Hero 100 vs. Parker 51

[bgray]

I have a couple of Parker 51's, and I recently placed an order for a Hero 100. I'm not unhappy with my Parkers, just want to try the Hero, and they aren't that expensive, so what the hey?

 

I really like the hooded nibbed pens. At business meetings, I occasionally get a look when I use a fountain pen. Then the questions...Why do you like them? How much are they? WOW...you paid that much for a pen?

 

(I'm a drug rep....we give hundreds of pens away every month...some people in my company don't understand paying anything for a pen)

 

So I either use my own pens that I make (hoping for a sale), or I just use the hooded nibbed pens. They don't beg questions because they don't really look like fountain pens.

 

So the Hero is on the way. I realize that the Hero was made to be very similar the the 51.

I'm just curious as to what to expect, and how it will compare to the 51's.

[Johnson]

I can't comment too much on the inner workings, but I've seen posts around here by Richard Binder and others that do this quite well. Do a little searching and you'll find those.

 

But to me the obvious differences between the Hero and the 51 is that the Hero is a little thinner, the clip is a little tighter, and the nib is always an XF/F. Writing with my Heros is not as effortless as writing with a 51, but it is still a fine writer. Great pen at a great price!

[SallyLyn]

Concur with Mr. Johnson.

But.. until last night I had my Hero 100 SS listed as the pen I liked the least. Ahead of it were many Heros, 616, 110, 332, even 237-1. With the exception of the 332 all are quite fine. My Parker "51" is medium, a nice writer. I like both fine and medium depending on the ink and writing purpose.

 

Didn't like the 100 as it felt, not real smooth. Last night filled it with a new ink for me, Sheaffer Green. Wow, I liked the color and liked how the 100 wrote.

 

Looking back, Maybe the 100 needed better washing than initially given. I did the paperbag smoothing, maybe needed a touch more. And perhaps I just wasn't use to such a fine point.

 

In a discussion recently on turquoise inks, someone mentioned they thought Sheaffer Green was a nice green turquoise. That caught my attention, so when I placed an order I included it. Yes, it is a green turquoise, definitely different from Noodlers Marine Green or Gruene Cactus.

 

Today I can tell you you'll enjoy your 100.

[Nihontochicken]

You'll probably like your Hero 100, but just don't try to take it apart beyond just filling it. It is not intuitively obvious how to disassemble it (utilizes some left hand threads and other tricky design elements), and it does not come apart like the Parker 51. Also, the Hero 100 plastic is sometimes prone to cracking. If you want a Hero that more closely resembles a 51, get a 616 or 616 Jumbo. However, the 616 uses a steel nib, and it is not made or finished as nicely as the 100. Still, a 616 Jumbo is my normal carry pen.

[ericthered2004]

I've been very pleased with my 616 ("Doctor"), but was quite disappointed with a 100 I tried. Maybe I was expecting too much, but the 100 was less finely finished than I thought it would be given the jump in price, and the nib not that much better than the 616. They both feel like cheap pens, but the 616 has the advantage of not costing much money.

 

The heavier Aerometric in the 100 adds quality, certainly, but it made the pen feel unbalanced to me. Finally, the 616 much more closely resembles the junk-shop 51 that I use, the 100 having some chromey thing (what are these things called?) at the end of the barrel, not the nice rounded end of the 616, as well as a longer nib section.

 

Is it the 61 that the 100 is closer to? I've seen pictures of the 100 that are more like the 51 I own, so there may be different models. It's all a bit confusing really.

 

Lots of people do swear by the 100, of course. I'd be interested to hear what you make of it, seeing that you're familiar with the genuine article 51.

 

Regards,

Eric

 

 

Edit: My apologies if this post distracts us from the 51/100 comparison.

Edited April 6, 2007 by ericthered2004

[Jerome Tarshis]

Unhappily, I do not consider the current Hero 100 to be anything like a close equivalent of the Parker 51. (I own a Hero 100 of recent manufacture and several Aerometric Parker 51s.) Its nib, feed, and collector bear some resemblance, although all of that comes closer to the anatomy of the Parker 61, which was itself similar to the 51.

 

My opinion of today's Hero 100, which is that of an educated adult in the United States, is that it is a cheap pen that may or may not give satisfactory service. I believe it is less well made than the Hero 100 of twenty or thirty years ago and far less well made than the Parker 51.

 

If I were a ordinarily poor Asian schoolchild or university student, I might reasonably think of a Hero 100 as a step up from the still cheaper Heros many people use. I respect those young people and I bought my Hero 100 partly to honor their hopes, and their families' hopes, for the future. But nobody who is likely to be reading FPN belongs to that primary market for Hero 100s. For those who daydream about the inner workings of fountain pens, I would add that the Hero 616 comes closer to the internal anatomy of the Parker 51 than the Hero 100 does.

 

My own Hero 100 is simply not good enough. Its clip had such a sharp point that it irritated my fingers, and I filed it down to smooth it. Its filler unit is incorrectly attached to the hood, so that the barrel, which screws into the filler, cannot be flush with the hood. That, too, irritates the fingers but is not readily changed. Its nib came with far more tipping material on one tine than on the other. After what the late Chairman Mao might have called ardent revolutionary struggle, my pen writes a very fine line moderately well. It hasn't been a happy experience.

 

I would be surprised to learn that there is anything like a Hero 100 cult among educated Asian adults, and I sometimes wonder what the Chinese think of the pen's European and American admirers. Agreed, the Hero 100 can be a satisfactory pen; mine isn't, but others are. Even if I loved mine, I would need a strong dose of wishful thinking to persuade myself that it came at all close to being a Parker 51.

[jdooney]

Unhappily, I do not consider the current Hero 100 to be anything like a close equivalent of the Parker 51. (I own a Hero 100 of recent manufacture and several Aerometric Parker 51s.) Its nib, feed, and collector bear some resemblance, although all of that comes closer to the anatomy of the Parker 61, which was itself similar to the 51.

 

My opinion of today's Hero 100, which is that of an educated adult in the United States, is that it is a cheap pen that may or may not give satisfactory service. I believe it is less well made than the Hero 100 of twenty or thirty years ago and far less well made than the Parker 51.

 

If I were a ordinarily poor Asian schoolchild or university student, I might reasonably think of a Hero 100 as a step up from the still cheaper Heros many people use. I respect those young people and I bought my Hero 100 partly to honor their hopes, and their families' hopes, for the future. But nobody who is likely to be reading FPN belongs to that primary market for Hero 100s. For those who daydream about the inner workings of fountain pens, I would add that the Hero 616 comes closer to the internal anatomy of the Parker 51 than the Hero 100 does.

 

My own Hero 100 is simply not good enough. Its clip had such a sharp point that it irritated my fingers, and I filed it down to smooth it. Its filler unit is incorrectly attached to the hood, so that the barrel, which screws into the filler, cannot be flush with the hood. That, too, irritates the fingers but is not readily changed. Its nib came with far more tipping material on one tine than on the other. After what the late Chairman Mao might have called ardent revolutionary struggle, my pen writes a very fine line moderately well. It hasn't been a happy experience.

 

I would be surprised to learn that there is anything like a Hero 100 cult among educated Asian adults, and I sometimes wonder what the Chinese think of the pen's European and American admirers. Agreed, the Hero 100 can be a satisfactory pen; mine isn't, but others are. Even if I loved mine, I would need a strong dose of wishful thinking to persuade myself that it came at all close to being a Parker 51.

 

[jdooney]

For the money, I think there is alot of value in a Hero 100. My handwriting is small so I like small nibs and small lines. One o the reasons I also like it is that it works on MOleskine..... whereas other fp's don't inho. I also like the understated styling. I have 3 51's and I like them too. But for $27; a gold nib; nice looks... it is a low-stress pen in that I don't have to worry everytime that I am using it that I lost it. I could always replace them from iselpens.com calling Todd there.

[Tannhauser]

Well, my Hero 100 just arrived today, and it writes fairly well so far. My "51" is still in the mail, so I can't tell you how it compares, yet.

[fpenluver]

Unhappily, I do not consider the current Hero 100 to be anything like a close equivalent of the Parker 51. (I own a Hero 100 of recent manufacture and several Aerometric Parker 51s.) Its nib, feed, and collector bear some resemblance, although all of that comes closer to the anatomy of the Parker 61, which was itself similar to the 51.

 

My opinion of today's Hero 100, which is that of an educated adult in the United States, is that it is a cheap pen that may or may not give satisfactory service. I believe it is less well made than the Hero 100 of twenty or thirty years ago and far less well made than the Parker 51.

 

If I were a ordinarily poor Asian schoolchild or university student, I might reasonably think of a Hero 100 as a step up from the still cheaper Heros many people use. I respect those young people and I bought my Hero 100 partly to honor their hopes, and their families' hopes, for the future. But nobody who is likely to be reading FPN belongs to that primary market for Hero 100s. For those who daydream about the inner workings of fountain pens, I would add that the Hero 616 comes closer to the internal anatomy of the Parker 51 than the Hero 100 does.

 

My own Hero 100 is simply not good enough. Its clip had such a sharp point that it irritated my fingers, and I filed it down to smooth it. Its filler unit is incorrectly attached to the hood, so that the barrel, which screws into the filler, cannot be flush with the hood. That, too, irritates the fingers but is not readily changed. Its nib came with far more tipping material on one tine than on the other. After what the late Chairman Mao might have called ardent revolutionary struggle, my pen writes a very fine line moderately well. It hasn't been a happy experience.

 

I would be surprised to learn that there is anything like a Hero 100 cult among educated Asian adults, and I sometimes wonder what the Chinese think of the pen's European and American admirers. Agreed, the Hero 100 can be a satisfactory pen; mine isn't, but others are. Even if I loved mine, I would need a strong dose of wishful thinking to persuade myself that it came at all close to being a Parker 51.

i just received both parker 51 and hero 100. Both are in used condition and have dried ink inside. I filled both with water to dilute the dried ink. The parker wrote well, the hero 100 was a little scratchy. But, the hero 100 had a damaged nib (bent). I forgot about them about couple days (too busy). When I remember I pulled both of them out. Guess what. Both were not writing.

 

I squeeze a bit on the parker 51 filler to wet the nib. It wrote a bit, then stop. Did the same again, wrote and stop. So, i put it down. I grabbed the hero 100, straighten the nib a bit, squeeze to wet the nib. Guess what? It wrote, and wrote, and wrote.

 

Moral of the story: there could be dud parker 51 and there could be good hero 100.

 

Anyway, i never thought that hero 100 is parker 51. IMHO hero 100 is pretty well built for it's price. If it weren't always compared to parker 51, people could have different opinion about it.

 

BTW I haven't finished cleaning both. After, i finish I think both would be excellent writer. If I were to choose 1 pen, I will still choose the 51, but not because it writes much better. It would be because it has historical value (imagine you are holding 50yrs old pen). In term of writing quality, unfortunately I should say they are pretty close. (Some people may disagree, I understand that, but I am not trying to cause an uproar here, just my opinion)

[whoelse]

Beware, there are fake Hero 100 too so get from a reliable seller.

[Joe in Seattle]

I am probably the only member on the board who has tried both the Hero and the Parker 51 and sold or given away both. It is not the hooded nib, but an intangible something that I don't care for in both of those. Because I really loved my Lamy 2000 until it broke.

 

It is all a matter of taste – and I am guilty of buying pens just to try them out because everyone else liked them, then selling some of them at a small loss.

[KBeezie]

I am probably the only member on the board who has tried both the Hero and the Parker 51 and sold or given away both. It is not the hooded nib, but an intangible something that I don't care for in both of those. Because I really loved my Lamy 2000 until it broke.

 

It is all a matter of taste – and I am guilty of buying pens just to try them out because everyone else liked them, then selling some of them at a small loss.

I've only had the Hero 616 which I had to smooth and adjust for good smoothness and flow. they're... ok but nothing special and I'm not a fan of the permanently built in squeeze sac they use. The P51 I have is a Vacumatic with between a fine to medium nib that's very smooth, it feels more solid in the hands.

 

But I've not tried the Hero 100, nor have I used a P51 Aerometric.

 

It does turn out however for whatever reason if you needed to get a cheap nib on a P51 body, the Hero nibs do fit. (and I'd imagine vice versa too but...) http://www.ebay.com/itm/380816897708 at about $7.50 a peice... I suppose it's an option if you're really strapped for cash and you damaged your existing P51 nib somehow.

[TimTheZaj]

I have a Hero 100 i got from yespen for $14k that i abolutely love, its even than my p51, with perfect finish. It writes super wet f/m line with no skipping although it does have a very small sweet spot, but when you hit it, it is amazing how smooth it is. I use levenger cobalt blue a great blue that is highly saturated.

[KBeezie]

I have a Hero 100 i got from yespen for $14k that i abolutely love, its even than my p51, with perfect finish. It writes super wet f/m line with no skipping although it does have a very small sweet spot, but when you hit it, it is amazing how smooth it is. I use levenger cobalt blue a great blue that is highly saturated.

 

How long have you been using it?

[TimTheZaj]

5 years for the oldest one

Edited October 28, 2014 by TimTheZaj

[TimTheZaj]

Sorry i meant 41 $

[takkun]

Been using mine for 4 years now. I actually used it on an exam today, since its probably my best fine nib that writes well on copy paper.

 

Like other said, it usually needs a good washing and a wetter ink, and has a pretty tiny sweet spot, which is a bit hard to find with the often misaligned hood.

 

Finish is actually excellent for a pen at this price level. Spring-loaded, (though heavily so) clip, steel jewels at both ends, and surprisingly well-machined threads attaching the section to the barrel. Unlike other Hero models, it has a long enough breather tube to get decent fills, and the sac guard is far better machined.

 

I personally don't own a 51, but have handled them. It writes reasonably well but doesn't have the same solidity and fineness of finish. A very good substitute though, and compares favorably with other under-$40 pens I've used (Sheaffer Imperial II, Lamy Safari/AL-star, Pilot Metropolitan, Kaweco Sport, Ohto Tasche, etc), if you don't mind the possibility of a bum nib, or maybe some smoothing.

 

Of course, you can't get one in a Vacumatic fill, but it's still a self-filler.

 

If you want, I can fire up the ol' iPhone and take some pictures/writing samples, if you like.

Edited October 30, 2014 by takkun

[KBeezie]

Sorry i meant 41 $

Hrm though for $41 it's not that much more to get a P51 Aero.

[TimTheZaj]

That's true, but personally I like how the 100 resembles the p61 double jewels more, and since Ive discovered taobao, I've found a dealer selling them for 23$, hard to find a good p51 for that price. Besides, it satisfies my desire for a cheap gold nib that I can tinker with. I currently have 11. 1 each of 7 colors and 3 on the way. And I bet there aren't any mods for a p51 demonstrator piston fill!