"new" Astra SP?

[albsat]

@slybrewguy

Thanks for the explanation! I got two packs, same bar code and the same error.

I do have Astra Stainless Steel but they feel different. It might be factory error. I need to find a real Platinum blade. Hope I find a Pif on this as none sells Astra in a local shop.

 

[guyakaguy]

Personally, I’d consider finding SS’s in an SP pack an upgrade and a pleasant surprise, but I understand that there are people who love the SPs.


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[albsat]

@guyakaguy

I wish these are Astra Stainless, as I do have them. But these do not cut as the real Astra does so I guess I got some fakes.

 

[guyakaguy]

Or you just got some duds. I just have difficulty believing that anyone, even the Chinese, would go to the lengths of backwards-engineering a sub-$.10 blade, packaging and all. If they came in, or out of a box of 20 tucks of 5, and from what I can see the packaging looks legit, you might have some duds or some blades that skipped a step. They obviously skipped a step in QC putting the wrong blades in the box.


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[slybrewguy]

Let me give a good example of this exact issue:

I am a professional craft brewer and have worked at several large breweries on the east coast. The first brewery I worked at had a huge portfolio of beers that we were constantly juggling which meant on any given day we would bottle and package 3+ different brands in one shift. All of which required different cases, holders, labels, etc. It was very common when switching from one brand to another for a few bottles to get the wrong label, go into the wrong case, etc. These things happen in even the largest most state of the art facilities. So in their case I bet they packaged the superior platinum blades in the first run then switched to the superior stainless for the second run and left some sleeves for the platinum blades in the machine accidentally.

 

[albsat]

Well, at the end it's just two packs of blades which are not sharp at all. I will try to find original Platinum and get the original experience.

 

[Storch4]

I have to use alcohol on a swab to get that goop off. It makes it harder to lock down on my Slim. Some are super glued and a PITA to unwrap. 7OC green SS are loaded. Nacet by comparison has very little. I like the theory on new machinery being used in Mother Russia. If they invest we do not have to worry about stopped production any time soon

 

[slybrewguy]

@albsat PM incoming

 

[John Rose]

I love the GSB blades but I stopped using them for 2 reasons: The shave wasn't that much better then the astra sp for me to justify over double the cost per blade (keep in mind, I once and done my blades with only the occasional second use) and those glue spots are ridiculous.

Exactly so. I find GSBs to be maybe 10% or 20% better than Astra SPs, but certainly not worth the 200% price.

Either way, contact the seller who should make good on the proper blades and also to make them aware as they should go through all current inventory.

If I understand what you mean, I doubt that would happen, if it means opening up every carton and then opening up one 5-pack from each carton to inspect it. Each inspected carton would no longer be "new & unused", and when would you stop inspecting them?
It would be better for them to simply say "Return for full replacement if contents are not as labeled", in the fine print.

 

[sicemdawgs77]

Possible knock-offs?

No, they are definitely not knock-offs.

 

[Bogeyman]

I have to use alcohol on a swab to get that goop off...

Just hold the razor head under running hot water for a tad after shaving and the wax will be greatly diminished if not gone.

 

[Juanmosey]

Any fans here of the Astra SS? Everyone seems to prefer the SP? BigJ, you like the SS?

 

[Steelerfan]

Any fans here of the Astra SS? Everyone seems to prefer the SP? BigJ, you like the SS?

I tried an Astra SS this morning. It was a tad less smooth than the SP but it did give me a nice comfortable shave. Now to see how many shaves I get with the SS. So far I like the blade.

 

[Mopar Mark]

The machinery does not "read" the printed information on the blade, it's stamped on them long after they are sharpened. The numbers are for human QC, I suspect.

Razor blade manufacturing has long been fully automated. Blades are stamped out of ribbon stock attached at the ends, basic bevel is ground, they are hardened, tempered, and cryo treated as a ribbon, and final honing may be done before they are separated. I'd guess on modern machinery they are not even hand stacked for edge coatings anymore. Modern equipment has high resolution cameras monitoring the process, with computer control of width and polish.

I'd guess the laser etching has been added somewhere along the way to get rid of the ink stamping. Packaging has probably been automated since the 30's -- some of the videos I've seen have equipment that looks that old.....

The numbers are purely to identify blade edges,
sorry to tell you that you have been misinformed with regard to Process order. Ie printing/etching is performed prior to Sharpening, No pre sharpening is carried out, no Cryo proces, .....

 

[GR5233]

I can't wait until people start getting the laser-etched GSBs and losing their minds

People are already losing it because of the change from the double wrappers to the single wrapper

 

[Redradish410]

I've been exclusively using Astra sp's for almost two years now and always buy them in 100 packs. I get them anywhere from maggard, to IB, to Amazon and have never had any issues. Well I just cracked open a fresh 100 pack and found a different looking blade inside the tuck. The packaging is exactly the same except the ink on the blade is no longer solid black stamped letters but now is a hollow logo that looks to be laser etched, similar to feathers. Also they removed the numbers and another interesting observation: the "old" astras would have almost a blueish tint to the blade edge after getting them wet (the Platinum coating maybe?) Yet the "new" ones do not. I'm about to have my first shave with one to see if I feel a difference. I've read a few comments around the web about all of a sudden people aren't getting good shaves with astras anymore... I hope that is just placebo. Below is a pic I found to show what I am talking about. "Old" on the left and "new" on the right.
View attachment 854174

I've been exclusively using Astra sp's for almost two years now and always buy them in 100 packs. I get them anywhere from maggard, to IB, to Amazon and have never had any issues. Well I just cracked open a fresh 100 pack and found a different looking blade inside the tuck. The packaging is exactly the same except the ink on the blade is no longer solid black stamped letters but now is a hollow logo that looks to be laser etched, similar to feathers. Also they removed the numbers and another interesting observation: the "old" astras would have almost a blueish tint to the blade edge after getting them wet (the Platinum coating maybe?) Yet the "new" ones do not. I'm about to have my first shave with one to see if I feel a difference. I've read a few comments around the web about all of a sudden people aren't getting good shaves with astras anymore... I hope that is just placebo. Below is a pic I found to show what I am talking about. "Old" on the left and "new" on the right.
View attachment 854174

After some research I found a video by Geofatboy on YouTube clarifying from a statement he received from Astra that it was simply a change in the marking and they moved away from the stamping style marking and moved towards a laser engraving style that was supposedly harder to counterfeit. They claim no change in razor quality.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I'm currently using one of the etched ones, and it's as good as the printed ones.

 

[Mopar Mark]

I can confirm exactly what was said by Astra, Laser marking was introduced to reduce counterfeiting, also improve quality of marking.
The reason I can confirm as I was part of a 3 man team that developed Laser Marking for Razor blades.More the fact of Laser etching at high speed, maintaining registration, quality, etc.
Patent is also in our 3 names

 

[Old Hippie]

Weird. I went a couple of years buying tucks of SPs at a local store, and they were always the laser-etched ones. Then one day I bought a couple tucks and they were the printed ones, so I thought THOSE were the new ones.

I tried them and found the printed ones had about one less shave in them for me than the laser-etched ones. Still good, just didn't seem as good as my "old" ones. I lately opened a pack of laser-etched blades and have used one (6 shaves).

I finally quit worrying and bought a hundred -- I've got a few tucks to go through before I open that box, but now I'm wondering what I'll find.

O.H.

 

[Mike M]

As a long time Astra user the printed blades are the old style of Astra and the laser etched are the new style. When I first received a 100 pack over a year ago I did a little research and found that Astra had changed to laser etching (in part to make counterfeiting more difficult). In using the new blades I found little (if any) difference in performance.
In true hoarder style however I have kept my last pack of old style blades.