Hero 616

[Dan Carmell]

Seeing new colors of the 616S (photo below) reminded me of the 616 when I first encountered Chinese fountain pens in the late 1990s. That was a flimsy plasticky version of the 100. Then there was the jumbo 616, a much larger version-the X159 of its day, kind of. Better quality and big, but not a keeper for me.

 

Seeing the 616S a few years ago on AliExpress, I got the all-black version and really liked it. Solid metal pen, reliable hooded nib. And it matches the 100 with the usual black, burgundy, lake blue, and drab green versions, although the all-black version subs for the 100 steel flighter.

 

Others here who knew these pens better can say much more, I’m sure. 
 

I don’t know what a Moranti color is, but these new colors are tempting, aren’t they? The blue is most of the way to being a purple. 

[VillersCotterets]

29 minutes ago, Dan Carmell said:

I don’t know what a Moranti color is

Giorgio Morandi, an Italian painter, is renowned for (Wikipedia) "his paintings’ tonal subtlety in depicting simple subjects—mainly vases, bottles, bowls, flowers, and landscapes." For several years now, China has embraced the Morandi color palette, inspired by the popularity of the 2018 TV series Story of Yanxi Palace. You can find a wide range of household items in these less saturated colors, from buckets to drapes. It’s become a significant fashion trend, especially in interior design. 

 

Edited February 22, 2024 by VillersCotterets
Better links

[Dan Carmell]

6 minutes ago, VillersCotterets said:

Giorgio Morandi, an Italian painter, is renowned for (Wikipedia) "his paintings’ tonal subtlety in depicting simple subjects—mainly vases, bottles, bowls, flowers, and landscapes." For several years now, China has embraced the Morandi color palette, inspired by the popularity of the 2018 TV series Story of Yanxi Palace. You can find a wide range of household items in these less saturated colors, from buckets to drapes. It’s become a significant fashion trend in China, especially in interior design. 

 

Thank you! I didn’t know this was a thing at all, but then I got the name wrong, so how could I? 😂 

[Mech-for-i]

Well only 1 clarification , as for vintage model 616 there was and there is only ever 2 version , what's termed the Jumbo is the Standard size and the slimmer the Small size , Hero had been quite steadfast in naming the size up to this day since the model go retail 1961

 

The Jumbo part is only marketing jargon int'l retailers kind of came up with , never official , and neither is the Standard size 616 the X159 of it's days , that would be the Golden Star / Jinxing 565 and this also now relaunched anew as Hero 565 and in updated C/C filler form as 565s

[Dan Carmell]

Thank you, @Mech-for-i! Back then there was only a slim selection of Chinese pens on eBay or at hisnibs dot com, so I didn’t really know what was what. I didn’t know the 565 also started as a Golden Star pen, interesting. 

[bugsydog55]

That 616 format was everywhere for the longest time and there may still be millions of the next to useless clone models still floating around out there in the wild.  Some of those were decent pens while most of them weren't even good for darts due to the light weight.  The newer models have shown giant leaps in quality.  I took a chance and purchased a couple of the new and improved Hero 565 models on AliExpress for the rather ridiculous price of 99 cents apiece shipped free during a promotion of some sort.  I was stunned by how well they wrote and how sweet that hooded nib performed on paper.  Not your paper ripper from yesteryear like the old cheap 616 rip-offs.  Just saying that there are some insanely good pens out there, but they don't come with tags letting you know in advance.

[Shanghai Knife Dude]

On 3/8/2024 at 8:40 PM, bugsydog55 said:

That 616 format was everywhere for the longest time and there may still be millions of the next to useless clone models still floating around out there in the wild.  Some of those were decent pens while most of them weren't even good for darts due to the light weight.  The newer models have shown giant leaps in quality.  I took a chance and purchased a couple of the new and improved Hero 565 models on AliExpress for the rather ridiculous price of 99 cents apiece shipped free during a promotion of some sort.  I was stunned by how well they wrote and how sweet that hooded nib performed on paper.  Not your paper ripper from yesteryear like the old cheap 616 rip-offs.  Just saying that there are some insanely good pens out there, but they don't come with tags letting you know in advance.

Hero 565 is also my favorite. Old version comes only with aeromatic. 2023 New color comes with push pull converter. 

 

My advice: do not bother current production Golden Star 565, same making of the Hero 565 with double price. I bought both, and checked inside out. 

 

Long story of 565, simply put, Golden Star was the original 565, probably back in 50s. Same as other once a successful fountain pen company, GS went bust and sold to HERO Group in probably 2010. Hero 565 debuted in 2013 with aeromatic in black, green and burgundy. All steel nib, 21.5mm. That size is one in the market, no replacement, other than some vintage Parker.

[Beechwood]

The 616 has been discussed on FPN for many years, at least since 2007 when they were very cheap, some people said they paid $0.10 including delivery, cheap enough to buy a handful at a time.

 

I used them at work because I had need of a fine nib, two out of two were okay, nothing more. I have been reminded that there were also fake Hero 616 pens, sold as the real thing, perhaps the super cheap and badly made pens were fakes.

 

 Otherwise,  really hope that they have improved the quality over the years, many sections  cracked or the barrels just would not tighten on the connector, or soon worked loose,  if I gave a 616 away people thought it was okay to write a rude letter of complaint.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Mech-for-i]

Well , old guy here remember the days when I use the 616 as my school pens way back in the 60's and 70's , equally I did use a bunch of the 616 style models including the 565

 

These days I had caches and stashes of most of the vintage as well as the current models

 

Between the " NEW " production vintage model of the 616 and 565 , I would definitely say go for the 565 , both are OK , just overall the 565 simply better out of the more substantial size and thus build

 

The new C/C Filler 616Plus / 616s as well as the 565s obviously had the innards revamped and made a big improvement without changing any of the style , ergonomics and aesthetic, and they are indeed more consistent and reliable working and writing, drawing and the same can be stated towards the similar C/C 329s

 

The now rather complete range thus now had the slim size ( 329s ) ; the standard size ( 616s/616Plus ) ; and the oversized ( 565s )

 

For starters today I would say definitely go for these revamped models , you can still had the style the form factor etc without the limitation of the old ( mostly )