Ran across this Van Der Hagen razor today. Any recent opinions?

I went with my wife to a local chain grocery store this morning. As always, I guve the shaving section at least a passing glance. Today, I saw this. I'd not noticed it/them before, but wouldn't go so far as to say they were newly placed. Any mention Iv'e found, so far, about them here on TSD was back in June of 2018. So, thought I"d ask you folks what you thought about them. They are certainly cheap enough which frequently means "no", but then again sometime you find a good thing cheap. I'm wondering if they are worth messing with. ?? If showing the price sticker is a "no no", let me know and I'll take the pic down and redo it.

 

From what I understand, it's made by Weishi and supposed to be a good razor. Not a bad price either. Stick to other DE blades as those really don't have good reviews.

 

TSD is a Wet Shaving Discussion Forum. You can express your opinion, name the store, give the GPS location, and review the razor as you please.

Not sure if I've even tried one of those VDH branded blade holders. I get the impression it's a Chinese imitation of a Gillette Flare Tip, made of zamak, maybe plastic, and chrome plated.

Keep your eyes open for a real Flare Tip since they sell for about the same price in User Grade. Or pick one up - they make good starter razors for when you gift it to a friend.

 

I have one and I think it is a decent mild razor as long as you use a sharp blade with it. That is a good price for that razor also. They normally sell for about $18 - $20 at Walmart. Those blades though just plain old suck.

 

A quick search on eBay revealed a good many possibilities. It seemed a good many variations, red tip, black handle, etc. Is there one that is considered the best choice?

 

Nope, personal choice. Flare tip is middle of the road. Blue tip more mild, and lighter weight. Red tip is aggressive / efficient and heavier. If you favor one type start there. Generally older razors are more aggressive, so stepping into Gillette history, open combs tend to be more efficient, though they can bite.

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"User Grade Flare Tip" this one comes in a rare weathered brass finish. Free with $100 shipping.

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Decent razor, I have one in my camping bag. The elites will look down on you though lol but a razor is a razor and it's pretty much a clone of a superspped.

 

I don't know... That's an awful lot for a razor that's missing at least one end cap. Still the weathered brass finish is a plus.

 

That's a good idea and one that I've thought of doing.

I need to educate myself on the fine points of making those kinds of determinations.

 

To find birth year "and" quarter, I would have to find one from 3rd quarter of 1948. From what I've been able to learn, or think I've learned, the year is the only marking from that time periood??

 

VDH is said to be a Weishi 9306-F or -C (L=long, F=silver chrome, C=gun metal, A=gold, B=matte gold, E=matte chrome, I = Bronze, etc).
They are decent razors made of brass. The TTO mechanism is made of plastic though?
https://globalshave.club/2019/06/27/five-great-chinese-razors-and-three-to-avoid/

Very mild, not much blade bent which results in a little more aggressiveness than the Tech or SS and you have to use a shallow angle.
It's among my most liked/used razors (next to a Tech, Baili and Super Speed - I prefer mild razors obviously).
It's around 12 bucks including a plastic travel case on aliexpress atm: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/620977387.html. Without case around 8 bucks.
Similar on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=weishi+razor&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

It definitely has it's fan base - see:
https://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/weishi-9306-vs-gillette-superspeed.58600/
https://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/black-weishi-9306.48437/

Or use the search function: https://theshaveden.com/forums/search/44456264/?q=weishi&o=date&c[title_only]=1&c[node]=30 -

I would say go for it, it makes a nice travel razor (edit: especially if you don't want to risk loosing your made in your birth year and quarter vintage Gillette).

 

For Gillettes there are 5 razors, some of them are the same razor with different manufacturing revisions done to them for sure that can be dated to 1948. You can't date them to the quarter of the year though. Then for those 3 razors there are ones that don't have any date codes that the closest you'll get for a year is the range 1948 - 1950. Those 3 razors are the Milord, Super Speed and Aristocrat. You also have the no date coded Gillette 3 pc tech post war tech sold between 1947 - 1950, they have to have what is called a post war base plate with no date code and ball end handle to be for sure at least 48 or up.

For single edge Gem razors the one to look for is the Micromatic Flying Wing Bullet Tip without the guiding eye on it.

For Schick injector you have 5 razors only one you can narrow down to 1948 and 1949

For Type G razors you have the G1 injector make sure the spring says Schick Eversharp on it that for sure is 1947/1948 - 1954, then you have the G4 aka the Schick 66 which was sold from 1948 - 1951, finally you have the G2 which was only produced for Christmas of 1948 and 1949.

For Type H razors you have the H1 which was sold between 1947 - 1952 and H2 which was 1948 - 1951.

There are other brand razors being sold in 1948 but I can't think of any right now except for 2 Cooper razors, the Kant Rust and the 3pc adjustable.

I'll get you some pictures and links in a bit.

 

Here are some G3 injectors for sale but keep in mind you can get a G1 which is the same razor for half the price on secondary market. The G4 razors can also be had cheaper than this if you peruse listings to find the bargain priced ones.
Since these listings are not auctions they should be okay to link to.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/731510667/rare-vintage-1947-eversharp-schick-24k

https://www.etsy.com/listing/680746239/nice-gold-plated-eversharp-schick

 

I also have a few razors for sale here that would be in the birth year range for sale here.
https://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/fs-vintage-razor-collection-reduction.62606/

The ones in particular are razors #2 , #4, #8 and #10.

 

For birth year Gillette Aristocrats I would suggest reading this thread. It identifies which ones were made which years.
https://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/us-gillette-aristocrat-tto-timeline.61682/