Fake Gillette Silver Blues?

Discussion in 'General Shaving Talk' started by Powerhouse10, Mar 13, 2021.

  1. Powerhouse10

    Powerhouse10 Member

    I'm wondering if there has been any discussion on these forums about this. There have been on another.
    For years I have been purchasing a Gillette Silver Blues 100 count pack off Amazon for a great price. The blades work for me. These are the blades:

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0059QF5RS/?tag=thshde-20

    When I last ordered in mid 2020 I noticed the packaging changed and now the blades do not come double wrapped which I found a little odd but didn't think much of it. I bought another pack just recently and thought to browse the reviews of the product only to notice that there are several people who claim these are fake, one reviewer even doing a close up comparison of the new and older blades seeing that the printing on the blades themselves is different. Obviously the shaving industry has seen many knockoffs especially with Mach 3's and Fusion's so this would not surprise me if these fake blades were somehow being produced. Some of the more recent Amazon reviews talk about these GSB’s being fake as well

    Now here's the thing- After doing some reminiscing, it DID seem like throughout using my last batch of razors last year that I tended to have a few more nicks and even downright bloody shaves on occasion. But the thing I remember the most and thinking was strange was that I would have to change the blade MUCH more often out of my shavette. But because I've been using these for so long, again, it didn't really hit me to go crazy wondering. So last night now, I went ahead and carefully used one of the new blades I just got. Shaving with the grain presented no problems and I got a nice line on my beard. However going against or to the side of the grain is when the nicks started instantly. I did not even go very hard at all.

    So I'm wondering what do you think is going on here? Are these flat out counterfeit GSB's? Or has Gillette's packaging and blade quality suddenly tanked?
     
    Last edited: Mar 13, 2021
    battle.munky and brit like this.
  2. Rkep01

    Rkep01 Well-Known Member

    Have they always been made in Russia?
     
  3. Powerhouse10

    Powerhouse10 Member

    To my knowledge, yes
     
  4. Powerhouse10

    Powerhouse10 Member

    Top - Old (better) blades I've gotten for years. Slicker looking. Finer print. Not covered in glue.

    Bottom - New blades that came out last year. No extra paper covering the wax paper. LOOK duller. Glue all over the blades. Printing looks off.

    need I say more?
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited: Mar 22, 2021
  5. Rkep01

    Rkep01 Well-Known Member

    Read the 1 star reviews on Amazon. Seems like you're not the only one who's dissatisfied with these blades.
     
  6. MntnMan62

    MntnMan62 Well-Known Member

    I also have bought these blades on Amazon. My last purchase was back in 2016 though. I've heard some noise about fake GSBs but haven't looked into it much since I am set for blades for a while. But they are my favorite blade so was thinking of stocking up so I'll never have to buy blades again. Yes, they've been made in Russia, St. Petersburg to be specific, for quite a while. But recently I heard that maybe production had been stopped or maybe that production was being moved to another plant or even another country. I have not heard confirmation of this. Iridium has gone through similar rumors which apparently turned out to be true, I think. And it caused the price of those blades to rise. This could be a similar ploy. But I don't really know.
     
  7. battle.munky

    battle.munky Has the menthol.munky on his back!

    The profit margin on faking DE blades has got to be next to nothing. Imagine the cost of tooling up just to make a few 10ths of a cent per blade. If an existing blade producer just bought the silk screening for them and make them it may be a little more profitable but still. Petty theft done large scale.

    Interesting though.
     
    Henrik likes this.
  8. BBS

    BBS Well-Known Member

    It is done though especially in countries like Thailand for example with Bic Chrome Platinum blades. Pennies to you is dollars to someone else depending the exchange rate. You also have counterfit Astra blades which from what I read was the reason they changed how they printed the logos to make it harder for counterfiters to make an identical visual copy.
     
    battle.munky likes this.
  9. Powerhouse10

    Powerhouse10 Member

    Well i'm quite lost now. Been using GSB's for years. I just ordered a sample kit filled with Gillette Platinum's, Derby and Dorco's

    We'll see how they go
     

Share This Page