Please identify. Hero 50 & 800 with unknown details.

[TFHS]

17 minutes ago, Mech-for-i said:

It must be noted that while those vintage models are interesting and I had myself a bunch too.

 

Hello!

 

By the way, I'm interested in your collection of vintage chinese ballpoint pens. Could you share some pictures?

[Mech-for-i]

11 minutes ago, TFHS said:

No way, stainless steel ballpoint pen tip body and ink is a big problem in China's ballpoint pen and gel pen industry.

 

That was true but that did not stop the Mfr's buying machinery and material as import and thus able to provide products. 

 

What manifest between the late eighties to now is simply reflected as also the norm in other part of the world , Gel Pens being more user friendly than ballpoints and fountain pens are taking majority of market as in the writing part. The real loser is actually rollerball cause the advantages no longer there while all the disadvantages still there for them.

 

5 minutes ago, TFHS said:

It is also a pity that Chinese mainland two original refill standards, Feng Hwa 92 and the Shanghai Brand Ball Point Pen, have been abandoned.

 

True these days I had a few of those old models that I can no longer find refills and I wager it's just how de facto standard come to be , one must gather enough of market volume before spec then become norm and then become standard , Parker G2 is prime example. I've read somewhere , but am not sure , someone try to duplicate that 92 refill idea in a gel pen , I think it's DS if my memory serve me right

[Mech-for-i]

5 minutes ago, TFHS said:

Hello!

 

By the way, I'm interested in your collection of vintage chinese ballpoint pens. Could you share some pictures?

 

Unfortunately I cannot get to them now , courtesy of Covid-19 quarantine measures , they stay in storage in my parents house and right now it's social distancing time ( actually it's illegal here to had more than 2 people meetup when different households are in concern so effectively I am ban from visiting my mom in her home  , silly but this is how bureaucracy can be )

[TFHS]

14 minutes ago, Mech-for-i said:

 

Unfortunately I cannot get to them now , courtesy of Covid-19 quarantine measures , they stay in storage in my parents house and right now it's social distancing time ( actually it's illegal here to had more than 2 people meetup when different households are in concern so effectively I am ban from visiting my mom in her home  , silly but this is how bureaucracy can be )

Well, just wait.

[Mech-for-i]

Personally am quite partial to all the 800 and 200 offshots , I would not say they are better than the 200 or the 800 , but they present something different , the model 50 surely had that numerous variation in finishes and the Parker 45 mechanism is done in so many variation since the 800 .. and no less yea the Moonman 80

 

Hero 158, on Flickr

 

Hero 650 Orange Ochre, on Flickr

 

Hero 581, on Flickr

 

Hero 58, on Flickr

 

Moonman 80, on Flickr

[Dan Carmell]

5 minutes ago, Mech-for-i said:

Personally am quite partial to all the 800 and 200 offshots , I would not say they are better than the 200 or the 800 , but they present something different , the model 50 surely had that numerous variation in finishes and the Parker 45 mechanism is done in so many variation since the 800 .. and no less yea the Moonman 80

 

Hero 158, on Flickr

Ah, that’s the 158—I had not seen it before. It’s quite nice looking! I found an image of the 156; I did have one, I remember the undetailed arrow clip. I did not recognize at the time, however, that the build quality of the 156 & 800 differed. I wish I’d been more observant. 
 

I agree about the 200 & 800 series and the semi-hooded nib as well. 
 

After this discussion, my defenses were very weak and I bought a 890 on Ali Express. 

[Number99]

On 3/23/2022 at 10:28 AM, IJKWS said:

That's Wingsung 237（永生237）. I remember the first time I see it in a beautiful girl's hand , I was fascinated by this pen at the first sight

Though the production ended because of the insolvency of wingsung in 1999.There's still tens of thousand of new old stocks in Chinese market.

It's a nice pen

After that, the pen was cleaned with a cooled heated baking soda solution for 5 days, and a stable XF line was drawn. Probably a genuine product.

 There is a slight difference in the width of the line and it draws a line different from the hero vintage, which may be better at writing "kan-ji" or "漢字".

 

 I also bought the Hero 331 because it had momentum. It was in a NOS typical 331 export casket but didn't match the features of any of the hero pens available for viewing, a little more search I will try.

 I will continue to buy a few vintage hero pens whose origin can be inferred to be export specifications.

And I found 329, 330, and 443 unused items (from those described as 40-50 years old by each antique dealer selling only one pen, and with the signs of the old model I found).

 

 

 

[Number99]

On 3/29/2022 at 9:49 AM, Dan Carmell said:

Thank you for the tips for searching, that’s quite valuable and I had no idea that was possible, but I will certainly try it. 
 

The 850 was available via eBay here in the US and many bought it because the incomparable Myu was moderately rare & unaffordable. The integral nib on the 850 worked well and overall this stainless steel pen is well made—steel threads on nib section & barrel for example, versus plastic to steel on Parker’s famous T1. 
 

i believe I have seen a rather ugly FP on Ali Express that uses this same integrated nib section or one very similar, but while the pen body is steel, it is a cartoonish, a child’s pen. 
 

I thought of 200 as the Parker 75 and the 200A, with its more elaborate detailing, but same nib, as the Parker Premier. That nib also is a great nib. 
 

I did get interested in these Hero pens because they resembled the Parkers I collected, but kept them because they are good writers and interesting on their own. A few photos below to illustrate the 850. 

Thank you for the 850 images.

 

 Looking at the shape of the barrel in this photo, I remembered that I got a Parker 45 non-end tassy flighter that seems to have been made in the 1960s with a barrel that looks exactly like it.

 I don't know if it's a variant or a prototype (a few digits upside down on the halo mark on the cap).

 After preparing the photos, I'm thinking of posting them on the Parker forum, so please let me know what you think at that time.

 

 

[Number99]

On 3/29/2022 at 3:27 PM, Mech-for-i said:

 

It must be noted that while those vintage models are interesting and I had myself a bunch too , the traditional ballpoint did not and do not progress much since then in China , and the real reason had to be introduction of Gel Pens into the market as early as late eighties and then True Color introduction of their own local manufacturing capacity thus disrupt the market , in short the gel pen just overall a better pen for the said language's writing need. Today Chinese pen / stationary Mfr had far more advance and development in gel pen than the traditional ballpoint.

 

Just as the Japanese did with standardising refill size based off the old ANSI rollerball spec and made it a JIS spec China take the same and incorporate theirs into their GB national standard spec together with a home grown spec for slimmer pens 

 

This made cross compatibility a load more user friendly where for ballpoint the old Parker G2 and the de facto old Euro ( also ISO but few use them for new pen anymore ) skinny refill as used in BIC Clic / Citation simply stay put ..

 

Hello.

 

 Certainly, I agree that the gel pen is the most suitable item for writing Chinese characters neatly.

 In the past, a 0.2mm water-based ballpoint pen has been designated as a writing pen for reports. At that time, I remember that my bad writing improved even though I didn't make any efforts.

 And now the best water-based ballpoint pen for me that I can easily get is Energel 0.3mm.

 

 Thank you for introducing various images.

 The nib in the semi-hooded nib collar is calling me.

 

 

[Dan Carmell]

After some searching, I found the attached photo of 800 variations. The second photo is from a very old website with addition 800 series pens: and another page on that website shows over a dozen Hero 50 models in various finishes, very interesting!

 

I would very much like the 880 shown with the gold finished barley cut pattern. 

 

There is a separate section for gold nibbed Hero pens, showing 1XX models unfamiliar to me. 

 

I provide a link to that website below BUT be very careful because there are lots of pop up ads claiming your phone is hacked to make you push a button. 
BE Careful:

https://www.geocities.ws/heropens/hero_steel.htm

 

[Number99]

7 hours ago, Dan Carmell said:

After some searching, I found the attached photo of 800 variations. The second photo is from a very old website with addition 800 series pens: and another page on that website shows over a dozen Hero 50 models in various finishes, very interesting!

 

I would very much like the 880 shown with the gold finished barley cut pattern. 

 

There is a separate section for gold nibbed Hero pens, showing 1XX models unfamiliar to me. 

 

I provide a link to that website below BUT be very careful because there are lots of pop up ads claiming your phone is hacked to make you push a button. 
BE Careful:

https://www.geocities.ws/heropens/hero_steel.htm

 

Thank you very much for the link.

 

 The 331 I bought in Japan the other day was different from the one introduced in the Chinese blog, so I had to investigate the existence of the variant.

 By connecting to this link, I found that there is a variant in the 3xx series.

 So this concludes my research on 331 variants.

 

 The Hero 100 is the most traditional, classic and continuing hero flagship model （with gold nib）.

 Some versions have a premium price of over 2000 USD (the digits are correct).

 However, since the evaluation of quality differs depending on the time and age, I think that it is possible to make an appropriate purchase after acquiring the discrimination ability when purchasing.

 It seems that the converter remodeling kit is also evaluated as having a value of ownership so that it will be released.

 

 There are some things to keep in mind when purchasing a hero model.

 That is, some model specifications do not allow the cap to be posted.

 As with me, if I can't post the cap, I'm likely to lose the cap and I'm uncomfortable.

 

 I have adopted a setting on Google that does not save browsing history, restricts cookies, and does not save web activity (there is also a disadvantage). And this site also does not accept cookies. Perhaps because of that, no ads appeared this time.

 

correction;

The digit was not correct.

 It was 1700 USD.

 I just considered the amount including the tax amount here.

 

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/154870423071?hash=item240eff1e1f:g:aSMAAOSwTvthasil

 

 

 

 

Edited April 10, 2022 by Number99

[Dan Carmell]

18 hours ago, Number99 said:

Thank you very much for the link.

 

 The 331 I bought in Japan the other day was different from the one introduced in the Chinese blog, so I had to investigate the existence of the variant.

 By connecting to this link, I found that there is a variant in the 3xx series.

 So this concludes my research on 331 variants.

 

 The Hero 100 is the most traditional, classic and continuing hero flagship model （with gold nib）.

 Some versions have a premium price of over 2000 USD (the digits are correct).

 However, since the evaluation of quality differs depending on the time and age, I think that it is possible to make an appropriate purchase after acquiring the discrimination ability when purchasing.

 It seems that the converter remodeling kit is also evaluated as having a value of ownership so that it will be released.

 

 There are some things to keep in mind when purchasing a hero model.

 That is, some model specifications do not allow the cap to be posted.

 As with me, if I can't post the cap, I'm likely to lose the cap and I'm uncomfortable.

 

 I have adopted a setting on Google that does not save browsing history, restricts cookies, and does not save web activity (there is also a disadvantage). And this site also does not accept cookies. Perhaps because of that, no ads appeared this time.

 

correction;

The digit was not correct.

 It was 1700 USD.

 I just considered the amount including the tax amount here.

 

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/154870423071?hash=item240eff1e1f:g:aSMAAOSwTvthasil

 

 

 

 

I had forgotten about the gold filled 100, thank you for sharing that. I think I remember a very few of these being available in the early 2000s for $100-200+, perhaps? 1/12 gold filled makes for a very superior finish over the modern electroplated gold finish, both in color and durability. 
 

I mostly write unposted, unless the pen is lightweight and posts very deeply, like a P-51 type pen or the Jinhao 75. 

[TFHS]

By the way, I would like to ask a question: In the 1970s, did various ballpoint pen factories in China have a lot of publicity activities in Japan? I sometimes see some 70s Chinese ballpoint pens on Japanese e-commerce platform.

[Number99]

12 hours ago, TFHS said:

By the way, I would like to ask a question: In the 1970s, did various ballpoint pen factories in China have a lot of publicity activities in Japan? I sometimes see some 70s Chinese ballpoint pens on Japanese e-commerce platform.

What I can think of is the 「中国物産展」"China Product Exhibition".

 I don't know where it was sponsored, but after China and Japan signed the "Peace and Friendship Treaty", they toured public spaces such as public halls all over Japan and sold various crafts.

 Yes, I remember the flyer in the newspaper.

 Now, a Google search doesn't hit the phrase correctly, but it's often used in fountain pen blogs and introductory texts for Chinese fountain pens.

 I presume that it continued until the 1980s. 

Within one system, Chinese-made writing instruments continued to be popular in the folk craft category at the public hall, not at the pen shop.

 Perhaps there was a high need for fountain pens as Japanese SMEs disappeared.

 

 I think that what you can see on the second-hand goods site in Japan now comes from the origin of it and the souvenirs that accompany travel.

 

 I got the chance, so please take a look at the ballpoint pen that contained the ballpoint pen refill I asked you last time. The image is a product image of the seller.

  The fountain pen is probably very well used in the Venus 709, but the exterior remains in a near mint condition.

 These ballpoint pens and fountain pens are probably in the possession of cloisonne lovers because they are from different times.

 The seller is probably an antique broker and he doesn't know the details of the item.

 I understand that the manufacturer of the ballpoint pen refill is from "丰华圆珠笔厂", but is there any other name for the ballpoint pen brand name or model name?

 

 I wonder why Chinese writing instrument makers do not produce writing instruments using cloisonne "景泰蓝" (I think like Chinese pen lovers.).

 

 Successful examples of the application of old-style traditional crafts to writing tools are shown in 蒔絵 "Maki-e".

 Of course, the new style of 近代蒔絵 "modern Maki-e" is cheap and unpopular, but ...

 

 It is regrettable that these beautiful cloisonne "景泰蓝" writing tools are already difficult to obtain…

 

https://evan-fountainpens.blogspot.com/2012/09/709_10.html?m=1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 13, 2022 by Number99
Add link.

[TFHS]

On 5/13/2022 at 5:14 AM, Number99 said:

What I can think of is the 「中国物産展」"China Product Exhibition".

 I don't know where it was sponsored, but after China and Japan signed the "Peace and Friendship Treaty", they toured public spaces such as public halls all over Japan and sold various crafts.

 Yes, I remember the flyer in the newspaper.

 Now, a Google search doesn't hit the phrase correctly, but it's often used in fountain pen blogs and introductory texts for Chinese fountain pens.

 I presume that it continued until the 1980s. 

Within one system, Chinese-made writing instruments continued to be popular in the folk craft category at the public hall, not at the pen shop.

 Perhaps there was a high need for fountain pens as Japanese SMEs disappeared.

 

 I think that what you can see on the second-hand goods site in Japan now comes from the origin of it and the souvenirs that accompany travel.

 

 I got the chance, so please take a look at the ballpoint pen that contained the ballpoint pen refill I asked you last time. The image is a product image of the seller.

  The fountain pen is probably very well used in the Venus 709, but the exterior remains in a near mint condition.

 These ballpoint pens and fountain pens are probably in the possession of cloisonne lovers because they are from different times.

 The seller is probably an antique broker and he doesn't know the details of the item.

 I understand that the manufacturer of the ballpoint pen refill is from "丰华圆珠笔厂", but is there any other name for the ballpoint pen brand name or model name?

 

 I wonder why Chinese writing instrument makers do not produce writing instruments using cloisonne "景泰蓝" (like Chinese pen lovers).

 

 Successful examples of the application of old-style traditional crafts to writing tools are shown in 蒔絵 "Maki-e".

 Of course, the new style of 近代蒔絵 "modern Maki-e" is cheap and unpopular, but ...

 

 It is regrettable that these beautiful cloisonne "景泰蓝" writing tools are already difficult to obtain…

 

https://evan-fountainpens.blogspot.com/2012/09/709_10.html?m=1

 

Thank you for your information. We generally call "exhibition" "展销会". I heard that "景泰蓝" is called "七宝烧" in Japan. For these two pens, I think they are not produced by Fenghwa Factory, but from Beijing Pen Industry Company (now called Beijing Jinxing Pen Manufacturing Company, Golden Star). This "景泰蓝" process is more commonly used in Beijing Pen Industry Company products. As for its ballpoint refills, it is likely that they are not original.

 

There is also a question about the products sold at these exhibitions that year. Are the text on their boxes and ads predominantly Chinese and English, and rarely in Japanese? The vast majority of Chinese-made pens I've seen for export are packaged and advertised in only Chinese and English. I have not seen a standard translation of many Chinese pen trademarks other than English.

[Number99]

22 hours ago, TFHS said:

 

Thank you for your information. We generally call "exhibition" "展销会". I heard that "景泰蓝" is called "七宝烧" in Japan. For these two pens, I think they are not produced by Fenghwa Factory, but from Beijing Pen Industry Company (now called Beijing Jinxing Pen Manufacturing Company, Golden Star). This "景泰蓝" process is more commonly used in Beijing Pen Industry Company products. As for its ballpoint refills, it is likely that they are not original.

 

There is also a question about the products sold at these exhibitions that year. Are the text on their boxes and ads predominantly Chinese and English, and rarely in Japanese? The vast majority of Chinese-made pens I've seen for export are packaged and advertised in only Chinese and English. I have not seen a standard translation of many Chinese pen trademarks other than English.

Japanese people understand Chinese as "kan-ji" if it is about the number of characters printed on the product box.

 However, in the case of the manual, translation is required, so I think that a simple one was created and enclosed.

 

Therefore, I think the appearance of the item is almost the same as you know.

 

 As for the "景泰蓝", "七宝焼" "Cloisonne" ballpoint pens, I thought they were "Beijing Venus", so I'm glad they agreed.

 I think that the cloisonne ware that was made in Beijing and slept somewhere then became a product.

 They replaced the refills because it's been a while since the product was made, or the product had no refills from the beginning.（maybe）

 

*The image contains a pen that I bought online, and I don't know if it came from the "China Product Exhibition".

 

 

 

Edited May 17, 2022 by Number99

[TFHS]

On 5/17/2022 at 6:13 AM, Number99 said:

Japanese people understand Chinese as "kan-ji" if it is about the number of characters printed on the product box.

 However, in the case of the manual, translation is required, so I think that a simple one was created and enclosed.

 

Therefore, I think the appearance of the item is almost the same as you know.

 

 As for the "景泰蓝", "七宝焼" "Cloisonne" ballpoint pens, I thought they were "Beijing Venus", so I'm glad they agreed.

 I think that the cloisonne ware that was made in Beijing and slept somewhere then became a product.

 They replaced the refills because it's been a while since the product was made, or the product had no refills from the beginning.（maybe）

 

*The image contains a pen that I bought online, and I don't know if it came from the "China Product Exhibition".

That seems to be the case. The box is printed in both English and Chinese, and the instructions may be translated into the language of the region where the market is located. 

 

 

[Tefolim]

On 3/20/2022 at 6:36 PM, IJKWS said:

We chinese call the logo on the clip"汇丰标"，used in 1980s and changed in 1992 with a plum logo till today.

The plum logo came from “文华金梅” a little manufactor in 1950s,which finally incorporated into Hero.

Chinese collectors always think a pen with "汇丰标"is valuable than the plum logo one.

The logo in Hero 50 is a special logo for Hero's 50 year anniversnary, only Hero 50 uses this logo with a 5 and O

Hero 100/200 series have another special logo which representing "100 point Hero pen"

About the so-called  “文华金梅” 

The factory named "文华笔尖厂"(lit. Ven Hwa Nib Factory) was founded in early 1950s. The owner was sentenced to prison because of commercial crime.

The factory was combined with some other factories including manufacturing nibs for dip pen to found "上海笔尖四厂"(Shanghai No. 4 Nib Factory) including "一心笔尖厂" which is the first nib manufacturor for dip pen founded in 1935.

 "上海笔尖四厂" inherited the  “文华”  brand and it was stopped using when  "上海笔尖四厂"  became  "上海笔尖厂" (Shanghai Nib Factory) later . The brand used by "上海笔尖厂" and its successor "上海不锈钢材料厂"（Shanghai Stainless Material Factory）was "灯塔"(Dengta/Lit. Lighthouse).

 

[IJKWS]

On 6/8/2022 at 8:36 AM, Tefolim said:

About the so-called  “文华金梅” 

The factory named "文华笔尖厂"(lit. Ven Hwa Nib Factory) was founded in early 1950s. The owner was sentenced to prison because of commercial crime.

The factory was combined with some other factories including manufacturing nibs for dip pen to found "上海笔尖四厂"(Shanghai No. 4 Nib Factory) including "一心笔尖厂" which is the first nib manufacturor for dip pen founded in 1935.

 "上海笔尖四厂" inherited the  “文华”  brand and it was stopped using when  "上海笔尖四厂"  became  "上海笔尖厂" (Shanghai Nib Factory) later . The brand used by "上海笔尖厂" and its successor "上海不锈钢材料厂"（Shanghai Stainless Material Factory）was "灯塔"(Dengta/Lit. Lighthouse).

 

茶米老师好