Where is that razor made, does anyone know?
Fine "Marvel" Razor
- Thread starter J 5
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Where is that razor made, does anyone know?
The Center of the Universe.
The Center of the Universe.
I kind of figured, but I just listened to a podcast about this razor and the prototypes were stainless steel.
As noted, Rockwell is giving it a go with their Model T but there have been many complications with this project. After more than two and a half years it is only just now coming into production. But it is only nominally a Gillette clone, as it is a mostly zamak razor. And, it is priced at $119. By comparison, Gillette sold the Fat Boy in 1960 for $1.95, or about 17 bucks in today's dollars.
The reason no one has (or likely will) be able to truly replicate the vintage Gillette adjustable razors is all about the capital cost of the required production methods. Gillette used a complex progressive stamping process to produce the precision brass parts needed for these razors. The up-front costs in tooling and machinery for this were very substantial, but once tooled up, Gillette could crank out razors by the tens of thousands. Their per-unit margin was small, but they sold zillions of them.
In today's world, the capital cost of tooling up for brass stamping is simply prohibitive; the small size of today's DE market just won't support that kind of investment. Gillette could do it back in the day because (relative) costs were lower, they were prodigiously capitalized and, most importantly, their market was huge, basically the entire shaving universe.
Hmm, if they could sell at same price as the Ascension SS I'd certainly buy one.
Yes, and their razors were loss leaders for their real profit center -- which was blades. They had the patent. It was the loss of that patent which lead them to develop the Atra and all the little plastic shave mops that have come since.
I would add also that by getting a grande + special edition, a user gets 4 great combos ( 2 heads + 2 handles) for 40 usd. That makes it about 10 usd for a Fatip razor . Unbeatable offering in my opinion!
Yep it is and its crossed my mind to buy a Sp. Ed. set just for the gold Gentile head, but I doubt I'd use it much.
Fine responded quickly and is sending a replacement head.
No, the Rex is a clone of an older Gibbs razor. There's a thread about it in this forum.
The Q-Shave/Weishi adjustable razor, while a TTO, is based more on the Futur design and is nothing like the FatBoy.
The Gillette adjustable razors are apparently a fairly complex design which does not lend itself to modern manufacturing of a boutique product. Rather, it leveraged the machinery and tooling that the company had built up over the years.
Currently, only two companies are trying to build anything near a FatBoy clone- Rockwell with the Model T and Janus Razors with their Toggle reimplementation. To get an idea of the difficulties involved, one should definitely read the updates on both products as well as the Q&A for the Q-Shave Kickstarter where they mention why they rejected a Gillette-like design.
Personally, I suspect that it would probably be easier to try and track down the original tooling for the Wizamat, Consul, Rubin, or other Soviet-era clones of the Gillette adjustable razors. (Hmm... were any made inside the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone?
)
Maggard the retailer also responded quickly, suggesting I contact Fine directly.
With service lliike that $40 aint so bad after all.
I suspect they knew it would be replaced.
Received my Marvel is yesterday's mail, which was late and so did not get to shave with it until tonight. Because I am participating in OCtober and my New Improved tuckaway was on deck, I decided to compare them by shaving half my face with each. As noted in some previous posts, the Marvel just throws the whole blade gap argument out the window. It had a gap way more than my NI but still was a smoother shaver than the NI. Efficiency wise, I totally enjoyed the shave from the Marvel as this was one of those razors where you don't feel anything while doing a pass but find out before lathering for the next pass that your face is totally smooth. In the end, the NI was slightly more efficient in clearing out the stubble, but the Marvel was significantly more comfortable. I suspect that as I shave more with the Marvel, it will probably give me more efficient shaves. I like the chiseled top cap which, like the Merkur 37 and Blackbird, it gives you the proper angle without any thought. The wide bar is something I need to play around with more.
Overall, a pretty impressive $40 razor.
Overall, a pretty impressive $40 razor.
Just curious, did they want the original one back?
No. I'm not sure if they are sending complete razor or just the head -- I said a head would be fine. To be clear I didn't ask for a replacement but one was offered after review of another set of photos. I'll report back next week.
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Yes, blade gap is a much overemphasized aspect of razor geometry. This is mainly because, unlike most other parameters, it is easy to measure. Really, gap only matters if ALL other things are equal, e.g. ATT , Rockwell, etc. sets where the only variable between different plates is gap. In that case, more gap equals more aggression/efficiency. But trying to compare differently designed razors based only on gap is a fool's errand. For example, for me, razors with limited exposure and large gaps seem to work best. Usually I find such razors mild (or comfortable) on the face, yet quite efficient. Sounds like I might need to check out the Marvel.
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Ah I see. Thanks for the info
i just got mine in. did one shave so far with a blade that worked best for me in my other razor which is merkur 23c. i only had that one untill now and still learning. im pretty sure i didnt pay attention to my angle and just went for it. bad mistake. once i got to my against the grain pass, i got some decent cuts where i usually dont and irratation on neck. the shave was closer then anything a received on my merkur though. but i believe with time and different blade variations, ill nail it. other then that, it was smooth. i think i thought was too smooth so put more angle in the shave.
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