Hero 856 Pen Review

[Shanghai Knife Dude]

I did not realise the existence of this pen until recent wandering around on dangerous internet.

 

Then I did some research: this Hero version of 856 was introduced in 2016. The forefather of Hero 856 is Gold Star 28 (1950's). Gold Star was founded in Shanghai 1931, and then was nationalised (for example, the state offered you an unnegociatable 1 US dollar (equivant) to acquire 100% share of your pen company. If you happened to own a shipyard, lucy you, it would be 2 dollars.) and relocated to Beijing in 1952. Gold Star went bust and was acquired, together with its designs and drawings, by Hero Group (bankrupted and be required in 2003). Another similar case is Hero 565 and Gold Star 565.

 

Gold Star 28 was said to be associated with governors during Culture Revolution, due to its vintage looking (high resemblance to Parker Vacumatic 1931 to me). Hero 856 introduces the translucent lower barrel as ink window, which was not original. Same translucent design could be found on other 28 variants by other makers before 2016, Changjiang, Xingnongcun, etc, which are still available online as of now.

 

I found the entire period from 1990 to 2010 was a mess in China pen history. Old company down, and the tooling just get disposed and pens were made under a random new name and put on sales online. I would avoid such so called "vintage" from that period. Among all current offers, just by examining the product description pictures, Hero 856 is of the best made, but the cheapest, at $1.5 to $8 depends on your geographic location.

 

The package arrives today. This specific pen was made in Jan, 2024, as printed on the label. The seller told me it was made by Hero plant in Lishui, where Hero holds its entire production since 2010. 

 

pro: 

• the sac, 2ml ink after 5 squeezes. 
• milk bottle section, such an ergonomic clever design
• the nib, wet, smooth, while carrying a touch of feedback
• a light weight pen

 

con:

there is no inner seal cap in the cap. A cap, a clip, a screw of made the whole cap. It currently presents no sealing issue. 

 

more pictures there: 

https://shanghaiknifedude.blogspot.com/2024/03/hero-856-fountain-pen.html

 

with MB146 in comparison: 

[OCArt]

I have one and consider it to be a very comfortable writer, the barrel design really fits my grip. For $5-6 you can't go wrong.