The price is right, too. The fact that they copied the Slim tells you a lot about the Slim. It's a lot more complicated design than a 3 piece razor. They must have thought very highly of the Slim. I know I think very highly of my Slims. He also has a Soviet mess kit for sale that's almost an exact copy of the Swedish mess kit (my favorite).
Great Post...Great review...very well written, and answered all my questions before I could ask...Wish all reviews were as informative as yours... This whole Russian Bear thing is a new one on me....But it does look very nice....Bravo...."Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.."
I just discovered this thread. Wow! We always think of the Soviet bloc countries as being so behind and what not, but this is truly something to admire.
The razor reviewed is not the Ideal Razor that has been on various sites recently. This is by all accounts a much milder razor than the Konsul.
I just ordered one of these off of eBay. They say it is a copy of the 58 fatboy when it it obviously a slim. It doesn't say it is an Ideal but I assume it is. Now waiting a few weeks for it to show up. I was actually going to pass on it until I saw this thread. Soviet razor has a copy of the American model of Gillette Fatboy Razor model 1958 (year: 1958-61). Razor is no longer available, and what is sold - is sale of old stocks. Butterfly Twist-to-Open Mechanism Long Metal Handle, Plastic Base Plate, Metal Doors Adjusting Knob with 9 Positions: from 1 to 9 Weight: 57 grams, Lenght: 108mm Comes in the original plastic case sealed in the cardboard box with manual New Old Stock, Never Used, Good Quality Made in USSR
You can tell the difference in the baseplate which is metal for the Konsul versus plastic for the Ideal.
If anyone is interested, there are Consuls on Etsy, a total of seven (after I bought one) from the seller "RasimatVintage. The Price is $49 + $15 shipping which is a great price for a vintage new mint adjustable. The razors are in two different Ads, 4 on one page, three on the other.
I'm curious - almost to the day four years later, is the above still true or has the Slim been dethroned?
Looking at the pictures, the Konsul appears to have a significantly thicker handle than the slim. Any chance you could get us a handle width measurement versus a Fatboy?
Center Barrel Diameter Measurements Slim 10.0 mm Super Adjustable 10.5mm Fat Boy 11.6 mm Konsul 11.0 mm
With a half mm difference, the Konsul would appear to be a great choice for those who want a Fatboy, but don't like the short handle. Of course, there's more to the Fatboy than just the fat handle. This bears thinking upon (and a bank account viewing).
As you can see above, I picked up my NOS Konsul from Etsy for a price that is much lower than a NOS Fatboy would be. The half a millimeter is barely discernible from my Fatboy and I do like the balance of the Konsul a little bit better because of the extra length. The only drawback is to me is the numbers aren't painted but I can resolve that if I choose.
