Review Of Fake Hero 616

[Inked]

 

 

I've been happy with my cheapo Chinese pens. If I like them, what is the problem?

 

 

There is no problem.

 

All my pens work great and I always get exactly what I ordered. No fakes.

 

To each his own. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

 

I wish you the best.

 

Inked

[celesul]

 

 

I've been happy with my cheapo Chinese pens. If I like them, what is the problem?

 

 

There is no problem.

 

All my pens work great and I always get exactly what I ordered. No fakes.

 

To each his own. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

 

I wish you the best.

 

Inked

 

Erm. I apoligize. I think I came across as rude. :embarrassed_smile: I guess I just get a bit fed up with the seeming lack of consideration by almost everyone to the desire to be budget conscious. Regardless, I was snippy, which was uncalled for, and I apologize.

[Chris H]

I bought, a couple years ago, a 10-pack of 329s (the newer version) and a 10-pack of 616s. Some were good and some were lousy. That said, none of them can compare with my Sheaffer Cartridge or NoNonsense pens. The Sheaffer quality is vastly superior, IMO. And when I can pick up the Sheaffers for very nearly a song, why buy something which isn't as good? To me, in the end, it is the ultimate quality which matters. And the Sheaffer "cheapies" were far better made than the Heros I got -- fake or not. Besides, to my knowledge, there are no fakes of the Sheaffer pens. Just good USA quality from the day when the USA made quality. So the Hero pens have been retired and I'll probably get rid of them. The Sheaffers are in everyday use and still performing beautifully after 50 - 60 years. Those I'll pass on to my family.

 

Chris

[Sailor Kenshin]

Not doubting your experience, but I never got a bad 616 or 329 in my batches - and there are indeed fakes, which lack the quality of the real Hero.

 

Personal preference again- while I also have and use those Sheaffer pens, I like the way the Heros write and feel a bit better than I like the Sheaffers.

[Osmaroid]

I bought, a couple years ago, a 10-pack of 329s (the newer version) and a 10-pack of 616s. Some were good and some were lousy. That said, none of them can compare with my Sheaffer Cartridge or NoNonsense pens. The Sheaffer quality is vastly superior, IMO. And when I can pick up the Sheaffers for very nearly a song, why buy something which isn't as good? To me, in the end, it is the ultimate quality which matters. And the Sheaffer "cheapies" were far better made than the Heros I got -- fake or not. Besides, to my knowledge, there are no fakes of the Sheaffer pens. Just good USA quality from the day when the USA made quality. So the Hero pens have been retired and I'll probably get rid of them. The Sheaffers are in everyday use and still performing beautifully after 50 - 60 years. Those I'll pass on to my family.

 

Chris

 

I too do not doubt your experience as I too have had bad 616s that I now believe are fakes. I can also say that ones I got from reputable dealers varied from great to acceptable and that the build quality of those (from reputable dealers) was always quite acceptable. This is the real and insidious effect of counterfeits - the quality is assumed to be that of the genuine article and that opinion is frequently passed on to others in conversations etc. So in addition to sales lost to the counterfeiters, the manufacturer of the genuine article probably loses more sales to a damaged reputation, and it all happens with no malice whatever from all involved except from the counterfeiters themselves.

[kwpalzang]

Whoa, I'm thinking my pen might be fake too... Is there any definite way to tell?

[Sailor Kenshin]

The first post has a link to a site that notes some differences.

[kwpalzang]

Do the real ones have crooked clips?

[Flounder]

phr-ank arfourwikfive

 

frank arthur wikey?

 

One of my 'genuine' jumbos had a clip that bent off to the right, it seemed to sit straight after I took the cap apart and reassembled. It was the 'runt', burgundy colour, cap took the most fettling, nib tines took longest to align. It runs with the pack now.

 

 

[kwpalzang]

phr-ank arfourwikfive

 

frank arthur wikey?

 

One of my 'genuine' jumbos had a clip that bent off to the right, it seemed to sit straight after I took the cap apart and reassembled. It was the 'runt', burgundy colour, cap took the most fettling, nib tines took longest to align. It runs with the pack now.

 

Bwahahaha. xD I like that analysis. phr4nkr4wk5 -> frankrocks. Yeah, come on, I'm 16, let me have some fun here...

 

Okay, so, I have come to the conclusion that if the eBay information page is to be trusted, my own personal Hero 616 is a fake. However, I'm not quite so sure. Per my own experiences, the pen I've got is not half bad. It works pretty well... The only things I'm not really satisfied with is the filling mechanism. It doesn't fill that easily... Also, I'm not really happy with the clip, as it's off-centre. I have OCD, so that doesn't really get along with me. But the pen writes fine. It's not as if the pen spontaneously broke into a thousand pieces upon getting its first fill of ink or something like that. Are all of these fakes really fakes?

[Sailor Kenshin]

Lol... well, a fake's a fake, and a real Hero is a real Hero.

 

This is not to say that a fake won't write well. But compared to the real thing, you're going to have a bigger percentage of non-starters.

 

As for filling, have you (gently!) disengaged that metal tube from the filler bulb? You can not only get a better fill that way but you can SEE how much ink is in there.

[kwpalzang]

Lol... well, a fake's a fake, and a real Hero is a real Hero.

 

This is not to say that a fake won't write well. But compared to the real thing, you're going to have a bigger percentage of non-starters.

 

As for filling, have you (gently!) disengaged that metal tube from the filler bulb? You can not only get a better fill that way but you can SEE how much ink is in there.

 

Ooh, yes, I am aware of the trick involving removing that metal bit. Thanks, though. Hm, so it's very, very definite that those fakes are, indeed, fakes, and not mere variations, or something along those lines? I just want to make sure. Oh, yeah, and there were two different fakes shown in the eBay link; mine seemed to match up with the top pen in the third image.

[Sailor Kenshin]

I guess if the image matches, it's a fake. However, if it writes well for you, that's a plus, right?

 

You can also over-fill these bulbs/sacs so it seems like your pen has sprung a leak when it hasn't. After it's full you might want to try emptying a drop or two to make sure it doesn't 'run over.'

 

J Herbin Larme de Cassis-colored fingers taught me that trick.

[Flounder]

See this business with the caps, does Yespen's page suggest that fake caps are riveted together rather than screwed together, or need a special bit? If the fakes are riveted, I suppose that would be the give away.

[kwpalzang]

Argh, whatever; I don't know! xD I'm just going to go along with the most likely thing- that it's a fake. Oh well, I got the pen for free on our "Pay It Forward" thread anyway, so it's not as if it's a real loss for me... But thanks for the information, tips, and hints, guys.

[ISW_Kaputnik]

Glad I found this, as it's answered a question. I'd ordered a Hero 616 from an Amazon seller a while back, and just got around to trying it a couple of weeks ago. Without a question it was the most worthless thing I'd ever bought under the name of a fountain pen. After looking at the first post here, and the links to other information that it gave, well, that's the answer with a pretty high degree of certainty. I have a fake. $7.99 down the drain, but I'll just learn from it. At some point, if I buy something from iSellPens, which I've dealt with before, maybe I'll put one of these on the order so I can compare. On the other hand, I don't need another cheap pen, good or not.

 

I guess I need to be careful of Amazon as well as eBay, although again, I wasn't buying from Amazon itself but from somebody who sells on there.

[EenyBear]

I ordered one (1) real, authentic, genuine, non-fake 616 Jumbo Doctor from an eBay seller who swore he was selling one (1) real, authentic, genuine, non-fake 616 Jumbo Doctor in the bubble pack with cardboard backing.

 

Instead, I received three (3) somewhat suspect 616s. The familiar red/green/black triumvirate. However the packaging is brilliant.

Ah well, I love an adventure! Are they fake? Are they even by Hero? Who knows... and in the end I really do not care.

 

MY REVIEW

I dipped each one and they wrote acceptably.

They seem to hold and deliver ink very well when dipped. A significant factor in their favor.

 

They came shipped in individual Plexiglas cases held securely in the central axis by a clever silicone donut. Again, brilliant.

That alone was worth the acquisition, I suppose, as the cases could be used for more precious pens.

 

However, the pens are lighter than I prefer and I do not intend to keep them.

In fact, I do not intend on filling them and testing them further.

 

Does anyone want to trade these three pens for something in your collection that you do not want or need anymore?

Comparable value of no more than $20, for the sake of argument. Might be fun.

I prefer vintage lever pens or c/c pens but am open to anything that writes at least as well as these three pens.

I would have put this in "classified" but for some reason am prevented from posting there.

Perhaps my post count is too low. Must remedy that as soon as I have something to say.

 

Best regards.

Edited March 6, 2014 by EenyBear

[WirsPlm]

I ordered one (1) real, authentic, genuine, non-fake 616 Jumbo Doctor from an eBay seller who swore he was selling one (1) real, authentic, genuine, non-fake 616 Jumbo Doctor in the bubble pack with cardboard backing.

 

Instead, I received three (3) somewhat suspect 616s. The familiar red/green/black triumvirate. However the packaging is brilliant.

Ah well, I love an adventure! Are they fake? Are they even by Hero? Who knows... and in the end I really do not care.

 

MY REVIEW

I dipped each one and they wrote acceptably.

They seem to hold and deliver ink very well when dipped. A significant factor in their favor.

 

They came shipped in individual Plexiglas cases held securely in the central axis by a clever silicone donut. Again, brilliant.

That alone was worth the acquisition, I suppose, as the cases could be used for more precious pens.

 

However, the pens are lighter than I prefer and I do not intend to keep them.

In fact, I do not intend on filling them and testing them further.

 

Does anyone want to trade these three pens for something in your collection that you do not want or need anymore?

Comparable value of no more than $20, for the sake of argument. Might be fun.

I prefer vintage lever pens or c/c pens but am open to anything that writes at least as well as these three pens.

I would have put this in "classified" but for some reason am prevented from posting there.

Perhaps my post count is too low. Must remedy that as soon as I have something to say.

 

Best regards.

Unfortunately, there's no way that 3 fake Hero 616s are worth $20, the real ones are worth $3 apiece from a good supplier like isellpens.com, I recommend just getting a Jumbo Hero from him (they are about $8 there last I looked).

[Sailor Kenshin]

Glad I found this, as it's answered a question. I'd ordered a Hero 616 from an Amazon seller a while back, and just got around to trying it a couple of weeks ago. Without a question it was the most worthless thing I'd ever bought under the name of a fountain pen. After looking at the first post here, and the links to other information that it gave, well, that's the answer with a pretty high degree of certainty. I have a fake. $7.99 down the drain, but I'll just learn from it. At some point, if I buy something from iSellPens, which I've dealt with before, maybe I'll put one of these on the order so I can compare. On the other hand, I don't need another cheap pen, good or not.

 

I guess I need to be careful of Amazon as well as eBay, although again, I wasn't buying from Amazon itself but from somebody who sells on there.

Even if it was from another seller, was it covered by Amazon's return policy? We just sent back a coffeemaker sold as new which clearly was not.

[EenyBear]

Unfortunately, there's no way that 3 fake Hero 616s are worth $20, the real ones are worth $3 apiece from a good supplier like isellpens.com, I recommend just getting a Jumbo Hero from him (they are about $8 there last I looked).

 

Good advice for isellpens. Thanks.

 

I wondered if anyone would overlook the obvious camaraderie and fun of the offer and pounce on the "...up to $20..." as some sort of misrepresentation. I did not think anyone would interpret this as a declaration of value. I said "up to..." for that very reason. I actually paid $12 incl shipping and, at the time... for what I thought I was getting... I was satisfied. I didn't get what I wanted, but someone may want them and may have something they don't want. Better than the landfill.

 

Besides, value is relative for someone who glances up at a forgotten pen that's been gathering dust on a shelf for a while. Someone might have an old school pen or "student" something pen that they don't use and may want some functional gift pens in a swap.

 

Pretty straightforward. It matters not to me, one way or the other.

I expect no takers but if you have something for a perceived value of at least $5, I will trade. How's that? Let's all get along. Thanks.

Beyond this post, I'll drop the issue entirely. I meant no harm.

 

Best regards,