Hero's homage to the Montblanc 1912?

[Paul-H]

Just seen this interesting Hero fountain pen, any one got one.

Quite similar to the Montblanc 1912 in both appearance and function and a gold nib as well, appears to have a retractable nib and some form of piston filling mechanism. Not bad for under £80 if all those claimed features do actually work, I wonder if any were modified and sold as fake 1912's

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?m...2F263696508656

Anyone got one

Paul

[Chrissy]

Why any Company would ever put a monotone gold nib into a pen that has all chrome trim has always been a mystery to me. They never look right.

[Paul-H]

Been doing a bit of googling around and they do seem to getting good reviews, I suspect I might be having one of these arriving soon

Here is a random pitch from YouTube https://youtu.be/WqCbdZZkuj4

Paul

[manoeuver]

I've seen a few. they're solid, a very good value.

[aquafox]

A friend had one. I thought it was a piston filler, but on the net I saw a disassembly report which indicates a captive converter.
Smooth nib and soft-bouncy, but the retracting mechanism is just a gimmick.
Does not post.

[ChrisC]

To be fair, isn't the Montblanc 1912's mechanism also a gimmick? Serves no purpose since it's not a traditional safety filler.

[Paul-H]

I suppose it's only purpose, other than bring a sales gimmick is that it makes the capped pen a little shorter, perhaps they are trying to appeal to the handbag brigade

Paul

[Ted A]

I don't understand the point of a captive converter. It has the small capacity of a converter and you can't see how much ink is in there like any number of systems that don't have an ink window. Sort of a worst of all worlds.

[Kaputnik]

A friend had one. I thought it was a piston filler, but on the net I saw a disassembly report which indicates a captive converter.
Smooth nib and soft-bouncy, but the retracting mechanism is just a gimmick.
Does not post.

Not posting would be a deal breaker for me, even if I were otherwise considering it, which I'm not. Less because I think it would be a bad pen, than because I already have so many good pens, and something like this doesn't trigger the gotta-have-its. If it had come out maybe six years ago, I'd have thought about it. If it posted. Which it doesn't.

Why any Company would ever put a monotone gold nib into a pen that has all chrome trim has always been a mystery to me. They never look right.

The U.S. eBay has them for $99, and you can get it in gray or black as well as chrome. Goes well enough with the gold nib. Here's the link.

I don't understand the point of a captive converter. It has the small capacity of a converter and you can't see how much ink is in there like any number of systems that don't have an ink window. Sort of a worst of all worlds.

Also I'd want to know that it could be easily replaced if problems developed, possibly with an international converter from a better maker.

A 10k gold nib is the lowest grade of gold nib I've seen not counting gold plated steel. I vaguely recall some other Hero that had a 12k nib. Anyone have any experience with any nibs in that range? Might be fine, of course.

Anyway, it's interesting to know that this exists, even if I'm not tempted.

[Paul-H]

One seller is listing them at £52 including shipping which is about $68 getting tempted now.

Paul

[Chrissy]

I hope you enjoy it. Are you confident that the threads won't be uncomfortable under your fingers and thumb when you're writing? I think they would annoy me. My money is safe.

[Paul-H]

Starting to think it's just the gimmick of the retracting nib that is attracting me, think the £50 Would be better spent on a vintage pen with history than a new Chinese pen, I have a couple of Chinese pens (Jinhoa 159 and Keigelu 316) so dont realy need any more modern pens. So think I shall try to resist temptation, at least until the Sheaffer Balance and Parker Vacumatic I have my eye out for is in my collection.

Will let you know if I give in to temptation (How I hate this damd OCD)

Paul

[Scrawler]

For me its mass would soon outweigh its novelty value.