You've got to love the challenge, the mystery, that step into the unknown... These are cropped and enlarged pictures from a recent eBay auction I won. (Trust me, there's very little detail lost from the original eBay pics). I have not received the razor yet. It took me about an hour and a half to tentatively identify this razor. The only information I had was the kit is NOS, and made in West Germany. The razor is obviously German, and was made between the end of WWII and the fall of the Berlin Wall. It was probably made between 1950 and 1970. Who do you think made it? DON'T CLICK THE SPOILER BEFORE YOU GUESS!!! Spoiler (Move your mouse to the spoiler area to reveal the content) Show Spoiler Hide Spoiler My best guess is that the razor was sold by Dorko, and manufactured by Karl Engels. (Engels, known for their Emir DE razors, and for selling razors to other companies to re-brand, was acquired by Dorko in the 1950's). The handle shape, the white/cream colored plastic handle, (or possibly metal, coated with the same stuff that gives vintage Hoffritz and Coles razor handles a distinct bi-colored whitish hue). The handle end cap, and what can be seen of the head all point towards this being a Dorko razor. On the other hand, it also bears a similarity to a West German no name, low quality Tech clone. Time to toss the dice! Feel free to add your own blurry flip phone style eBay mystery razor pictures to the guessing game.
I always find it amusing and sad at the same time when I see a handful of blurry pictures and little to no description of the item for sale on eBay.
We know these razors. Wow do these pictures suck big time. EBay Or it could be my Rose colored glasses
It's been long enough. It's pretty close to one of these two razors, and for $2.99 + shipping, I thought it was worth a punt. I know which style of razor I would rather have. The bottom razor is a no name "West German" tech style razor. Probably put out by a company like EAGLE BRAND or similar.
I wish. Not really a razor I'm interested in, but for $13, I'd buy the Progress all day long. The visible centering studs in the blurry pics rule out the Progress. They also unfortunately rule out the Ben Hur and Apollo Mikron adjustables, too.
Here's some better pictures of the same type of razor. It's not exactly a rare razor, just not mentioned on the forums much, if at all. Probably because there's no brand associated with the razor.
And now we know why we never see these. It appears to be loosely based on a flat bottom tech, top cap is copper or brass, baseplate is cast aluminum, and the handle is entirely plastic. Chromed plastic with a white plastic end cap. A small debossed diamond is on the bottom of the handle's end cap. There are no other markings. With luck, a person might get fifty shaves out of it before the plastic threads in the handle fails.
It takes standard Gillette threading, so I threw a tech handle on it and gave it a spin. It shaves like a mild razor, but feels more aggressive than a red tip. Not my cup of tea. Riding the cap tones it down some, but it's very aggressive at its natural angle. Way more blade feel than I'm comfortable with.
There's a host of reasons. 1. Plastic handle 2. Poor fit and finish 3. No brand name 4. aggressive without being terribly effective. For a really, really cheap razor, it's quite good looking.