Me and my wife both like hooded nibs. She has a Hero 616, me the real deal, a vintage Parker 51. The nib and feed of the Hero is a mess. I almost bought my wife a vintage Parker 51 several times but a very old 51 is not entirely without problems too. That’s why I decided to buy her the new Parker 51. It’s not the real McCoy but it will work for her just right.
The pen has arrived and I have mixed feelings about. The snap cap was an iconic thing for the original 51 and it would have been practical. I don’t mind that they use the usual piston converter. However I’m disappointed about the nib though I’ve seen the marketing photos before I ordered the pen. It’s lazy on Parker’s part that instead of using a proper hooded nib they just shoved in a Jotter nib and they didn’t even incorporate that one into the new 51 properly. Nevertheless I must say that the nib is quite smooth and performs well. The price is a bit high for an injection moulded plastic pen even if it’s well made. It’s an OK pen but Parker wasted an opportunity here to resurrect / pay homage to an iconic writing instrument.
In the end my wife likes it and in this case this is all that counts.
