Hero Fountain Pen Inks
The original post on my blog with a few more pictures: http://penpaperinkletter.com/hero-fountain-pen-inks/
I recently decided to pick up all of the Hero fountain pen inks that I could find. It may be that these four inks, black, blue-black, blue and red are the only inks that Hero makes but I haven’t been able to confirm that at this time. There are a few of these available on Amazon for around $50 a bottle but that is obviously well above the value of these inks and likely just an entrepreneurial person trying to take advantage of it’s rarity. I picked up all four bottles (60ml) from ebay for about $5 each. It wasn’t a perfect, repeatable purchase so it may vary a bit but that is what I would expect to give for these if you are looking.
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These inks are made at the Shanghai Ink Factory according to the box and they have a URL as well, fine-stationery.net.cn, but it is a Chinese language site that does not appear to even list the inks and doesn’t look all that great in terms of reliability.
This is basically going to be an overview of the inks with some explanation of how and why I chose them. There will also be an individual review for each ink to follow shortly.
Ok, I do want to talk about the inks specifically but I must start with logistics. As I mentioned these are not available in an easy to buy retail location or website as far as I can tell. You have to find a seller willing to ship direct from China or someone who is buying in bulk from China to resell in your location. I received mine from the US and in about a week total time from payment. At the time only two of the inks were available via “buy it now” so I had to get the other two in auction. I actually ended up getting them for slightly less than the two “buy it now” bottles. The overall process was as easy as any ebay purchase can be and I used paypal for the purchase.
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The buying process was worthy of explaining but in reality I want to focus on the products as I received them. All four came in a large padded envelope and though each were in thin cardstock boxes inside they were surprisingly still structurally sound. The black and blue bottles came in one style box and the red and blue-black came in another style box. It appears that one is an updated box but as there is almost no English at all on the boxes I am not sure which is newer. The blue-black box was a bit stained from ink on the outside but I don’t think it was from my bottle. The black box shows no staining on the box but I am almost certain it is only 1/2 to 3/4 full. The outside of a couple of the boxes also have some tearing and places where the printing has been ripped off.
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Now, the condition you would receive yours in would likely not be exactly as I have outlined above but the point I am trying to make is that with this type of transaction being the norm for these inks you will likely not know exactly what you will get until it arrives at your door. Also, even if everything is above board it still feels a bit sketch and I don’t know that I would rely on these methods to obtain these inks if you do indeed fall in love with them.
Once I inspected them from the outside I opened all the boxes and pulled out the bottles. All four, even though the boxes are different, have the same style bottle and labeling. The only difference I can tell is that the black and blue have a slightly variant to the top. They have a rubber/plastic circle inside the lid that protrudes through the top in the form of some Chinese characters. It is the better of the tops as far as I can tell but only in aesthetics. The other two have solid tops with a more traditional wax paper disc seal.
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All of the bottles had dust on them and generally looked a bit unkempt and I don’t know whether to contribute that to the seller or a lack of care in presentation from Hero. The bottles are nice enough and obviously look better than some *cough* Private Reserve *cough* but does look a bit cheaper than others, primarily because of the big black plastic cap. I have no reservations about putting them with all my other inks on my ink shelf but they aren’t front and center.
Back to what’s inside the bottle, they do have a bit stronger chemical smell than the others I tested them against but I’m no Azizah so I think just using them for writing on paper will be safe. It does give me pause, along with other reasonable reservations, as I think about using these inks in nicer fountain pens. I have resigned myself for now to simply use them in Hero pens like the 616′s I have and potentially a few other cheap pens. At just $5 a bottle these inks might be good fodder for a Preppy eyedropper conversion as well.
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The four inks are numbered as 231 (red), 232 (blue-black), 233 (blue) & 234 (black). I am not certain if this corresponds to any broader catalog but it might be helpful to know if you are trying to order some for yourself.
In conclusion I’ll let the individual reviews speak for themselves on the shades of each ink but overall I think these are a decent buy. I now have the Hero ink collection for about $20 and I can use it in cheaper pens and may give some samples to those wanting to try a bottled ink for the first time if they aren’t picky about color and have a cheap pen. I have no regrets on these and especially like the blue-black as I am a bit of a newbie in that category. I will concede though that these inks are a bit of a novelty to me and I wouldn’t put them up against most others in most terms. I also have reservations about the origin of the inks as it is not unthinkable that there were substandard conditions for workers in these factories. I am making no claims and would love for it to be proven otherwise but want to at least mention that it has crossed my mind and it is worth noting.
If you’ve had any experience with Hero fountain pen inks I am sure we’d all love to hear about them. Also, if you have any more info on availability please share in the comments. I hope this overview has been helpful!
-Heath
@WeThePPIL
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Originally Posted by ChrisC
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