Hero 240: Alas!

This Hero pen has a much cheaper look and feel than both previous Heros I’ve reviewed. The barrel is a forest-green color, and seems less well-made than the heavy-ish brushed silver cap with its big, bold Hero logo.

With its aeromatic filler taking a load easily enough, it started up right away. I used a mixed blue that included Lamy Turquoise and a bit of Rotring Ultramarine. For those who care about such things (and that would include me!), it’s a nice color match with the barrel.

The pen seems a bit off-balance (top-heavy) with the cap posted. The nib is what I would call a medium-to-broad, unusual in a Chinese pen, though you can get a bit of a finer line if you write with the nib upside-down. Though H-240 does write sleek and smooth, its angular grip isn’t my favorite. At least it didn’t instantly blob up like the 569 Checkerboard, not even on Levenger paper. The more I wrote with it (a draft of this review, some notes, and a short letter to a friend) the more I liked it.

It made me think, ‘For the money, it’s nice. It fills easily, writes well, and although it simply ‘feels’ cheap, what do you want for a seven-dollar pen?’

I wrote happily with the 240 for several days. I was really growing fond of it.

But then---taihen! Masaka!

I went to grab it one night and make a few quick story notes. When I uncapped it, ink was EVERYWHERE on the barrel (which I didn’t notice because the barrel and ink color were so close). Never have I had as bad a leak as this, even in my early days of experimenting with leaky, no-brand fountain pens found for two dollars in the bottom bin of an art-supply store. Scrubbing frantically at my now-turquoise fingers, I cleaned them as best as possible, and then removed the pen to another room. Eventually I picked it up with a paper towel, wrote a note about it, and slipped the pen, towel, note and all, into a plastic bag, just like it was evidence on CSI.

There it will remain until further notice. Alas....

Some handwriting/sketch samples:

Oh.

I have a coupla 240s. I had one, and I liked it so much -- for its writing, the line, the consistency; it was fabulous. But the first one leaked slightly, and when I tried to unscrew the barrel, I don't know how to describe this... it unscrewed at the wrong place, so the aerometric piece was in the barrel, and the thin ink tube was exposed from the nib-feed section.

But I screwed it back together... and it still wrote well, and it stopped leaking.

So I ordered a coupla more.

Cos of that weird, flat, crazy nib! It's... weird! And it writes so great! The anomaly, I guess, has me somewhat mesmerized.

Then I dropped the original one on the nib, so that doesn't work anymore.

Eh. Seven bucks.

I have a second one in use, the one with the green barrel. The line is a bit thicker than the one I broke. Still... such a smooth, consistent, dark (blackety-black!) line... I keep using it!

I'll be on the alert for leakage, though, Sailor K. Thanks for the heads up.


Such a strange strange nib....


Edit for a shout-out to Todd at isellpens: When I ordered two more, I mentioned the weird problem with the first one, said I didn't care to send it back for an exchange, but would you mind checking the two I ordered... and he sent me a third gratis. That is called old-fashioned customer service, and I really appreciated it. Thanks, Todd!

Attracted by the unique nib, I ordered a 240 from isellpens last week. I'll plan to use it in 1 place (whether that'll be home or office depends on how it interacts with my handwriting) and handle it gently. Thanks for the heads up, Sailor K.

Ethernautrix, I experienced a similar self-disassembly with another recent Hero, #132. The pen didn't leak and continued to write, but with half a centimeter of tube or rod sticking out of the feed, which slid back inside when the pen was held nib-up. Wonder if Hero got a quality-challenged lot of pen innards that ended up in several models.

Though there a lot of HERO 240s floating around on the market (like the "chevron" 329), I'm pretty sure HERO hasen't made this model for a while.

That's a beautiful color ink! Not to hijack this thread, but does anyone know a standard (i.e. not a mixture of several different inks) ink color that mimics the one Sailor Kenshin has created?

Levenger Bahama Blue is close, IMHO. It is a bit greener than Waterman South Sea Blue.

Thanks for the quick reply! I'll have to go and take a look at that one

*sighs*

I really really liked this pen. I wrote a couple of letters with it, made notes, and then --- well, you know the rest.

The Star-Trekky one with the hooded nib still writes well.

I've always found it to be hit and miss. But when it IS a hit- it's fabulous. When it's a miss, I'm out $10. A miss with a Hero is not as bad as a miss with a Mont Blanc

I think it's just mainly due to quality control. I thought for some time there was rust along the little ring of my 329. Turns out it was just grime, and wiped off. I've had pretty good luck, only having really 1 dud of a Hero- the 360, but I think that's mainly due to the fact that it was a hero 360, always had flow problems, and difficult to fill with that one.

i see you guys and gals talking prices between 7 and 10, when isellpens has them for $4 USD!!!! (No aff.)

That's where I got mine.

He also has Heros in the $10-20 range.

The ink color looks a bit like Private Reserve Naples Blue (a great ink!), on my monitor.

Ink colors never look the same on the monitor as in your hands, alas...

I have not had any problems with my testing on my Hero #569 with Noodler's. Sailor Kenshin seems to be having several leaking issues and I have asked that I get emailed with this issue. I suspect this could be a result of some of the ink mixing that's changed the ink formula. Granted several of these are some of my lower end line but leaks like this are very rare and this can make the rest of the Hero line look bad.

I don't think it's a bad line at all---I write every day with the 'Star Trek' model, and I'm enjoying the 86 and the 569 (which behaves itself as long as I keep it away from Levenger paper). But this one particular pen, yikes.