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Good question.What about the opposition? Advantage, Tracer, Diamond FX and Protector?
Do they show the same kind of progression?
Good question.What about the opposition? Advantage, Tracer, Diamond FX and Protector?
Thanks - do you have exact dates for the Kai triple blade and the laterally pivoting handle?
Great stuff! Thanks.
So when was the lubrastrip introduced?
And when were protecting wires introduced (like the Protector and Feather MR3)?
I can’t edit the first post but now we’ve got
1975: First disposable - Bic
2008: First six blade - Dorco
The retractor...I remember my brother using Wilkinson Sword cartridges with Blade Guards back in the late 80's
They had a red handle iirc
Looking over the timeline I’ve started wondering how many advances in design are genuine progress and how many are just marketing.
Some people argue that even a second blade is unnecessary.
With good prep, does a lubrastrip really matter?
And does the guard with the microfins actually make any difference?
I know from personal experience that the pivoting razor head is a boon for headshaving but are most of the other innovations just made for lazy shaving and unnecessary if you have good prep and good technique?
Still a great little razor. I learned on my dad's Schick and went to the Trac II in 72 after they came out with much fanfare. I found this NOS T-2 (still in the original retail plastic sleeve) a few years ago and couldn't pass it up because of the memories. I used a T-2 all my working years and now only when I travel. Just to easy and still gives a great mindless shave.
He obviously means Trac II...Help? When you write T-2, are you referring to Trac II, or to the date code? Trac II from '72 would have had a date code of S; T-2 date code would have been the second quarter of 1973.
Gorgeous Deluxe, by the way!
Thank you for your patience.
Tom
Help? When you write T-2, are you referring to Trac II, or to the date code? Trac II from '72 would have had a date code of S; T-2 date code would have been the second quarter of 1973.
Gorgeous Deluxe, by the way!
Thank you for your patience.
Tom
4th Quarter of 1971 (when the Trac II was first introduced) did not have a date code; from 1st quarter of '72 on, they all had date codes inside the head:Thanks. The T-2 I just meant Trac II for short. The Trac II razor did not have any date codes back then. The Gillette Double Edge razors such as the Super Speed or Tech would have had the date codes showing the quarter of Mfg 1-4 and a letter for the year of Mfg. The Trac II razor was basically the first nail in the coffin for the Gillette DE design razors. The Super Speed I believe was discontinued sometime in the late eighties. I think 88.
4th Quarter of 1971 (when the Trac II was first introduced) did not have a date code; from 1st quarter of '72 on, they all had date codes inside the head:
View attachment 1051000year by alpha on one side and quarter by number on the other.
HTH
Tom
I said the Vector wasn't an Atra, and that the later Contours were possibly as bad as the Vectors. The Contour was the European version of the Atra, later it was sold in other markets. The cheap Contour handle has never been sold in Western Europe. Just because two cars share the same name from a manufacturer, doesn't mean they are the same model in different markets.
Why does your North American Atra have foreign language written underneath the word new?Actually no, the final North American iteration of the Gillette Atra, discontinued in the 2000's, was the same model as the Vector and latter Contour/Slalom:
View attachment 1051016
Also, haven't seen anybody mention the Japanese version of the Atra - the "Actas". While elsewhere the rubber/plastic handle was introduced, the Actas kept being produced with a metal handle until it was discontinued in the 2010's.
View attachment 1051021
Why does your North American Atra have foreign language written underneath the word new?
What does it say under Nouveau?Not a foreign language, for North America. It is in French for the Canadian market, "Nouveau". I bought one of these a couple of years ago (yellowed plastic packaging from sitting on the shelf for so long) at a corner store in Toronto, but can't post better pics as I'm overseas.
What does it say under Nouveau?
It may never have been launched in countries other than Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea.
The Vector and Vector3 are aimed at markets like India, Indonesia, Vietnam etc. They have large populations. However, the majority are not affluent. India only now has a middle class that is a target of the West. Import restrictions and poverty prevented this in 1990 when the Sensor was launched.
Sorry, but you are just grabbing ad hoc photos off the internet to fit your own narrative based on your own assumptions.English: "Non-slip Grip"
French: "Manche Antidérapante"
And here we have the corresponding Contour packaging with English, French, Turkic and Arabic language:
View attachment 1051283
English-only version:
View attachment 1051284
Also, at the Atra's introduction there was a plastic handle version, with a plastic/metal head like the latter versions.
It seems in US, at least initially, it was just to get the customer to try out the Atra system. Called "Trial", or "Invitation":
View attachment 1051287
View attachment 1051299
But here called Gillette Contour Deluxe:
View attachment 1051297
Gillette Contour Plus Sport:
View attachment 1051289
Gillette Atra Plus Sport, 1990's, made in Mexico. Spanish on package.
View attachment 1051288
And I think this style continued for longer under the Slalom name, before changing to rubber/platic handle:
View attachment 1051291
View attachment 1051290
Sorry, but you are just grabbing ad hoc photos off the internet to fit your own narrative based on your own assumptions.