Parker 51 Vs. Hero 616 Jumbo

[Nonsensical]

Very interesting. I believe you got your Heros off ebay? My mum recently purchased some NOS Hero 616s from Taobao, and they have a shorter hood, and longer barrel. The hood and barrel lengths are equal to the Parker 51, in fact. However, it still feels quite light. Don't have a 51, so can't compare that.

 

The aerometric filler is also much more effective than the ones that come with the new Hero 616s from Ebay(I purchased a 10 pack a while ago), and is bigger, and more solidly made. Might post pictures..some day.

[JonSzanto]

hmmmm, just make sure you plug that hole at the bottom of the barrel

Hehe, yes, I've done one previously. The original I put in a very small brass screw to seal the hole, but I'm going to mess around with some aquarium sealant (which is just some form of silicone glue) to seal from the inside. Should work just fine.

 

I should add that these aren't pens that are destined to be carried around and bumped, etc. They'll just stay here on the desk, mainly for trying new inks.

[amiG]

Hello everyone... I was just curious about Hero 616 and got this topic in my search... Well, I have no idea what to say except... I have a Hero 616 since I was grade 1... almost 30 years ago and still works exceptional! And yes, I used it almost every day grade 1 all the way through university... Recently I purchased 3 of those Hero Doctor (for my children) and they are just as amazing as my old one... I'm one of the lucky ones, never had a problem with Hero 616 and I adore them!

[BruceS]

I have a number of Hero 616s both real and fake.

 

It is pretty easy to tell the difference

- size of sac (real is larger)

- nib tipping ( the real 616 has visible tipping material, the fakes mostly do not, but some do.)

- cap quality is a big thing ( the real has a larger metal jewel that pretty much covers the top of the cap, all the fakes are smaller, and some of askew)

- the section of the real is shorter by a lot.

It is definitely important to use a reliable dealer!!

[BruceS]

The real ones are amazing for the price.

Some of the fakes are pretty good, but I don't expect them to last.

[tomgartin]

The link to the full version of the review (with pictures) is dead. Is this still available somewhere?

[Seele]

Here is an earlier thread on the fake 616 here:

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/207829-review-of-fake-hero-616/

 

It is not always easy to tell a fake by just examining it, after all, by definition, the counterfeiters are not obliged to make their pens to be consistent. This makes it even trickier as Hero also has another factory building 616 (and other) pens and they are a little different from those from the main Shanghai works, which produces the single-unit "Doctor" versions.

 

For your information: the first pen factory in China was called Guoyi, established in Shanghai in 1926, soon it changed its name to Doctor. Hero started as Huafu in 1931, and eventually acquired Doctor. Now, Doctor is mainly used as a collection of inks made by Hero Pens, and oddly enough most Hero-branded inks are made by another firm, Shanghai Ink Factory, now trading under another name.