Hero 200a Review

[pmsalty]

I had been desiring this pen for quite a while and I decided to go for it when I had to get an inexpensive pen for my daily planner, (I chose a Hero 616 for the planner), and didn’t just want to have a $5.00 pen shipped to my home.

 

So here is my review for the Hero 200a:

FIRST IMPRESSION 9/10

A Beautiful flighter type pen, it appears to be loosely based on the Parker 75. The pen however is beautiful to look at. the arrow clip is similar to the current Parker clips.

 

APPEARANCE 7/10

Upon closer inspection the detail work is crudely chiseled a bit rough. The section does not screw smoothly into the body. The section itself has a ridge that is not noticeable in the photos but noticeable to the naked eye and to touch.

 

DESIGN 8/10

The pen is on the slender side. I personally prefer pens with a bit more girth. Even though I have smallish hands (I have a tough time playing the piano with my stubby fingers) I find slender pens uncomfortable for long periods of writing.

NIB 5/10

The nib is a disappointment. I do a lot of writing with my Pelikan M400 that has a customized nib. It is a 14K gold nib. I also write a lot with a vintage Sheaffer 1000 Balance and 2 Parker ‘51s. This nib has a small sweet spot and lays a very wet line. It is very sensitive to the paper that is being used. Much more so than the pens I have mentioned. It is a nail and has never skipped or started slow. I have used it a lot over the past month with several different inks. Currently I am using Aurora blue in it and it has performed the best with this ink.

FILLING SYSTEM 10/10

This pen uses the squeeze bladder filler that looks like the Parker aerometric converter made famous by the Parker ’51. I do not know if it has a filler tube extending into the bladder. I could not see one but the space visible is very small. It appears to fully fill and goes a long time between refills.

 

COST and VALUE 9/10

The pen seems to have a good cost to value ratio. It is not too expensive, it is a very nice looking pen, and being stainless it should be very durable. I will revisit this in about a year to see how the pen has held up.

 

CONCLUSION 8/10

This pen was not as good as I had hoped but it probably is better than to be expected for the money. I will continue to work on the nib, gently to see if I can get it to behave better.

 

PMS

 

[RLTodd]

Well, I have had mine for a while, and most likely, Hero Q.C. being what it is, we have some slight differences in our evaluations......

 

1) Section screws easily into the barrel.

 

2) No casting seam noticed on section. There is a smooth transition that looks like the plastic section cover has been press fitted over an underlying transition part.

 

3) My nib is smooth with a wide sweet spot and is definitely an EF. It required very little "brown bag" polishing to bring it in.

 

4) Secondary cap is an excellent fit. Capped, the pen is as a tightly capped bottle for ink. The pen starts every time, even if left capped for weeks.

 

5) It is a converter. No tube, and multiple squeezes will not fill it more than the first. I can't recall for sure but I think it will take Parker/Aurora ink cartridges.

 

6) I've had mine since last July and consider it an excellent performing fountain pen and one of the best values for the buck available.

 

7) For me, and this is obviously a matter of personal taste & preference, it is a pen that I would purchase again without hesitation. Granted I might get one I would need to do significant nib work on, but that comes with the territory these days.

 

As always, YMMV........

 

[Steven]

Nice review.

 

I keep one at work which comes in handy when I forget to take one of my regulars with me. My nib is stiff and smooth and lays down and nice medium wet consistent line. It also uses international cartridges of which I use Waterman's. Parker cartridges are too big and thus will leak. A friend or mine, knowing I am a fountain pen user, pick it up from me while in China and gave it to me as a gift. Now how can you beat that.

[pmsalty]

Update: After using this pen for a while it writes better than I first reviewed. I'm sure that has to do with my learning the pen. It is not as scratchy as first reported. It has a nice fine line with good flow and writes instantly when nib is put to paper even when it has sat for a week. I'm am more impressed the more I use this pen.

PMS

[hoche]

The nib is a little bit stiff for me.

[hoche]

and this nib can put on the Lamy sarfri.

[FPcollection]

and this nib can put on the Lamy sarfri.

 

Hi

This is interesting information!!!

Have you actually tried fitting the nib on a Safari..I actually have a Hero 200A with a broken feed and few Lamy Safaris..

So I couuld actually try fitting the nib into the Lamy as I love this nib for its smoothness with slight feedback...

Eagerly awaiting your reply!!!

- SS