Hero 616 Fountain Pen

[suman5492]

Hello, guys. I have just joined fountainpennetwork since I have a deep attraction towards them from my childhood days. Yesterday I have placed an order on Ebay for a Hero 616. I have heard that it is the model that has a lot of fakes. I am providing the link to the page and need some expert advice regarding the identification of the real one.

This is the link-

http://www.ebay.in/itm/161196539446?aff_source=Sok-Goog

 

Is it real? please reply. If it's a fake then I will have to cancel the order and get my refund.

[OCArt]

Please visit this thread for some detailed discussion of real VS fake Hero 616. LINK The best way to avoid a fake is to go with a eBay seller known to have the genuine article. I, and many others here, use a seller called jewelrymathematics. The pens I purchased from him were head and shoulders above my other Hero 616s.

[inkotheque]

Hi Suman5492,

welcome to FPN!

I can be wrong but most of the comments related to the Hero 616 are about this pen being a fake Parker pen. I tend to believe that there is little chances a vendor fakes a pen that you can find on Amazon for 10USD shipment included but who knows? Being a replica of a quite famous Parker model it is a model that is selling really well and a decent writer so anything can happen.

Your vendor has a 98% positive feedback on EBay and this is a good sign that you'll receive what you are paying for but looking at the pictures the only thing I can say is that the Hero should have the Hero logo and the number 616 engraved on the edge of the cap and the photos posted on EBay by your vendor do not show such an engraving.

 

 

Edited March 15, 2017 by inkotheque

[suman5492]

It would be a great help I can see some pictures showing the difference of real and fake

[suman5492]

So should I cancel the order?

[inkotheque]

I agree with OCArt comment on jewelrymathematics reputation.

I don't have a fake 616 I can take a picture of. Sorry

[suman5492]

I can see one such engraving 616 but the hero logo is unclear that you said in the 4th picture( the one with ink container taken outside) on the ebay link that I shared earlier. Can you please look and tell me?

Edited March 15, 2017 by suman5492

[inkotheque]

I didn't check all the photos before but if you look at the last one (the one showing the pen open with the converter) the engraving is there.

 

I said "logo" but forgive me these are ideograms I've no clue about

Edited March 15, 2017 by inkotheque

[suman5492]

Lastly but not the least I am worried about one little thing. On the internet there is a common thing that I have noticed, it says that the cap jewel should be bigger and less pointy. But considering this, the pictures provided by the ebay seller puts some confusion. It's not that big and kinda pointy. And is the 616 doctor and the 616 jumbo the same?

Edited March 15, 2017 by suman5492

[richardandtracy]

First things first.

Don't Panic!

 

Having done that, lets think of how fakes can be identified.

1. Weight
2. Fit of the parts
3. Shape
4. build quality.

The weight can only be assessed from the real thing. Impossible by photo.

Fit of the parts. Needs a detailed photo of the actual one you are going to get or the real thing in your hand. The photo is not going to be possible in this case.

Shape. This is more difficult. It can be assessed by photo. However, Hero seem to have a fair bit of variability themselves, particularly in the bend of the clip. I got a genuine pack of 10, and had 9 different bend positions. This is actually quite difficult to do without the pen in your hand. As for the jewel in the cap. That one does look a bit pointy, but it can also look like that at some angles, so I'm not sure that it's enough of an indicator on its own.

Build quality. Almost impossible to assess by photo.

 

So... It's very difficult to do by photo. Don't panic. It just means that from a vendor without a known reputation, you cannot be sure if it's a fake until you get it.

 

 

On to the other question of whether the Doctor is the same as a Jumbo. Some sellers use the words interchangeably. 'Doctor' is usually used for the large diameter pen, but it is also wise to look at the photo because the 'Doctor' name is sometimes applied to a Hero pen where the outside of the cap is flush with the barrel and there is a step in the barrel to accommodate this. This 'Doctor' pen is definitely NOT a Hero 616 Jumbo.

 

Hope this clarifies things a little.

 

Regards,

 

Richard

[suman5492]

Thanks Richard.

[suman5492]

I feel so happy that I found this forum. I never thought that there is such a wonderful forum for fountain pen lovers.

[celesul]

The seller's photos don't tell you much, because they can take photos of a real pen and then send you a fake one. The only way of being reasonably certain that it's real is by reputation of the seller. I've bought from both Jewelrymathematics and mentag with good results.

 

Once you've got it in your hands, it's easier to tell. The real ones use a more robust plastic. The plastic on the fakes feels kind of brittle and it's shinier. The squeeze filler on the fakes is smaller than it needs to be (in the real ones, they seem to be trying to fit the largest filler possible. The fakes have one that's proportioned more like a converter). The filler on the fakes is also prone to leaks, while the real one isn't.

[suman5492]

I have received the 616 today, I want to show the pictures of it to you guys but I can't upload the pictures here.

Edited March 17, 2017 by suman5492

[sodul]

To upload pictures click on the 'Upload' button all the way on the top of the page preferably open in in a new tab. Also click on 'More Reply Options'. You can upload images and copy paste the BB code one at a time between the Reply window/tab and the Upload one.

 

I have a Hero 616 but after reading this thread I'm wondering if it is a fake, I won it for under $1 at auction so I'm not going to panic as it performs well enough and I only got one to have Parker 51 style pen in my collection.

 

 

[mke]

 

> the photos posted on EBay by your vendor do not show such an engraving.

That is wrong, the last photo shows that engravement.

 

 

[suman5492]

I have taken a couple of photos of the 616 that I received yesterday. By looking at the pictures provided by the other members here it looks genuine, though. But I can't upload the pictures, every single one is larger than 1.95MB. The nib is a little scratchy.

[suman5492]

Here's the cap

[suman5492]

the converter taken out

[suman5492]

Another snap