Post by Flintstone on Dec 1, 2019 19:02:24 GMT -6
It will come as no surprise to anyone who even barely knows me that I like to acquire razors. I’m mostly a vintage guy, but I do have a handful of “modern” razors in my den as well. My “target” acquisitions tend to fall into at least one (usually more) of these criteria:
I’m sharing my best example of that phenomenon below, but I really want to hear about yours. Did your grail razor turn out to be not-so-grail-like when you got it? Was there a razor you got through happenstance, and it turned out to be one of your best shavers? What razor acquisition surprised you -- in either a good or bad way?
I’ve got a few examples of this, but the one that stands out for me is the Schick Type A -- the very first Schick....the Repeating Magazine Razor. Previous to this injector, my oldest injector was an E3 -- which requires a great deal of concentration on my part to avoid a serious case of irritation on my neck. I could probably put my neck flab in a shop vac and come away with less marks than the E3 can give me if I don’t pay attention. But even though my E3 is on the aggressive side (I have a suspiscion someone may have tampered wiht it), I’m still a huge injector fan, and I’m often drawn to the ones I don’t have.
So a Type A came along at a very reasonable price -- it’s missing the top cap (which I’d love to have) and an inner blade cartridge, but that made it very affordable for me. It doesn’t get a lot of “air play” as a razor so really the two biggest criteria driving me forward were the top 2 I mentioned above. When it came in, I hand loaded a Proline B-20 blade into it using a pair of needle nose pliers (which was easier than I was envisiioning), then I started to think about how careful I need to be with my E-series razor, and I figure I’m about to filet myself. But I soldier on with the first stroke, and I don’t really feel the blade, I just see an absence of lather and a definite absence of stubble -- but the skin is intact and looking fine. I did a full-on 3-pass shave and came away with zero-irritation, no bleeders, no nicks, no redness, nothing but a smooth face. I liked the tube shaped handle, the weight, the size of the head, the level of efficiency, you name it -- this razor and I just “clicked”. If I had purchased this razor in 1927, I would’ve never shaved with anything but a Schick for the rest of my life. I’ve several more shaves with this razor, and each one just makes me smile. I’ve got real attachment to all of my Injectors and Injectomatics, but if a day should come when I can keep only one, there would be no question in my mind that the original Col. Schick razor will be the keeper. ****PICTURE TO BE INSERTED ********
What has surprised you in this great SE world of ours?
- Vintage, and by that I mean OLD -- more often than not, the older the better.
- Rare or Rare’ish. I like uncommon things -- this includes stuff that wasn’t largely produced (e.g., Schick Type F) and things that may have had a larger production, but history and circumstances have made them difficult to find today.
- Creative and Compelling (to me). Here’s where a modern may sneak through (e.g., TNNSER 3-D, the Bunny, etc); and of course there are vintage razors that also fall into this category (e.g., Shake Sharp)
- Peer pressure. I’m not proud of this reason at all, but sometimes I hear about how much someone enjoys a particular razor, and I feel the urge to try it and see if I feel the same. The Gem Damaskeene Open Comb and the Schick H (Eversharp Fashion Razor -- aka “The Hussy”). Those two garnered a lot of positive comments from folks I respected, and so I jumped in to see how I would like them….*spoiler alert* those two are absolute winners for me...the hype was right (in this case, and for me)!
I’m sharing my best example of that phenomenon below, but I really want to hear about yours. Did your grail razor turn out to be not-so-grail-like when you got it? Was there a razor you got through happenstance, and it turned out to be one of your best shavers? What razor acquisition surprised you -- in either a good or bad way?
I’ve got a few examples of this, but the one that stands out for me is the Schick Type A -- the very first Schick....the Repeating Magazine Razor. Previous to this injector, my oldest injector was an E3 -- which requires a great deal of concentration on my part to avoid a serious case of irritation on my neck. I could probably put my neck flab in a shop vac and come away with less marks than the E3 can give me if I don’t pay attention. But even though my E3 is on the aggressive side (I have a suspiscion someone may have tampered wiht it), I’m still a huge injector fan, and I’m often drawn to the ones I don’t have.
So a Type A came along at a very reasonable price -- it’s missing the top cap (which I’d love to have) and an inner blade cartridge, but that made it very affordable for me. It doesn’t get a lot of “air play” as a razor so really the two biggest criteria driving me forward were the top 2 I mentioned above. When it came in, I hand loaded a Proline B-20 blade into it using a pair of needle nose pliers (which was easier than I was envisiioning), then I started to think about how careful I need to be with my E-series razor, and I figure I’m about to filet myself. But I soldier on with the first stroke, and I don’t really feel the blade, I just see an absence of lather and a definite absence of stubble -- but the skin is intact and looking fine. I did a full-on 3-pass shave and came away with zero-irritation, no bleeders, no nicks, no redness, nothing but a smooth face. I liked the tube shaped handle, the weight, the size of the head, the level of efficiency, you name it -- this razor and I just “clicked”. If I had purchased this razor in 1927, I would’ve never shaved with anything but a Schick for the rest of my life. I’ve several more shaves with this razor, and each one just makes me smile. I’ve got real attachment to all of my Injectors and Injectomatics, but if a day should come when I can keep only one, there would be no question in my mind that the original Col. Schick razor will be the keeper. ****PICTURE TO BE INSERTED ********
What has surprised you in this great SE world of ours?