Hero Black

[Grigio]

Hi All,

 

Let me start off by saying that this is my first review of anything on this forum. I usually don't like to post much, as I'm still new and feel that I don't have much to add, however this ink has not yet been reviewed and after trying it I thought that I should comment on it.

 

I recently travelled to China and was lucky enough to find a shop in Hong Kong that sells Hero merchandise, albeit at a very limited choice. They sold only Hero 329 (Star Trek version) and Hero 233 pens (which I haven't seen reviewed here at all, or anywhere for that matter, maybe I'll try that next...) and they also sold Hero Inks (Black, Blue-Black, washable Blue and Red). The prices were unbelievable with the ink bottles selling for 10 Hong Kong dollars (that would be approximately $1.30 US!).

 

The pen used is a Hero 329 and the paper is cheap lined paper (not sure of the brand).

 

The ink behaves rather well, except that it has a very mild feathering present on cheaper paper (see image below) and it has a tendency to bleed through slightly. As of now I haven't tried using any other ink in the same pen, so I cannot compare the bleed through to anything else. It is a fast flowing ink that has no start-up problems, lubricates well, and dries virtually instantaneously on paper. Even though it is not highly saturated, it gives an good black colour that is not watery or grey in appearance. The most unexpected feature of this ink, is that appears to be very water resistant (see water test image and *** note below), a definite bonus in my opinion.

 

Of course this ink is still new to me, so I'll have to see if my opinion changes with time. Also, I am not sure of the pH, so I wouldn't trust it in my good pen.

 

Overall, I have to say that I like this ink and it appears to be a good overall everyday workhorse. Also given the price I think that this ink is a great value that when matched up with a Hero 329, will give you a pen that you can bring anywhere and let anyone use without worry of it being stolen or ruined.

 

Grigio

 

 

 

*** Note: The water test was done by drawing lines within a large rectangular box, cutting out the bottom half of the large rectangle and then dividing that piece into thirds. Each third was then treated as labelled (rinsed, 5 minute and 30 minute soak) and put back into its original spot to allow direct comparison against untreated samples.

 

Edited for Typos

Edit 2: Upon analysis of another ink I can say that the bleed through and feathering is comparable to that seen when using Noodlers AirCorp Blue-Black

Edited June 26, 2008 by Grigio

[finansista]

I use this ink right now and I really like it. Especially its really deep black colour and the $1.30 price tag

However, it does not behave well on Moleskine paper. No bleeding through if you use a fine nib, but lots of feathering.

 

But I can't find the RED Hero ink anywhere Only Black, Blue-Black and Washable Blue are imported to Poland.

If you know an online retailer that has the red Hero ink please tell me.

[scribbler77]

Thanks for the review.

 

Too bad the ink is not sold in the US -- so far as I know.

[Grigio]

Thanks for the comments.

Scribbler77, as far as I know I haven't seen this anywhere in North America either.

Finansista, I haven't seen the red anywhere before either.

I guess they are not highly available, which is too bad.

[cotdt]

$1.30!? You got ripped off. I got mine for only $0.40 in Mainland China.

[Grigio]

$1.30!? You got ripped off. I got mine for only $0.40 in Mainland China.

 

Wow! $0.40

I do feel ripped off (I'll have to haggle next time)

 

What do you think of the ink?

[cotdt]

$1.30!? You got ripped off. I got mine for only $0.40 in Mainland China.

 

Wow! $0.40

I do feel ripped off (I'll have to haggle next time)

 

What do you think of the ink?

 

Eheheheh. It's a nice ink, but I prefer Hero's other black ink, which is a darker black and thicker, and featherless. Hero's own fountain pens are very free-flowing so I prefer more viscous inks with their fountain pens.

[RevAaron]

I didn't like the Hero carbon black ink. I've not tried it in a ton of pens, but seems like a clog risk- I was rather boneheaded and used it in a vintage pen, though one that's very wet and has never had problems with clogging before. Did not get along with the Hero Carbon!

 

BTW, you can get Hero's black, blue, red and carbon inks from speerbob. Not sure if he still has them, but he was selling them a month or two ago for a reasonable $2.50 per bottle. It might not be the $0.40 you'd pay in mainland China, but the $2 markup is a lot less than the mark up most products would see between China and the US's retail market.

[liapuyat]

I didn't like the Hero carbon black ink. I've not tried it in a ton of pens, but seems like a clog risk- I was rather boneheaded and used it in a vintage pen, though one that's very wet and has never had problems with clogging before. Did not get along with the Hero Carbon!

 

BTW, you can get Hero's black, blue, red and carbon inks from speerbob. Not sure if he still has them, but he was selling them a month or two ago for a reasonable $2.50 per bottle. It might not be the $0.40 you'd pay in mainland China, but the $2 markup is a lot less than the mark up most products would see between China and the US's retail market.

 

The Hero inks are still on speerbob's eBay catalog. No red though, unless he has replenished.

[gadgetjunky]

I bought a couple bottles each of Hero Black and Blue-Black from hisnibs.com a few years back. I never did experiment with the Black much, but The Blue-Black is so waterproof that it actually made me a little nervous to use it in some pens. I used a Hero 329 full of it to take notes for an entire week at an Informix database design class though and the combo worked like a champ.

[Lehnsherr]

After reading this post I got curious about Hero ink, went out and bought a bottle of Hero Black and Pelikan Brilliant Black from a local stationary store. I do have Brilliant Black but I guess a new bottle would be better for consistency in testing.

 

After trying out both inks and compared, I think Hero Black would be comparable to Brilliant Black, at least to my eyes. Drying time, color tone are all quite similar. The only difference is that the Hero ink gives off a vapor like some sort of water based paint used in art classes.

 

Other than that the Hero Black would make a very economical workhorse ink as it is almost half the price of Brilliant Black.

 

Just my humble opinion

[majorworks]

I just picked up a bottle of Hero Black in NYC's Chinatown (along with a Hero 5020; looks like a Parker-style flighter with an open nib that I think is an M). I'm a newbie to FPs in general and have only a Lamy Vista to compare it with.

 

The ink isn't bad at all to my inexperienced eye. It's a pretty rich black, no shading at all, and dries moderately quickly. The box says it's type 234 and is an "advanced carbonic ink." It cost $2.45 for a 60-ml bottle at the Oriental Culture Enterprises store on Elizabeth St just south of Canal. I took a flyer on it and I'm not sorry. A bargain at the price, I think.

[majorworks]

I just picked up a bottle of Hero Black in NYC's Chinatown (along with a Hero 5020; looks like a Parker-style flighter with an open nib that I think is an M). I'm a newbie to FPs in general and have only a Lamy Vista to compare it with.

 

The ink isn't bad at all to my inexperienced eye. It's a pretty rich black, no shading at all, and dries moderately quickly. The box says it's type 234 and is an "advanced carbonic ink." It cost $2.45 for a 60-ml bottle at the Oriental Culture Enterprises store on Elizabeth St just south of Canal. I took a flyer on it and I'm not sorry. A bargain at the price, I think.

 

Hoping it's not considered impolite around here to reply to one's own post, but in the absence of an "edit" button...

 

Well, after a couple or three days with the Hero carbon black in the Hero 5020 pen, I can say that it's maybe not all that. I was starting to notice that the pen was having trouble starting up, even after sitting idle for only a short while, maybe an hour. It was getting progressively worse. I flushed the Hero Black and refilled the pen with Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue. HUGE difference. Starts up every time now with a nice wet line. So maybe the Hero Black wasn't such a great deal? I still like it as a black. I have read on these pages that carbon inks can have these kinds of issues. Now I know.

[andy1m]

I use Hero's black and blue black inks. Very satisfy with their performance. And only US 0.60 in Indonesia. You got to try it!

I also have Noodlers but I think Hero is better.

[JohnCruzNg]

I just picked up a bottle of Hero Black in NYC's Chinatown (along with a Hero 5020; looks like a Parker-style flighter with an open nib that I think is an M). I'm a newbie to FPs in general and have only a Lamy Vista to compare it with.

 

The ink isn't bad at all to my inexperienced eye. It's a pretty rich black, no shading at all, and dries moderately quickly. The box says it's type 234 and is an "advanced carbonic ink." It cost $2.45 for a 60-ml bottle at the Oriental Culture Enterprises store on Elizabeth St just south of Canal. I took a flyer on it and I'm not sorry. A bargain at the price, I think.

 

Hoping it's not considered impolite around here to reply to one's own post, but in the absence of an "edit" button...

 

Well, after a couple or three days with the Hero carbon black in the Hero 5020 pen, I can say that it's maybe not all that. I was starting to notice that the pen was having trouble starting up, even after sitting idle for only a short while, maybe an hour. It was getting progressively worse. I flushed the Hero Black and refilled the pen with Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue. HUGE difference. Starts up every time now with a nice wet line. So maybe the Hero Black wasn't such a great deal? I still like it as a black. I have read on these pages that carbon inks can have these kinds of issues. Now I know.

 

 

Hahaha that's where i bought my ink. I really haven't used any except for the Blue Suede from Private Reserve and they both feel the same to me. I got no clogging from either of them and I've never had troubling starting back up from rest by my pens. And i agree that it does a rich black. Maybe it is the type of pen you are using because it works fine with my many Hero pens, my new MT pen, and my Cross AXT

[Crim]

Well here's the thing about Chinese inks... I'd say most of them suck. Chinese people are notorious for the mindset of "Buy the cheapest things possible, even if they break and you have to replace a million times."

 

OF the Chinese inks I've tried (Picasso, Duke, Hero, and some other Chinese brands) I'd have to say they all suck, except the Picasso. I actually like that ink. It didn't crust or clog my pen even when I forgot about it for almost a month (It was in a FP that I didn't like). Duke seemed ok, but it took a long time to dry so I literally used it for 10 minutes then switched to Duke. All the other ones seem to clog or turn into dust if you leave the pen alone for a while.

 

But yeah, you can get inks pretty cheaply here. Sad too, cause the first ink I ever bought was this 2RMB scented blue ink. It was really a nice color... but I figure if it's only 2RMB (like 28 cents) chances are it won't be good for the pen I'm using...

 

But just for the heck of it, I'll do a review on it and Duke.

[czar]

Hello,

I am just new to this site, but "hard" black is my favourite color.

After tour testing you keep on advicing this ink?

 

The best black until now for me is Shaeffer, Pelikan, aurora (in this sequence)

 

I don't like Montblanc Black (tends to blue) and Parker Black (no personality).

Please, let me know...