Nicest Bottom Dial Set EVER!

Discussion in 'Safety Razors' started by GlennConti, Apr 8, 2021.

  1. GlennConti

    GlennConti Well-Known Member

    So the nicest bottom dial set ever just sold on eBay for about $5350. Well done to the buyer.

    B9D72541-04C6-426A-80E6-A833BBBC2A34.jpeg 8188F1D5-BCE6-4D62-8218-343DC564803E.jpeg
     
  2. GlennConti

    GlennConti Well-Known Member

    I wasn’t even close. 4th best. Lots of heavy hitters these days. You want the best? Go hard or go home!

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    Last edited: Apr 8, 2021
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  3. GlennConti

    GlennConti Well-Known Member

    A little bit of analysis. In December 2020 a cased bottom dial sold for $2950. This bottom dial that just sold for $5350 has both the instructions and a warranty card and the razor was probably newer as was the case. Does the addition of a warranty card and instruction sheets warrant an extra $2400 in value over the December sale? YES!! Apparently. The warranty card is probably totally unique. I have never seen one before in 8 years of looking. Also, very few bottom dial instructions have survived and this one was in great shape. Remember too that a lone bottom dial razor in good condition is worth only about $1500. So, all that stuff that comes with the razor that people just throw out immediately...... worth big bucks to collectors. Prices on the ultra rare sets are moving up rapidly in the last six months. Almost complete Chrome toggle sets are now going for over $5000. Hold onto your hats!! Almost complete D1 Standard Toggle sets are over a $1000 now too. I would guess that a NOS D1 Standard Toggle set could fetch almost $2000 now. Cool stuff.
     
    Last edited: Apr 8, 2021
  4. Tedolph

    Tedolph Well-Known Member

    Stunning.

    Why doesn't some enterprising person, or dare I say even Gillette, just start making these again and sell them for, oh, I don't know.....$250.00?
     
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  5. swarden43

    swarden43 "It's your shave. Enjoy it your way."©

    Unfortunately, the size of the shaving community that would put out that kind of money is too small to be profitable.

    But I've been wrong before.
     
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  6. BBS

    BBS Well-Known Member

    More than that I doubt any shops could do it cheap enough for a designer. If you could make one to sell between $500 - $999.999, you could make money on it. The razor head best I can tell is the same as the toggle so if the adjustment is the same then it would be very doable to make limited run of reproduction toggles, bottom dials and possibly red dot fat boys which are a Toggle razor head with a Fat Boy handle. There are enough parts that can be used interchangably that it might be worth the venture.
     
    Last edited: Apr 8, 2021
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  7. stingraysrock

    stingraysrock PIF'd away his custom title

    $11.45 expedited shipping...

    I don't think that is going to cover the cost of the item when it gets lost in the mail.
     
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  8. Old School

    Old School *$&%@#~

    Supporting Vendor
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  9. GlennConti

    GlennConti Well-Known Member

    No I was a failed bidder. I’ve been looking for one like this forever. But at that price I couldn’t justify the bid. Unless prices keep moving up dramatically and quickly, it just wouldn’t make sense to me. Stay tuned to see....

    My benchmark is the S&P 500 index. It probably doubles in value every 6 years. Razors only generally appreciate at the rate of inflation. So, you really have to love what you collect. I must say recently rare Gillette Adjustable razors are not a bad thing to have (investment wise).
     
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  10. Old School

    Old School *$&%@#~

    Supporting Vendor
    Share your max bid? I'm curious.
    I watched the 10 second countdown, and the price jump 3300, 4000, 4800, and boom 5k+.

    Makes me feel better about my psycho purchase with original key for $200...imo a much cooler and easy more historic razor.
    Imagine trying to market the psycho in today's cancel culture... I'm surprised Gillette hasn't apologized yet for their insensitivity in 1962!
    A bottom dial Fatboy could be marketed today... though mildly offensive to the horizontally challenged I suppose!
     
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  11. GlennConti

    GlennConti Well-Known Member

    My max bid was $4600. Early on before the auction ended I predicted the set to go ultimately in the range between $3500 and $6000. If I really wanted it I would have bid $6000. No telling if that would have won. But at $6000 the razor set would have to appreciate to $12000 in less than 6 years to beat or meet my benchmark of the stock market. I definitely do not see that happening therefore my max bid of $4600. Best of luck to the new buyer. They absolutely get to enjoy the set. While I have to be happy with just pictures of it.

    PS. I over paid $180 for a nice psycho set about 6 years ago. Haha. I’m glad to hear you paid $200. However after auction fees I’m still in the red on that razor (if I was to sell it)!!!
     
    Last edited: Apr 8, 2021
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  12. Timwcic

    Timwcic Well-Known Member

    Congratulations to the buyer, Way to step up to the plate. That’s the second cased bottom dial in the Jacksonville area in less than a year. Makes me feel lucky to have found my BD in St. Petersburg at a house sale years ago. I’m not aggressively hunting Gillette’s as a have, but I never stoped looking for a BD case
     
  13. BBS

    BBS Well-Known Member

    Or start counterfeiting them. If you put together a high quality counterfeit instead of creating crap from a brain fart it would be awhile before people caught on. The other thing if it was that high quality it would probably become more valuable than an actual bottom dial over the long term if the reputation and myth is also established.
     
  14. GlennConti

    GlennConti Well-Known Member

    Well if the only difference between a cased bottom dial no paperwork ($3000) and a cased bottom dial with paperwork ($5350) is some printing then yes counterfeiting is a potential problem.
     
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  15. BBS

    BBS Well-Known Member

    If you could produce one for $500 or less after the cost of tooling as long as it is almost impossible to discern the final copy from the original it is certainly worth someone's effort for a $1500 or more expensive collectible razor that isn't personalized. Now if I can get cases made for $50 - $100 from a plastics manufacturer instead of 50 cents for thousands of them it still worth the effort if that makes the price jump up to $3000 or so.

    Frankly I am surprised there isn't counterfeits out there coming out of places like Russia, India or China with that type of margin to be made and then some when you figure in the money exchange rate to USD.
     
  16. Old School

    Old School *$&%@#~

    Supporting Vendor
    Typical machine tooling cost $50k.
    Multiple tools required.
    How many people in the world really know what these are and want one?... maybe you cover tooling costs?... maybe.
     
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  17. BBS

    BBS Well-Known Member

    Tooling is a lot cheaper than that these days. If you put them out one a month you'd probably be able to sell them for years unless you create some backstory on finding a hidden cache of them that can't be verified and hope fear of missing out on getting one while the getting is good drives sales. If you also are the guy making the limited run reproductions that aren't the same but share the same basic parts for the tooling then yes it certainly is worth it. Limited production run of reproductions at $500 - $999.99 retail and then counterfeits on the side. The venture will pay for itself if you are an established machine shop and not a third party paying to have it done. In that case you make the customers pay for the tooling using some online funding mechanism. The biggest roadblock to the process is finding someone ambitious and skilled enough to pull it off so chances of it happening are pretty low and done in a convincing manner even lower.
     
  18. swarden43

    swarden43 "It's your shave. Enjoy it your way."©

    Don't know about others, but I'd be hard pressed to spend more than $100 for a razor.
     
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  19. tonich

    tonich Well-Known Member

    To each their own.
    I would not spend over $10 for a Fatboy.
     
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  20. swarden43

    swarden43 "It's your shave. Enjoy it your way."©

    My kinda guy :happy088::eatdrink047:
     
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