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I managed to pick up a bargain at a local charity shop (Sunbury: It was that odd little Spelthorne Mental shop in Ashford 
) a near mint Parker 51 for a mere £5! Having already ordered 10 Hero 616s for £10 I thought a comparison of the two would seem appropriate.
The Hero 616 (for those not familiar) is a modern clone of the famous Parker 51 made in China and available very cheaply on ebay. Both use old fashioned bottled ink and have a squeeze to fill mechanism. they also both have a fully hooded nib with only the very tip showing.
Firstly the main difference is the weight - the Hero is unsurprisingly a lot lighter than the Parker and feels decidedly flimsy. That said the weight of the pen makes it very comfortable to use. The build quality of the Hero is exceptional for a pen costing £1, but nothing compared to the Parker.
The filling mechanism on the Parker works well after decades of use, whereas the biggest fault with the Hero is the inability to suck more than a few drops of ink up at any one filling.
When used however the Hero does actually come into its own - The Parker has a 14k gold medium nib, which is smooth and easy to write with, but the Hero's plain metal nib (in fine) is surprisingly wet and smooth too. If Hero made medium nibbed versions for the same price they'd be well worth snapping up.
For me the Parker is head and shoulders above the Hero, but given the Hero costs next to nothing it's still well worth a go.
) a near mint Parker 51 for a mere £5! Having already ordered 10 Hero 616s for £10 I thought a comparison of the two would seem appropriate.The Hero 616 (for those not familiar) is a modern clone of the famous Parker 51 made in China and available very cheaply on ebay. Both use old fashioned bottled ink and have a squeeze to fill mechanism. they also both have a fully hooded nib with only the very tip showing.
Firstly the main difference is the weight - the Hero is unsurprisingly a lot lighter than the Parker and feels decidedly flimsy. That said the weight of the pen makes it very comfortable to use. The build quality of the Hero is exceptional for a pen costing £1, but nothing compared to the Parker.
The filling mechanism on the Parker works well after decades of use, whereas the biggest fault with the Hero is the inability to suck more than a few drops of ink up at any one filling.
When used however the Hero does actually come into its own - The Parker has a 14k gold medium nib, which is smooth and easy to write with, but the Hero's plain metal nib (in fine) is surprisingly wet and smooth too. If Hero made medium nibbed versions for the same price they'd be well worth snapping up.
For me the Parker is head and shoulders above the Hero, but given the Hero costs next to nothing it's still well worth a go.