Hero 616...What a good little pen

[J English Smith]

I now have three of four Hero 616s in hand, I have a black one on the way not here yet.

 

I just have to say, what a good little knockaround pen and 51 repro this is for the money!

 

The new ones I got yesterday (ordered from Speerbob) are even closer to the real 51 experience, at a fraction of the cost.

 

The teal green one I bought first from another FPNer has a true XF nib and slightly better metal in the clip.

 

The new teal and burgundy 616s that came yesterday have slightly less metal in the clip, so a little more delicate, but the ink window/clutch ring is narrower and mirrors even better the look of the real 51 clutch ring. This nib is a little wetter too and writes more like a 51 fine nib rather than XF. Oh, also, the top jewel is a better fit into the clip ring at the top. If these are the latest Hero 616 production, they are very good. The only backwards step is that bit less strength in the clip.

 

But for about $7-8 a pen, I can live with that.

 

Barrel colors are very good too - nice deep burgundy, nice deep teal bluegreen.

 

I strongly encourage anyone who is drooling over a real 51 but doesn't yet want to make the jump - either because of vintage pen issues or money - get a Hero 616 or a 330 to tide you over for awhile. They are truly the next best thing to being there! I thought last summer, I've got to get real 51s, nothing else will do. Well, I'm glad I have the ones I do, but I was wrong in thinking the Heros would be nowhere close. They are shockingly close, and I consider myself tough to please in terms of fit and finish.

 

The real P 51s are of course irreplaceable - but for any situation where I need to worry about drops, rolls or walkaways - a Hero will be in my pocket from now on.

 

[Doug Add]

My 616 jumbo has a loose clip that needs to be tightened about every other time I use the pen. That annoyance aside, it writes better than the two "51" pens I have had in my possession. I have passed the Parkers along to other users, but the Hero stays. I may yet get another "51" if I find the right deal on a good writing pen, but for now I am completely satisfied with the 616.

[GeeTee]

Got one a few days ago and i'm very supprised by it. It's very fine and makes it perfect for scribbling notes in my moleskine. I have never written with a 51 but this pen is a nice suprise.

[tburke0]

The 616 is a great choice for a beater pen.

 

"51" style at a walmart price

 

 

 

 

[speerbob]

I find most Hero pens to be excellent. Especially at their really low prices. I can tell that Hero has been working to improve quality lately. I have some old 329 and 616 pens and then recently got an order of new ones and the new ones are better by far. I have packs of the 616 for sale on the Writing Instruments Sales page right now. Getting low on them. cheers, BOB

 

[panda88888]

I've also bought 10 Hero 616 (1 pack) from Speer Bob and I am extremely satisfied. It is a good work pen that I don't worry about losing, not too much anyway. I am also more adventurous with the inks and started trying iron gall ink (MB Blue-Black to be exact). Writes well, inexpensive ->

[Fountainbass]

This thread made me curious, so I ordered a Hero 616 last week. It arrived today. I'm really impressed! For a $10 pen, this thing writes beautifully. Heck, no matter how much it cost, it still writes beautifully!

[Sno]

Ya, really good stuff!! I have one that I use as my 'red ink' pen.

[scribbler77]

I just bought ten on Ebay for about $30.00 total including shipping. Fingers crossed!

[J English Smith]

I'm relieved to hear that others agree how generally good the 616 is...

 

My 4th purchase went awry, a bad seller who shipped a junk pen; I just should have ordered the whole 10 pack from Speerbob...the 2 I got from him were both very good ones.

 

I love cheap and good!

 

One day I will have to get a Hero 100 and 20A - I am interested enough to try some of their gold nib pens - but I can't imagine they will be a quantum leap from the 616.

[seymour]

Hi

 

I bought a pack of 10 Hero 616 on British Ebay and received them this morning, beautifully wrapped. They cost me about 5 sterling + 10 sterling postage, still a good price. The firm is called Gotoschool. They seem to offer a pack a day, so there is no reason to offer more than minimum price.

 

The pens arrived very quickly. Really good service. My permanent rotation includes 1 Hero (I think 189) with a 10 carat gold nib and it is a beautiful writer.

 

My experience with Hero is that I am not impressed with the amount of ink that they hold in the aerometric filler, but enjoy writing with them. Some of them (not all of them) can be used with cartridges which is obviously better

 

Chaim

[richardandtracy]

I received a 10 pack from speerbob yesterday evening.

 

Within 5 minutes my wife has appropriated two, and the children had taken one each. I am very impressed for the price. They worked out at £2.61 each including postage.

 

These ones are moderately well made. They all suffer from the problem where the filler metal isn't well attached and can slip off the sac, but it's a minor point. They are all fine point pens, but are acually very nice to write with. Much nicer than any other fine's I've come across.

 

I am quite pleased with them as fountain pens, regardless of price.

The fact that they are as cheap as they are, is simply the icing on the cake.

 

I have to agree with the OP that they are very good little pens.

 

Regards

 

Richard.