Acquired 20 NOS Gillette Super Spoiler Blades

[DCRIII]

Yesterday I acquired 20 Gillette Super Stainless blades for a lot less than going prices online. I bought them purely out of curiosity to see if they're as great as everyone seems to make them out to be. It'll be a while before I get a chance to try them out since I'm currently testing seven other blades in my Aristocrats to find out how they compare to one another. So those of you who use, or have used, the Gillette Super Stainless blades, what do you think of them? Are they really as good as they're made out to be, or just hyped up like the life threatening sharpness of a Feather blade? Also, what Gillette razor, or razors do pair they pair up best with?

 

[BSAGuy]

Well done.

 

[DCRIII]

Just an update, I've been using one of the spoiler blades the last three days loaded in my T-2 Black Beauty adjustable. I get just as nice of a shave with it as I do from the other brands I use regularly. With that being said, I don't see myself buying any more of them since there are blades that are just as good if not better for a lot less money.

 

[Cumberland Sausage]

In my experience they are excellent blades, but not streets ahead of many other vintage and some modern ones in terms of sharpness and comfort. Where they, and others like Personna 74s and Scottish Perm-Sharps, really score is on longevity; they easily last three or four times as long as modern blades, for me. So, I'll pay a reasonable price for them, but not the silly money a lot of vendors want.

 

[Highspeedlane]

Interesting and thanks for posting. I often see vintage blades for sale on auction sites and wonder how they would compare to newly produced blades.

 

[Sledgehammer39]

Excellent blade, congrats!

 

[Toothpick]

Love them. Top 2 in blades for me.

 

[Cash_Stronomer]

Scored some of these a few weeks ago with a Red Tip. Great blade, bang on par with Nacet and GSB to me. Have not given it a longevity test, but I'm sure if I do some day, based on the feel after a couple shaves, I'm sure it would do well.

 

[yomuppet]

Nice score!

 

[aldomarino]

There was an entirely different stance and ethic towards manufacturing in the 1960's and 1970's. Things were intended to be quality, and things were intended to last. That's not say there wasn't junk built in those years, but there were a lot of excellent and durable things made in those years. I agree with Cumberland Sausage that there were a lot of great blades produced in that era, and even some which are still overlooked to this day, just as Schicks or the Admirals (Japanese). Some of the best blades made today shave just as well and as smoothly, but it's clear that the steel and metallurgy isn't of the same quality. As has been pointed out, the vintage blades typically just last longer. A lot longer.

During the 70's, most guys would just buy the cheapest generic no-name blades in the local drugstore (my guess in retrospective is that these were probably Personnas) and practically everyone would make a blade last a week or more every time.

 

[Mischka]

There was an entirely different stance and ethic towards manufacturing in the 1960's and 1970's. Things were intended to be quality, and things were intended to last. That's not say there wasn't junk built in those years, but there were a lot of excellent and durable things made in those years. I agree with Cumberland Sausage that there were a lot of great blades produced in that era, and even some which are still overlooked to this day, just as Schicks or the Admirals (Japanese). Some of the best blades made today shave just as well and as smoothly, but it's clear that the steel and metallurgy isn't of the same quality. As has been pointed out, the vintage blades typically just last longer. A lot longer.

I must strongly disagree with the two statements in boldface.

Metallurgical science has greatly advanced since the 1960's-70's and steel alloys manufactured for todays' blades are far superior in quality, as well as the modern polymers used in the coating process. The advances went hand-in-hand with computer technology which, was and is, used extensively in research, development and production.

I've seen countless posters crowing like a rooster about how much better their vintage razor blades shaved better/longer. With one exception, this to me is a psychosomatic occurrence, rooted in statements previously made by others.

The exception would be American Safety Razor's Personna 74* blades. The tungsten steel alloy also incorporated a copious amount of titanium and although it held an edge like no other blade, it took a very heavy toll on the grinding and honing wheels, were which custom made by Norton Company in Worcester, Massachusetts.

 

[frstplce]

All one has to do is take a look at the "blade used/blade tossed" threads for some numbers. Take into account that some guys toss after a set number and some push blades for a very long time. For the rest, it seems the shave# on vintages is typically at least a bit higher than modern blades.

Sure, we might have made some technological advancements since then. But was it really an improvement? Or did they just find a way to produce things more cheaply?

 

[Cash_Stronomer]

True, advancement and improvement are two different things. It's all in how you personally choose to take it yourself. I mean, driving a Ford Focus is an advancement, but driving a Ford Torino is an improvement.

 

[jruschme]

While I don't question that Gillette, their competitors and suppliers have made great strides in areas such as metallurgy since the "golden age" of DE shaving, I do have to wonder how many of those advances are reflected in a modern DE blade. Realistically, there is really little incentive for most companies to make a "best" DE blade as the market is too small. So, no, while I don't picture blades being stamped out on decaying, 50-year old equipment, I also don't think that a GSB or an Astra or a Feather necessarily represents the best blade that could be made with modern technology.

 

[DCRIII]

Well seems inadvertently caused some debates about the quality of these blades. My bad, not my intent.
On another note, I'm trying the spoilers in different vintage Gillette razors to find a good match.
So up to this point paired with a Black Beauty I got a nice shave in pare with my other blades. Here's a link showing the other blades I like using http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/468788-7-days-of-Aristocrats?highlight=
Yesterday I used my new to me Psycho Tech and that was anything but a luxurious shave. After three painful strokes, I took the blade out and put it into my Fat Handle Tech and got a really nice shave. Fat Handle Techs never seem to disappoint.
I passed on shaving today and went to the beach.
The Psycho Tech is going to require some special attention to find the right blade pairing.

 

[DCRIII]

Today I used the spoiler in my 1950's aristocrat with fantastic BBS results and this is the fifth shave on one side of the blade. I'm not sure which razor to try next. My red or blue tip ss, my fat boy or slim adjustable, my new sc or lc, my black handle or flare tip ss. So many choices!

 

[DCRIII]

Just a quick update, the spoiler is highly compatible with a Gillette Goodwill. Closest/smoothest shave to date. I'll be finishing this blade off in this razor.

 

[sarimento1]

found a good buy on some Gillette Spoiler blades recently and it delivered a great shave!
for whatever reason, coating or stainless steel, these have held up well over the years!

 

[CwA2s4tM]

There was an entirely different stance and ethic towards manufacturing in the 1960's and 1970's. Things were intended to be quality, and things were intended to last. That's not say there wasn't junk built in those years, but there were a lot of excellent and durable things made in those years.

Yes, it's interesting to see things like mid-'50s Gillette razors and try to imagine how much that quality would cost today in what was considered at the time to be essentially an expendable item.

People do not understand this. If you've done a serious study of modern marketing and production, you'll see that this is not an accident or a mistake but rather a set of concepts originating in American business schools in the early '50s that eventually became received wisdom in American production.

The original model of making the very best product you could, and making it better all the time, the Deming philosophy that was later enthusiastically embraced by Japan, was replaced by the concept attributed to the Harvard business school that "quality in excess of consumer expectation is waste."

What that meant in very literal terms was that you no longer made the best product you could, but rather the worst product you could get away with. Marketing could more cheaply distract consumers from concentrating on actual quality and rather fixate on intangibles. Lowering production costs and quality in favor of increasing profit margins was explicit.

The thought of making cheap blades that could go thirty shaves in a safety razor that was built to last forever was counterproductive to maximized profit.

Much better to make much more expensive disposable razors that were used once and thrown away, right? Marketing could sell this shoddy product as a convenience issue and the profit boost would be huge. The blades were dull after a shave and a half -- but they were supposed to be. The multi-blade-is-better nonsense finally lost in court, but by then it didn't matter as disposables had achieved such market dominance that safety razors had virtually disappeared. That's where we are today.

Somewhere along the line the long-life blade metallurgy disappeared too, but at least the vast third-world market kept the still-economical safety razor alive.

 

[Grundi]

Just a quick update, the spoiler is highly compatible with a Gillette Goodwill. Closest/smoothest shave to date. I'll be finishing this blade off in this razor.

You've got some real beauties in your collection (I followed the link from above - very impressive). Gillette has had some really nice razors. I just start my therapy for vintage razor acquisition disorder with the attainment of a Gem 1912 that needed (and still does) much TLC.