I'm ready to order my first expensive razor, help me make a decision!!

[LRod]

Better to try and sell off one high-end razor rather than a junk drawer full of beater low-end razors.

Indeed!!

 

[Medivh]

Better to try and sell off one high-end razor rather than a junk drawer full of beater low-end razors.

It depends. If we're comparing a modern high-end razor to a vintage high-end razor in terms of shaving qualities, then the modern razor will win without a doubt, but if we talk about value and money, even the most expensive currently produced high-end DE or SE razor has no match for even the non super rare vintage razors in NOS condition, let alone the standard/common NOS Toggle or any of the truly rare razors like a Bottom Dial for instance.

To tell you the truth, I used to think that $200 + for a razor is too much, but once I've got a bit deeper into the vintage razors, I came to the conclusion that the modern razors aren't that expensive at all. In fact, when I compare them to some very rare and hard to find DE razors, they look like child's play. Like those two user-grade Flat Bottom Dials, which were recently sold and they don't even have cases let alone being in NOS condition and there are others slightly more expensive than those two.

 

[Possum092]

It depends. If we're comparing a modern high-end razor to a vintage high-end razor in terms of shaving qualities, then the modern razor will win without a doubt, but if we talk about value and money, even the most expensive currently produced high-end DE or SE razor has no match for even the non super rare vintage razors in NOS condition, let alone the standard/common NOS Toggle or any of the truly rare razors like a Bottom Dial for instance.

To tell you the truth, I used to think that $200 + for a razor is too much, but once I've got a bit deeper into the vintage razors, I came to the conclusion that the modern razors aren't that expensive at all. In fact, when I compare them to some very rare and hard to find DE razors, they look like child's play. Like those two user-grade Flat Bottom Dials, which were recently sold and they don't even have cases let alone being in NOS condition and there are others slightly more expensive than those two.


View attachment 1461403

These examples aren't representative of $17 USD flea market or boot sale razors.

 

[Medivh]

These examples aren't representative of $17 USD flea market or boot sale razors.

Wrong. There are plenty of people who have found such razors in the wild even on this forum and with a bit of search you can find some, which have bought them for even less than $17. Since not many people know or care about vintage razors let alone knowing which one is rare or expensive, so yeah, I'd take my chances with a random old junky trunk full of vintage razors over a modern razor any day of the week.

 

[Possum092]

Wrong. There are plenty of people who have found such razors in the wild even on this forum and with a bit of search you can find some, which have bought them for even less than $17. Since not many people know or care about vintage razors let alone knowing which one is rare or expensive, so yeah, I'd take my chances with a random old junky trunk full of vintage razors over a modern razor any day of the week.

Yeah, I hear about people finding vintage rare Corvettes and Mustangs on Craigslist for $5K...I've never met any of these lucky buyers in real life, yet. Happy hunting!

 

[Medivh]

Yeah, I hear about people finding vintage rare Corvettes and Mustangs on Craigslist for $5K...I've never met any of these lucky buyers in real life, yet. Happy hunting!

Me neither, but that's not the point here. I was just trying to show you that not all vintage razors are junks and that for the serious razor collectors, the modern razors in general are more like a low hanging fruit compared to the hunt for the rare and truly expensive razors. Do you think that the people who bought those razors a razor like Rocnel or any other flashy razor made out if vibranium if you will is going to be an issue or that he owns just that vintage razor alone?

I shave with my modern razors way more often than I do with my vintage razors, but I like collecting vintage razors even if they are not the best shavers while if a modern razor fails to do it's job it gets kicked right away regardless who made it from what and how shiny it looks. For me, both are not in the same category and I like both for different reasons.

 

[LRod]

It depends. If we're comparing a modern high-end razor to a vintage high-end razor in terms of shaving qualities, then the modern razor will win without a doubt, but if we talk about value and money, even the most expensive currently produced high-end DE or SE razor has no match for even the non super rare vintage razors in NOS condition, let alone the standard/common NOS Toggle or any of the truly rare razors like a Bottom Dial for instance.

To tell you the truth, I used to think that $200 + for a razor is too much, but once I've got a bit deeper into the vintage razors, I came to the conclusion that the modern razors aren't that expensive at all. In fact, when I compare them to some very rare and hard to find DE razors, they look like child's play. Like those two user-grade Flat Bottom Dials, which were recently sold and they don't even have cases let alone being in NOS condition and there are others slightly more expensive than those two.


View attachment 1461403

This is something that happens in most hobbies. The love or want clouds the cost.
What once looked expensive ends up looking reasonable. It's starting to happen with me with the razors.

 

[Medivh]

This is something that happens in most hobbies. The love or want clouds the cost.
What once looked expensive ends up looking reasonable. It's starting to happen with me with the razors.

I'm seriously planning to to get stop buy anymore razors, unless of course something modern and groundbreaking is introduced. The good thing about vintage razors is that they are obviously no longer made and once you get the models you want, you (probably) have no reason to buy anymore. I'm waiting for my Blackbird to arrive by the end of the month along with a few vintage Gillette razors and after that there are only 2 maybe 3 vintage razors that I need and I'm officially done, but they are on the pricey side and I'm in no hurry of getting my hands on them at the moment.

I also have very high hopes that the Blackbird is going to become my favorite modern razor and hopefully it will be my last modern razor. The sad part is that once I get what I need, I might feel empty. Like a wise man once said - the hunter is nothing without the hunt.

 

[Rosseforp]

My Windsor was $175.50 with a 10% off coupon with free shipping and no tax (I had set a $200 budget). Premium "new" stuff costs money!
I've spent that much on one dinner with my wife!

I've spent $600 on a set of JE pistons for my racecar, and that didn't include rings or piston pins! $175 on a razor is a DEAL!

~doug~

 

[Phoenixkh]

Here in the States, we've been conditioned to be consumers since the day we were born. It's not easy to change that paradigm but it can be done.

 

[LRod]

I'm seriously planning to to get stop buy anymore razors, unless of course something modern and groundbreaking is introduced.

I also have very high hopes that the Blackbird is going to become my favorite modern razor and hopefully it will be my last modern razor.

I wish you luck with that, Lol!!

 

[Medivh]

Here in the States, we've been conditioned to be consumers since the day we were born. It's not easy to change that paradigm but it can be done.

The most common way of doing that is to move on another hobby or just to find something else to do to keep you interested enough and not getting bored. I think that's the reason why some wet shavers have ''evolved'' at some point and they started selling wet shaving products, repairing and replacing razors, making their own razors/soaps/brushes/bowls etc.

Such individuals have turned a random hobby into something useful that can make them money as well as keep them busy as well as enjoying what they are doing without the downside of just spending more and more money.

I've been thinking about doing something similar myself like making my own razor and stuff like that, but I'm not a very skilled with tools and machines and I don't think I can find anyone who would be interested enough to help me even the slightest, since obviously people care about profit (and I don't blame them) and if they don't feel like the ideas I have are 1000% profitable, they won't even give me a chance.

 

[LRod]

The most common way of doing that is to move on another hobby or just to find something else to do to keep you interested enough and not getting bored. I think that's the reason why some wet shavers have ''evolved'' at some point and they started selling wet shaving products, repairing and replacing razors, making their own razors/soaps/brushes/bowls etc.

Such individuals have turned a random hobby into something useful that can make them money as well as keep them busy as well as enjoying what they are doing without the downside of just spending more and more money.

I've been thinking about doing something similar myself like making my own razor and stuff like that, but I'm not a very skilled with tools and machines and I don't think I can find anyone who would be interested enough to help me even the slightest, since obviously people care about profit (and I don't blame them) and if they don't feel like the ideas I have are 1000% profitable, they won't even give me a chance.

I have a problem with this (personally).
I have multiple hobbies and don't know and/or have no interest of moving away from any of them. And the part of making something out of the hobby is out of the question for me. I'm much to busy in what I already do for a living in order to throw something else on my plate.
But it's a great idea for some!

 

[Medivh]

I have a problem with this (personally).
I have multiple hobbies and don't know and/or have no interest of moving away from any of them. And the part of making something out of the hobby is out of the question for me. I'm much to busy in what I already do for a living in order to throw something else on my plate.
But it's a great idea for some!

Yeah, that's definitely not for everyone. I used to collect watches, but once I've got the ones I really like, I just stopped buying and looking around. Unlike razors, watches (in general) are more expensive and since I don't make tons of money it was only a matter of time before I stop. I still like watches though, but my chances of making a razor even a plastic one are much higher than me making even hourglass, let alone a quartz or a mechanical watch .

 

[Phoenixkh]

I'm enjoying the wet shaving journey. I didn't mean to imply I'm not. I enjoy the experiments, etc.

I do hope I get to a place of contentment. I think inner peace and contentment are worthy goals. How we get there varies for each individual. In my view, there is no single, one way to get there.

I'm probably doing a very poor job communicating what I'm thinking here. I think we can buy things from a place of contentment... or buy from some sort of compulsion that comes from a different place. I can tell the difference, personally.

Let me try to give an example, though it will have to be anecdotal and only applies to myself. When I got my first synth brush, I really liked it and decided to add a few more. I felt that compulsion I mentioned... a very unhealthy fear of not being able to match the brush I liked so much. I ended up buying a second, exact same brush after buying 3 synth brushes that just didn't really work for me. It wasn't rational or even advisable but that's what I did. Jim (Chan Eil Whiskers) very calmly suggested I buy an Omega Evo. I did and I just love it.. the fear dissipated, thankfully.

I'm now buying a few boar and mixed knot brushes... but I don't feel that same sense of being driven. It's an enjoyable experiment, coming from a better paradigm.

If this doesn't make any sense, feel free to disregard, criticize, etc.

 

[Star_Wahl_Clipper_Treker]

$1

My Windsor was $175.50 with a 10% off coupon with free shipping and no tax (I had set a $200 budget). Premium "new" stuff costs money!
I've spent that much on one dinner with my wife!
Thankfully I can afford it, if not I wouldn't have bought it.
So I don't see it bad at all for a razor purchase.
But hey, everyone's different. Whatever works for you!

LRod couldn't be more right! You can easily spend $175 dollars for a fancy dinner, it gets consumed all at once, and then its gone, only to find its way to the thunderbox later on, thats $175 dollar burned up, its like buying fireworks, just light your money on fire, thats the equivalent of what you are doing. But, when you spend $175 dollars on a razor, you have it for life!

And if you think thats bad, you know what I just spent for my Timeless Titanium razor? $360 dollars, and guess what, titanium, will last multiple lifetimes, not just the rest of my life. So someday when I die, I hope that the Timeless Titanium goes to somebody who will appreciate it.

 

[LRod]

LRod couldn't be more right! You can easily spend $175 dollars for a fancy dinner, it gets consumed all at once, and then its gone, only to find its way to the thunderbox later on, thats $175 dollar burned up, its like buying fireworks, just light your money on fire, thats the equivalent of what you are doing. But, when you spend $175 dollars on a razor, you have it for life!

And if you think thats bad, you know what I just spent for my Timeless Titanium razor? $360 dollars, and guess what, titanium, will last multiple lifetimes, not just the rest of my life. So someday when I die, I hope that the Timeless Titanium goes to somebody who will appreciate it.

Word of the day:
THUNDERBOX!!!
Hahahahaha!!

 

[Rosseforp]

LRod couldn't be more right! You can easily spend $175 dollars for a fancy dinner, it gets consumed all at once, and then its gone, only to find its way to the thunderbox later on, thats $175 dollar burned up, its like buying fireworks, just light your money on fire, thats the equivalent of what you are doing. But, when you spend $175 dollars on a razor, you have it for life!

And if you think thats bad, you know what I just spent for my Timeless Titanium razor? $360 dollars, and guess what, titanium, will last multiple lifetimes, not just the rest of my life. So someday when I die, I hope that the Timeless Titanium goes to somebody who will appreciate it.

I love my Ti95OC, which one do you have?

~doug~

 

[slim6596]

I just found out that you can piece together a Timeless stainless steel “Tuxedo” razor in either a .68 or .95 gap. (Maggards)

……I can resist because it comes to $270, but dang it it’s pretty

 

[Quaznoid]

I knew my comment would generate responses, and passionate responses at that. It’s not that I wanted to throw out some red meat; my response was an honest reaction to LRod’s decision to spend $200 on a razor. My Slim and any of my Schick injectors will outshave anything in the shaving world (I concede YMMV) and I marvel at their masterful design and construction. Unless the $200 razor will shave 20 times better than my $10 Slim (it won’t) or last 20 times longer (relevant only if I live 200+ years) I don’t understand the decision to spend that kind of money. But that’s just me.