The jumbo packs of 20 are sometimes a better value if the Persona 74 Tungsten Plus writing is visible through the blister packaging. That's to say, that the writing on the blade itself is not always entirely obscured by the dispenser. Someone picked up 40 these Personna 74 blades (in the transitional SPC packaging) for $29.95 a few months ago. 40 blades for under a buck apiece.
are NOS Personna "Super Platinum Chrome" blades P74*s in disguise?
- Thread starter awa54
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The jumbo packs of 20 are sometimes a better value if the Persona 74 Tungsten Plus writing is visible through the blister packaging. That's to say, that the writing on the blade itself is not always entirely obscured by the dispenser. Someone picked up 40 these Personna 74 blades (in the transitional SPC packaging) for $29.95 a few months ago. 40 blades for under a buck apiece.
Yeah, the wide variety of variations found in this packaging presents an opportunity to get P74 blades in many instances. This packaging continued to be used for a long time, and the later blades, as far as we can tell, are a platinum coated, tungsten blade.
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- #23
OK, so the test shaves are back; the dispenser packs with a red "Personna" above the blade opening and black "Super Platinum Chrome Blades" followed by red "push button down - dispense in direction of arrows" under the blade opening most certainly *ARE* a long-life blade like the original 74*. The blades in those packs have "Personna" on the top left of the blade and "made in u.s.a" reading top to bottom on the right side of the blade with inward facinging arrows at the top and bottom of both sides of each blade, they are not quite as gray in appearance as a true 74*, but are not an overly shiny blade either.
If anything these post-74* blades are slightly smoother than the original 74* "Tungsten Plus" and much smoother than the un-coated "Tungsten Steel" 74*s.
Sadly all of the packs I have seen come up on eBay lately have been priced accordingly
Beware of later production blades in packaging that still uses the term "Platinum Chrome", most of these are totally conventional blades that still give fine shaves, but are not as durable as the Tungsten alloy blades and certainly not worth more than the current lab/blue Personna blades for any reason other than collecting vintage packaging.
If anything these post-74* blades are slightly smoother than the original 74* "Tungsten Plus" and much smoother than the un-coated "Tungsten Steel" 74*s.
Sadly all of the packs I have seen come up on eBay lately have been priced accordingly
Beware of later production blades in packaging that still uses the term "Platinum Chrome", most of these are totally conventional blades that still give fine shaves, but are not as durable as the Tungsten alloy blades and certainly not worth more than the current lab/blue Personna blades for any reason other than collecting vintage packaging.
OK, so the test shaves are back; the dispenser packs with a red "Personna" above the blade opening and black "Super Platinum Chrome Blades" followed by red "push button down - dispense in direction of arrows" under the blade opening most certainly *ARE* a long-life blade like the original 74*. The blades in those packs have "Personna" on the top left of the blade and "made in u.s.a" reading top to bottom on the right side of the blade with inward facinging arrows at the top and bottom of both sides of each blade, they are not quite as gray in appearance as a true 74*, but are not an overly shiny blade either.
If anything these post-74* blades are slightly smoother than the original 74* "Tungsten Plus" and much smoother than the un-coated "Tungsten Steel" 74*s.
Sadly all of the packs I have seen come up on eBay lately have been priced accordingly
Beware of later production blades in packaging that still uses the term "Platinum Chrome", most of these are totally conventional blades that still give fine shaves, but are not as durable as the Tungsten alloy blades and certainly not worth more than the current lab/blue Personna blades for any reason other than collecting vintage packaging.
For illustration purposes, you are referring to this packaging, correct?
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I got a 12th solid shave out of one of these blades this morning.
- Thread starter
- #26
Yes, those are identical to what I have used and found to be a long-life blade.
...forty of those puppies ought to keep you in great shaves for quite a while!
No so long ago, folks were claiming that the SI and the PSI were 2 different blades.
I finally cracked open my pack after being tied up trying other vintage blades. My facial hair must be extra tough because I could only get 6 shaves out of it.
I'm very lucky because these belonged to my wife's late father.
Scored a 5 pack in disguise:
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- #31
In my mind the jury is still out on that question... the Polsilvers I have are smoother than the Iridium Supers, that could easily be batch variation, but to determine that I'll need to try another batch of the PSIs.
I'm certainly not contending that the SPC blades are identical to P74* blades, just that they are indeed a longer than average life blade... if anything I think the SPCs I have used might be a tad smoother than the coated 74s, though the longest lived of the Personna Tungsten blades I have shaved with so far is a 74*.
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I got a small pkg of these with some razors I bought. There was only 4 left in it. I loaded one up in my 58 ball tech (my current favorite) and started my journey. The first 2 shaves were very "audible" and felt like day old feathers. I just finished shave #6 and think I am in the plateau. Standard 3 pass shave with touch-up and zero issues. Any other blade I am rushing to get to the end of the shave just to throw it away. If this is the faux-pas P-74, I am very impressed. I wont ever overlook these again and will be on the outlook for anything like this in the future. (for reasonable prices from unsuspecting sellers of course)
Ack! I tried quoting the picture of the SPC earlier in the thread...
Ack! I tried quoting the picture of the SPC earlier in the thread...
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I just sat down with the calender and have shaved with it 19 (every other day) times and it seems to last forever. Now I can see why some members say they get bored with the blade and toss it. Why cant blades like this and the real P74 be made to this standard anymore? This is amazing...
How ironic isn't it. We moan and groan about the lack of blade longevity yet when we find one we can't wait to toss it two weeks into it.
How ironic isn't it. We moan and groan about the lack of blade longevity yet when we find one we can't wait to toss it two weeks into it.
To add to this, back in the mid 2000's, people in the southeastern states were in a period of drought. Lake levels were very low and homeowners who lived on a lake had the water under their docks dry up rendering them unusable. Weather forecasters were following the "doom and gloom" protocol when reporting this. This summer has been the wettest on record for the southeast with rainfall totals far exceeding the yearly normal which is great because there is no more drought. However, every time I put on the popular cable weather channel, all you here is the forecasters doom and gloom forecasts for the southeast due to all the rain. Humans are a funny bunch.
How ironic isn't it. We moan and groan about the lack of blade longevity yet when we find one we can't wait to toss it two weeks into it.
Trust me, the irony is not lost on me.
July 14th was the day it all started...
I just finished with shave #28. I shave every other day so it had to mow 2 day stubble. Mostly with Stirling soap, but with a few cellas to break up the monotony. Its starting to pull a bit ATG and leave a few stragglers. Time for me to put it to bed. This was a fun experiment for me but now its time to pack the few remainders I have away for another time. I forgot what it was like to "Wear out a blade"!
i have used both and can 100% say they are not the 74's there is a thread somewhere here explaining what these actually are im trying to find it. i asked this a while back when i was looking at these same blades this is if you are talking about the ones the are the chrome versions in the red wrappers being sold as new old stock.
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- #38
Sadly, I have to report the first exception to the rule that the above pictured packaging always contains long-life "*74-like" blades... I recently got a 10 pack with this exact packaging and the blades within *do* shave just like a normal SPC, however they only stay sharp for 3-5 shaves, then abruptly go harsh, unlike the tungsten blades, which slowly go dull over the span of 20+ shaves, without ever getting particularly harsh.
The "real" tungsten alloy blades have all had "Personna" or "Personna 74 Tungsten plus" printed on the blades in addition to arrows and MADE IN USA, these non-long-life SPCs just have the arrows and "MADE IN USA" printed on the blade.
Still excellent blades, but with normal life span, fortunately I only paid about $.50 each for these, so it wasn't a bad deal, but if I had payed any more it would have been a different story!
Thats good to know, seen some on ebay recently I think from the 80's, no one bid on them I thought about it but now glad I didn't.
Nice score, these are P74 Tungsten Plus blades I am sure since it is in the black pack.
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