What the heck do I have here?

[Facial Blood Donor]

This morning, I had a Personna lab blue with 4 shaves on it in my Futur. Very nice blade, so much so that I ordered 100 from WCS that came in last Friday. The 1st pass was a bit tuggy, so I changed it out with one of the new ones. I did notice they were marked differently, but didn't think much of it until later, but after the other 2 passes, WOW! New favorite blade!(well, gotta see what the next few shaves bring). I used to have to do a 3 pass and then some blade buffing to clean up my neck, but not this time! Best...BBS...EVER!
Here's a shot of the two blades. The one on the left is the old one. Did WCS accidentally send me 100 med preps instead of lab blues? The new box says "25% sharper" on it.

 

[mblakele]

Are you sure your old was a lab blade? The one on the left looks like a barber or drugstore blade. The one on the right looks like a lab blade.

EDIT: I think I see: http://www.westcoastshaving.com/Personna-Lab-Blue-Double-Edge-Blades-100-per-carton_p_1157.html and http://www.westcoastshaving.com/Personna-Lab-Blue-Double-Edge-Blades-5-blades_p_1158.html show the same labeling difference. The five-pack has the barber or drugstore generic-looking arrows, while the 100-pack shows Personna Super.

 

[AnnieV]

The one on the left looks like the labs I got from WCS.

 

[2011OBS]

This morning, I had a Personna lab blue with 4 shaves on it in my Futur. Very nice blade, so much so that I ordered 100 from WCS that came in last Friday. The 1st pass was a bit tuggy, so I changed it out with one of the new ones. I did notice they were marked differently, but didn't think much of it until later, but after the other 2 passes, WOW! New favorite blade!(well, gotta see what the next few shaves bring). I used to have to do a 3 pass and then some blade buffing to clean up my neck, but not this time! Best...BBS...EVER!
View attachment 385816Here's a shot of the two blades. The one on the left is the old one. Did WCS accidentally send me 100 med preps instead of lab blues? The new box says "25% sharper" on it.

The one on the left is not a lab. It is of lesser quality than a lab.

I purchased a 5 pack of the personna blades on the left before. They came in a white dispenser. They were tuggy and nowhere near the quality of the labs.

 

[AnnieV]

The one on the left is not a lab. It is of lesser quality than a lab.

I purchased a 5 pack of the personna blades on the left before. They came in a white dispenser. They were tuggy and nowhere near the quality of the labs.

WCS is definitely selling them as labs. Guess I shouldn't discount lab blues just because I didn't like those, then?

 

[The Dean]

This morning, I had a Personna lab blue with 4 shaves on it in my Futur. Very nice blade, so much so that I ordered 100 from WCS that came in last Friday. The 1st pass was a bit tuggy, so I changed it out with one of the new ones. I did notice they were marked differently, but didn't think much of it until later, but after the other 2 passes, WOW! New favorite blade!(well, gotta see what the next few shaves bring). I used to have to do a 3 pass and then some blade buffing to clean up my neck, but not this time! Best...BBS...EVER!
View attachment 385816Here's a shot of the two blades. The one on the left is the old one. Did WCS accidentally send me 100 med preps instead of lab blues? The new box says "25% sharper" on it.

One thing you can be sure of, neither is a Persona Med Prep. The Med Prep blades say "For Hospital Use" right on the blade. Right blade is what we call Lab. Can't say for sure what the left blade is.

 

[Doc Bugg]

Medical Prep Blades: have "For Hospital Use" on the blade and come in a blue wrapper that says "Super" on it.

Lab Blades: do not have "For Hospital Use" on them and come in a blue wrapper that says "Super" on it.

Barber Blades: Only have "Made in USA" on them and come in a white wrapper that, except for color and printing, is identical to the blue wrapper of the prep & lab blades.

 

[Facial Blood Donor]

The one on the left is not a lab. It is of lesser quality than a lab.

I purchased a 5 pack of the personna blades on the left before. They came in a white dispenser. They were tuggy and nowhere near the quality of the labs.

Yes, I got the old blades(left)in a white plastic dispenser 5 pack too.

 

[Facial Blood Donor]

Thanks to all. I got lucky with these and now I know my way around these Personnas. Now the nagging question is, how much better could a med prep be than a lab blue? At my stage of development, I can't imagine it could get much better than these labs!

 

[Cornishman]

WCS is definitely selling them as labs. Guess I shouldn't discount lab blues just because I didn't like those, then?

A while ago I purchased a 5 pack of Personna Labs from Connaught Shaving here in the UK and they looked like the one on the left. Recently I bought a 100 of them from the same company and they looked like the one on the right. I think they are the both Lab blades with different markings for the plastic dispenser.

 

[Teddyboy]

Personna's lack of consideration as to how inconsistent their packaging is, is reprehensible. I am really pissed off. How difficult could it be to label things properly and consistently? If you check their website, you will see that shaving blades are a very minor portion of their output. I guess they can afford to not give a damn.

 

[mblakele]

Maybe the difference between these blades reflects the "now 25% sharper" change? I was looking at http://beauty-barber.personnablades.com/ProductCatalog.aspx?brand=Personna and noticed that both the 5-pack BP9010 and 100-pack BP9020 are pictured with "Personna" text on the blade. The BP9010 and BP9020 labels match up with the WCS product pages: http://www.westcoastshaving.com/Personna-Lab-Blue-Double-Edge-Blades-5-blades_p_1158.html and http://www.westcoastshaving.com/Personna-Lab-Blue-Double-Edge-Blades-100-per-carton_p_1157.html

So here is some speculation. The generic-looking arrow-labeled Personnas sold as "lab" or "barber" blades are older stock, whether in bulk with white wrappers, or unwrapped in slider packs. The ones with "Personna" printed on the blade are the newer "Now 25% Sharper!" stock - and according to the OP they really do shave better. The 100-packs sold today are mostly newer, but older 5-packs are still being sold.

 

[tfinch]

Personna's lack of consideration as to how inconsistent their packaging is, is reprehensible. I am really pissed off. How difficult could it be to label things properly and consistently? If you check their website, you will see that shaving blades are a very minor portion of their output. I guess they can afford to not give a damn.

I entirely agree. It is very frustrating to buy and not know with certainty what will arrive. Moreover to not even be certain what we have when it is in hand.

 

[RobW]

Bahh...just more reason to stick with Gillettes and Feathers.

 

[The Dean]

Bahh...just more reason to stick with Gillettes and Feathers.

The Russian Gillettes have their mysteries, too.

 

[Facial Blood Donor]

Maybe the difference between these blades reflects the "now 25% sharper" change? I was looking at http://beauty-barber.personnablades.com/ProductCatalog.aspx?brand=Personna and noticed that both the 5-pack BP9010 and 100-pack BP9020 are pictured with "Personna" text on the blade. The BP9010 and BP9020 labels match up with the WCS product pages: http://www.westcoastshaving.com/Personna-Lab-Blue-Double-Edge-Blades-5-blades_p_1158.html and http://www.westcoastshaving.com/Personna-Lab-Blue-Double-Edge-Blades-100-per-carton_p_1157.html

So here is some speculation. The generic-looking arrow-labeled Personnas sold as "lab" or "barber" blades are older stock, whether in bulk with white wrappers, or unwrapped in slider packs. The ones with "Personna" printed on the blade are the newer "Now 25% Sharper!" stock - and according to the OP they really do shave better. The 100-packs sold today are mostly newer, but older 5-packs are still being sold.

This sounds plausible, but I think I'll use the 100 I have sparingly until I'm reasonably sure all the old stock is gone.

 

[bryan1980]

I ordered the five pack of the "Labs" from WCS a while back, which were the same as the blade you have on the left. When I tried one, the shave was pretty bad. I'm of the opinion that they're actually the "Barber" blades. I'm hoping they are, anyways, because I'd like to try an actual "Lab" blade. I like the price, packaging, and the fact that they have no glue spots!