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Which 616? (And How To Differentiate Them?)


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It was named 616晶彩(lit. 616 Crystal Color)

It was available in two other colors i belive and I see it's a pretty good Writer .

And something else i saw that on taobao appeared Hero 616 , 2018 variant in new colors different from the past versions of Hero 616 .

I love Fountain Pens, with hooded nib in the classic style, Parker 51/61 type .



Ionut - Marius

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Oh the Al version of the 616, forget that altogether, I do got a couple of them in my stash but never got to write with them for any length. Might be I should.

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In 1980s, according to hero's ad, 329(p51 size nib) is better than 616 in China.

Very interesting. Is there a link where the old ads can be viewed?

 

Chinese pens were v popular in India even in the 80s when I was beginning to write. The 330 with arrow on hood and golden cap was v popular. The 329 with arrow on hood and steel cap was slightly hard to find but considered better quality. The most coveted was the wing Sung 233 with conical nib and golden cap. This used to be available only sporadically. The 616 was never available here in those days. In 2003-2004 I was able to buy a few 616s in the doctor blister card pack.

In case you wish to write to me, pls use ONLY email by clicking here. I do not check PMs. Thank you.

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Very interesting. Is there a link where the old ads can be viewed?

 

Chinese pens were v popular in India even in the 80s when I was beginning to write. The 330 with arrow on hood and golden cap was v popular. The 329 with arrow on hood and steel cap was slightly hard to find but considered better quality. The most coveted was the wing Sung 233 with conical nib and golden cap. This used to be available only sporadically. The 616 was never available here in those days. In 2003-2004 I was able to buy a few 616s in the doctor blister card pack.

This information was from a chinese document without any picture...

 

I will post it later.

Edited by Tefolium
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I have one coming from Jewelrymathematics. We will see how good it is when it arrives. I assume it"s genuine as he says he gets stock direct from the plant.

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Well, they arrived - and I have to take off my hat to them. Arrived long before the due date.

Inked them up and they all write excellently, out of the box (although there was no box. The ebay listing showed them in the Hero Doctor blister pack, but the pens arrived simply wrapped in bubble wrap - maybe they're counterfeits?)

 

Nibs are F - EF. I like broader nibs, but am enjoying playing with the F/EF nibs. A useful addition to my B & BB stable.

However, I took one to the grind. Used a coarse grit to get it into shape, then a fine grit (to remove the coarse scratches) then micromesh to smooth it and - hey presto, got a medium/broad with a nice wet ink flow.

 

I am SO impressed. Thes pens were under £1.20p each, including shipping from China to the UK.

 

Despite the similar looks to the Parker 51, the comparison stops there. They are slightly thinner and made of plastic, compared to the heavier lucite of the P51 - and it's not just the weight, it feels different to the touch. The nibs aren't gold and the workmanship is, as one would expect, inferior. I won't go on. It's not really fair to compare the two (at their respective prices) - but it's hard to resist, the pens being so similar!

 

All in all, I am completely satisfied. I'm putting them into the daily rotation, so we'll see how they stand the test of time. I'll include the ebay link, just for reference. No affiliation, just a satisfied customer - despite the pens not being in their original packaging, as the listing promised.

 

Enjoy.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lot-3-HERO-616-Doctor-Jumbo-Fountain-Pen-Classic-Series-U/162418461631?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

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Congratulations. Was it this 3-pen listing? FYI according to this forum thread I just read, one participant says large multipacks "are guaranteed fakes."

 

I ended up holding back on getting a 616 for now, since I decided to go broader with an inexpensive pen or two in order to train myself to write larger. I could still go for a 616 or 612 later on. Today I received a Jinhao x750 and a Jinhao 159 in the mail; their nibs are said to be medium-ish. I was a little concerned about their reported weights but, in initial handling, at least, they seem fine. And it will be interesting to try writing with wide sections for the first time.

“We could be heroes/Just for one day” ― David Bowie

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Congratulations. Was it this 3-pen listing? FYI according to this forum thread I just read, one participant says large multipacks "are guaranteed fakes."

 

 

 

Ah. There we go then! A copy of a copy!

Well, on the strength of what I've seen so far, I think I'll go for one of the genuine single pens, next.

Still enjoying the Chinese experience!

 

Glad your Jinhao's arrived safely. Hope the writing experiment goes well.

 

Enjoy.

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The 750 is a pretty decent pen for the price.

 

Jinhao actually make their own p51 clone - The cartridge driven 911.

I saw a review of it from last year here. It looks interesting. I'm more convinced that if I want to get a pen with a narrower nib a 616 or clone is the way I want to go.

 

The X750 turns out to be a pretty nifty pen, and strongly resembles a Pilot Custom (and probably lots of other more expensive FPs). ButI might prefer the thicker and heavier 159, which to my great surprise I am enjoying writing with; I did not think that a wide section in a heavy pen would appeal to me after decades of using light, thin-bodied pens, but it does!

 

I rinsed out the pens when I got them and let them dry overnight but for the first half of today I was having issues with both pens related to skips and hard starts. Then, strangely enough, tonight both pens settled down. Maybe it was the saturation of the nibs, maybe it was my handling the pens differently/better, maybe it was the last tiny bits of moisture from the cleaning evaporating, or the low indoor humidity, or.... who knows.

 

The 159 does still have an occasional hard start but overall both pens are pretty nice. Not as smooth as my Pilot Metropolitan, but they lay down a thicker line I want and they're mostly smooth enough. Thinking about a replacement B or BB nib on one of them to play with.

 

I put Diamine Chocolate Brown in both so I could compare the nibs, which were supposed to be identical M but aren't. The 159 definitely lays down a thicker line.

“We could be heroes/Just for one day” ― David Bowie

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Any opinions about this 1988 manufactured 616 in Ebay listing no 112776578652 ?

 

It has a different clip and press bar. Is this pen legitimate?

In case you wish to write to me, pls use ONLY email by clicking here. I do not check PMs. Thank you.

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Congratulations. Was it this 3-pen listing? FYI according to this forum thread I just read, one participant says large multipacks "are guaranteed fakes."

.

 

(In this post I'm always talking about the large/jumbo version of the 616.)

 

At this point I've seen everything claimed. I've seen posts saying 10 packs are fake. I've seen posts saying, no, Hero does ship 10 packs of 616s. I've also seen posts saying Hero ships 10 packs and single packs but the 10 packs are from a bad quality factory, the single packs from a good quality factory.

 

My first 616 purchase was a 10 pack and as far as I can tell they are genuine 616s. I've seen a couple of postings regarding spotting fakes based on section length and filler differences and my 10 pack 616s appear genuine. I've used 4 of them so far and 3 have been winners. The fourth had startup issues each morning but was otherwise fine (I tossed it because for the price why put up with it). I've looked at the tines of all of them with a loupe and they all are at least good, most excellent, in terms of looking aligned.

 

I've since made three other purchases of 616s: 3 individually packaged steel caps, 3 non-packaged gold caps, 3 non-packaged steel caps. I haven't inked any of those yet (I'm drowning in 616s) but based on visual inspection I see no distinction between the individually packaged 616s and the 10 pack 616s. The one thing I'll note is some of my 10 pack 616s were a little scuffed on arrival but I think that's a consequence of the packaging offering less protection not a difference in the pens themselves.

 

I recall a science fiction short story about a Stradivarius violin being accurately reproduced to the atomic level.. It dealt with the question of when is a fake no longer a fake. Either my 616s are real, they're good fakes, or maybe I have yet to encounter a "real" 616 and I've been comparing counterfeit to counterfeit. However, so far I've been pretty pleased with the pens.

 

Before purchase I always Googled (and site googled FPN in particular) the ebay seller name looking for hopefully positive mentions or at least no negative mentions.

 

All has not been rosy though. While I think I've had good luck with 616s I'm only batting 2 out of 3 with Hero 100s. I got burned once by a seller shipping me what looks to be a 338 instead of a 100 flighter.

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Thanks, rollerboy. That clarifies things.

 

I bought the 3 non wrapped pens - black/teal/burgundy with steel caps. I don't have any others yet, so have nothing to compare them with to ascertain if they're counterfeit or genuine.

As I mentioned, they all wrote well - but, yesterday the black one blobbed out ink, while I was writing. I took it apart to investigate. Nothing remarkable to report (apart from it's missing the spring clip from the inner cap, the others have this). Put it back together and it's working well again - but I find it hard to trust it, following yesterday's incident.

Here are the parts:

 

fpn_1517396128__616_apart_-_1.jpg

 

Much what I'd expected to find, a lower quality P51.

Still haven't bought the more expensive single 616 (it's tax bill time in the UK, so no spending for me for a while!)

 

On the positive side: a replacement sac for some of my other pens costs three times the cost of this pen.

If nothing else, I got three sacs for a decent price!

 

Enjoy.

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CS388,

I suspect you need sealant between the hood & connector. Without sealant there, it can let air in/out and if it does so, the pen can blob.

 

I bought a 10 pack from Speedbob a good few years ago now. My youngest daughter used up 3 in her years at school, and actually prefers the H616 to the P51, and has resisted all attempts to give her a P51.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

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Thanks, Richard.

 

No mishaps yet, but I'll pop a bit of sealant on it, when I get home.

Still carrying a Parker 51, but I have to admit that these 616's are getting a lot of use, at the moment.

It could be novelty value - as a rule I'm a broad nib user, but I'm enjoying these F nibs!

 

Thanks.

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Any opinions about this 1988 manufactured 616 in Ebay listing no 112776578652 ?

 

It has a different clip and press bar. Is this pen legitimate?

Yes it is a genuine Hero 616 , and this seller is trustworthy I've often bought from him.

I love Fountain Pens, with hooded nib in the classic style, Parker 51/61 type .



Ionut - Marius

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Yes it is a genuine Hero 616 , and this seller is trustworthy I've often bought from him.

thanks for the input. yes I have also dealt with this seller before. Purchased a NOS Lucky 270 in celluloid with a 14K nib from him. Sometimes vintage ness is overstated, I was wondering if that was the case with this 616 too. The pen looks much more attractive than the plain jane 616 sold today at roughly 2usd per piece.

In case you wish to write to me, pls use ONLY email by clicking here. I do not check PMs. Thank you.

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