HI!

THIS IS MY FIRST GUIDE, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO HELP YOU AVOID BEING RIPPED OFF...ESPECIALLY WITH THE STARWALKER BRAND MONTBLANCS.

FIRST OF ALL, IF IT'S TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE.....DON'T BUY IT.

NEXT, BUY FROM E-BAY STORES OR "GUARANTEED ORIGINAL OR MONEY BACK". DO NOT I REPEAT, DO NOT BUY FROM OVERSEAS NO MATTER WHAT THE AD SAYS!!! THEY ARE VERY INEPT AT REPRODUCING ALMOST ANYTHING  OVERSEAS!!!

MAKE SURE THAT THE BUYER IS WITH E-BAY AT LEAST 1-2 YEARS WITH LOTSA' FEEDBACK! YEAH, THEY GOT ME 3 TIMES WITH THAT ONE!! (TONGUE-IN-CHEEK ON THAT ONE!!!) LOOK AT AND STUDY THEM PICTURES BY THE SELLER!!!!

E-BAY DOES NOT ALLOW FOR OUTSIDE WEB-SITES, HOWEVER, IF YOU TYPE IN MONTBLANC-FOUNTAINPEN-FAKES, LOOK FOR A GUIDE IN GERMAN!!! IT'S A GREAT WEB-SITE TO SEE THE DIFFERENCE IN THE REAL AND THE FAKE. IT IS WRITTEN IN GERMAN, BUT THE PICTURES, AS THEY SAY: ARE WORTH 1,000 WORDS!!

BY THE WAY, IT ALSO HAS THE PELIKAN, AND OTHER EXPENSIVE BRANDS ON THEIR SITE, TOO. DIG...AND YE SHALL FIND.....

IF, YOU REALLY WANT TO BUY A FAKE, OR IT REALLY DOESN'T MATTER TO YOU IF IT IS REAL, THEN YOU CAN SAVE YOURSELF A TON OF MONEY AND BUY WHERE ALL THE SCAM-ARTISTS BUY THEIRS BY SEARCHING: [{ IMITATION MONTBLANC PEN}] ON YOUR WEB-BROWSER- AND YOU WILL FIND YOUR "MOTHER-LOAD" OF FAKE PARAPHANELIA!

ABOVE ALL, ESPECIALLY THE NEW PEOPLE TO MONTBLANC, DO, DO, DO, DO YOUR HOMEWORK. UNFORTUNATELY, THERE ARE A LOT OF NASTY PEOPLE OUT THERE AND THEY ARE LOOKING TO MAKE A QUICK BUCK OFF YOU. IF YOU ARE AN INFORMED BUYER, YOU WILL BE EMPOWERED, THEREBY GIVING YOU THE UPPER HAND.

THE BOTTOM LINE IS THIS: IF YOU'VE EVER STUDIED THE NUMBER OF TIMES THE ITEM WAS VIEWED, THERE IS USUALLY ALOT. THEREFORE, IF YOU THINK THAT YOUR GETTING "THAT REALLY SPECIAL DEAL", UNDERSTAND THAT MONTBLANCS {OR ANY OTHER EXPENSIVE PEN FOR THAT MATTER} IS/ARE  A VERY SOUGHT AFTER ITEM(S) ON E-BAY!! I'VE BEEN RIPPED OFF 3 TIMES BY THESE SCAM ARTISTS, I'VE DONE MY RESEARCH AND I TELL YOU THIS: IF YOU BUY FROM E-BAY, YOU ARE GOING TO PAY THE AVERAGE $200.00 PLUS DOLLARS DEPENDING ON YOU MAKE/MODEL OF PEN. IN OTHER WORDS...........NO  R E A L  CHEAPIES ON E-BAY. JUST THOUGHT YOU'D LIKE TO KNOW!

IF YOU ARE REALLY LOOKING FOR A BRAND, NOT A CERTAIN MODEL, THEN TRY {[ USED ]} IN THE CONDITION.

IF THIS HELPED YOU OUT IN ANY WAY, PLEASE VOTE...EVEN IF IT NEGATIVE AS I AM VERY PASSIONATE ABOUT THESE PENS & SCAM ARTISTS! MY ONLY GOAL IS TO SAVE YOU THE HASSLE OF THESE PEOPLE-WITHOUT-FATHERS!!

NOW, HERE IS SOMETHING VERY IMPORTANT THAT I HAVE NOTICED:

THE PEN CAP IS FACING YOUR LEFT, AND THE CLIP IS FACING DOWN, YOU SHOULD SEE THAT  (LASER-ETCHED..VERY IMPORTANT; AND YES, YOU SHOULD SEE A SLIGHT DIS-COLORATION)) THE SERIAL NUMBER LEFT TO RIGHT WITH THE STARTING NUMBER AT THE END WHERE THE ACTUAL PEN GOES IN AND ENDING AT THE CLEAR MONT BLANC STAR SIDED-END. IN ACTUALITY, THE SERIAL NUMBER IS BETWEEN THE 3 OPPOSITE (FACING-THE-CLIP) STRIPES AND THE ACTUAL CLIP, STARTING WITH 2 LETTERS IN THE WHOLE SERIAL NUMBER.

 IF...IT IS NOT, THEN BEWARE!! MONT BLANC IS VERY CAREFUL TO PUT THE SERIAL NUMBERS THE SAME WAY PEN AFTER PEN. THEY DO NOT, REPEAT DO NOT PUT SOME FANCY-STYLED CLIP WITH BALL-END THINGies.

THE CLIPS THEMSELVES ARE ONE PIECE. YOU WILL NOT SEE A SEPERATION OR WELD MARK AND/OR A SEPARATION OF ANY KIND. THE FAKES ALWAYS HAVE A LINE/MARK SHOWING THAT THE CLIP IS "JOINED" AT CAP. ONE PIECE....ONE...PIECE....

IF YOU'RE LOOKING AT THE CLIP SIDE (UP OR THE VERTICAL POSITION WITH THE CAP FACING THE TOP OF THE PHOTO), THE SERIAL NUMBER WILL ALWAYS BE AT THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE CLIP - WITH THE NUMBERS STARTING AT THE END WHERE YOU INSERT THE PEN AND ENDING AT THE CLEAR PLASTIC WITH THE MONT BLANC STAR. AGAIN, READING WITH THE TOP OF THE NUMBERS FACING THE CLIP LEFT-TO-RIGHT. THEY ARE LASER-ETCHED, SO THEY WILL BE "RATHER" SMALL BUT EASILY READ WITH THE NAKED EYE...(AGE-DEPENDENT OF COURSE...HA-HA).

YOU WILL NOT FIND THE SERIAL NUMBER IN ANY...OTHER...PLACE!!!

DON'T GET TAKEN IN!!! THIS IS [YOUR] HARD-EARNED MONEY, AND THERE ARE PLENTY OF WELL-INTENTIONED PEOPLE IF NOT THEIVES WHO EITHER DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT AND/OR RELYING ON THE NAME OF MONT BLANC (WHICH INCIDENTLY HAPPENED TO ME) OR SIMPLY DON'T CARE AND WANT TO RIP YOU OFF!

E-MAIL ME WITH YOUR QUESTIONS...PLEASE! IF IT LOOKS LIKE A RAT, SMELLS LIKE A RAT......STAY AWAY!!!