Hero's Safari Clone

[Cryptos]

 

The Lamy pens are not overpriced in china as I demonstrated. They are the same price if a little cheaper.

 

Have you considered offsetting that price against the local economy? Something to think about as US$24 is a considerable outlay for most ordinary people in China for something that may be seen as a non-essential item.

 

To give a slightly related example, it is not uncommon - even in cities like Shanghai (this from personal experience) - to see a parent and child in a branch of KFC and the kid is eating and the parent is not. US$24, not a lot of money eh?

Edited May 10, 2014 by Cryptos

[Algester]

 

 

Have you considered offsetting that price against the local economy? Something to think about as US$24 is a considerable outlay for most ordinary people in China for something that may be seen as a non-essential item.

 

To give a slightly related example, it is not uncommon - even in cities like Shanghai (this from personal experience) - to see a parent and child in a branch of KFC and the kid is eating and the parent is not. US$24, not a lot of money eh?

 

If you looked back at the entire story, this all started because an importer was able to sell the REAL SAFARIS like their European selling price (25 euros was it?) which is affordable while a distributor (not Lamy certified) was selling the REAL SAFARIS perhaps 2x if not 6x (to perhaps 50 to near 100 euros) as much as the importer so long story short the importer got sued paid a fine in revenge asked the Luishui factory to produce the exact copy of the pen with their own twist to sell them. well so it's not a case of local purchasing power problem as the actual imported Safari was selling better than the distributor case of greed and envy :<

[Sailor Kenshin]

You might be attributing motives to facts without the connecting links.

[Shyner]

Have two Lamy Safari pens, and now one Hero 359. Seems to be little difference except maybe lighter plastic. Both my Lamy's skip pretty consistently, so I don't think I want any more of them or the knock off Hero - although so far the Hero is not skipping like the Lamy's.....

[Sailor Kenshin]

Skipping could be a factor of the nib, feed, ink, paper, user error, all of the above, none of the above. My Safaris work very well, but my first one way back in the pre-innerwebz days skipped, scratched, squealed, you name it.

 

Had I but known what I know now, I probably could have fixed it.

[Shyner]

Well, I've been using fountain pens for a while but am certainly no expert on correcting problematic pens. I just figured a Lamy Safari would pretty much be plug and play. I flushed them, reflushed, removed the nib and cleaned the things, but still skippin along. Ah well, I've got other pens that function well, so I just put the Lamy's in rotation and scold them occasionally.

[TSherbs]

Well, I've been using fountain pens for a while but am certainly no expert on correcting problematic pens. I just figured a Lamy Safari would pretty much be plug and play. I flushed them, reflushed, removed the nib and cleaned the things, but still skippin along. Ah well, I've got other pens that function well, so I just put the Lamy's in rotation and scold them occasionally.

The Chinese versions, especially the Jinhao, are WAY cheaper and give no trouble (in my experience). Your Lamy is doing just what the higher price should buy protection from.

[Sailor Kenshin]

Well, I've been using fountain pens for a while but am certainly no expert on correcting problematic pens. I just figured a Lamy Safari would pretty much be plug and play. I flushed them, reflushed, removed the nib and cleaned the things, but still skippin along. Ah well, I've got other pens that function well, so I just put the Lamy's in rotation and scold them occasionally.

Now you have me curious. Is there a difference in the ink you have in the Safaris versus the Hero?

[Shyner]

Right now I have Platinum Mix free Leaf Green in the Hero, as it is the first time I have inked it up. In my blue Lamy and Vista I have tried a variety of ink samples I receive through Goulet's Ink Drop. So I have tried Pelikan Violet and De Atramentis Apple Blossom in them. Have put several others through them, but don't remember which at the moment. Maybe Noodler's Black Swan Australian Roses and Noodler's Blue Eel.

[Shyner]

The Chinese versions, especially the Jinhao, are WAY cheaper and give no trouble (in my experience). Your Lamy is doing just what the higher price should buy protection from.

I agree. I have one Jinhao that is so smooth, but a little wet for my daily use (inks through the paper when I make notes on the back of Rx's). It is annoying to have to go back and fill in gaps on my writing when using the Lamys. I had hoped they would behave better since I had read from so many that they were their everyday "go to" pen.

[Sailor Kenshin]

Right now I have Platinum Mix free Leaf Green in the Hero, as it is the first time I have inked it up. In my blue Lamy and Vista I have tried a variety of ink samples I receive through Goulet's Ink Drop. So I have tried Pelikan Violet and De Atramentis Apple Blossom in them. Have put several others through them, but don't remember which at the moment. Maybe Noodler's Black Swan Australian Roses and Noodler's Blue Eel.

Pelikan inks tend to run dry...Noodler's can be very thick. Just as an experiment for your Safari, you might try watering down the Noodler's like 10 per cent. Or use a plain ol' Skrip ink.

[Shyner]

Might just do. I'm a lefty so tend to like the quicker drying inks, but like trying them all!

Thanks!

[Sailor Kenshin]

Heh...I'm another southpaw. I went through all sorts of drama, especially with Noodler's Navaho Turquoise, before I read about the water trick.

[lreiley]

My experience--it's heavy, it leaks, it skipped, and somehow I managed to bend the nib putting the cap on. Not impressed.

[Sailor Kenshin]

Not to discount your experience, but the Hero 359’s plastic is lighter than the Safari's. You still found it heavy?

[JulioPB]

There is a Jin Hao chespest version with different clip and an 'open' nib:

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/JINHAO-599-FOUNTAIN-PEN-2014-NEW-PRODUCT-MEDIUM-NIB-18KGP-NIB-COLOR-CHOICES-/321365057923?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ad2d9a183

 

 

[lreiley]

Mine is metal...I think? Let me go dig it out. If it's not metal, it's the heaviest plastic I've ever felt.

[Sailor Kenshin]

Thanks, I'd be interested, because so far I,ve only seen plastic Hero 359s, and mine aren't notably heavy.

[Durham K]

My Hero Safari clone arrived this week and I am quite impressed at both the writing experience and the similarity to my real Lamys. I took it to work and a colleague who is a confirmed Safari collector and user wrote with it, admired the colour and nib, then had to be told that it was a copy. He found it hard to believe and was even more surprised as to how cheap it was. I would imagine that the plastic is a more brittle type than a real Lamy to keep costs down, so it will have to be treated a little more carefully. The caps are not quite interchangeable but the barrel is (it does not line up when swapped).
Here are a few photos.

 

I nearly threw the box away but decided to look at the Chinese paper packaging, only to find a free gift gel pen under the paper!

 

I would still prefer my Lamys, but it has been an interesting experiment. Now I need to wait for my my JINHAO 599 to arrive.

 

K

[Sailor Kenshin]

Great detail in those pictures. Thanks.