Hero 100: pleasant surprise

[carlos.q]

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:

Hero100ebay.jpg
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.

Hero100.jpg

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?