Collecting versus Accumulating - What is your Goal??

Oh, I am definitely an accumulator. Definitely. Of straights in particular. Although I must admit most of mine are old Sheffields, and they are getting older. So there may be a collection starting to creep in there....

However, I do think I may have the makings of a hone collector - there's that element of "I must have one of each", especially of the natural stones, that is just not there with the razors.

James.

 

my goal is pretty much to find a razor/razors that shave the way i want them to. i dont plain on buying something im not going to shave with.

 

You can get good deals on ebay. It just requires timing and a bit of searching. I got a decent Slim for $10.50 shipped. A couple weeks back somebody scored probably $600 worth of razors for lfss than $150. Now me, I buy razors to use. A few showpieces would be OK, but that's not my main goal. Same with brushes. I have a badger and a boar, and I will probably acquire 1 more of each. OK maybe 2.

 

That is why I shave with every single one I get!! For better or for worse!

 

My goals have evolved since I first got into this. I developed terrible RAD almost instantly and soon had over 100 DEs. I then began to accumulate straights also. At some point I decided that I couldn't really keep up if I was collecting both. So, the DEs that I didn't use had to go. The DEs financed an impressive collection of straights. Recently I have decided that I prefer Sheffield blades with only a few exceptions. So, I'm in the process of selling off the German blades. I also have a nice hone collection going, though I haven't bought one in a while. So I guess I'm both a collector and a user.

I do miss some of those Gillettes I sold. :ashamed001

 

I'm just trying to get the most enjoyment and the best shave out of the products I've got.
After a stint with some AD's (I'm still trying to curb a couple), I've decided that I don't need anything except my very favorites... presently that consists of a couple of silvertip brushes, a few straight razors and one DE. I do have a collection of soaps and creams and ASBs, but once some of them are gone I don't plan on replacing them.

Currently I'm trying to find an EDT that really works for me. I've found a couple that I like, but none that really strike me yet. I'll probably have a couple around and I will probably use only those for the long haul. But I'm not clairvoyant so who knows... maybe I'll collect more stuff, but I really just want a small collection of the most outstanding items for now.

 

When I started out, I didn't intend to collect, but then there's this RAD thing.

All I wanted was a few Merkurs, then I read about Gillettes and saw pictures. I started buying a few here and there. Now, I've got 3 Merkurs, 5 Gillettes, 3 Gillettes on the way, and 1 I'm looking at buying.

I'm trying to collect some of the classic Gillettes, but not all of them. I intend to use all of them and don't require them to be in mint condition. There are 2 on my short list and a few more on my long list.

I'd like to try a straight after about a year of DE and that may change everything.

 

This is how I am truly starting to look at it....

 

Rodd, I actually have a dresser that Jason and I converted into a razor chest. It is a normal oak five drawer dresser, that we lined with foam rubber. Each razor has a spot cut out in the foam too. Now, the majority of my collection have no cases. That is the one big bummer of it all, as there are a few razors that really are only different than others because of the case they came in. All in all though, I do own at least one example of almost every Gillette razor design.

*EDIT* I just realized that although I do have a few Rockets, I do not have all the different variations of the Rocket like I have of the Super Speeds. Also, I am only talking about razors, not the hundreds of different sets they came in.

 

Make that 4 Gillettes on the way. Just bought an Aristocrat today. This wasn't on my short list, but I wanted to grab it when it was available in case I can't find one down the road.

An opportunity to purchase a razor is a terrible thing to waste.

 

"Enough" is when your shavery cabinet is so heavy it pulls itself outta the wall..............cue: Wed. AM. :shocked002

I have now realized the sad , but true, fact I was becoming a collector.
"Was" is the key word.
I have thinned down to 6 razors and 4 brushes (possibly 5, if Rodd can save my Grampa's old brush !!) and taken the extra soaps, creams, AS'.......and placed them in safe storage in the spare bedroom bath.

Its a quality of life issue........everyone has his own definition.

 

My Ads come in waves. I can go three or four months without purchasing something and then go on a two week binge buying soaps, creams, and blades (my razor and brush ADs are over).

As of today I think I'm done buying stuff for the next few months. Enough is when you start getting worried you're spending too much money on SHAVING...

 

I have 2 straights that I use, and half a dozen or so potentially nice straights to learn to hone and.or restore on. I don't have any interest in purchasing more than the Tony Miller red latigo 3" heirloom strop. And I don't have a large interest in having more than one or two brushes, but I'll be damned if I can't stop acquiring soaps. I've definitely got a SSAD that I just can't shake.

 

I'm only a week into my exposure to the DE world and I've been on a small tear collecting razors. I've stuck purely to designs and styles that are visually appealing to me and have only purchased razors that are funtional shavers.

 

I looooove that phrase!!!!!!

 

I am collecting Gillettes of my birth year and high school graduation year. Still looking for 1973 Superspeed in very good-excellent condition.

 

I collect Gillette razors from 1906-1971: basically the Double Edge Safety Razor era from Gillette. I have them displayed right now in a nice case- I'll have to post pictures soon. My collection is of things I have mostly found locally - I would say only 25% comes from eBay. I also have some of the Gillette advertisements that are framed around my house.

I never saw the point of just accumulating razors- I think that you need a goal. Right now my case is about 90% full, so I think my collecting pieces is winding down ( i probably have 50 or 60 pieces in cases). I will now start the hunt for original shipping boxes and what not

 

I am out here looking for the ultimate shave. That mythological unbetable shave. I have managed to find the ultimate razor, a 1940s super speed, and the ultimate brush, a Conk badger brush but still have not found that ultimate soap or blade or after shave (although I am pretty certain that its a clubman-pinaud).