Vintage Topco blades

[Jaymo]

I bought a Merkur gold slant from a member here and he threw in a pack of 10 Topco blades from the 1980s. I tried one Friday night and was quite impressed. It is sharp and smooth. It gave a fantastic shave. I wonder if they were actually made by ASR? If these are what the Personna 74 blades were like, I can see why the 74s are so popular.
Almost as sharp as a Feather, maybe as sharp. Close, smooth, comfortable shave. Much better than the current ASR DE blades locally available.

I wonder if anyone here knows anything about. I tend to think the info about Teflon being a DuPont patent is more about protection from lawsuits than an indicator of the blade Mfr, though I could be wrong.
With blades this good available, I can't believe cartridge razors took over like they did.

 

[michiganlover]

With blades this good available, I can't believe cartridge razors took over like they did.

Marketing, Marketing, Marketing!!

Also, no matter how good the quality of blades are, a DE razor still requires skill to use properly, while a cartridge razor is pretty much idiot proof.

Very likely the masses, who never learned the proper way to use a DE razor, were awed by the ease of use the Trac II allowed.

 

[Radar O\'Reilly]

Marketing, Marketing, Marketing!!

Also, no matter how good the quality of blades are, a DE razor still requires skill to use properly, while a cartridge razor is pretty much idiot proof.

Very likely the masses, who never learned the proper way to use a DE razor, were awed by the ease of use the Trac II allowed.

I think the secret wasn't what you quoted from "Spaceballs", but the secret from "The Graduate". Plastic. The same metal used in a DE blade can make 10 blades that stick in a cartridge and the handle can be cheap plastic.

 

[americanarmsdealer]

I think the secret wasn't what you quoted from "Spaceballs", but the secret from "The Graduate". Plastic. The same metal used in a DE blade can make 10 blades that stick in a cartridge and the handle can be cheap plastic.

Good points.

 

[Sydney Guy]

I think the secret wasn't what you quoted from "Spaceballs", but the secret from "The Graduate". Plastic. The same metal used in a DE blade can make 10 blades that stick in a cartridge and the handle can be cheap plastic.

Then why are the damn cartridges so expensive?

 

[americanarmsdealer]

Supply and demand?

 

[Radar O\'Reilly]

Then why are the damn cartridges so expensive?

The Gillette model. Sell the main unit cheap, and charge out the yin-yang for the special bits it needs. Why is printer ink almost as expensive as bull semen and more expensive than gas, water, etc...? Because you need it for the unit to work.

 

[Chester]

Why is printer ink almost as expensive as bull semen ...

I've recently switched to printing in bull semen precisely because of the high costs of printer ink cartridges. The bull isn't anything special, but he's got good conformation, and he's the only one in the stockade that 1) doesn't mind walking around with that printer slung on his belly, and 2) doesn't get the cords all tangled up. As with all things, YMMV.
-- Chet

 

[Sydney Guy]

The Gillette model. Sell the main unit cheap, and charge out the yin-yang for the special bits it needs. Why is printer ink almost as expensive as bull semen and more expensive than gas, water, etc...? Because you need it for the unit to work.

Yes, it's the same with cars - price the original unit cheap, then charge high prices for spare parts. IMHO the raison d'etre for cartridge razors is solely so that they can obtain a patent for their "invention" and have a captive customer base.

To answer my own question - why do they charge so much for the cartridges? Because they can.

 

[Jaymo]

If you think cartridge blades are expensive, you should price forklift parts.