June 2016 Acquisition Thread

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Sxot said:
Guess this is as good a place as any for promised obligatory three brush shot.

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I never thought much of brushes, thiught they were all one size, But, I see here that not the case. I found a petite AOS brush that I misplaced for years that was like a child's brush. Recently used in a large regular bowl and had to work like a demon for very little lather. Now, I'm thinking maybe with a smaller brush, a smaller bowl?
Psmith said:
Barrister and Mann are from the US. Saponificio Varesino is from Italy, but readily available in the US.
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Thanks.
 
Austinoire said:
Sorry, thanks great to know. As a newbie, I've never seen these brands on American shaving forum. Will look around. Please know nothing I can afford. But, learning from my international brethren. Much appreciate.
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You should check out www.maggardrazors.com They are well priced, particularly in the states. The B&M range is cheap in the states. And Maggards has a synthetic brush that is supposed to be good. [emoji4]
 
Austinoire said:
Yeah, not a beer drinker. But, yes American beer was rubbish compared to Foster's, Stella Artois, Heineken and even Lowenbrau (my granddad's favorite). We've come a long way with beer in the states, microbrews and all, but here in Texas people still drink inexpensive brands like Pearl, Coors and Budweiser.
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As strange as it may sound... you won't find too many Aussies who will actually lower themselves to drink Fosters! Except for a handful of alcoholics from the state of Victoria (the home of Fosters) and Victorians will drink almost anything! While it grieves me to admit it, Tasmania seems to turn out brilliant beer. The cat is now firmly among the pigeons!
 
littleaussiebleeder said:
As strange as it may sound... you won't find too many Aussies who will actually lower themselves to drink Fosters! Except for a handful of alcoholics from the state of Victoria (the home of Fosters) and Victorians will drink almost anything! While it grieves me to admit it, Tasmania seems to turn out brilliant beer. The cat is now firmly among the pigeons!
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The cat is now firmly among the pigeons! Great turn of phrase. What does it mean exactly, never hear it before. Also what premium beers do respectable Aussie drink, national beers (domestics) and foreign?
 
Austinoire said:
Curious about you Australian lads, it seems you prefer Gillette blandes? While us yanks prefer feather blades and Gillette razors. Thoughts?
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These are vintage blades - made in a time when blades were blades and cartridges were just a figment of King Gillette's grandson's imagination.
Specifically, these are vintage stainless steel blades made in the early 1970- mid 1980s after Wilkinson Sword patented them, and made blades which lasted a lot longer than their carbon steel counterparts. Soon copied by their competitors, there was a bit of a competition (so it seems) as to who could make the longest lasting blades.

As far as which vintage blades I buy - it all depends on reviews of the quality of the blades that you can find online, and what is available at a reasonable cost + postage from places like Ebay.
I've got a rough list of the blades I have here.

The reason I have more vintage Gillettes than any others is simple - they are the ones that were most abundant, and at a reasonable price when I was collecting.
Vintage Personnas are great (the Personna '74 is up there amongst the best ever) but 5 packs of them go for $30 on the bay.
Schick Plus platinum are also another really good vintage blade, but I missed the time when they were available fairly cheaply because the first two blades I tried were duds and I dismissed them totally until it was too late.
Wilkinson sword blades can be hit or miss. Some of them, like the Light Brigades are up there with the Personna '74s vying for best blade ever, others are nowhere near so good, and it can be difficult to tell by name or packaging which you are getting.

I don't use modern blades at all - the only ones I own are a 5 pack of Derby blades that someone here decided to send me as a joke. I have enough vintage blades to last until I am in my late 80s!

Vintage blades are getting harder to find, especially for a reasonable price but as most of the ones sold on Ebay come from the US, you should be able to try a few for a reasonable cost.
 
littleaussiebleeder said:
As strange as it may sound... you won't find too many Aussies who will actually lower themselves to drink Fosters! Except for a handful of alcoholics from the state of Victoria (the home of Fosters) and Victorians will drink almost anything! While it grieves me to admit it, Tasmania seems to turn out brilliant beer. The cat is now firmly among the pigeons!
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While going back through the uni system in the mid 2000s I worked in one of our supermarket's drive-thru bottle shops (liquor store to @Austinoire). In the 2.5 years I was there, I sold a single six pack of Foster's lite ice (2.3%) to an older American man.
 
eggbert said:
These are vintage blades - made in a time when blades were blades and cartridges were just a figment of King Gillette's grandson's imagination.
Specifically, these are vintage stainless steel blades made in the early 1970- mid 1980s after Wilkinson Sword patented them, and made blades which lasted a lot longer than their carbon steel counterparts. Soon copied by their competitors, there was a bit of a competition (so it seems) as to who could make the longest lasting blades.

As far as which vintage blades I buy - it all depends on reviews of the quality of the blades that you can find online, and what is available at a reasonable cost + postage from places like Ebay.
I've got a rough list of the blades I have here.

The reason I have more vintage Gillettes than any others is simple - they are the ones that were most abundant, and at a reasonable price when I was collecting.
Vintage Personnas are great (the Personna '74 is up there amongst the best ever) but 5 packs of them go for $30 on the bay.
Schick Plus platinum are also another really good vintage blade, but I missed the time when they were available fairly cheaply because the first two blades I tried were duds and I dismissed them totally until it was too late.
Wilkinson sword blades can be hit or miss. Some of them, like the Light Brigades are up there with the Personna '74s vying for best blade ever, others are nowhere near so good, and it can be difficult to tell by name or packaging which you are getting.

I don't use modern blades at all - the only ones I own are a 5 pack of Derby blades that someone here decided to send me as a joke. I have enough vintage blades to last until I am in my late 80s!

Vintage blades are getting harder to find, especially for a reasonable price but as most of the ones sold on Ebay come from the US, you should be able to try a few for a reasonable cost.
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Ah ha!
I get it. So the blades are not only collectables, but highly functional in keeping an edge. Makes spot on sense. Yeah, most of the gents on our American forum swear by modern blades, but I notice its a price and abundance thing. They debate about the best and sharpest, but rarely focus on craftsmanship, design and longevity. Ironically they also bitch about not being able to find any of these qualities in today modern blades...it's feathers, eastern European blades, etc and the pursuit of what you've discovered by rediscovery. I appreciate you explaining the theory behind vintage blades, it was informative-very educational.
 
Austinoire said:
The cat is now firmly among the pigeons! Great turn of phrase. What does it mean exactly, never hear it before. Also what premium beers do respectable Aussie drink, national beers (domestics) and foreign?
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"Setting the cat among the pigeons" meant (don't hear it much now) to stir up a hornet's nest. Basically, saying something that will start a heated discussion. Re the beer... to a large degree, Aussies are rather loyal to beer brands which originate in their own state. Well, at least that used to be the case. These days we are a bit more open-minded and drink beer (as long as it is good beer) from interstate or overseas (even from Asia) as well as our own state's produce. Microbrews are becoming quite popular, especially with younger people. My personal favorites are Boags (Tasmania) Tooheys Old (a black beer from New South Wales) and Lowenbrau (I agree with your Grand-dad.) A great mate of mine in Salado TX reckoned I would love Pearl. I haven't seen any here yet and I'm not drinking much of anything these days!
 
Austinoire said:
Ah ha!
I get it. So the blades are not only collectables, but highly functional in keeping an edge. Makes spot on sense. Yeah, most of the gents on our American forum swear by modern blades, but I notice its a price and abundance thing. They debate about the best and sharpest, but rarely focus on craftsmanship, design and longevity. Ironically they also bitch about not being able to find any of these qualities in today modern blades...it's feathers, eastern European blades, etc and the pursuit of what you've discovered by rediscovery. I appreciate you explaining the theory behind vintage blades, it was informative-very educational.
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There are a couple of types of blade on that list that I have used for over a month of shaving. Ok, I don't shave every day, but that is still at least 15-16 shaves (and the best have been 22-26 shaves, although admittedly they were getting a little rough towards the end). You don't get that longevity from modern blades. And surprisingly, if it wasn't for the postage costs involved, most of the vintage blades I've bought are on a similar price scale to the likes of Feather. I think, and this is totally a guesstimate on my part, my 1000+ blades have cost around 40-60c per blade delivered.
 
littleaussiebleeder said:
"Setting the cat among the pigeons" meant (don't hear it much now) to stir up a hornet's nest. Basically, saying something that will start a heated discussion. Re the beer... to a large degree, Aussies are rather loyal to beer brands which originate in their own state. Well, at least that used to be the case. These days we are a bit more open-minded and drink beer (as long as it is good beer) from interstate or overseas (even from Asia) as well as our own state's produce. Microbrews are becoming quite popular, especially with younger people. My personal favorites are Boags (Tasmania) Tooheys Old (a black beer from New South Wales) and Lowenbrau (I agree with your Grand-dad.) A great mate of mine in Salado TX reckoned I would love Pearl. I haven't seen any here yet and I'm not drinking much of anything these days!
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Understood. Familiar with Salado (nice small town) and Pearl. Wouldn't expect much, it an old old inexpensive favorite that has found new life as a retro choice by hipsters-rediscovering it.
 
littleaussiebleeder said:
The ELDYENNE #4 razor... where is that purported to be made? I can't help thinking I've seen one like that before somewhere but I couldn't find one online.
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"Hand made in Germany"

I'm not expecting much since not marked Solingen, and no mention of steel quality (eg Silver Steel). Just says "Best hollow ground". It does feel and look good quality though. Proof will be in the shaving.
 
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