Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I purchased this pen from Amazon. This is the Amazon's choice listing for 'Lamy' and the order was fulfilled by Amazon (seller on order listed as 'Amazon.com Services, Inc.') This Lamy Safari is COUNTERFEIT. DO NOT BUY LAMY PENS (or possibly other pens) FROM AMAZON. I had no experience with fountain pens so to me this Lamy Safari Charcoal wrote great and was fun to use. However, I had some suspicions after seeing warnings of Amazon counterfeits (google counterfeit Safaris for some good side by side comparisons). I confirmed with a local legit dealer (Crazy Alan's Emporium, Chapel Hill NC). Though this was a pretty good counterfeit and didn't show many of the signs observed in some other online examples, there were some major red flags: 1) LAMY PENS ARE TYPICALLY SOLD WITH BLUE INK NOT BLACK. Ink color was the first question I was asked in store. 2) The box was somewhat flimsy and the logo was slightly blurred. The letter A was the biggest giveaway in comparison - the fake box has a smaller 'hole' in the capital letter A (the store gave me one of their extra boxes for comparison; top box in picture is real, bottom is the counterfeit packaging). The real box was also stiffer. While both boxes had the same slightly ridged texture, the real box was sturdier and just felt more substantial. 3) The nib would spill ink a bit if I turned it upside down. This nib was decent enough that we both questioned whether it might be a real Lamy nib on a counterfeit pen though. 4) When the cap was closed on the counterfeit pen, it was looser (cap could easily be rotated while on the pen) than on the real pen. 5) ***Once I had a real Lamy Safari in hand, I could also see that the real Safari Charcoal wrote much smoother, was less scratchy, and was just slightly more weighty in the hand. This made a huge difference in my overall enjoyment of writing with the pen.*** I ended up purchasing a Lamy AL-star for $30 instead from the store (the Lamy Safari was cheaper and close to the cost of the counterfeit Amazon pen). It was worth the peace of mind and the improvement of quality to know I had not been ripped off. The real Safari doesn't really cost much more than the counterfeits listed here! I'm still within the return window so am returning to Amazon. Even if the product is 'Amazon's choice', fulfilled by Amazon, and sold directly through Amazon, this is no guarantee that you are getting a real product. Be careful!