Well, so much for being totally minimalist and sticking with one razor, one brush and one soap/cream! I just ordered, from the ebay place, a Gillette New SC. I regretted selling my earlier New SC and LC razors. I've waited quite a while to get back into some light collecting. Divorce and downsizing... But, I'm coming back. I'm working again(after a short retirement) and need to be clean shaven at least 4 days a week. My Above The Tie Windsor is a fantastic razor, but man I miss that wonderful open comb shave of a Gillette New! Here's to career #3 and a new adventure in shaving stuff! I fully intend to stick with my one brush (well, okay, 3) and one cream (well, okay, a few soaps stashed away for emergency purposes only) and use up the 100+ Astra and Rapira blades before I go back down that silly rabbit hole. Stop me if you've heard this before. BTW - my girlfriend's little dog met up with a mephitis mephitis a few weeks ago and I felt just a touch triggered (read the link in my signature in case you don't know)
Several years ago I decided to stop shaving the dome with a DE and went to shaving in the shower with a disposable multi-blade monstrosity. Not sure why I stopped lathering up with a brush and using a DE but I did. This evening I realized I had skipped my Sunday morning and likely my previous Wednesday morning head shaves and decided tonight to get back on the DE head shaving routine. I forgot how good it feels to scalp lather. I forgot how much closer the DE shaves my scalp. But I'm recalling that DE head shaves stay closer longer than multi-blade shower shaving. I ought to look nice and slick until Saturday or Sunday. And the ATT Windsor didn't offer a nick, bite or even a hot spot. Two passes and I am cue ball smooth! I was reminded of my father talking about getting barbershop straight shaves when he was younger and feeling like the shave lasted so much longer than shaving at home. Maybe I'm on to something. And I'm going to ditch those multibladed monstrosities and use my DEs on my scalp again!
I've found myself looking in antique stores and cruising ebay again. Funny how prices came down on some razors quite dramatically over the past few years, but those antique dealers that bought hi priced razors are trying to actually get what they paid out of them and not what they told their wives that they paid!
When you shop for vintage razors anywhere, the ones you are looking for are expensive, and the ones you already have are cheap. I actually thought prices in general were going up on vintage razors. But who knows? I've never looked for, nor seen, any razors in an antique store -- and the one I used to go to,that is now closed, was huge -- several floors. I've mentioned it before with regard to vinyl record collecting -- brick-and-mortars are the last place to shop when it comes to finding the best prices. I went to a record store a few years ago, and while his selection was excellent, no prices were marked, and when you were interested in something, he went to his computer to look up a price -- probably on eBay or discogs. He was one of the guys that if you commented on the price, he would say, "I have to pay the rent!" eBay isn't always a pancea, though. Right now some ignoramous is trying to sell a vintage TTO with the outside of the handle missing! He claims he found it by actually digging it out of the ground or something. What was left of it looked like it had been through WW III. Don't people actually look for similar items on sale right now, or recently sold items?
I guess they are down a bit for the ones I looked at. But I'm not chasing those collectibles and rare vintage razors. Plus I never got caught up in the extreme mania of finding a birth year razor when I turned 50 like many men likely did. I stumbled on the Slim Adjustable birth quarter razor I had for a while at a true junk store for $10 and it also included a Fatboy for the same price.
I've only bought user-grade razors, not museum/display pieces in original boxes. Those latter ones fetch big bucks even when the razor itself is common. A razor is made to shave with; a record is made to play and listen to. The only user-grade razors that seem to go for big bucks, at least if you are in the U.S., are those made-for or made-in non-U.S. countries, most notably the British-made Gillettes. I wouldn't call them "rare" (a favorite word of eBay snake-oil sellers), either, since on a given day you can always find one listed, even if the price is stupid-crazy.
I just have to show this. The seller must be out his ever-lovin' mind. "Item dug out from our land in Harriman, TN (Appalachian mountains), while building our cabin on an old house's site destroyed by fire around 1960." Bidding starts at 99 cents, with a BIN of $18.50 with $10.65 shipping!
they are rare enough, with units made in comparison to u.s made gillettes.,but u.s vendors usually sell them for stupid crazy money.
Yes, but to me, "rare" is such an overused word on eBay. If they were reasonably priced, people would actually buy them, keep them, and use them -- then you would "rarely" see them for sale. But you "always" see them for sale. It is more "rare" for peope to actually pay the stupid-crazy prices.
Well, thanks @Sara-s ! I know someone who is pretty fond of my smooth shaven scalp as well. Speaking of smooth shaven! I used that new New this morning and the shave is as outstanding as I remember. 10 hours later and just barely a bit of stubble to be felt.
The New SC? I did a mini-shootout between the LC and SC this week, and I liked the LC much better. The SC seemed a bit rough. I hadn't used either of them in about 2 years. Now I know there are supposed to be variations in the LC, while all SCs are supposed to be the same. I admit it was brief: 1 shave with the SC followed by 2 with the LC -- with the same blade transferred from one to the other. I used the same handle on each: common bar.
