Personna Floating Head injector

Discussion in 'Show and tell' started by IAmTheJody, Feb 2, 2012.

  1. IAmTheJody

    IAmTheJody Gillette-i Master Staff Member

    Snagged this on eBay this week. I've been wanting one for a while, moreso since Slivovtiz's post on his.

    At first I was annoyed with myself for what it cost me but then I reflected on it.. it's not a common razor, quite rare to find actually. And it's New Old Stock. And it comes with Personna 74 blades which are worth $20 alone the way people are paying $4 a blade for them on eBay. So I'm content.

    Made by American Safety Razor Company, aka GEM, aka Personna, aka ASR in the early 1970s. Features a spring loaded pivoting head which was intended to adjust the amount of pressure automatically.

    Since he actually did a good job of taking photos, these are from the auction. No need in me duplicating his work. Work smart, not hard. :happy102:


    1.jpg

    2.jpg

    3.jpg
     
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  2. lradke

    lradke and doggone it, people like me

    Nice score Jody! That floating head is an interesting concept! Are you thinking of using it or having it as a collectors piece?
     
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  3. alpla444

    alpla444 That's sweet!

    So you cured your RAD Jody:happy102:

    I can see why you pulled the trigger, very nice the packaging looks cool:cool:. Great haul
     
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  4. Slivovitz

    Slivovitz Well-Known Member

    Very nice! The one I got was good condition but not NOS. They are good shavers, although I'm guessing that as a collector, you'll be leaving this one as is. If my search of completed auctions returned the right result, then I doubt if you could have paid much less for an NOS one. Not enough data to say what the going rate is for used ones.

    The price on the front is certainly nostalgic, although I can imagine a canny shopper back then wondering if he really wanted to blow $2.29 on this newfangled contraption. No bar code on the back puts it before about what, maybe 1975?
     
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  5. IAmTheJody

    IAmTheJody Gillette-i Master Staff Member

    As I don't collect anymore, I'll definitely be using it. I can't imagine it's better than my Schick "Paul Revere" injector because it's awesome, but I've been wanting to try one of these none-the-less. If I don't like it, there's a market out there for it.
     
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  6. macaronus

    macaronus Sir Nice-a-Lot

    Nice find, Jody!
    Are there still blades available after the blades in the package are used? Or do you plan to (try to) rehone them?
     
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  7. Bird Lives

    Bird Lives Future Root Beer King of Turkey

    I remember when they came out...I was thinking they would be a little like a loose cannon...:eek: I didn't like the idea of anything that takes away MY control ...:) But now many years later I hear they are great...I was young and....well they say ignorance is bliss, and I was a very blissful cat...:happy102:

    I'm very interested in your opinion...Waiting for the review...or a 'blow by blow' account...or is that 'stoke by stroke' :)
    At the very least, you've got more 74's and can always move the razor if it doesn't knock you out...But I'm hoping it does...;)

    Those 74's are so hip, I remember the first time I ever tried one....My Dad and I were so into the Schick blades at the time that it was a shock when Personna hit the market with those bad boys....'Rocked our world'...:happy097: I thought the Tungsten thing was a gimick to sell blades by playing off the 'Space-Program"...Boy was I wrong...Knew it the first time I tried one...;)
     
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  8. Slivovitz

    Slivovitz Well-Known Member

    The Personna 74s were a premium quality blade which is no longer made, but they are the standard injector blade size, and there are perfectly good injector blades still being made. Very few brick and mortar stores still carry them, but they are easy to find on line.

    If Jody does hone his old injector blades, it will be something new to me.;)
     
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  9. Mr. Flay

    Mr. Flay New Member

    Mine has a bright blue handle. I brought it out last week as my "razor of the week" selection. I had been neglecting my injectors for awhile and the Personna made a good showing on behalf of it's brethren.
     
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  10. Glasstream15

    Glasstream15 Member

    So the 5 carded Personna 74 injectors, 11 blades each, that I picked up for $55 shipped last week on Etsy was a good deal? I thought $1 apiece for the blades was too much but I WANTED THEM. Maybe not too much after all. Now if I just had a Personna Floating Head razor to go beside my Schick "G" to take advantage of those blades.

    I am very jealous of that find. Maybe I need my avatar to be slightly green too.
     
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  11. IAmTheJody

    IAmTheJody Gillette-i Master Staff Member

    Injector blades are still made today so I won't be rehoning any blades thankfully. It's just the Personna 74 blades were the best ever made, in both injector and double edge, and to find some these days means you'll be paying out the nose for them. The P74 injector blades sell from $1.00 a blade to $3.00 a blade once shipping is factored in, on any given day. They are cheaper than the P74 double edge blades because there aren't as many injector users as there are double edge users. The P74 double edge blades generally sell from $3.00 to $5.00 a blade once shipping is factored in, on any given day. Supply and demand, but both are fantastic blades, last 15 to 20 shaves per blade thanks to the Tungsten steel they were made out of.

    Considering they generally sell for more than a buck a blade, I'd say you did well. The P74 injector blades don't command as much as the P74 double edge blades because there aren't nearly as many injector users so they don't sell often... but just being P74 blades commands the premium.
     
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  12. macaronus

    macaronus Sir Nice-a-Lot

    Okay, thanx for the info. I'll remember that when next I encounter an Injector and/or P74 blades :)
     
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  13. IAmTheJody

    IAmTheJody Gillette-i Master Staff Member

    Came across this one today... didn't know they had 2 versions of the floating head... I think they are the same razor, just different blades.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
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  14. Mr. Flay

    Mr. Flay New Member

    Hmm... That appears to be the version I have (blue handle). I'd never seen the packaging before. Good to know they can take the twin blades.
     
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  15. Slivovitz

    Slivovitz Well-Known Member

    I saw a couple of more NOS floating heads sold recently: one in the red package with the Personna 74s, the other in the blue one with the twin blades as pictured above. I didn't bid on either, just watched out of curiosity.

    I've got a number of NOS packages of the Personna twin injector blades, as well as the Schick version. On the back of the Personna packages, it notes that if they won't work in your current injector, then you can just send them $1.50, and they will mail you a floating head injector. Regrettably, I suspect that this offer has expired.

    The floating head model was, I believe the only Personna or Pal injector that would take the twin blades as well as the single ones.
     
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  16. IAmTheJody

    IAmTheJody Gillette-i Master Staff Member

    I really didn't need another razor - it was definitely an impulse buy - and couldn't bring myself to open it being that it was NOS, so it has found itself a new home. I just can't imagine any injector being better than my "Paul Revere" Schick. The PRS leaves me just as BBS as any of my DE razors do and that's an accomplishment in my experiences with many different injectors.
     
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  17. Darkbulb

    Darkbulb Cookie Hoarder

    Interesting...I didn't know the Personna FH also came with a black handle...
     
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  18. IAmTheJody

    IAmTheJody Gillette-i Master Staff Member

    I'll bump this one just because it's not an often seen or talked about injector. What say you? Use/Used one of these? :shaver
     
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  19. Bird Lives

    Bird Lives Future Root Beer King of Turkey

    I'm a great fan of injectors, but have never had the pleasure...
    You said that you couldn't bring yourself to open it....Well?
    Did you evah pop that bad boy open and mow down!?
     
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  20. IAmTheJody

    IAmTheJody Gillette-i Master Staff Member

    I didn't open that one but did get a used one. Didn't really care for it myself. Had too much tension in that floating head, for me anyway. Seemed like it made me use more force than should be used. Almost like a typical cartridge razor.
     
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