Hero pens discontinued 616 production?

**Mesu** · July 29th, 2013, 11:32 PM

I am a huge fan of Hero 616 pens. They are tough, write very well and never faced issues with leaking. But that also might be due to the dealer from whom i purchase who sells only original Hero pens.

Recently when i was placing an order and asked him to add a 616 to the list, he mentioned that he has only 5-6 pens as Hero has stopped production. He might have got that info from his distributors and i am not sure that's accurate.

Can anyone confirm the above news?

**erpe** · July 29th, 2013, 11:43 PM

Originally Posted by Mesu

only original Hero pens.
Can anyone confirm the above news?

I guess they were tired of other manufacturers making knock-offs of their rip-offs so they stopped and introduced the 359 series

**fncll** · July 30th, 2013, 09:33 AM

Too bad! I'm a fan of the 616 Jumbo -- though I'm not sure they've been making that particular pen for a while...

**KrazyIvan** · July 30th, 2013, 09:37 AM

Hero got bought out. Maybe the new management is starting to flex its muscles and it's going to start reflecting on the line-up.

**Mesu** · July 30th, 2013, 11:47 AM

Originally Posted by KrazyIvan

Hero got bought out. Maybe the new management is starting to flex its muscles and it's going to start reflecting on the line-up.

Could you give more info about this please? When it was bought and by whom?

**KrazyIvan** · July 30th, 2013, 11:54 AM

Originally Posted by Mesu

Originally Posted by KrazyIvan

Hero got bought out. Maybe the new management is starting to flex its muscles and it's going to start reflecting on the line-up.

Could you give more info about this please? When it was bought and by whom?

I first saw the news on FPN last year. FPGeeks posted about it here: http://fpgeeks.com/2012/11/hero-pen-...sold-for-400k/
I am trying to get the original Morning Whistle article to come up but it is not working for me. Here is the link anyway: http://www.morningwhistle.com/html/2...26/215632.html

**AtomicLeo** · July 30th, 2013, 01:28 PM

Bad news! I love my Hero 616 Jumbo. Better than my Parker 21.

**ardgedee** · August 1st, 2013, 08:22 AM

Originally Posted by KrazyIvan

Hero got bought out. Maybe the new management is starting to flex its muscles and it's going to start reflecting on the line-up.

I browsed yespens' Ebay store last night (and snagged a pack of old-style 616 pens plus a 330 fude just because), and one of the things that struck me about Hero's low-end line is... there is a LOT of overlap. The 329, 330, 612 and 616 all seem to be the same pen with variations in trappings. Discontinuing a couple models is unlikely to mean they're going to stop making their Parker 21/51-derived pens entirely, and they stand to gain by not competing with themselves by having to keep a lot of nearly-but-not-quite-identical production lines operating.

**Sailor Kenshin** · August 1st, 2013, 08:43 AM

I'm just glad I have a few left out of my dozen. I LOVE these pens.

**AtomicLeo** · August 1st, 2013, 07:50 PM

The Jumbos are almost the exact same size as a Parker 51 and the nib is a bit wider. The regular 616 and other low end Heros are smaller and thinner than the Jumbo 616. I hope they keep the Jumbos and discontinue the regular 616.

**KrazyIvan** · August 1st, 2013, 09:28 PM

All this talk of the 616 has me thinking I should pull mine out and give it a spin.

**chamindra** · August 1st, 2013, 10:47 PM

Hmm... I have a 616 which has been a little scratchy and dry, the 329s and 330s though have been great. I ordered a pack of 10 of the 616s last night... Might see if they fare better.

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**AndreasDavour** · August 4th, 2013, 10:41 AM

I bought a set of three, and got six. Of those two are great and one is good. The rest are too dry to use. Not exactly stellar quality, but at least I got a bunch of them...
The question is if they should be considered pens you can trust will hold up for ten years, or if you need to treat them like expendable ballpoints. In the latter case I guess I should order a set of 10 jumbo 616 now and get four good ones before they go.

**Mesu** · August 4th, 2013, 11:43 AM

Originally Posted by AtomicLeo

The Jumbos are almost the exact same size as a Parker 51 and the nib is a bit wider. The regular 616 and other low end Heros are smaller and thinner than the Jumbo 616. I hope they keep the Jumbos and discontinue the regular 616.

+1. I like the jumbos better than other Parker 51 clones hero makes.

Originally Posted by AndreasDavour

In the latter case I guess I should order a set of 10 jumbo 616 now and get four good ones before they go.

In India, hero pens are widely used by students. If the nib is scratchy or the pen isn't writing well, you can get the nib replaced in the pen for about 30 cents.

**TSherbs** · August 6th, 2013, 09:40 AM

My 330 writes wetter than either my 616 reg or my 616 jumbo. I also like the 330 cuz it includes the directional arrow on the section on top of the nib to help with quick orientation when writing. But it doesn't hold as much ink and it is a bit thin for my hand. But all of them are great pens, particularly once I smoothed them and flossed the tines a bit.