Hero 100: pleasant surprise

I really don't know why I did it, but the fact is I spent $12.98 to buy a Hero 100 pen on eBay. I'm rather glad I did. This Parker 51 clone is supposed to have a fine point (0.5mm) 14k nib:

Attachment 50127
This is the seller's eBay picture.


I first tried it with Sheaffer Skrip Blue-Black but later settled for a long forgotten bottle of Noodler's Blue Black. The results were very nice. The nib is smooth with just a bit of feedback and is better than the Hero 616 that I have. The nib is even better than the one on a supposedly restored Parker 51 I bought from a restorer at FPN. It's hard to believe this is a 14K nib on such an inexpensive massively produced pen.

Attachment 50128

The pen seems well built but I have only used it for a week. My only beef is the terrible "aerometric" filler that seems unchanged from the lowly Hero 616. However the metal sac guard seems to be better made than the 616.

Do any of you have one of these pens? What are your opinions? Have you ever been pleasantly surprised by an inexpensive pen?

I don't but I bought a hero nib to fix a 21 Super and was fairly impressed with it. I will have to check out the 100.

Be aware that at least some of the current production pens have barrels that are too wide to allow the cap to slip over them... this prevents the section from actually contacting the inner cap and leads to hard starts and dried out nibs (the feed doesn't dry out too quickly). Mine also had either an un-sealed inner cap, or a defective one, which allows air exchange through the clip opening. It also had a steel nib (gold plated).

Nothing like my older stainless barrel version, which is better built all the way around.

I wish these pens had decent fillers. The 616 and 100 would both be improved by a converter.

That's remarkable. The price of the pen has got to be the scrap value of the gold itself.

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Originally Posted by Scrawler

I wish these pens had decent fillers. The 616 and 100 would both be improved by a converter.

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The newest re-work of the 100 still has a gold nib and has been updated to use international type cartridges or converter, however they cost about $100.

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Originally Posted by AzJon

That's remarkable. The price of the pen has got to be the scrap value of the gold itself.

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$15-$30 plastic barrel Hero 100s no longer have gold nibs, at least mine didn't! I have seen sellers who show the correctly fitted barrel and claim the nib isn't plated, but those start at $40 and go up from there.


Not trying to rain on anyone's parade, just inserting some facts regarding the current budget priced 100 as seen on Ebay etc., so that people won't have unrealistic expectations.

I’m enjoying using the Wing Sung 2019 versions with double jewels and a much appreciated ink window.

Years ago I bought a Hero 100 from Isellpens.com. It cost something more than $40 at the time. Not an astonishing bargain purchase. It didn't write nearly well enough, so I sent it back. Todd Nussbaum gave good enough customer service at the level of replacing something; I might have wished that he looked at the nibs before sending out the pens and adjusted when necessary, as Norman Haase undertakes to do.

The replacement pen was not much better, but I resolved to find a way forward. I turned over the pen to a fellow hobbyist, who said I had been unusually unfortunate in that the tines had tipping balls of grossly unequal size. He undertook to do a little abrasion to help me, and the pen improved, though not enough. With some further abrasion on my own part, however, the pen has become a pleasant though not spectacularly good writer. I have it and occasionally use it. If one wants to write with a fine nib, as in general I don't, it's a decent pen. No inner-cap problems I've been aware of. IIRC my gold nib is said to be 12K, not 14K.

I have poor experience with Hero pen nibs, none has been an exception so far. I tend to stay clear.

Is F the only size tip available on these nibs?

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Originally Posted by Chrissy

Is F the only size tip available on these nibs?

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I don't know... :noidea:

As far as nib sizes go, I've never seen an option offered for any of the older hooded nib Hero designs... all of the ones I've written with are within the Asian fine range, in other words, just a bit finer than most European fine nibs. On the up-side they have all been adequately wet writers.