Hero Blue-Black

[WillSW]

First of all, as with most Hero products, this ink is remarkable for the value. One dollar per ounce is hard to beat. Unfortunately, I cannot find anywhere online to buy it, I found my bottle in New York's Chinatown. Maybe I'll stock up and start mailing them out at a loss to feed my Santa Clause urge I get sometimes.

 

I really like this ink. I don't see any green in it, just a nice, steely grey blue, perfect for the fella hesitant to scribble in the more saturated ceruleans and cobalts out there. I am also a shadophile. I mean, if you came upon me while writing, you'd see me stop every once in awhile, press my nose against the page, and stare lovingly at the variations within each little delineated letter. This ink has great watercolor-like shading; unlike red black, which seems to build up the darks at the end of each stroke, this ink seems to settle after you lift the pen, creating a lack of line within the lines, it looks as if I am painting with a very fine brush (Which I suppose I am, it's just metal). Based on recent discussions of blue-black, I'm not sure I'll ever find one I like that much more than Hero Blue-Black. I might find one I slightly prefer, but it won't be that much, and I'll find different ones that serve slightly different, if similar, purposes, but it won't be this one. I'm confident I've filled a tenet in my ink collection with this color, and with a quarter of the per-ounce cost of America's cheapest company. Onto the samples!

 

I think I got a pretty accurate color in the first three.

 

On an Apica Note Book

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a94/willsw/hbbr.jpg

 

Also Apica

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a94/willsw/hbbr_2.jpg

 

Rhodia

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a94/willsw/hbbr_1.jpg

 

Detail from the Apica, I love shading.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a94/willsw/hhbbdett.jpg

[jsonewald]

The scan looks very much like my Lamy Blue/Black. Diamine Registrar's is notably darker, but both have shading very similar to what you show.

[KG4KAH]

Dear WillSW,

 

Thanks for this excellent review. On my monitor, I see some hints of a purple or violet color in the ink. Otherwise, it is, to me, reminiscent of Pelikan Blue Black, which is a very grey color.

 

Regards,

 

Wade

[acfrery]

Hi WillSW,

 

I bought a bottle of this ink in the least probable place: downtown Maceió (Brazil), in an old store that only sells cheap watches currently. I like it very much also!

 

Alejandro

[Ink Stained Wretch]

First of all, as with most Hero products, this ink is remarkable for the value. One dollar per ounce is hard to beat. Unfortunately, I cannot find anywhere online to buy it, I found my bottle in New York's Chinatown.

Where did you get it? I had a friend who was moving and gave me her half full bottle of Hero Blue/Black a while ago. She told me the place where she'd been buying the stuff but they didn't have anymore.

 

One thing I've found about this ink: it can be problematic. I think that it's a real iron gall ink. The black part of it is waterproof. But if you shake the bottle up you'll see little islands of ink forming on the inside of the bottle. I think it wants to do that in pens too. I'd tried it out in a Pelikano Jr, because I can take one of those completely apart and unclog it. And the Hero Blue/Black caused a clog. After some days it was just clogging up the pen too much to be bearable. But it's fine with a dip pen.