Hero 285 in Silver and Gold

This is a modern pen I was surprised to find among those from my basement, especially because it isn't old at all. How it got thrown in with this group I can't be certain, but regardless, I'm pleased to have found it.

She's showin' off her wares...

 I quickly inked this baby up and got her down on paper so that I could try it out. It immediately proved to have a very smooth and yet fairly fine nib.  F nibs tend to be scratchy unless you shell out large amounts of money for them, and this (I'm fairly certain at least) was not a costly pen. Noodler's Polar Black was the ink I used to fill this pen. Aesthetically speaking, this pen is pretty snazzy, though I feel that the black and gold version would be slightly better looking.  The pen is excellently weighted, especially so when the cap is posted on the end.

I found the grip on this pen to be about average as far as fountain pens go, with this pen being one with a narrow barrel. I personally prefer narrow barrels because not only does the pen weigh less overall, but it fits into a pocket with much more ease and fits into my hand more comfortably. Portability and weight don't matter when you have time to sit down at a desk and write slowly, but for the average student, those are critical points in evaluation of a pen. I unfortunately can't think of a pen to compare it to, but with the solid construction and fantastic nib, all that comes to mind is a Lamy Safari, but honestly, it isn't even close.

After leaving it sitting for a few days, this pen wrote immediately, which is a practical quality that modern pens should possess.  I know that the finicky nature of vintage fountain pens can be part of the allure at times, but when I'm in class, having a pen that doesn't need constant care is much more useful. We should have standards for ourselves as fountain pen enthusiasts! If a modern pen costs over $100 and looks pretty, but doesn't write well, then we should discourage others from buying it! This pen definitely doesn't cost $100, looks very nice and writes extremely well, therefore, it is a good pen to purchase.  If you're on a budget and you still want a nice pen, then this will fit your niche very well and you'll spend somewhere between $15-20. When I checked last, isellpens.com had a large selection of pens made by Hero that were similar, but not exactly the same. I've never bought from them, so I can't comment about the retailer, but the members on the fountainpennetwork.com seem to support them.

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