I had a Hero 329 back in the early seventies which I bough from the 'Bazar in Istanbul', absolutely dirt cheap yet it performed perfectly for many many decades, eventually I lost it in a house move. I was led to believe that this was the Chinese equivalent of the West's 1960s 'Biro', everybody had at least one.
I almost can't believe I left it alone for almost a year without testing it, I am really impressed with how well it writes and can't wait to ink up the other two.
Hero is one of the biggest pen manufactures in China, I believe they were engaged by Parker, in years gone by, to manufacture pens for them (hence the plethora of Parker clones from China). I have a number of hooded nib pens and my favourite is the Wing Sung 601, followed by the Wing Sung 618; however, they are a little more pricey than the Hero. A closer match in price would be the Jinhao 85 (metal/wood version) or Jinhao 86 (plastic version). I have a few Jinhao 85's that I keep inked up and they write first time, every time, no skipping or hard starts (same applies to my Wing Sung's), even after sitting unused for months.
I have two Hero 329's. One is similar to the one reviewed, the other is an updated version with a converter. Both are dirt cheap in price and excellent writers. They remind me of my Parker 61's with the arrow on the nib section but the Hero has a steel nib. In my opinion, the Parker 61 just could be one of the best fountain pens ever made, but the Hero 329 is a terrific workhorse. Thank you for the review.
I had a Hero 329 back in the early seventies which I bough from the 'Bazar in Istanbul', absolutely dirt cheap yet it performed perfectly for many many decades, eventually I lost it in a house move. I was led to believe that this was the Chinese equivalent of the West's 1960s 'Biro', everybody had at least one.
I almost can't believe I left it alone for almost a year without testing it, I am really impressed with how well it writes and can't wait to ink up the other two.
Hero is one of the biggest pen manufactures in China, I believe they were engaged by Parker, in years gone by, to manufacture pens for them (hence the plethora of Parker clones from China). I have a number of hooded nib pens and my favourite is the Wing Sung 601, followed by the Wing Sung 618; however, they are a little more pricey than the Hero. A closer match in price would be the Jinhao 85 (metal/wood version) or Jinhao 86 (plastic version). I have a few Jinhao 85's that I keep inked up and they write first time, every time, no skipping or hard starts (same applies to my Wing Sung's), even after sitting unused for months.
I have two Hero 329's. One is similar to the one reviewed, the other is an updated version with a converter. Both are dirt cheap in price and excellent writers. They remind me of my Parker 61's with the arrow on the nib section but the Hero has a steel nib. In my opinion, the Parker 61 just could be one of the best fountain pens ever made, but the Hero 329 is a terrific workhorse. Thank you for the review.
Thanks for comment - I am loving this pen more and more every time I use it.
I would suggest you look at the Jinhao 86, it is very like the new Parker 51, but it just writes!
Thanks, I have a few Jinhao pens but not the 86... yet
Love my Hero 329. It does just what it is supposed to do. It writes. And it writes better then many of more expensive fountain pens, that I have.
I also find that many of my cheaper pens are just way better. And the Hero impresses me more and more.
Lanxivi is the name of the store, not the name of the model.
Ahhhh - thank you!
0.38mm nib
Ah, nice to know. Thanks!