Favorite Hero Pens

May 25, 2008

My guess is that the margins on the Hero pens are higher than the others, even after adjusting for things like a possibly higher merchandise exchange rate (not currency exchange rate) and eating the cost of some duds. It doesn't bother me if there is a bit more profit on these pens, though. Nobody other than speerbob I found had as wide a variety available, and geography made buying from speerbob a whole different experience with a 3 week wait for your goods and even bigger incentive than with Todd to buy more than one at a time. If you have the ability to bring something special to the market and you aren't gouging people, you're welcome to a better profit margin in my book.

I have to say that the prices and the higher than usual shipping from isellpens makes an impact on how much I order, but you just simply can't beat the overall deal when you stop and think about it. I'd prefer to get a Hero 100 for $20 shipped or a 132 for $10 shipped, but it's just not going to happen. My next order will probably be around $50 worth of pens (a 110, a 132, and one each of the old and new 329) and another $9-10 in shipping. That will work out to $15 a pen for two quality steel nibbed pens and two gold nibbed ones.

ETA: To answer the original question, I think the 132 is probably my favorite Hero so far. I have tried the 616, 329, 132, and 100. All are darn good, but the 132 is the most unique one. I have a feeling the 110 will eclipse the 132 in my book, though. All of these models are available at isellpens, so they're not that unique.

Edited May 25, 2008 by Jimmy James

May 26, 2008

My guess is that the margins on the Hero pens are higher than the others, even after adjusting for things like a possibly higher merchandise exchange rate (not currency exchange rate) and eating the cost of some duds.

Yes, moving things from where they are common to where they are rare is a historic way to generate wealth.

I'd prefer to get a Hero 100 for $20 shipped or a 132 for $10 shipped, but it's just not going to happen.

The local "wal-mart" price of a Hero 100 is $15.89 using the exchange rate currently showing in my desktop widget. The 329 is 65¢ if you buy a ten-pack.

Now if you happen to be visiting China or know someone who is, and they are bought casually and in small number so they just get packed in return baggage (free shipping) and are well below the personal limit for declaring things (no tarrifs), and you just sell a dozen off at the insistence of you wife who doesn't appreciate the "whole box" buying; rather than running an import business; then the numbers come out dramatically different.

I'm going through the trouble because I want them myself. I'll be selling off half a box each of 616, 329, and 257, after I clean and test and nib-polish each one.

FWIW, much of what I bought in China cost more to ship home than it did to buy there, and some was damaged, including a beautiful mounted butterfly collection. I certainly agree that a 65¢ pen is not worth shipping, unless it's included in a box of photographs that's going anyway.

May 26, 2008

So all of the pens listed so far are available from isellpens. Does he pretty much sell everything that's available in China?

Hi, Todd has a good selection but not even close to everything made in China. My main Chinese pen importer here in Thailand knows of over 75 pen companies making fountain pens in China and he is sure there are many more. There is one town that specializes in stationary and pens and there are over 100 pen companies in that one town alone (not all make fountain pens). Every company of the 75 he knows of makes from 20 to 500 FP models. The last Hero catalog (kind of a half-ass mess of a catalog) he showed me had over 450 fountain pen models in it (really tried to get a copy but he had only one)! I would guess at any one time there are 4000 or more fountain pen models made in China, and they change them fast. In fact, i would bet more fountain pensare made in china in a year than the rest of the world combined. Fountain pens in China are mostly made for domestic use, so most of the companies don't even try to sell overseas much. Instead there are middlemen brokering the overseas deals, somtimes just for certain countries. I don't think any of them really are targeting the US market. Most of what makes it to the US gets in via Tood, me or Norm Hess and a few others. Cheers, BOB

May 26, 2008

My guess is that the margins on the Hero pens are higher than the others, even after adjusting for things like a possibly higher merchandise exchange rate (not currency exchange rate) and eating the cost of some duds. It doesn't bother me if there is a bit more profit on these pens, though. Nobody other than speerbob I found had as wide a variety available, and geography made buying from speerbob a whole different experience with a 3 week wait for your goods and even bigger incentive than with Todd to buy more than one at a time. If you have the ability to bring something special to the market and you aren't gouging people, you're welcome to a better profit margin in my book.

I have to say that the prices and the higher than usual shipping from isellpens makes an impact on how much I order, but you just simply can't beat the overall deal when you stop and think about it. I'd prefer to get a Hero 100 for $20 shipped or a 132 for $10 shipped, but it's just not going to happen. My next order will probably be around $50 worth of pens (a 110, a 132, and one each of the old and new 329) and another $9-10 in shipping. That will work out to $15 a pen for two quality steel nibbed pens and two gold nibbed ones.

ETA: To answer the original question, I think the 132 is probably my favorite Hero so far. I have tried the 616, 329, 132, and 100. All are darn good, but the 132 is the most unique one. I have a feeling the 110 will eclipse the 132 in my book, though. All of these models are available at isellpens, so they're not that unique.

Hi, yes, the margain on the Chinese pens is higher than on the brand names. But there is a good reason. There are no reps for any Chinese brands in the US. So, those of us who sell them have to track them down, import them ourselves, pay shipping and duty. We have no support from the pen companies. No advertising or promos. We have to take care of any bad pens or repairs ourselves. Frankly, Chinese pens have a larger rate of defective pens which we eat. Also, they are usually not worth the effort unless we make a good profit on them. I do think some people overprice them a bit, but it's a free market and if they still sell, good for them. There are so few people selling some of the models that there is a scarcity involved. And a scarce item usually demands a higher margain. The other option is to buy direct from China on eBay or something. But the risk might be higher and if there is a problem it's unlikely the seller is going to fix it like I would. I'm bringing back lots and lots of Chinese pens with me from Thailand so I'll have tons of great deals for you. But it will likely be October before I'm selling them. I have Thailand in less than three weeks.

I do think that the people who dismiss the Chinese brands out of hand are just being brand snobs. Many of these Chinese pens are really great and the prices are exceptional. As long as you buy from someone who stands behind their product, they are worth a try. Cheers, BOB

June 2, 2008

The seven-dollar 240.

I KNOW!

I'm as surprised as anyone.

(It's on isellpens's page 3 of Heroes.)

The flat nib is weird, but it writes just as well as a Parker 51, which I know now, thanks to Ryan.

Yes, it's a cheap pen, and it's cheap-looking, but it's weird and fabulous, too.

I also like the 329.

Hey!

Are these the pens that allow you to write from any angle? (Top, Bottom, etc..)

June 3, 2008

Hey!

Are these the pens that allow you to write from any angle? (Top, Bottom, etc..)

The 50 and the 70 write at any angle; you might not notice it is a fountain pen at all. All the other Hero's I've tried have conventional nibs of some kind and only work properly in one "sweet spot".

--John