and the body of a blue Safari.
It’s inked with J. Herbin Lierre Sauvage (“Wild Ivy”), in tribute to the ivy-covered walls of Wrigley Field, the Cubs home park.
Go Cubs, go. And thanks for a great year.
A Lamy x Line Friends Safari So Cute They Had To Warn Us
The newest Lamy x Line Friends Safari, called Brown in the Red, just arrived at Fountain Pen Follies. It comes with the caution “too cute.” Because it is.
I had declared the first three from Line to be the cutest Safaris ever. But this new kid on the block is challenging for that crown. Here they are all together.
The new set is called “Brown in the Red.” In the Line world, “Brown” is the name of the bear character. This set contains two full-size versions of Brown, one that slips on the clip, as in the earlier sets, and one that sits on top of the pen. There’s a swanky red metal case.
Here are all our Line Friends, with Bear on the top of the cap, just chilling.
And here’s Bear on the clip. It looks like the Line friends invited their friend Joe Cool, the Pez dispenser, to join them this time.
Truly too cute.
Problem Solving, With the Very Large Array
There are good problems to have, of course, and having too many fountain pens inked is probably one of them. I’ve been looking at a lot of new-to-me inks, so I can’t complain if that requires a lot of pens. And in there is one awesome Platinum pen I’m going to be giving away. But I still had the small issue of where to put all those pens.
Last time I confronted this, I went for a temporary solution: I ejected a rollerball from the pen cup, and moved the fountain pens around like puzzle pieces until they all fit. Not ideal, but a workable quick fix. “You go, girl.”
However, one new ink led to another, and another led to a third, and so on. Before you could say “J. Herbin,” I was over-penned once again. This time, there were no more squeezes possible, and nothing to do but add another pen cup to the lineup. And not a pretty one, either. “Le sigh.”
But it’s all in how you look at things, right? So I shall look at my pen cuppage not as excess, but as a small tribute to the Very Large Array, which uses 27 movable radio telescopes to explore the universe.
And I mean, even the number 27 is inspiring. When I think how many pens would fit into 27 pen cups….
“You go, girl!”
Lamy Lx: You’ve Got My Attention
This photo showed up today on the internet. I believe the original source is probably the Instagram and blog of a store in Belgium called Penworld. I don’t know if this photo will stay up much longer, but for now, here it is.
Oooh, ahhh. Or yuck, as the case may be. People definitely have varying opinions, and I’ve been enjoying hearing them. And I am sort of going back and forth, myself.
On that blog link, Penworld reports that the Lx line will be out in September. The Lx is like a nicer Al-Star, that keeps the anodized finish, the shape and the section, but upscales the pen. The Lx has an aluminum case, and its clip will be plated with palladium or ruthenium. The steel nib also has a fancier finish.
Another store, Appelboom, said on Instagram that the Lx price might be about 50 euros in Europe.
So far, everyone I know who doesn’t like the Al-Star and Safari still doesn’t like the Lx. Essentially, it seems like just a more expensive version of the pen they already dislike. So it’s not converting anyone, at least not yet.
On the other hand, I love the Safari, and at first I thought I’d end up with two of the Lx pens, the gold and the pink. Those are the the pretty colors, maybe the feminine colors. And they are the two colors that don’t look exactly like Al-Stars I already have.
But now that I look more at the pink, it’s raising some questions. I do hope it’s not the same color as the old Raspberry Al-Star. And the gold one — it does look different than the Copper Orange Al-Star from 2015; I really hope it is.
Well, we’ll have to see when they come out.
I do like the idea of the Lx. I love the Safari, but the Al-Star has never excited me. If the Lx is more attractive, and more sophisticated, I think that would be great. I’d be more likely to pick up that kind of Lx at a store, and I’d be more likely to buy it as a gift for an adult.
I will point out one excellent negative comment, from the “not-a-fan” side. My friend Dan was saying the Lx colors look like iPhone colors. Which is pretty funny. Because, now that he mentions it ….
But what if the Lx colors are older Lamy Al-Star colors? Then maybe Apple was inspired by Lamy, right? All our minds would be blown.
Anyway, no matter what the Lx turns out to be, we all know one thing it’s not. Green. So, yay.
Green, Green: The New Lamy Safari Green
I have moaned a fair bit about how Lamy keeps bringing out so many green Safaris and Al-Stars. Like sands through the hour glass, so come the Lamy greens. And this year Lamy added a Green Safari to the regular line. That’s the pen in the background of that photo, with the sticker and the black cap finial.
I’ve read that the new Green revives the 2012 Special Edition Apple Green Safari. However, like all current Safaris, the new Green has a black cap finial, while the 2012 Apple Green had a green finial. You can see that, too, in the photo above.
I’ve always liked the Apple Green. It’s pretty much the only green Safari or Al-Star I ever use. So, figuring it wouldn’t hurt to have another, I added a new Green Safari to an order I placed last month. And here it is, again: the Green, with the Apple Green below.
I’m not sure, but I have the nagging feeling that the new Green may be slightly different in hue than the Apple Green. Very slightly. Or maybe not. Does it look slightly different to you?
Those first two photos were taken outside. This next photo was taken inside, under artificial light, after I removed the sticker.
Well, if there is a difference, it’s negligible. Especially under indoor lighting. In any case, this Safari Green is still my favorite Lamy green, in either the Safari or Al-Star line, and for anyone who missed the 2012, it’s nice to have it back.
It’s the pen so nice, I bought it twice.
So I May Have a Problem (cough)
Sometimes a new pen purchase triggers … well, not a look in the mirror, exactly, but a furtive peek into the pen case.
Is it possible that I like blue and chrome pens a little too much?
You know, I’m going to go with “no.” That is unpossible.
Don’t think twice, it’s alright.
Fountain Pen Favorites for April 2016
April was indeed the cruellest month around here. The weather was drear, everyone caught and recaught colds, and friends had stuff to deal with. But it’s all over now, baby blue. So we’ll scratch our metaphorical match and start anew.
The good news is that I’ve finally shaken off my post-pen show cold. And the other good news is that, at least in terms of fountain pens and inks, April actually had some nice highlights.
1. Chicago Pen Show. Four full days. Lots of fun. I bought some great things. And I have a lot of pens on the wishlist now. One pen actually made the buy list. I just have to wait for it to be released. Patience is one of the virtues I really need to work on.
2. Venvstas Carbon T. I do like my new pen.
3. Box o’ Stuff. In the midst of cruel April, a box of pens and ink landed on my doorstop. The only thing I’ve taken out that box, so far, is the Dark Lilac Lamy Safari and ink. But there’s much better inside. I’ll look forward to those.
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Fountain Pen Follies 