Hero 007 - Would James Approve?

[visvamitra]

Hero 007 is one of the cheapest fountain pens on the market. You can easily buy a pack of ten for around 10$, shipment included. Designwise it's clearly Parker 51 inspired pen, not a full knock-off like Hero 616 but the resemblance is rather strong. Personally I find it sad that chinese manufacturers don't try to create something really new.

 

Instead they copy designs with passion. Today I'm not here to judge but to review one of their budget pens - Hero 007.

 

 

I bought a pack of these pens because they are colorful and cheap and can be used to test inks and improve nib smoothing skills. Even when I kill one of them nothing happens. No feeling of loss. Not a single tear will be shed upon it's dead body.

 

The pen is small and made of rather low quality plastic. It's sold in five colors: black, greem, orange, yellow, blue turquoise. The cap is snap-on and the locking mechanism sucks. Frankly it becomes loose very easy and very fast. Every time you forget you have inked pen somewhere in the bag or a pocket you risk to discover the fact by looking at ink stain appear suddenly in this place.

 

Construction and feel in the hand

 

The pen is very light. Actually it almost feels to light, it doesn't give a substantial feel I enjoy. On the other hand Hero 007 is quite comfortable, especially if you write a lot. Push off cap is metal but as I've mentioned above it doesn't hold to the section very well. The construction is very simple and if you won't abuse it it should be durable (except for the cap that inevitably will become loose, I'm afraid).

 

Nib

Well, it's a lottery, to be honest. Out of ten pens I received 6 write perfectly well and are very pleasant to use, three needed some tweaking and one was scratchy. Not tragic result, but it could be much better. If you're lucky though you'll be surprised to experience how well this cheapie writes.

I would describe Hero 007 as a medium writer - not too wet, not to dry. The hooded nib is smooth, and works fine on all papers I've tried to pierce with it. I would say that the nibs that were good out of box are surprisingly good.

 

Filling system

 

Aerometric filling system. The sac appears to be permanently glued (?) to the section - you won't be able to replace it with a cartridge.The system is easy to operate, works well and holds a reasonable good amount of ink, probably more than most short cartridges but I haven't measured it.

Summary

 

If you're lucky and the nib writes well, this pen can be considered as great deal. It won't last forever, but it's kind of pen that serves its basic function well and even if you loose it or sit on it or do to it's brittle body whatever cruel stuff your imagination suggest it won't be a big deal. GIven that you can have this pen for a dollar, I can recommend it. Actually I've bought the pack and given most of them to others. Hopefully someone who tasted writing with fountain pen will try to get deeper into the hobby. Just make sure that the pen you offer has good nib

Edited December 3, 2016 by visvamitra

[penmonster]

Greetings! What is that ink You wrote Josiah Bancroft "Arm of the Sphinx" text sample in? It looks great!

[Mech-for-i]

no surprise here , the 007 as well as many of Hero's school pen range were and are their fountain pen equivalent of the single use BP, Gel pen etc etc etc ... even the 616 was and still are only aimed at only being a grade over that so kind of expecting them to be the same as say a Pilot Kakuno is beyond the Mfr's intention. The always puzzling part I see is the almost zero availability of their real workhorse / nominal / production range of pens ( which Hero differentiate between their school pens line and their vintage / classic line ) online retail .. ( internationally ) with the only exception perhaps the 100. Something like the 981-2 or 1506 which represent their nominal range of fountain pen and not their school pens.

[penmonster]

I don't know if the author of this thread read this, so I will try to ask again- I really like that ink You wrote Josiah Bancroft "Arm of the Sphinx" text sample in. Could You please tell me what ink it is? Thanks in advance!

[basterma]

I have one of these in forest green and it is a good writer. Like many current hooded nib pens from China, it writes reasonably well if you print, but struggles with the flourishing loops of rapidly written cursive. I teach Middle school in China and I can confirm the lifespan of student fountain pens is short. The pens get destroyed (as do all pens for boys of a certain disposition), or discarded as students upgrade to Lamy Safari knockoffs, which in turn get dumped for real Lamy Safaris. The kids are wealthy enough to indulge in the hobby as a way to show off...

[Intensity]

no surprise here , the 007 as well as many of Hero's school pen range were and are their fountain pen equivalent of the single use BP, Gel pen etc etc etc ... even the 616 was and still are only aimed at only being a grade over that so kind of expecting them to be the same as say a Pilot Kakuno is beyond the Mfr's intention. The always puzzling part I see is the almost zero availability of their real workhorse / nominal / production range of pens ( which Hero differentiate between their school pens line and their vintage / classic line ) online retail .. ( internationally ) with the only exception perhaps the 100. Something like the 981-2 or 1506 which represent their nominal range of fountain pen and not their school pens.

 

Not sure if the situation has changed since late 2018, but since this thread got bumped I went to look on eBay, and all of those pens are available for purchase with shipping to USA.