I picked up an old puck of colgate mug shaving soap and asked the lady at the counter if she knew about other vintage wetshaving stuff that might be around. She said she didn't know, so I just took to browsing around. This older gentalman walks up to me after a few minutes and says, "You looking for old razors?" I say sure I am. "I don't know if Gillette is what your looking for, " he says. And now I'm thinking, Oh Yeah - Jackpot. He walks me over to his booth and proudly presents to me not one, but two Gillette Sensor Excel cartridge razors. What a let down. I kindly say to him that I already have a couple of those in my collection and thank him for thinking of me. What is the world coming to? I'm 32 years old and those are what I started shaving with in the mid 90s. Anyway I live in a small town and I feel I've pretty well picked over the local antique shops pretty well. Nonetheless I still take a look around every now and then and I'm always surprised by what people consider "antiques". I see so much crap that was worthless when I was a kid 20 years ago lining the shelves. Its the way of the Midwest I guess. I'd like to see some antique shops on the east coast in those neighborhoods with 200 year old houses. Anyway, I digress. I seeth every time I see somebody post their latest haul of a dozen vintage safety razors from their local antique mall.
so I was at the local antique mall
- Thread starter BubbleBoy
- Start date
Ha you cant win em all man. Trust me, all the good hauls somebody posts on here dont even reflect the two dozen times they've come home empty handed, myself included. I live in a small town too, with maybe 8 antique shops all together. Its hit or miss in small places like ours. Just stick to it, and someday soon you'll find a sweet haul that you can bring home and be proud to show off. After doing hunts for old razors, car parts, clothing, I can promise you you'll have a great haul, just cant promise you when.
I told my dad, "bring me an old one from back home," thinking his old DE or my grandpa's - he comes with a brand new plastic Wilkinson!
Dragan
Dragan
Very unlucky and they are getting harder to find.
every time i hit up a place now, they ALWAYS say "wow, everyone is buying those old razors lately".
in my city, there is a guy from outside the city, that scoops every store and every razor (i'm guessing for ebay) and he's known throughout the city and every local wet shaver i know, says they have heard the same about this guy.
i still get lucky every once in a while, but don't go weekly and only hit up a few places i know have the odd thing.
in my city, there is a guy from outside the city, that scoops every store and every razor (i'm guessing for ebay) and he's known throughout the city and every local wet shaver i know, says they have heard the same about this guy.
i still get lucky every once in a while, but don't go weekly and only hit up a few places i know have the odd thing.
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #6
That should be criminal. In fact, maybe you could sue under anti-trust laws.
Ha you cant win em all man. Trust me, all the good hauls somebody posts on here dont even reflect the two dozen times they've come home empty handed, myself included.
+1
Had a good run yesterday. An open comb, vintage scuttle, and bought a butter bell for a friend that I am going to load up with soap for him.
ah yes..........the infamous "Guy from Brandon".......it must be worth driving 2 hours each way constantly scooping razor's. I've been lucky rarely getting anything, as the seller's actually hold them for him. C'mon buddy, isn't gluttony one the 7 deadly sins!?
I'm pretty amazed when I talk to people who have the cheap give-away Campbells Tomato Soup Mugs lining their shelves and they tell me that they have thrown out "those old worthless Old Spice Mugs".
Same situation here, I used to have fairly good luck but now we have 2 seperate guys that run businesses selling old shaving gear and they seem to keep this end of the state picked clean for their overpriced resales. There are at least 2 local shops that have admitted they hold stuff for them, no telling how many others are holding as well but not saying so. It's a bit annoying to be honest, I used to really enjoy the hunt, finding something nice once in a while kept me going, now there is no point...all I've found in 6-8 months are broken useless razors. Oh well, way it goes with anything, if there is decent profit to made the vultures swoop in before long.
I've bought all the decent looking double and single edge razors in antique stores I've been in since I started. I think I've found 5 or 6 so far that were worth buying.
i've only found 6 or so that are any good, so better then some of the others luck.
and yes tim...it's the "Brandon Guy" as he's known. whenever i stop in anywhere and ask about razors, i get "there is a guy from brandon that comes and buys them all"...that last place i went, said he had purcahse 80-90 in the past while from him. who is this Brandon Manitoba guy?
If I find a razor, any razor, at an antique store, I keep going back to that same shop looking for fresh goods. Chances are if they've stocked that kind of antique before, they will restock sooner or later.
I've found quite a lot of antique razors (at least 40 over three months -- have given away about 10) but it's very hit or miss. Does not pay to run around to many stores. I just stop by when I'm near an antique store and have time.
Keep in mind many of these guys who frequent the antique shops like "Brandon " may be retired and have a leg up on us working folks. They have time on their side as a luxury and can afford to hit up every antique store weekly. Meh, if I get a few I'm happy.
Shortly after I began my wetshaving hobby a few years ago, the local antique store near my home closed down. I didn't appreciate it then, but the gentleman there had not 1 but 2 large tubs filled with straights and DE's. I purchased 2 adjustables for about 5 dollars apiece then. Had I known they were leaving I'd have likely bought more. The last time I saw a DE in an antique store in Toronto was in the junction district and it was going for about 25 dollars 
.
.
I hear ya. family, work, social life etc, only lets me stop in on rainy days and/or days we don't have family obligations etc. i'm not a collector and/or willing to spend my full saturday running around from store to store either. i stop in when i can, and i have gotten lucky a few times (minty executive, minty slim, grand shave king, techs etc)
yeah, being retired has it's advantages. but i still shake my fist in the air every time i walk in and here them talk about the "mystery brandon guy". i'd just to run in to him or meet him one of these days, or even find out if he's a B&B member...there are about 5 of us in my town now on B&B and we sell/trade/show to each other now and again, so if he's selling them, it would be nice to have a crack at them before he lets them go.
Similar threads
