Hero 9296, Fake Or Real?

March 27, 2015

Hi, I got a Hero 9296 last year, first chinese extra fine nib pen I have tried that is truly smooth, nothing about "satisfying tooth" that some reviews say when they want to defend a pen which is not quite smooth. Great price too.

Well, I went to order another one, come to find a few surprises I did not see the first time:

1-Wide price variation, some sellers seem to have prices quite a bit higher than just 6 months ago, some for quite a bit less.

2-Some reviews describe the pen as a total loss, quite scratchy, nothing like my experience.

So the question is, are there some Hero 9296 pens that are fake? Any way of knowing before buying? Perhaps some sellers are more reputable for this than others? Are the higher prices actually worth it?

Something I did not know before buying, according to reviews, the converter is highly unreliable, proprietary (again, I am guessing the fakes use different converters than the "real" ones? No problems with my first one)

Thanks for some clue.

Edited March 27, 2015 by civil

March 27, 2015

I have two 9296, and the nib is in fact pretty darn smooth, especially for being so fine. I had in both cases serious problems with the ink flow, totally stopping after a while. They seem to take standard international cartridge and converter, though it is a very tight fit in most cases.

I don't think there are real and fake ones, Hero pens by themselves are as "fake" as it gets. Prices will vary based on the situation and whims of the seller, and quality will also vary a lot because on such cheap pens there is not much quality control.

March 27, 2015

I have two 9296, and the nib is in fact pretty darn smooth, especially for being so fine. I had in both cases serious problems with the ink flow, totally stopping after a while. They seem to take standard international cartridge and converter, though it is a very tight fit in most cases.
I don't think there are real and fake ones, Hero pens by themselves are as "fake" as it gets. Prices will vary based on the situation and whims of the seller, and quality will also vary a lot because on such cheap pens there is not much quality control.

Thanks for your comment. This pen, like my Jinhao x450, claims to use international cartridges, and it is also a tight fit. I took one from another pen and put it in my Jinhao. When I tried to put it back in the original pen, it would no longer fit tight, and leaked all over the place, so I think their claim that it fits the international size is bogus at best. I believe others have noted a similar problem with these pens.

As far as fake or real, the only Hero 616 pen I own is very scratchy and has other problems, unlike the experience most people mention, and there is even an ebay page devoted to identifying a fake 616 from a real one (mine fits the fake description ), plus a number of vendors take some pains to state theirs are original Hero pens and not fakes, hence my original concern.

March 27, 2015

I have a couple of Hero pens that I found are designed to take a cartridge with a larger 'mouth' - effectively the same diameter as the Parker, though the included cartridges were shorter than a standard Parker. It was possible to force a standard international cartridge into place, but you ran the risk of leaking. I wonder whether the 9296 is designed for the same kind of cartridges?