Today I was walking around a part of Singapore that I rerely visited and cahnced upon a small stationary store.
Went in and took a look and was surprised that they have quite a few cheap Hero fountain pens that i've not seen before.

So i bought a 81, 728, 51A and 103 for about S$5 each (around $3.50)

These pens are quite slim have stainless steel or lacqure finishing.

Tried to post the photos but photobucket seems unaccessible now so may I'll post the photos tomorrow.

I think that from now on I'll stay away from chinese pens. They don't seem to be well made, at least some of the models (the 616).

Edited thanks to a wiser FPN member.
I got a little carried away...

Well, perhaps your experience was a bad one, but your blanket condemnation is a bit over the top. I have several Hero pens that are reliable and write beautifully.

I bought 10 616's for about $2 each - and half of them are great! The other half are still useable; just not as smooth. Sure; they feel like cheap plastic, but the fillers work well (on mine anyway) and they are good starters; consistent writers and the nibs are dead easy to adjust if you need to - I tweaked one to write more like a wet medium when the usual fine wasn't smooth enough. For $2 each you can't go wrong for knockabout pens that can get lost without any heartache; or to give away as freebies to people who have never used a FP. Nothing wrong with the Hero 616.

Here's someone who's name means something in the pen community with an opinion that I would say is close to mine:
http://www.penhero.com/PenGallery/Parker/P...ClonesPart1.htm

That article is over 4 years old.

But the 616 is worse than 4 years ago.

That article might be 4 years old, but those pens are still made.

?

Aaron

I do my own Q/A on cheap Hero's, including cleaning the nib, making sure the section is sealed, and often "polishing" the nib on brown paper, if it doesn't need more aggressive material. I'll sell for $10, which is what I see them for at other retailers on-line. I think the 257 is much better made: metal body, and removable converter.

--John

The 616s in that article look awful - mine look far cleaner and well made; still plastic; but all parts are firm and clean - the filler in that article looks atrocious! They must have improved in the last 4 years. Also; I didn't buy one to 'look' like a 51 - I got it purely as a knockabout everyday user. If I wanted a 51; I'd buy one. I don't think that these pens are a waste of money; especially for $2 each.

I love most of my 616s - 3 are good, two are so-so. The current quality is, I agree, better than what you see in that Pentrace article.

Hey Matthew, what do you do to adjust the nibs on the 616s? I would like to experiment on my two that are not great.

The only filler that is kind of lousy of my 5 is the regular (non-jumbo) model that I bought by accident. This one is also just a bit too thin - it is just that scootch thinner than a P51 demi, alas.

I bought with a friend a cheap 10-pack of 616 on 'bay, choosing randomly from two vendors. Mine all work. They are fantastic for the price, they are cheap but not bad (better than everything similarly priced, even in ballpoints disposables in the same price range). One from my friend's choices developed a leak, maybe it's an easy fix (like resealing the sac) but up to now we never bothered to look (we'll try to fix it just for fun). I use 616s more than my H100 (an even better pen, BTW) leaving them in the pen cup on my desk at work. Ballpoints are regularly pillaged by coworkers, to resurface some meters away, but FP are always left undisturbed.
Once I handed one to our CEO (a Montblanc user) to sign a document, and he reserved to the pen the same dignified handling usually dedicatd to MBs, probably mistaking the pen for an old basic Parker model (like the 21). The pen is a wet and reliable one, loaded with Lamy blue (I really like their blue, BTW, expecially in pen leaving thin dense lines like hooded Heroes) - my Pelikan 215 is way better but the difference is NOT proportional to the price (as always... quality is expensive).