This is a never used/never distributed (original) corporate logo Cross pen from the company AST Computer, originally named AST Research Inc. This pen was manufactured circa 1989-1990. The company was founded by three immigrant engineers (A S T were the initials of their first names) and had a meteoritic rise, achieved Fortune 500 ranking/global fame -- but facing a fiercely competitive market space was sold to Samsung in 1997.

This pen, which has not been used, was held by the Executive Secretary in the Office of the President and given only by the CEO directly to senior business executives, politicians and celebrities as a special gift. Only a limited number of these pens were produced/purchased. 

This rare corporate collectible / memorabilia is from the early era of the personal computer industry and works (blue ink) and is in very good, mint condition.

AST changed its name and its logo design around 1990 because the founders felt and were told the word "Research" was confusing, i.e. the company wasn't a "research" organization. It made personal computers, notebooks, laser printers, network cards, memory cards, etc. The first major product circa 1983 was an add-on card for the original IBM Personal Computer, called the SixPakPlus, a fabulously successful memory/multi-function card at a time when extra memory, modem and printer ports were not included on early computer motherboards. AST capitalized on the expansion slot. The rest is a bittersweet history of the rise and plunge of a once major technology player whose business life was cut short on the eve of dot-com gold rush. This is your chance to own a rare piece of corporate memorabilia.