GSB: Old versus New--any difference?

[Pinto90]

I’m not sure why Russian blades are often shipped with old date codes especially GSBs. It’s almost like they printed up a bunch of boxes years ago and are just now using them.

The GBS ones that show the date 2017 or 2018 are not old and in common are distributed by P&G South Africa, so it says on the packaging.
I just saw this in another wet shave forum.

 

[WVShaver]

Yea after the change to single wrapper around 2021 or 2022 I ordered some and they were 2017 dated on the box. Lately they’ve been 2018 dated.

The newest ones have changed and mine say 2022 on the box with different wrapper and the blade ink is slightly different. I’d say here soon you will start seeing the 2022 version more then the 2017-2018 version. And if GSBs aren’t discontinued I figure these plain wrapper 2017-18 ones will disappear completely in a couple years for the newest ones.

 

[Pinto90]

Old = Double wrapped, 4 glue spots, sometimes on the edges, the blades are printed
New = Single wrapped, 2 glue spots in the middle, blades are laser etched.

I own the new ones, but I haven't used them so I can't say how they shave.

New = Single wapped, 2 glue spots in the middle

Yea after the change to single wrapper around 2021 or 2022 I ordered some and they were 2017 dated on the box. Lately they’ve been 2018 dated.

Perhaps the single wrapping was already there in the 2018 GSBs?
Mine is 2018 single wrap and two glue spots in the middle.

So mine and 2017's are also new, the old ones are from earlier years.
I did not understand until what year they used the double wrap.
By old we don't mean in the meaning of more years but in the meaning of blade difference.

 

[WVShaver]

I was wrong, I have no 2017 dated GSB's. All 3 batches with the wrapper like yours above are either 20/12/18, or 21/12/18 even though they were purchased years apart from different places.

The newest 2022 dated ones have changed completely and are back to 4 glue dots instead of 2 and the wrapper has writing on it even though it is only single wrapped.

So it goes like this
1st gen - Double wrapped, 4 glue dots, labeled on the outside. No date on packaging.
2nd gen - Single wrapped, 2 glue dots in middle, plain white wrapper. Either 2017, or 2018 dated on box.
3rd gen - Single wrapped, 4 glue dots, labeled on wrapper similar to Nacet/Wilkinson Swords. Dated 2022 and perhaps other dates yet to be received.

The 2nd gen like you have above dated 2018 wasn't available until around 2021 if my memory is correct. So I imagine the date on these blade boxes is incorrect.

I will try to take pictures tomorrow comparing the different ones.

 

[Pinto90]

The 2nd gen like you have above dated 2018 wasn't available until around 2021 if my memory is correct. So I imagine the date on these blade boxes is incorrect.

I will try to take pictures tomorrow comparing the different ones.

Thank you if you can take some photos to better clarify the differences.

I didn't quite understand. Is the date on my little boxes incorrect?

 

[WVShaver]

Thank you if you can take some photos to better clarify the differences.

I didn't quite understand. Is the date on my little boxes incorrect?

I can’t say for sure if the date is correct on everyone’s GSBs. But I find it odd that the dates never really change much and is usually 2018.

I haven’t seen any 2019, 2020, or 2021 ones yet..

And I don’t think the 2018 ones showed up until around 2021.

So I conclude the date is most likely incorrect on all of these GSBs but i’m not an expert.

It really doesn’t matter as long as they are legit GSB blades they will shave the same. They seem to be very consistent for me.

 

[Pinto90]

Ok I thank you.
My wrapper says "Distributed P&G South Africa Trading (Pty) Ltd.", I wanted to see if yours carry the same or another distributor.

Mine are single wrapped, I also saw it in another forum they are the same as P&G South Africa.
It should not be surprising if there are still GSB razor blades around dated 2017 or 2018, if they are distributed or destined for countries in Africa it may be that they are old remainders still available and sold currently in the Western market.

They may arouse suspicion but they are authentic.

 

[ivan_101]

New = Single wapped, 2 glue spots in the middle

Perhaps the single wrapping was already there in the 2018 GSBs?
Mine is 2018 single wrap and two glue spots in the middle.

View attachment 1832417

So mine and 2017's are also new, the old ones are from earlier years.
I did not understand until what year they used the double wrap.
By old we don't mean in the meaning of more years but in the meaning of blade difference.

Double wrapping of PPI blades ended around 2012. Since 2016 PPI blades have the date of manufacture on the pack.
If the blades say South Afcrica it doesn't necessarily mean they are actually sold in South Africa. This has been proven more than once with Gillette blades in the past.

Back in the days during the double wrapped blades PPI put 4 big dots of glue. Then with the switch to single wrapping they became only 2 glue spots aroung the center slot. In 2020 they switched back to 4 glue spots. This time a little smaller.