I question that this is a Fatboy. Fatboy's (according to http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/US_Gillette_Dating_Information ) were made from 1958 through 1961. The G1 would have been made in 1st quarter 1961. However the slim could have also been made then. Both Fatboy and Slim are adjustable. The Fatboy does have a fatter handle and the TTO knob is different than the Slim. We can't see the TTO knob in the picture and the razor is not advertized as a Fatboy. Just raising a doubt here but I have nothing definitive. Still, the price is a mystery.
Opinion on FatBoy Auction (Why So Much?)
- Thread starter LiveOak
- Start date
I question that this is a Fatboy. Fatboy's (according to http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/US_Gillette_Dating_Information ) were made from 1958 through 1961. The G1 would have been made in 1st quarter 1961. However the slim could have also been made then. Both Fatboy and Slim are adjustable. The Fatboy does have a fatter handle and the TTO knob is different than the Slim. We can't see the TTO knob in the picture and the razor is not advertized as a Fatboy. Just raising a doubt here but I have nothing definitive. Still, the price is a mystery.
Yeah, but you just have to know where that dot should be in relation to the spring that acts as the marker on the neck to know you've got the razor set right. Without any unique marker on the dial you've just got black smudges all the way around if you're not able to make out the numbers.
It's definitely a Fatboy. The vertical ribs on the adjustment dial rather than knurled ridges are the quickest give away.
True, you can't see the TTO knob, but you can see the blade adjustment knob clearly, and the FB and slim do not share that feature. The FB has a vertical line adjustment knob (as pictured in the auction) and a Slim has cross-hatched lines...
That razor is beautiful if you need the modification because of disease and want to use a great razor.
Absolutely right in my opinion. The razor is beautiful. It was modified to allow a man to continue to use a razor he loved. It's beautiful.
If one's vision is that bad, perhaps he shouldn't be shaving with a DE???
Also note the adjustor detent spring . . . it is red. (Slim uses a black detent spring.)
I would assume that it was to aid in adjusting the FB. If the previous owner had arthritis or other muscular degeneration, there's a good chance that their eyesight was failing, too.
Your sight would have to be severely impaired before a ProGlide would look more appealing than a Fatboy.
It's non-obvious to many people, I'll admit. As someone who's shaved lots of old and young guys (though I'm not a barber), I can tell you that these modifications cost a lot of money to do. I was disappointed by the posts that said it was ugly or not worth it, or were amazed that it could cost so much. When you (or I) come to the days when we need these kinds of modifications to our tools, I hope that we're all more open to getting the best function possible for what we're able to do, and have the money to get it done. It probably cost at least a hundred bucks to get the adaptive adjustments on this razor. Independence is worth limitless dollars for people who have to deal with disabilities. I'm surprised that the darn thing went so cheap, frankly.
-- Chet
-- Chet
OK now I have a definitive answer. I was hoping there were other indicators and now I know thanks to y'all. I just haven't been sharp eyed enough to spot them. Thanks.
The things is.... you're making the same flawed assumptions as the homeowner who puts a $100k custom kitchen in his house and then wonders why he's can't recoup that money when he sells the place.
The seller got lucky here, he happened to find a buyer who really wanted that razor. Normally, though, this is such a niche product that you can't correlate what you paid for the mods to what you can sell it for.
With respect, I have to disagree with you here Chris. There is no reason to think that the person who did the modification ever had the idea he would sell the razor and recoup his investment. If anything, it looks to me like he never intended to sell the razor. I don't believe for a moment he tried to recoup his costs, or that the selling price came close to recouping the cost of the modification. It looks to me like the ebay seller is an antique dealer. Antique dealers often get stuff from estates and so there's no reason to think that the ebay seller was the guy who used the razor.
I hope that the guy who had the mod done lived a good long time and used the razor for the past 50 years. For him to have finally given up on a razor that he had modifiied may well mean he can either no longer shave himself due to illness or due to the possibility that he's no longer among us.
Chris isn't saying that the Fatboy-mod-guy ever intended to recoup his costs. He's observing, correctly I think, that just because that mod was expensive to execute and so could be said to increase its value (Chester's argument), that doesn't mean it will.
Value for trinkets like these is in the eye of the beholder. Only a small subset of the (already tiny) vintage razor market would have any interest in such a mod. I think those two fellas happened to bid against each other in this auction!
Especially since he didn't mention the modifications at all. It may have sold for even more if he had.
I was replying specifically to Chester, who said something along the lines of "because someone put a lot of money and effort into it, it's now worth more."
It's only worth more if you can find a buyer who values the work you put into it; in this case the seller was lucky. In other circumstances, that razor could have lingered without any significant bids for a long time.
old P.T. said it best;there's a sicker born every minute:}lol
lol...I dont think he was a sucker..it is a unique design and maybe worth it to the buyer...but not me.
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