Hero 5020

[vans4444]

Hero 5020

 

A hero that looks like a Sonnet?

 

I bought this pen from eBay for less than £5.00 including postage. I thought it looked a bit like a Parker Sonnet. I don’t have a Sonnet FP but I do have a Sonnet rollerball.

 

Here is a side by side comparison picture, the top pen being the Hero.

 

http://i700.photobucket.com/albums/ww3/vans4444/Pens/Hero50202.jpg

 

Here is another picture where I have swapped the barrel and cap, so I now have a Parker Sonnet with a Hero section.

 

http://i700.photobucket.com/albums/ww3/vans4444/Pens/Hero50204.jpg

 

and here back to the original barrel and cap

 

http://i700.photobucket.com/albums/ww3/vans4444/Pens/Hero50203.jpg

 

So, yes, it does look very much like a Sonnet.

 

First Impression

 

A good looking, well proportioned pen with a large steel Hero nib

Design/Construction

 

If you like the general design of a Parker Sonnet you will like the design of this pen. It looks like a Parker flighter. The cap, barrel and clip are all in silver coloured metal, I assume aluminium. It has a plastic jewel on the top of the cap that clicks on and off.

 

It is reasonably heavy pen, which for me is a good working weight. I find many Chinese pens with brass barrels too heavy.

 

Capped length 135mm, posted 150mm, barrel diameter 10mm. Caped the Hero is 1mm perhaps 2mm longer than the Sonnet.

 

When the barrel is screwed tightly to the black plastic section it has a firm well made feel. However before it is screwed tight it makes a very tiny/cheap metal sound.

 

Needless to say, the barrel and cap of the Sonnet are made to a much higher standard. The metal is very slightly thicker and it makes the pen very slightly heavier. The Sonnet feels nicer in the hand.

 

In use

 

When posted the balance is slightly to the back of the pen but I find it a comfortable pen to use for extended periods.

 

The removable converter does not seem to hold much ink. For some reason I can ony get it half full of ink.

 

The Nib

 

The steel nib is very like many other Chinese nibs I have used. It is quite smooth, but not the very smoothest Chinese steel nib I have used. It is a nail with virtually no flex at all. Ink flow is good. It is neither too wet or dry. It starts first time and does not skip. It was sold as an M and unusually, it is close to a European M rather than an F.

 

http://i700.photobucket.com/albums/ww3/vans4444/Pens/Hero50205.jpg

 

Cost/Value

 

Well it is very cheap; like many Chinese fountain pens. It is certainly better than many of the bottom of the range Hero pens I have used, but I would not rank it as one of the best. So an averagely good Chinese pen. If you want a cheap workhorse that looks like a Sonnet, this could be the pen for you. However, do not expect great character.

 

Overall

 

The Hero is a fun pen to buy. Good for taking to places where there is a chance of loosing the pen. A good holiday pen. A good pen for taking notes. But not a great pen, not a pen that stands out in quality terms from so many other Chinese pens. However, I find many if not most Chinese pens have a blingy for me. I prefer this more understated design

 

http://i700.photobucket.com/albums/ww3/vans4444/Pens/Hero50207.jpg

Edited August 3, 2010 by vans4444

[mooshi]

Thanks for the review. It looks like a very nice pen.

 

-- Moo

[redshifteffect]

Amazing looking pen especially for the price! Did you get it from a seller local to you, or from China?

[vans4444]

Amazing looking pen especially for the price! Did you get it from a seller local to you, or from China?

 

 

 

I bought it from China and delivery was just over a week. Here is the link to the site:

 

 

eBay

[parilla]

I have a 5020 and enjoy using it, but I find myself more often using one of my Baoer 388s. They also look like a Sonnet (isn't that a diplomatic way of saying 'copy') but have very nice gold trim on a silver coloured pen. They are extraordinarily cheap, but write as well as my real Sonnet. How can you go wrong?

[vans4444]

I have a 5020 and enjoy using it, but I find myself more often using one of my Baoer 388s. They also look like a Sonnet (isn't that a diplomatic way of saying 'copy') but have very nice gold trim on a silver coloured pen. They are extraordinarily cheap, but write as well as my real Sonnet. How can you go wrong?

 

 

I have just googled Baoer 388 and it does look good, better than the Hero.

 

Yes I said "looks like" and could have used the word copy. At least it is stamped Hero and is not a counterfeit with Parker stamped on it.

 

I don't use my Sonnet rollerball much so I am thinking of swapping the barrel and cap over on a semi permanent basis. For reasons I can't explain this seems wrong somehow.

[jniforat]

thanks for the review. i like hero pens

[777]

Nice

[all_inky]

Great review; I've been hesitant with Chinese pens since an ugly leaky Jinhao incident, so good to hear that your experience has been positive.

[pmsalty]

Thanks for the review. Interesting pen.

PMS

[Drinky]

I had a slightly different experience with mine. It skipped fairly unpredictably. The biggest problem though was that the cap barely fit on it when I got it, and would not stay put at all in the pocket. This rendered the pen effectively useless and it wound up in the drawer after only three days. Oh well, I really only wanted it as a test run for a real Sonnet, which I do believe will be my next purchase.

[redshifteffect]

Amazing looking pen especially for the price! Did you get it from a seller local to you, or from China?

 

 

 

I bought it from China and delivery was just over a week. Here is the link to the site:

 

 

eBay

 

Thank-you for the link.

[murfie]

Nice review. Thank you for the heads-up. Mine arrived in the post today and it is most impressive. This is the best cap press fit I have come across from a Chinese made fountain pen. Not as good a fit as the benchmark Pilot Prera but gets quite close.

 

Pen and airmail postage was $7.50 USD in total. Value for money here!

[vans4444]

Nice review. Thank you for the heads-up. Mine arrived in the post today and it is most impressive. This is the best cap press fit I have come across from a Chinese made fountain pen. Not as good a fit as the benchmark Pilot Prera but gets quite close.

 

Pen and airmail postage was $7.50 USD in total. Value for money here!

 

 

Thanks murfie

 

I have used the Hero quite bit since the review. I put in some nice looking Manuscript Sepia ink that I was a little worried about using in a more expensive pen. The combination works very well. I would now rate it as one of the better Chines pens I have used.

[EMM]

Cool review, Hero pens are fairly good.

[Ernest]

I ordered the same pen and it arrived today.

It wrote very poorly...dry and skips.

A thorough flossing between the tines was all it took to make it a smooth and wet writer.

But , my real intent was to grind the nib to a cursive italic.

The pictures speak for themselves :

 

 

[richardandtracy]

This review has prompted me to order one & do a direct comparison with the Sonnet. It'll be interesting to see if the nibs unscrew and are interchangable when it arrives.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

[vans4444]

This review has prompted me to order one & do a direct comparison with the Sonnet. It'll be interesting to see if the nibs unscrew and are interchangable when it arrives.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

 

 

It sounds like I may have been lucky with my pen, it wrote well straight out of the pack and the cap fitted well.

 

Richard, I would be very interested to see the results of your proposed nib swap.