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Supply's Black Label Injectors - First Impressions

garyg

B&B membership has its percs
Always looking for additional blades to use with my Injector collection -I have a bunch and have been using Schick's off and on since the Age of Aquarius...

So I bit at the new Supply Black Label Injector Blades. The plastic injector magazines were a surprise, as their ad copy mentions only steel for materials, but I opened one of the two and tried it in my Supply SS Injector V1. Or actually, didn't as the pusher on top wouldn't pick up & advance the blade. Lots of flex with plastic parts, as those who have tried the modern Personna injectors as well as their private label stuff often relate. On the Supply even the key is molded and bore evidence of some plastic shavings that might not be wise to force into a prized razor. I opened the second Supply pack and it did operate correctly.

Though I was a little put off by the cheapy plastic presentation, the shave was very good .. the blade was Chick sharp (like the Feather B-20's) and almost as smooth as a vintage Schick Plus Platinum.

So I dropped a line to Supply. They responded with an apology and made a refund for the defective pack, without anything for postage, but told me to dispose of, or recycle the defective blade pack. Ok, if you get a clinker they get some credit for responsiveness I guess, and I can likely rescue the 8 blades from their little plastic container. I'll reload into a metal Schick injector.

The Supply blades are bragged as coming from Seki City, Japan, and are likely rebranded Feather B-20's, which are pretty good blades. Last time I bought B-20's I had them shipped from England (same place of manufacture in Japan) to Michigan for around $18 bucks US for a pack of 20, today's exchange has them at $17.69 shipped. Supply's cover is $8.00 for 8 blades, plus $4.95 shipping.

So rebranded B-20's from Texas will run 11.95 for 8 ($1.49 each), while genuine B-20's (routed through Connaught) will cost 17.69 for 20 ($.88 each) Even if they don't come in at 50% defective like my shipment that's still a considerable premium to pay. Chicks run about $.75 each from the big A ..

I routinely get lots and lots of tough beard shaves out of my other injector blades, even the modern Personnas which tend to be less sharp for me. To become an economical alternative the Supply would have to go twice as far as either real B-20's or Chicks ..

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Great review. I am on the Kickstarter as I am sure everybody is tired of me saying. I am also suspecting these are B-20s, but had hoped the injector cartridge would be high quality. No reason to to order any more than I have coming. The claimed longevity to justify the price is a good laugh.
 

garyg

B&B membership has its percs
Well, I screwed up by calling the Schick Proline B-20's Feathers - though that may be where they are manufactured. What I also just noticed is that the Supply's hole pattern is somewhat unique in my experience - it is not just a rebranded B-20 as the B-20 as I remembered too late has the L shaped cutout, while the Supply has three holes ..

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Oh no, I might have made a mistake evangelizing for supply. I don't like the looks of those blades at all, look at the corners. I guess I will have to see with it in the razor. I just hope the razor doesn't require proprietary blades with the extra hole, I could see how that might be there for the adjustable. Hmm
 

Chandu

I Waxed The Badger.
Supply razors take any Injector blade.

I'm not a fan of plastic injectors. They worked with my Supply (when I owned it) but not with the real Schick Injectors. As to good blades, I'm going to try these. I suspect they are very good.
 
If their new razors don't accept standard injector blades they have made a grave misjudgement. I have the Pro adjustable on order and I guess we will find out when these ship in February.
 

Chandu

I Waxed The Badger.
If their new razors don't accept standard injector blades they have made a grave misjudgement. I have the Pro adjustable on order and I guess we will find out when these ship in February.
I would agree. I'm 100% sure they stuck to standard Injector blades. Crazy not to.
 

garyg

B&B membership has its percs
Supply razors take any Injector blade.

I'm not a fan of plastic injectors. They worked with my Supply (when I owned it) but not with the real Schick Injectors. As to good blades, I'm going to try these. I suspect they are very good.

Those look interesting - sort of pricey but at least the magazine looks robust. Connaught has in the past provided very quick shipment.
 
Thanks for the review. I tried the white label blades that came with the Supply razor, but they didn't seem worth purchasing by themselves. I got kind of a rough first shave and 7 good shaves before it dulled. In comparison the Chicks give me 30 good shaves and cost the same. I thoought they would be better due to all the glowing reviews on the site, but have learned that you can't always trust those.
 

Chandu

I Waxed The Badger.
Those look interesting - sort of pricey but at least the magazine looks robust. Connaught has in the past provided very quick shipment.
Yeah, I'm thinking someday I will find something to order from them and a couple pack will get added on.
 

garyg

B&B membership has its percs
In my review for their website I stated that I wasn't the biggest fan of the blades that were shipped with the razor, and the review got deleted. Just FYI.

Huh, I wrote a review of the Supply Black Label blades as described above & that was first published on their website, but has since been disappeared. Looks like they only like to include five star reviews ...
 
Huh, I wrote a review of the Supply Black Label blades as described above & that was first published on their website, but has since been disappeared. Looks like they only like to include five star reviews ...
Hmm, they better give me a good reason not to get my money back from Kickstarter with this kind of behavior. I thought I was buying from a decent company that just hadn't quite got their design right with the two previous versions. I am starting to wonder if they are trying to do everything on a budget to maximize profit in spite of the massive overfunding they got. Or this is an overzealous outsourced media team?
 
What got me to originally buy their razor was their “free blades for life deal”, which I didn’t utilize, but later I came to find out that I missed an email from them regarding continuing the service and I’m no longer grandfathered in.

I do not support this company.
 
Well, I screwed up by calling the Schick Proline B-20's Feathers - though that may be where they are manufactured. What I also just noticed is that the Supply's hole pattern is somewhat unique in my experience - it is not just a rebranded B-20 as the B-20 as I remembered too late has the L shaped cutout, while the Supply has three holes ..

View attachment 1370842

Schick Injector, Injector II, Proline B-20 and Proline P-30 distributed in Japan are made in USA . I'd figure the whole Proline is. We can assume they're made by Personna/Accutech, as I believe it's the only blade manufacturer in USA.

Kai and Feather both have factories in Seki, so either could be a contender as the manufacturer of Supply Blacks.

Feather has produced Injector blades in the past. Made in Japan:

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Maybe we'll see the manufacturer of the Supply BLacks release Injector blades under their own brand in Japan.
 
Schick Injector, Injector II, Proline B-20 and Proline P-30 distributed in Japan are made in USA . I'd figure the whole Proline is. We can assume they're made by Personna/Accutech, as I believe it's the only blade manufacturer in USA.

Kai and Feather both have factories in Seki, so either could be a contender as the manufacturer of Supply Blacks.

Feather has produced Injector blades in the past. Made in Japan:

View attachment 1376531

Maybe we'll see the manufacturer of the Supply BLacks release Injector blades under their own brand in Japan.
Wait a minute I have seen you type this before, but are saying the VERY expensive Schick Injector blades that Connaught sells are actually made in the US? I have never been able to figure out where the Prolines are made, the whole packaging is in Japanese. This would make some sense, but they still have to be higher quality than the Ted Pella blades for the US market. Right? It sounds like these Black Labels are the deal of the decade.
 

garyg

B&B membership has its percs
To update, someone from Supply sent me another pack of their less than outstanding blades, and the first blade tried is showing signs of lagging far earlier than either a Chick or Plus Platinum would be expected to ... I would update my review on their website to reflect the lack of longevity, but as reported earlier that was "disappeared" and as of now hasn't been restored.

I have recommended their razors in the past, given their present business practices I will no longer do so.
 
To update, someone from Supply sent me another pack of their less than outstanding blades, and the first blade tried is showing signs of lagging far earlier than either a Chick or Plus Platinum would be expected to
So this sounds like they aren't re packaging existing blades. They may have contracted with a factory and had to give them blade specifications since we aren't talking about a common blade type. I wouldn't be too surprised to find out that they sent them a white blade of theirs and asked for a higher quality copy. Or simply sharper, which might be shorter lived.
 

garyg

B&B membership has its percs
The white blades supplied with my razor were in the common Personna plastic injector with a metal key, and had the common hole pattern, not the same as the new Blacks .. I still have them as packaged with that razor
 
Sorry, by existing I meant existing on the market. There are no known injector blades being made in Japan and the hole pattern is different to everything as you mentioned. This would imply a new contract instead of choosing from a catalog so to speak.
 
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