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Hero 187

pvdiamon

By pvdiamon
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pvdiamon Extremely Rare

pvdiamon

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I've not reviewed a pen before, but I thought I would go over my experience with this pen. I bought the Hero given it's generally positive reviews as a brand. This 187 (fine nib) has a brown matte type finish which I thought was quite attractive. (Photo on isellpens.com web site.) The pen has some minor flaws in the finish but overall is a nice looking pen. Capped, it's a bit top heavy, and I found that somewhat unpleasant to write with. It seems to have a very small sweet spot for writing. When I hit that sweet spot, it writes very smoothly, nicer than a Sheaffer Prelude, but not as forgiving. If I am slightly off, it tends to skip.

 

I don't like the Aerometric filler. I did learn from this board how to properly fill the pen, and I think I got a good ink load the second time I filled it. Just like with a converter, where sometimes you have to screw the piston down to get more ink, this required very frequent squeezing on the aerometric filler to get it to write. I think I probably did that 5 times or so during one fill to finish up the ink. It's also a little more difficult to clean.

 

I don't have much experience with flexible nibs, and this one may be the most flexible I've used. I'm not sure I like that, as when I occasionally pressed harder, it was more difficult to control the pen.

 

Overall, not my favorite everyday pen, but an interesting one in a collection. And I really think it has a unique appearance.

 

John

John in NC

 

The passion not to be fooled and not to fool anybody else..two searching questions of positivism: what do you mean? How do you know? (Bertrand Russell, Dominant Passion of The True Scientist)

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J. John Harvey Rare

J. John Harvey

Posted
Posted (edited)

What did you find wrong with the aerometric filler? My Hero 100 and Parker 51 work(ed) just fine... You're supposed to squeeze the pressure bar 4-6 times to fill it with ink, and my Hero 100 needed no coaxing... Although I wouldn't know about the 187.

Edited by J. John Harvey
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pvdiamon Extremely Rare

pvdiamon

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What did you find wrong with the aerometric filler? My Hero 100 and Parker 51 work(ed) just fine... You're supposed to squeeze the pressure bar 4-6 times to fill it with ink, and my Hero 100 needed no coaxing... Although I wouldn't know about the 187.

During the day, the pen would appear to run out of ink. I then squeezed the pressure bar a couple time to bring ink back to the nib, and it wrote fine for a while till I had to do it again. This happens to me often with converters too. They stop writing, and I simply twist the piston down lower and ink flows again. Some have said this is due to some surface tension on the sides of the converter that soapy water remedies, but I haven't found that to make a difference. And I didn't put any soapy water in the Hero aerometric converter. SO, can you write on a full load without any of this happening with the other Heros?

John in NC

 

The passion not to be fooled and not to fool anybody else..two searching questions of positivism: what do you mean? How do you know? (Bertrand Russell, Dominant Passion of The True Scientist)

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J. John Harvey Rare

J. John Harvey

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You must be cursed!

 

But seriously, I have never had that problem with my Hero 100. I have had a problem something like that with one of my pens labeled "Campo Marzio Roma". It runs off of cartridges, and I continuously have to squeeze the cartridge, and it'll write fine for a while. Then the ink starts to fail, so I squeeze it again, and so forth. Is that kind of the trouble?

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pvdiamon Extremely Rare

pvdiamon

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I continuously have to squeeze the cartridge, and it'll write fine for a while. Then the ink starts to fail, so I squeeze it again, and so forth. Is that kind of the trouble?

Yes, that sounds like it. In the Hero, I have to squeeze the Aerometric piece. In converters, I just have to occasionally screw the piston down some. You never have this problem with converters? If not, I must be cursed!

John in NC

 

The passion not to be fooled and not to fool anybody else..two searching questions of positivism: what do you mean? How do you know? (Bertrand Russell, Dominant Passion of The True Scientist)

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pvdiamon Extremely Rare

pvdiamon

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Are you somehow getting air in the converter or are you leaving the nib fully submerged while you press the bar 4-6 times?

When I fill the Hero, it is completely submerged (for the aerometric filler). I always squeeze the air out of converters before I use them (make some ink come through the nib, then draw back).

John in NC

 

The passion not to be fooled and not to fool anybody else..two searching questions of positivism: what do you mean? How do you know? (Bertrand Russell, Dominant Passion of The True Scientist)

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Maja Donor Pen

Maja

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Hi pvdiamon, you're not the only one ....

I have a Hero Doctor's pen (a brown marbled "900" model) and it ain't easy getting the aerometric filler to fill properly. I did exactly what you did but for some reason, it doesn't want to fill up completely. I can see roughly how much of the sac is filled, but I can't get it to fill all the way (maybe it can't? :unsure: ). Maybe I should try rinsing it with water with a drop of liquid soap...

Vancouver (Canada) Pen Club (our website)

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pvdiamon Extremely Rare

pvdiamon

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Hi pvdiamon, you're not the only one ....

I have a Hero Doctor's pen (a brown marbled "900" model) and it ain't easy getting the aerometric filler to fill properly. I did exactly what you did but for some reason, it doesn't want to fill up completely. I can see roughly how much of the sac is filled, but I can't get it to fill all the way (maybe it can't? :unsure: ). Maybe I should try rinsing it with water with a drop of liquid soap...

Hi Maja, when it doesn't fill completely, what effect does it have on writing? Do yo find it skipping frequently, if you don't squeeze that sac some?

John in NC

 

The passion not to be fooled and not to fool anybody else..two searching questions of positivism: what do you mean? How do you know? (Bertrand Russell, Dominant Passion of The True Scientist)

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Blorgy Rare

Blorgy

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Hi pvdiamon, you're not the only one ....

I have a Hero Doctor's pen (a brown marbled "900" model) and it ain't easy getting the aerometric filler to fill properly. I did exactly what you did but for some reason, it doesn't want to fill up completely. I can see roughly how much of the sac is filled, but I can't get it to fill all the way (maybe it can't? :unsure: ). Maybe I should try rinsing it with water with a drop of liquid soap...

I wonder how you define an aerometric filler? If an aerometric filler requires a breathing tube inside the sac, then the Hero 187 may not be an aerometric filler.

 

At isellpens.com, the filler's description is: "removable pump filler for ink bottle filling." To me that sounds more like a BSF (big squeeze filler) , than an AF (aerometric filler). From my limited reading, I understand that the Hero AFs are found only in the Hero pens which have hooded nibs, and resemble the Parker 51.

 

My Hero 91 also had a big squeeze filler, not an AF. However, when I bought it, the seller described the filler as an AF. Does the absence of a breather tube reduce the ease of filling?

Edited by Blorgy
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Dillo Donor Pen

Dillo

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Hi,

 

All of the Hero pens with the press-bar filler I have seen so far have the clear breather tube. It is really hard to see, but it is there.

 

Dillon

Stolen: Aurora Optima Demonstrator Red ends Medium nib. Serial number 1216 and Aurora 98 Cartridge/Converter Black bark finish (Archivi Storici) with gold cap. Reward if found. Please contact me if you have seen these pens.

Please send vial orders and other messages to fpninkvials funny-round-mark-thing gmail strange-mark-thing com. My shop is open once again if you need help with your pen.

Will someone with the name of "Jay" who emailed me through the email system provide me an email address? There was no email address provided, so I can't write back.

Dillon

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pvdiamon Extremely Rare

pvdiamon

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Hi,

 

All of the Hero pens with the press-bar filler I have seen so far have the clear breather tube. It is really hard to see, but it is there.

 

Dillon

Dillo, I'm not following what you mean. By saying clear breather tube, do you mean "true" aerometric, or the "big squeeze filler"? Is the filler removeable? I didn't think it was.

John in NC

 

The passion not to be fooled and not to fool anybody else..two searching questions of positivism: what do you mean? How do you know? (Bertrand Russell, Dominant Passion of The True Scientist)

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Dillo Donor Pen

Dillo

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Hi,

 

I meant a permanent Aerometric filler. All the Heros I have seen have that clear tube.

 

Dillon

Stolen: Aurora Optima Demonstrator Red ends Medium nib. Serial number 1216 and Aurora 98 Cartridge/Converter Black bark finish (Archivi Storici) with gold cap. Reward if found. Please contact me if you have seen these pens.

Please send vial orders and other messages to fpninkvials funny-round-mark-thing gmail strange-mark-thing com. My shop is open once again if you need help with your pen.

Will someone with the name of "Jay" who emailed me through the email system provide me an email address? There was no email address provided, so I can't write back.

Dillon

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stypen NOS (New Old Stock)

stypen

Posted
Posted

I have had almost the exact same experience with my Hero 187. On the plus side, you can pull the aerometric converter out (my least favorite filling system by a fair shot) and plug in a parker cartridge if you want. (A Parker piston converter will fit in the section, but the barrel then won't screw on properly.)

 

On a side note, the nib was actually less flexible than I was hoping for...

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quilletante New

quilletante

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Posted

I have the Hero 329 and I had trouble filling it until I learned that I was suppose to squeeze quickly and release slowly. Now it fills fine. Thought I would pass that along.

 

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michael_s Rare

michael_s

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When I got my first aerometric (a Hero M616), I practiced filling it with just water to become familiar with the "technique."

Edited by michael_s
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Johnson Vintage

Johnson

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QUOTE (michael_s @ Apr 10 2007, 06:17 PM)
When I got my first aerometric (a Hero M616), I practiced filling it with just water to become familiar with the "technique."

This is a great idea.

 

I just bought a 187, received it last week. I couldn't get it to fill all the way up either, but I got enough ink in there to last me a while. The cap on this pen is way to heavy to write with posted, which is fine, I can do posted or unposted. Its not the best writer in the world, definitely can be a bit rough. The nib does have a touch of flex to it: I find I get much better results in writing if I use slightly more pressure then I typically use. I can get line variation from a thin F to a B, but it takes a lot of pressure to get a B.

 

The pen and nib look great, and it is comfortable in the hand.

 

It did take quite a few pages of writing for the nib to "open up" though. I'm not sure if this is a real phenomenon or something that just happens in my head, but I find it is often true with new pens. tongue.gif

 

I'm using PR Tanzanite.

happiness isn't caused

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burmeseboyz Vintage

burmeseboyz

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It seems to me like you have a flow problem rather than a filling one. If giving the pen a little squeeze gets it writing again, I'm sure there's ink in there. It's just that the ink is probably stuck along the way. I know Noodler's Black likes to sit at the bottom of the converter for some pens with narrow converters. Maybe try a different ink? Just my two cents.

Everyman, I will go with thee

and be thy guide,

In thy most need to go

by thy side.

-Knowledge

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lefty928 Vintage

lefty928

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Quality control seems to vary. I have the Hero 187 in black, and it's one of my favorite pens -- not for the way it looks, but for the narrow line and the feel of the slightly springy nib. All the inks I've used so far have flowed nicely out of it: R&K Alt-Goldgruen, several fills of Diamine Prussian Blue, although the AGG looked very pretty, and now Caran d'Ache Storm. I agree that the cap is heavy, but not so much that I avoid posting (I post all my pens).

 

Thank goodness, the nib on mine is smooth, it wrote well immediately, and I don't have a problem with the converter (although I have with other Heroes). I write with light pressure. (If I dredge up my Palmer cursive and consciously apply heavier pressure on the downward strokes, by gum, I can get noticeable line variation, maybe from a fine to a heavy medium or bold -- but that's just something I played around with right now. Normally I'm writing rapidly in my italic-ish cursive and more interested in getting the thoughts down than focusing on training my muscles to exert selective pressure. That's a future project.)

Edited by lefty928
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Philly Rider NOS (New Old Stock)

Philly Rider

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Posted

I have had my 187 for about 2 weeks now. I would second the quality control aspect as I seem to have lucked-out. My 187 fills very nicely and wrote smoothly right out of the box. That has not been my experience with all of the Hero pens. I have two 100's - I got them both in the same shipment. One is a great writer - actually one of my favorite pens. The other is rarely used as it is scratchy, and does not fill very well.

 

I will also second that the 187 is much too heavy to write posted but for me that is not a problem.

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