Hero 329

[dennisraines]

I've thought about buying that box of a dozen pens- for gifts coupled with a bottle of Lamy ink for my non-pen friends as a way to rope them in to the obsession!

[afishhunter]

$8.⁰⁰ to $10.⁰⁰ bucks?!? DaRn. I just ordered the "Star Trek" 329 for $2.40 shipped (direct from China) off Amazon, complete with a non removable Aerometric filler, which like a lever fill, I like better than cartridges-converters. 

I hope it writes as well as my 616 does.

 

Thank you for mentioning which Parker pen it is a close copy of. 👍

 

 

[Bristol24]

On 8/16/2022 at 10:24 PM, afishhunter said:

I just ordered the "Star Trek" 329 for $2.40 shipped (direct from China) off Amazon, complete with a non removable Aerometric filler, which like a lever fill, I like better than cartridges-converters. 

I hope it writes as well as my 616 does.

Since the quality control of these pens is inconsistent, it's sort of a roll of the dice.  Some are good, some are fair, and others can be great...then there is the occasional one that need serious work.  Apparently the "Star Trek" 329 is the more recent version.  I have 3 (black, red, and green) of the original style (squared off ends, washer style clip, no inlay on the hood) that I bought years ago on Ebay.  They were my very first fountain pens since high school in the 1960s.  I used the black one to write 240 pages of "memories" in a book for my daughter using Hero Carbon Black ink (a nano particle ink that clogs easily if not used nearly every day).  Those 329s inspired me to get a few 616s which, in turn, inspired me to get my first Parker "51" and from there it was downhill.

 

Cliff

[afishhunter]

UPDATE

It arrived after only five weeks. (in the original delivery window).

I did have to take it apart as far as removing the hood, feed, and nib.

The feed needed the nib end cleaned up a little. It needed a little polishing to get rid of the ... "slivers" ... on the edges of the bakelite(?) feed left after shaping it at the factory.

Running "hot" tap water over the hood was enough to soften whatever they used to secure the hood. (shellac?) 

I also cleaned the nib with a toothbrush and liquid hand soap. The nib did not need any tuning/adjustments.

Pen writes great. No hard starting or skipping (on cheap no name copy paper it does sometimes skip a little; all 30 of my pens do. None skip when I use one of my Rhodia pocket notebooks, though.)

 

I'm happy with it. Loaded it with DeAtramentis "Alexander Hamelton" ink. (about the same wine red or maroon as the pen.)

The EF nib isn't dry or too wet, and is very smooth.

 

Only disappointment: No inlay on the hood. ☹️

 

Edited September 17, 2022 by afishhunter
repair a typographical "oops".

[Bristol24]

9 hours ago, afishhunter said:

Only disappointment: No inlay on the hood. ☹️

 

So now I'm curious.  Since your 329 does not have the inlay on the hood, is the cap rounded at the top with the clip attached to the side or does it have the screwed in tassie at the top which also attaches the clip?  Also, since you removed the hooded shell, did you reseal it with silicone grease or shellac?  Without a sealant the shell can leak at the joint.

 

Cliff

[afishhunter]

15 hours ago, Bristol24 said:

So now I'm curious.  Since your 329 does not have the inlay on the hood, is the cap rounded at the top with the clip attached to the side or does it have the screwed in tassie at the top which also attaches the clip?  Also, since you removed the hooded shell, did you reseal it with silicone grease or shellac?  Without a sealant the shell can leak at the joint.

 

Cliff

No silicon grease or shellac in the house. (yet.)

I'm waiting for some orange shellac to get here so I can fix the small leak at the lower side of the clutch ring on my vintage Parker Super 21. 

I have the Parker un-inked until I can fix it. Inky fingers when I used it, even though the hood has shellac on the threads, and is not cracked.

If the 329(?) starts leaking at the hood, I'll take care of it when the shellac gets here.  

 

Attached are two pictures of the pen.

Both cap and barrel have a metal finial. From the looks of it, the cap finial secures the clip in a small indentation to prevent twisting.

Only camera I have is the one in my tablet. It doesn't like to do closeups. ☹️

The number on the cap is 1107

[Bristol24]

Yours has to be the earlier, original version of the 329 as it is identical to mine which I purchased at least 17 years ago.

 

Cliff

[afishhunter]

On 9/18/2022 at 6:12 AM, Bristol24 said:

Yours has to be the earlier, original version of the 329 as it is identical to mine which I purchased at least 17 years ago.

 

Cliff

Thanks for that. I was wondering what model it is. I thought all the 329's had the "Star Trek" inlay on the hood.

[Mech-for-i]

On 9/18/2022 at 2:29 AM, afishhunter said:

No silicon grease or shellac in the house. (yet.)

I'm waiting for some orange shellac to get here so I can fix the small leak at the lower side of the clutch ring on my vintage Parker Super 21. 

I have the Parker un-inked until I can fix it. Inky fingers when I used it, even though the hood has shellac on the threads, and is not cracked.

If the 329(?) starts leaking at the hood, I'll take care of it when the shellac gets here.  

 

Attached are two pictures of the pen.

Both cap and barrel have a metal finial. From the looks of it, the cap finial secures the clip in a small indentation to prevent twisting.

Only camera I have is the one in my tablet. It doesn't like to do closeups. ☹️

The number on the cap is 1107

 

Actually 1107 is the model number , this is not the 329 , this , is what I find very much the case with many on line retailer of Chinese fountain pens , they seems to just mix things up without knowing it ( or might be knowing it but do not care ) , if you search / google image on Hero 329 it would turn up a ton of images showing the real 329. Despite its still nice venture to had something

 

to OP : actually am not so sure about the pricing , your locale , but 329 is typically more expensive than the like vintage 616 , in the day they were , the 329/33X series are mean to be a step up from the 616 , that said 329 and 616 are two of the only real Vintage models Hero still had on their current cataloged list , the other to note is the vintage re-production Hero ( Jinxing ) 565 , mind that they all use different nib and parts not interchangeable

[Catpaws]

Has anyone tried to change the filling system on the 329? like fill the hole in the barrel and make an eyedropper?