Gold Monkey Brand Origins, Back Story?

[Slash McCoy]

Okay, so we all know that Gold Monkey razors are made by Gold Dollar in their Ningbo factory. I was interested in the backstory of the brand. I even reached out to the company with a list of questions and they only replied that "Golden Monkey is also our brand". The scales are imprinted with "Jinhou" and Gold Monkey seems to translate to "Jin hou", and reversing it gives "Golden Monkey" so I am wondering if the Gold Monkey brand is meant specifically for domestic sales. The two popular models in this brand are the regretably named "666" and the "777", and at least one user on the forums has told me that the 666 is better than the 777. It also apparently is slightly cheaper.

Could be that the Gold Monkey brand was originated by the Gold Dollar company. Or maybe the brand was absorbed from another company that sold out to GD. I can only guess.

I know that the Double Arrow was made by the same company, before the Gold Dollar brand was established, but that brand is no longer made. Gold Monkey, where does that fit in? I don't think it is a predecessor of the GD brand. It seemed that GD appeared as the DA brand was phasing out. I never heard of the GM brand until well after the GD brand was established.

Does anybody have any useful or relevant information? inquiring minds want to know. Thanks.

 

[Steve56]

Here’s some images. Both the middle (GM 666) and the bottom razor (GM 777) are current AFAIK. The top one is one of 2 777s that I bought maybe 6 years ago. It is much better ground, has a vertical stabilizer which is nowhere near the edge, and there’s no ‘bulge’ at the heel so it doesn’t need ‘de-horning’. It’s a very fine razor, though the price was near $20 for onesies IIRC. I have not modified the heel of this razor in any way. That’s the way it came From the seller.

I saw an eBay ad for 777 Monkeys which had both images, the current version and the old. I emailed the seller asking for the old version, and he said that he did not have them, and that wasn’t even his image!

Slash, I’d go in with you for a number of the old 777 if they’ll make them. Black scales please, those brown ones look like crap. Literally.

 

[Slash McCoy]

Unfortunately factory orders are taking nearly two months. Shipments sit in a warehouse indefinitely, while every available plane is stuffed full of masks and stuff. My recent factory order would still be gathering dust in the warehouse but I "offered" to cancel the order and "request" a full refund through Alibaba, and Cici pulled some strings and got it in the pipeline again. The delay was not the factory's fault, but the port authority. Once she lit a fire under the right behinds, my goods arrived in a week or so. But I asked about another order, and a guaranteed shipping date, and it ain't happening. So I will not be messing with a factory order until Cici says it will go through.

There are a few resellers offering the 777 but I could not find the 666 anywhere. I suspect the 666 is a better razor than the newer version of the 777. Wider blade. Probably same spine thickness. Since these razors usually have an excessively obtuse bevel angle, any reduction would be welcome, I think. And in fact, the old style 777 is also wider than the new style 777. I will definitely ask about a short production run of the old 777 and in different shoes. I don't like those scales, either. They are actually the same material as all the other old line models though, and differ only cosmetically. But again, I won't be placing any orders until they can give me a firm shipping date. I don't want my money tied up in product that is just sitting indefinitely in some warehouse in China.

By the way, ebay reseller aceshaving is not able to ship right now. He also has an Alibaba portal and can't ship that way, either. I placed an order for 3 GM666 and he got right back to me and asked me to cancel. I really would like to get my hands on one or two 666 but nobody is shipping them right now.

 

[Steve56]

IMHO, you are correct, the 666 is a better razor than the 777. A tiny bit wider, not so much functional but appearance-wise better. The 666 seems to have been ‘smoothed’, both steel and scales, and they feel better in hand than the 777.

 

[Steve56]

We spoke before about the benefit of hiring say, a German razor Meister/grinder to help them out. Maybe that is what that old Monkey is, it’s quite good. But at $19.99 6 years ago, it obviously failed.

It’s a better razor than the 1996 and the new fancy models by far, and cheaper. Put thin scales on it and sell it for $29.99. Hotcakes with bacon and all the trimmings.

 

[DrStrange]

Okay, so we all know that Gold Monkey razors are made by Gold Dollar in their Ningbo factory. I was interested in the backstory of the brand. I even reached out to the company with a list of questions and they only replied that "Golden Monkey is also our brand". The scales are imprinted with "Jinhou" and Gold Monkey seems to translate to "Jin hou", and reversing it gives "Golden Monkey" so I am wondering if the Gold Monkey brand is meant specifically for domestic sales. The two popular models in this brand are the regretably named "666" and the "777", and at least one user on the forums has told me that the 666 is better than the 777. It also apparently is slightly cheaper.

Could be that the Gold Monkey brand was originated by the Gold Dollar company. Or maybe the brand was absorbed from another company that sold out to GD. I can only guess.

I know that the Double Arrow was made by the same company, before the Gold Dollar brand was established, but that brand is no longer made. Gold Monkey, where does that fit in? I don't think it is a predecessor of the GD brand. It seemed that GD appeared as the DA brand was phasing out. I never heard of the GM brand until well after the GD brand was established.

Does anybody have any useful or relevant information? inquiring minds want to know. Thanks.

Okay, so we all know that Gold Monkey razors are made by Gold Dollar in their Ningbo factory. I was interested in the backstory of the brand. I even reached out to the company with a list of questions and they only replied that "Golden Monkey is also our brand". The scales are imprinted with "Jinhou" and Gold Monkey seems to translate to "Jin hou", and reversing it gives "Golden Monkey" so I am wondering if the Gold Monkey brand is meant specifically for domestic sales. The two popular models in this brand are the regretably named "666" and the "777", and at least one user on the forums has told me that the 666 is better than the 777. It also apparently is slightly cheaper.

Could be that the Gold Monkey brand was originated by the Gold Dollar company. Or maybe the brand was absorbed from another company that sold out to GD. I can only guess.

I know that the Double Arrow was made by the same company, before the Gold Dollar brand was established, but that brand is no longer made. Gold Monkey, where does that fit in? I don't think it is a predecessor of the GD brand. It seemed that GD appeared as the DA brand was phasing out. I never heard of the GM brand until well after the GD brand was established.

Does anybody have any useful or relevant information? inquiring minds want to know. Thanks.

My guess would be that the gold dollar name
was specifically intended to appeal to the American market.
I don't know of any other nation issuing a gold dollar coin.

Gold dollar - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

I am also guessing that they are becoming more
comfortable with their reputation as a Chinese razor,
and that gold monkey evokes the idea of China.