Had my first shave with a fatboy and boy was it a nice shave. I started out on setting number one and progressed to 4 by the end of the shave. At points I wasn’t sure if there was a blade in the razor because it was just gliding over the skin. My chin is always difficult to get because of the coarseness of the hair and direction of the hairs but it got all of the hair with no irritation. I now see why they are so highly regarded.
Fatboy is Fantastic
- Thread starter Miketorrge
- Start date
It’s an excellent razor. Nice to hear you are enjoying it.
Now you know you just want ... wait that's NEED an Executive Gold Flatboy, there's one on Fleabay for a mere 659USD, mere chickin feed that 
Been using one exclusively for 5+ years. No need to switch up.
So, is the Executive fat boy a different manufacture than the standard, or is it just gold plated?
I've been tempted to invest in a Fatboy but aside from the rather steep cost of initiation into the club, I worry it might be too aggressive for me. I hear that a lot of adjustable razors tend towards the aggressive side and my only adjustable, an Emperor Meiji, leans that way heavily. 
But I'm glad to hear you love yours!
But I'm glad to hear you love yours!
I had opportunity at B n B Members Fatboy, dsy it went on sales block. My internet & Wi-Fi was down all morning.
That one go away, it was nice, need not replaying, and price was fair.
Still in hunt.
That one go away, it was nice, need not replaying, and price was fair.
Still in hunt.
Ron R
I survived a lathey foreman
I also enjoy my Gillette Fatboy E4 variant that is my year I was born. It shaves a slightly smoother than my Gillette slim IMO and not sure why but that is my conclusion.
I personally wouldn’t over pay for Fatboy. If you want one, I suggest keeping an eye on the BST. Folks here are much more reasonable with pricing their razors. I rarely see anyone trying to rip someone off with their prices.I've been tempted to invest in a Fatboy but aside from the rather steep cost of initiation into the club, I worry it might be too aggressive for me. I hear that a lot of adjustable razors tend towards the aggressive side and my only adjustable, an Emperor Meiji, leans that way heavily.
But I'm glad to hear you love yours!
- Thread starter
- #10
I’ve seen some reasonable ones on EBay. I tend to like mild razors and I found it very comfortable.I've been tempted to invest in a Fatboy but aside from the rather steep cost of initiation into the club, I worry it might be too aggressive for me. I hear that a lot of adjustable razors tend towards the aggressive side and my only adjustable, an Emperor Meiji, leans that way heavily.
But I'm glad to hear you love yours!
Nah you will be fineI've been tempted to invest in a Fatboy but aside from the rather steep cost of initiation into the club, I worry it might be too aggressive for me. I hear that a lot of adjustable razors tend towards the aggressive side and my only adjustable, an Emperor Meiji, leans that way heavily.
But I'm glad to hear you love yours!
The 195 is a gentle giant, settings from the range of 2-8 will give you a shave comparable to the mildest Tech, a Blue Tip, a Pre-war Tech, Flare Tip, 1940's Super Speed, an English Rocket, US Red Tip and an English Red Tip roughly speaking.
It seems to be trying to give the user the range of SB Gillettes and their shaving characteristics that were in contemporary and past production which the consumer may had experienced when the 195 was on the market, and IMO does that very impressively.
Nothing like some of the excessively aggressive modern adjustables, including the Meiji I would say.
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I've been tempted to invest in a Fatboy but aside from the rather steep cost of initiation into the club, I worry it might be too aggressive for me. I hear that a lot of adjustable razors tend towards the aggressive side and my only adjustable, an Emperor Meiji, leans that way heavily.
But I'm glad to hear you love yours!
I vastly prefer mild razors and love my Slim. Based on the specs my understanding is Fatboys are even milder than Slims. I suspect if you wanted to try a mild adjustable, a Fatboy would be one of the ones to try.
I think adjustables vary quite a bit in aggressiveness just like nonadjustables, there's just more range in each.
I think the 195 and Slim are almost identical in shave from my experience. Obviously the ergonomics and look is very different.
If anything the 195 'felt' a little more aggressive. A touch. But that might be the weight. A classic YMMV thing with these vintages.
I hear that from when you get to the post 1968 period and you start to see the Super Adjustable, thats when the aggression noticably kicks up.
A Slim is a great razor, and is somewhat more affordable, but 195's seem to be pretty cheap in the US in fair condition still.
I'm in the UK and 195's and Slims are VERY expensive in comparison on the bay. They were not made in the Gillette England plant, all exported from the Boston factory with UK market branding and were not as widely bought it seems. They may have been more expensive than the US retail price. I'm very lucky to have had both.
They sold the 195 as the Gillette Adjustable Razor here, and the Slim was marketed as the Gillette Adjustable Mk II. They thought 'Slim' was too undignified a name for the British consumer
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Mighty hard to beat a Fatboy in shaving or looks in my book. Still can be had cheap if you keep an eye peeled on the auction site and have patience. Replating is very reasonable. Prices are only going up. So buy 10 today! 
They sold the 195 as the Gillette Adjustable Razor here, and the Slim was marketed as the Gillette Adjustable Mk II. They thought 'Slim' was too undignified a name for the British consumer
Good heavens!
The Slim shaves about the same as the 195, costs much less here. The weight distribution of the Slim seems better. Now, I would say that 'Fatboy' is a very undignified name.
lasta
Blade Biter
I don't think it was ever officially called a Fatboy, more of a B&B nickname.Good heavens!
The Slim shaves about the same as the 195, costs much less here. The weight distribution of the Slim seems better. Now, I would say that 'Fatboy' is a very undignified name.
Gillette needs to remake this one.. I'd buy a new one..
I've had a couple in my watch list for a while. This thread just made me buy one. Pretty poor looking 1961 sample, but judging the sellers pics, a cleaning should bring it back to it's original glory.
Curious to see if I'll love it as much as my SA 109.
Curious to see if I'll love it as much as my SA 109.
Very interesting and useful to know. I wonder what the market shares of different razors were like at different places in the world over time. It's easy to lose sight of bigger context with these things.I think the 195 and Slim are almost identical in shave from my experience. Obviously the ergonomics and look is very different.
If anything the 195 'felt' a little more aggressive. A touch. But that might be the weight. A classic YMMV thing with these vintages.
I hear that from when you get to the post 1968 period and you start to see the Super Adjustable, thats when the aggression noticably kicks up.
A Slim is a great razor, and is somewhat more affordable, but 195's seem to be pretty cheap in the US in fair condition still.
I'm in the UK and 195's and Slims are VERY expensive in comparison on the bay. They were not made in the Gillette England plant, all exported from the Boston factory with UK market branding and were not as widely bought it seems. They may have been more expensive than the US retail price. I'm very lucky to have had both.
They sold the 195 as the Gillette Adjustable Razor here, and the Slim was marketed as the Gillette Adjustable Mk II. They thought 'Slim' was too undignified a name for the British consumer
I've had multiple Superadjustables and my experience is that they are in fact more aggressive than the Slim. They're still basically the same family and not wildly different razors but are noticably more aggressive.
As I'm writing this I'm wondering why they were driving the adjustables in the more aggressive direction even as they were headed toward ultimately even milder cartridges. The cynic in me would suggest that they were trying to move people to more profitable cartridges, but maybe it was more driven by desired closeness of shave per se? I guess that's getting off-topic though.
I have three Fatboys, three Slims and a '77 Super Adjustable (Black Beauty). All of them are fantastic razors. A 1964 Slim was my first vintage Gillette, and its shave quality is just remarkable. For my money, I get a better shave from the Slim and Black Beauty than the Fatboy, and I prefer the ergonomics of the Slim and BB. That said, all three are used weekly, and I enjoy (and look forward to) using all of my vintage Gillettes, regardless of the variant. If you don't have a Gillette Adjustable, it's a must-have, and worth shopping around for a decent quality model that should clean up extremely well.
I find I get the best shaves on settings 5 or 6, depending on how stubbly my stubble is that day. Paired with a Permasharp, Astra SP, Nacet or Feather, I get a great, smooth, close shave. The vintage Gillettes feel effortless to use (especially the Slim and Black Beauty), and I never get tired of singing their praises.
I find I get the best shaves on settings 5 or 6, depending on how stubbly my stubble is that day. Paired with a Permasharp, Astra SP, Nacet or Feather, I get a great, smooth, close shave. The vintage Gillettes feel effortless to use (especially the Slim and Black Beauty), and I never get tired of singing their praises.
