We all benefit from the melting pot of ideas - change my mind

[postman10mm]

We live in a golden age of bespoke wet shaving gear. There has never been a larger selection of hardware or software; regardless of your price point, there is something for everyone.

Quite a bit of this is made possible by the cross pollination of ideas. Take Stork for example. Among some Wolfman acolytes, Stork’s name is anathema because they ‘improved’ on the WRH7 handle. I’ve read a dozen people dismissing them as hacks and counterfeiters, despite them arguabley offering the largest selection of unique titanium handle designs in the world.

I would never knowlingly buy a counterfeit represented as the real thing, but enthusiastically embrace the legitimacy of interpretations of popular works. That’s how art and culture develop and my world is a far better place for it.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Never heard of Stork, but then I'm not a kit chaser. If folks didn't borrow ideas, and try to expand on them, Gillette would have been the only company who ever made DE razors. As such, DE would now be extinct, having successfully being fully replaced with Gillette's latest modern system.

As it is, we have a huge scope of blades and razors, produced by a wide range of companies, and in a wide range of countries.

Personally, I'm glad there have been decades of companies treading on each other's toes. This has led to a wealth of suppliers and options. The Artist Club, Gem, and other SE systems have less competition, less diversity, and less security of supply long term, due to there being less players on the field.

 

[Clay S]

Stork- haven't heard of them, but if they don't represent themselves as being Wolfman, more power to them.

Weishi and Baili - If such companies didn't exist, I would have never purchased my VDH TTO and started down this enjoyable path. The downside is that they do produce to purchaser's specs, so you can't go solely by the fact they made them what the quality is.

The Artist Club, Gem, and other SE systems have less competition, less diversity, and less security of supply long term, due to there being less players on the field.

Yeah, the GEM style blades have like 3 vendors, and 5 types of blades total to chose from. At least from my quick search.

 

[BigJ]

We are lucky to have so many options!!

 

[Howler]

We live in a golden age of bespoke wet shaving gear. There has never been a larger selection of hardware or software; regardless of your price point, there is something for everyone.

Quite a bit of this is made possible by the cross pollination of ideas. Take Stork for example. Among some Wolfman acolytes, Stork’s name is anathema because they ‘improved’ on the WRH7 handle. I’ve read a dozen people dismissing them as hacks and counterfeiters, despite them arguabley offering the largest selection of unique titanium handle designs in the world.

I would never knowlingly buy a counterfeit represented as the real thing, but enthusiastically embrace the legitimacy of interpretations of popular works. That’s how art and culture develop and my world is a far better place for it.

I am all for reinterpretation. Nothing wrong with it. Why would it matter to the Wolfman acolytes? They're already a select group. More power to them. They can complain about Stork handles, but I doubt it'll change much in what is already a niche market. It's not like Stork handles are bargain-bin items, and they make handles in multiple styles and materials.
Are we going to burn the Paladin brushes at the pyre too because some of their designs are based on old handle designs by old and established brush vendors? Or can we agree that them putting their spin on it is doing homage to a good design? I not, I should chuck my handmade brushes in the pyre too because I've looked to established brush vendors as inspiration for the shapes so I can figure out what works well.

 

[BigD]

Variety is the spice of life.

 

[postman10mm]

I had no idea Palidin designs were based on historical brushes. One of my very best brushes is from Paladin, everything from the material, shape, color and knot are perfect.

 

[Macfrommichigan]

Is there a car with French seats, Italian styling, German engineering, Japanese quality control, American reliability?