My "new" '40s Super Speed

[guyakaguy]

I recently bought a '40s Super Speed on eBay for $5 and change. Seriously.

It seems to be in perfect working order and looks to me to be toward the top end of what would be considered "user-grade", but I think it looks pretty nice. It had a pretty thick, almost tacky, coating of what you's guys call "patina" (I call it grime), but it cleaned up very easily. The plating seems to be in great shape.

All in all I think I did pretty well for $5. I also am starting to think that the online vintage razor market is starting to die back down to a reasonable level. Back when I was combing eBay for razors 4 years ago I wouldn't have been able to touch a razor in exponentially worse condition (extensive plate loss, corrosion, etc.) than this for 4-5 times what I just paid. I've also been seeing Fat Boys going for around $20 (along with an uptick in sellers listing just about any vintage Gillette as a "Fat Boy"), as well as Slims and SA/Black Beauties going for $10-15. I also just bought a long handled Black Beauty, shipped, for less than $15. I think the market has become oversaturated with vintage razors, which is good news for us. What do you think?

Oh, and here's the razor. It's a Y-3 date code (1953)

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[Hoka Hey]

Good score,

 

[Highspeedlane]

Great score, congrats!

 

[gvw755]

Good thing about a $5 Super Speed is that you can spend the money on a quality replate or guncote if you like. Looks great if you just want it to shave with.

 

[troy]

Great Score, Congrats!

 

[jerrylee101]

Great score, I used mine all last month. They are great razors.

 

[BSAGuy]

Very nice. Enjoy.

 

[rudyt]

It had a pretty thick, almost tacky, coating of what you's guys call "patina" (I call it grime), but it cleaned up very easily. The plating seems to be in great shape.

You have the wrong definition of patina. Grime is not patina.

If it can be soaked and scrubbed off with a toothbrush, it's not patina, it's grime. If it's tacky, it's definitely not patina.

Patina is something that can be polished off, not washed off.

Really nice score for $5. Everyone should have a 1940s Super Speed.

 

[tragique]

I love the 40s Super Speeds. Great score, especially for the price!

 

[Lightcs1776]

Great razor at a great price. Congrats.

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[KeenDogg]

King of the day, man!

 

[SteveWY]

Great score. I love my '54 40's style. I shaved with it for the month of May. Mild, efficient, classic style. Enjoy yours!

 

[guyakaguy]

I haven't even used it yet, but I'm definitely excited to shave with a 64 year old razor.

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[jar_]

Enjoy. The one razor that has had a blade in it for the last four decades or more is my black handled Super Speed. Even when I grew my beard it was the razor used to do touch up.

 

[nemo]

It's not 64 just quite yet! Give it another month.

Congrats.

 

[Komboloi]

Congrats on a great score at a great price. You could polish that sucker and really make it pop. You can't polish out the little flea bites where the plating exposes the tarnished brass underneath, but you might be surprised how close to perfect you could get it with a long soak in dishwashing liquid, good metal polish, and some effort.

 

[guyakaguy]

Congrats on a great score at a great price. You could polish that sucker and really make it pop. You can't polish out the little flea bites where the plating exposes the tarnished brass underneath, but you might be surprised how close to perfect you could get it with a long soak in dishwashing liquid, good metal polish, and some effort.

The effort is definitely what's lacking. That and the very first Super Speed I got, which was a '60s flare tip, got the full several hours with rouges and the felt and flap wheels. It pretty much looked like a brand new razor when I was done, but I ended up overworking a small spot. I kicked myself for spending so much time trying to make a 50 year old razor look like new; the amount of time I spent polishing and cleaning a razor I paid around $20 for didn't really pay off in the end.

I'm going to keep it as is, which to me looks like a relatively well cared for (almost) 64 year old razor; and use it.

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[Komboloi]

It's a fine razor as is. Enjoy!

 

[troy]

Congrats on a great score at a great price. You could polish that sucker and really make it pop. You can't polish out the little flea bites where the plating exposes the tarnished brass underneath, but you might be surprised how close to perfect you could get it with a long soak in dishwashing liquid, good metal polish, and some effort.

+1

The effort is definitely what's lacking. That and the very first Super Speed I got, which was a '60s flare tip, got the full several hours with rouges and the felt and flap wheels. It pretty much looked like a brand new razor when I was done, but I ended up overworking a small spot. I kicked myself for spending so much time trying to make a 50 year old razor look like new; the amount of time I spent polishing and cleaning a razor I paid around $20 for didn't really pay off in the end.

I'm going to keep it as is, which to me looks like a relatively well cared for (almost) 64 year old razor; and use it.

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It really doesn't take that much effort or tools.
Soap water scrubbing bubbles and a tooth brush turned this one...

Into this

Mother's polish, an old Tee-shirt a couple Q- Tips and about 15-20 min took it to this.

Your's looks great as is too. Some of mine get shined up some are left dull, I like variety. In general I do like the looks of a user better than a perfect example.

 

[Useless shaver]

Excellent!