For those who have been collecting over two years

[Mojo88]

I have been collecting for quite a few years and am down to the following razors. I think I have tried every blade and razor combination that is out there. I have bought and sold more than I care to think about and went to straights for a very short time. As for me I got tired of the gold razors and decided to go strictly silver, rhodium or nickel plated. The only razor I am looking for now is a chrome toggle and I think I will be waiting for a while on that.

If you have been collecting at least this long what influnced you to keep the collection you have?
Are you like me and got tired of the gold being so fragile?
Did you sell and later regret selling off a razor?
Did you buy,sell and the rebuy?

 

[goatee]

i have too many. i need to sell off some SE.

 

[Quigg]

Hey, Matt, tell us newcomers what you kept. It's kind of hard to tell from this photo. Thanks!

 

[Dalejr]

I'm very selective of what I've collected, patience is key. I love gold but like you because it's so fragile I only shave with them on special occasions. I love looking at them so I guess thats the reason for keeping even the ones I don't use . I think I need to sell a few though.

 

[Krona Kruiser]

I've been there. I've had so many razors and sold off quite a few too. If I really miss them, I try to find them again. However, there are a few I wouldn't part with. My English Aristocrats, adjustables, NEW standards, NEW Deluxes, Big Fellows and a couple others have a permanent home in my den. I like my gold plated razors but you're right, it keeps me from using them as often as I could.

 

[ras120]

If you have been collecting at least this long what influnced you to keep the collection you have? The section of my Prefrontal Cortex where the "pack rat" lives.

Are you like me and got tired of the gold being so fragile? I love my gold razors, but I rarely use them.

Did you sell and later regret selling off a razor? No. Out of sight, out of mind.

Did you buy,sell and the rebuy? No, but I will buy an upgrade first, then sell the duplicate.

 

[Copierguy]

Razors from the 40s and 50s speak to me. Yes gold is fragile so when I get tired of looking at my user Milords and Diplomat, they will be reborn with a nickel skin. Adjustables caught my eye early on:

 

[Mojo88]

Hey, Matt, tell us newcomers what you kept. It's kind of hard to tell from this photo. Thanks!

2- Rhodium Executives
1- British Rocket HD
1- British Rocket
2- 58s One Aluminum and One Rhodium
1- New Standard
1- #66
1- Fatboy
1- Slim
1-President
1-Hoffritz Slant
1-Merkur Open Comb
1-Schick Adjustable
1-Aristocrat Jr
1-TV Special


In time I will sell of one of the Executives, the rest I will keep as I sold several razors and have re-purchased them. It's much more difficult to find quality razors in the wild now as opposed to several years when I started.

 

[celestino]

i stopped after 100 and started reducing. No more collecting for me. Enjoy the razors.

 

[chado006]

For me it's been buy, sell, regret. Keep repeating that. This is what I see in the foreseeable future as well.

 

[amishmotorboat]

I started collecting with a 'keep one of everything' view. I don't want to do that anymore. While I have 'almost' stopped buying, I haven't really started selling off much yet. My plan is to have 3 small shelves of keepers. One shelf will feature unique adjustment mechanisms, one will feature unique blade changing, and one will be miscellaneously unique.

 

[ajc347]

I've been through a lot of razors in arriving at my current collection.

I made a decision about 18 months ago to stick to vintage British Gillettes, modern Stainless razors and some slants.

I've kept to this in terms if complete razors and Gillette heads.

I do have a fair few Stainless and one Canadian Gillette handle mated up to the heads though.

I'm one 4 piece Tech variant short and am still on the look out for some Canadian 4 piece Tech handles - other than this I think I can say that I am finally sorted collection-wise.

I've ended up with a collection of razors which not only suit my shaving preferences, and a collection which also has some clear themes running through it.

I'm in the same position with brushes as well.

Straights are the next thing on the agenda now though. I need to thin out my collection a bit and work out what my preferences are, as well as learning how to hone properly.

 

[kingfisher]

I have settled on a Fatboy, a Stahly live blade, a FaTip, a Progress, and one Superspeed.


I have a boatload of other razors, but I am planning on selling them off within the next couple of months.

 

[ERVARGASNY]

I just love collecting, and i only sell a duplicate that i have found a better specimen of ) Otherwise One of each for me is fine, unless its a Rare Piece or uncommon razor then i may have two of each ) but that doesnt happen to often )

 

[Snuff-Belgium]

Like many I bought, sold and traded a lot of my razors. I'm at the end of the line now, I'm not a collector just want the razors that shave best and give me most pleasure using them (that's very personal of course). Sold all of my vintage razors as none of them shaved any better then the ones currently in production.

 

[bythbook]

I tried at the "one of everything" - it got a little much when I found myself seeking case variations! (Richwood, Bostonian, etc - and silver AND gold of the various ABCs, and Tuckaways....) so I sold off some duplicates and sold off my adjustables (didn't use 'em, but selling them was a real mistake) and a couple other user-grades.... I needed the dough, but I wish I had kept them all, honestly.

And I don't have display cases, and I relinquished my linen-closet-turned-shave-den to its rightful owner. (She was gracious in her victory.) So space is an issue - razors & brushes own two drawers of my dresser.

I find I don't use pristine gold razors because of the fragile plating - except on special occasions - and man, I have a beautiful 30's Aristocrat TTO that I'd love to use more. (Maybe I should display that one, eh?)

But I"m not accumulating anymore, gonna sit pat with my 75 or 80 Gillettes and my representative runs of Ever-Ready/GEMs and Schick SEs.

(I'd jump for an aluminum Aristocrat Jr., though, or an original Aristocrat set that I could afford!

If I were simply going for "best shave" I'd have a lonely GEM Feather Weight.

If only I could pull back on the AS and smellums AD!

 

[redbike]

My collection has leveled off at about 35 Gillette DE's and about 12 SE razors. I use them all in a rotation I track on a spreadsheet, gold razors included. I've never bought a razor to keep and not use; that aspect of collecting doesn't appeal to me. I regularly check in the B/S/T forum here and on eBay just to see what's available and its cost. Up until very recently I hadn't bought a razor in years. But I did just buy a V-3 code SS in excellent condition w/case on eBay for about $20, which I though was a good deal. If I come across a nicer razor to replace an identical one in my collection I will purchase it if the price is acceptable. I have sold some nice razors because I didn't like how they shaved. I sold a nice Diplomat for this reason -it was too mild. The only razor I'd like to acquire is a long or short comb NEW in silver/nickel/chrome.

It's interesting to hear others' collecting strategies and rationales.

Thanks,

jim

 

[mdw15]

In the 70's and 80's I loved collecting, and using, fountain pens. Today I enjoy the 10 razors I've "collected," or gathered to keep. But also to use or to do something else useful with them. (Well, the '61 slim in the allegedly original case left with my nephew in California a while back apparently isn't being usefully employed; it's probably gathering dust on a shelf. I just hope the shelf isn't in a pawn shop. I really have to check.)

My razors not in the main rotation are a second Mergress, a '58 D-4 nickel fatboy, a second rhodium '47 superspeed, and a third nickel '47 superspeed (getting rhodium plated at Reliable Electroplating). I use them occasionally.

As for my main rotation: two '58 D-3 Executive (gold plate) fatboys, a '61 G-3 Aristocrat (gold plate) slim, a Mergress and a rhodium '47 superspeed, I lean toward the three with the most fragile plating. I use the Executives and the Aristocrat a lot because I like them that much. I can even imagine a time when I could be confronted with the challenge of a brassing razor. On the other hand, at this point along the way, I should be so lucky.

Plus I am on a first name basis with a gentleman who goes by the name Dale, and whose Reliable Electroplating has a demonstrated ability to bathe injured razors in a revitalizing metal bath.

I figure that the '47 superspeed is a classic, but not rare, so wrecking its museum potential with new plating preserves it without wrecking anything significant.

 

[Merkur25]

I started collecting everything. Then I would sell off my doubles and keep the better of the two. I own just one gold razor right now, the Diplomat. Now I tend too look for very rare non gillettes. I restored 2 straights and bought a couple strops just to have sit around, yes I dont know why I do things.

I do regret selling over 3/4 my collection but it is down to what I think are my favorites.

I have a lot of razors that I want but they are way out of my price range right now and I haven't seen examples for them for sale, ever, so I may never be able to buy them.

 

[_MementoMori_]

I'm in the midst of paring down my collection heavily at the moment. I've decided to not keep anything that I don't have the case for, and I've also sold off some of my nicer straights because I just don't straight shave as often as I use a DE.

It doesn't hurt that I've developed a raging leather shoe/boot AD, and I need to pull from one AD to fund another.