Hi everyone I've been looking at slant bar razors lately. Although made of stainless and a 3 piece the iKon slant is over priced I.M.O. and more than I'm willing to pay. The Merkur slant bar seems a good value. But in my research I've come up with two different #'s and prices on the razors the 37C around $44-$54 and the 198 for around $54-$60. They look to be the "EXACT" same to me except for the price difference. Does anyone know why? I'm curious as to the different # designations and prices. Does anyone know is there an actual difference between the razors? Thanks for any help you can give me....
I've heard that one company that imports the Merkurs likes to give them a new number designation and that's the only difference. Not sure how true that is.
Thanks for the info..That makes sense "a "vendor" after ole' King Gillette's heart"....Sales through BS, repackage/rename the product like it's new and different and charge more for it...I see the #198's advertised as being imported from Germany like it's something special..Also no matter how much I search I can't find any kind of comparison between the # 37C and the #198...I'll have to do a search and see which vendors are selling the 37C and which the #198...So I can steer away from the BS companies in the future.. Thanks again
After futher research and some emailing, I got it from the horse's mouth. The difference between the Merkur 37C and the #198 is strickly nomenclature...The #198 designation comes from the Merkur American distributor Colonel Conk..For whatever reason they have their own numbering system..So if your contemplating a Merkur Slant the 37C and a #198 are the exact same razor,so go for the cheapest price you can get. In my searching I've noticed there can sometimes be a rather large price difference between the two razors depending on where you buy.....
You might want to check this site. In all fairness, the 198 model # is used by other suppliers also. It could be Merkur just changing the model # for different markets. http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/Merkur_37 Smallflower has the 198 at a lower price http://www.smallflower.com/merkur/slant-bar-heavy-duty-safety-razor-198-razor-10066499
