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Well I have now reached the sad day when all of my local shops have been picked clean of all but the worst stuff, or the stuff that the shop owners must want to keep. I now have to expand my search radius. I really dont want to drift across the border into Vermont. I have now become such a degenerate that I have others picking shops for me.
Not an uncommon fact around here also. I have sufficient to keep me in clean and rescale bizzyness for a while. I don't have anyone picking for me though. No one around here has the "eye" for possibilities!
Enjoy the possibilities!
~Richard
If you look on the bright side, you have shops near buy to look in.
Two days travel to the nearest shop for me.
Kind of like Richard, I don’t have anyone that is good at picking either.
I do however get a giant kick out of searching when I get a chance.
Two days? Wow. I forget how big Canada is. A buddy of mine used to tell me how tough the hockey bus trips were from Moose Jaw out to Vancouver and Medicine Hat. That remote area thing is something that we dont have on the east coast of the USA.
Not only is it big but I am 100 miles from the end of the road. Some days I wish I could go for a drive and other days I appreciate living in a bubble.
Sounds like you got the area fished out. I visited a lot of the local places a couple years ago, but don't have time to go hunting now.
I met a nice older gentleman (dealer at an antique shop) that said he had 100's of razors in a large storage unit but whenever I contact him says he hasn't been able to get out there. That was a few years ago so I've pretty much given up on it. I need to call him and see how he's doing.
I recently bought some from a collection, but can't afford to keep all of them. It is always interesting to get to handle new types of razors and see names you've never heard of before though. I wish I could find some hones for personal use!
That is always a good idea, a few of my finest have come from bugging/reminding a dealer!Quote:
Originally Posted by JP5
~Richard
It has always been slow here. I call it a good year if I can find two nice items a year. I don't make the rounds much anymore. Last week I found a Greaves in the display for under $20. When I opened it up the blade had been destroyed by someone with a grinder. Oh, did that make me feel sick.
A shop about thirty minutes north of me has a few interesting things but the guy wants 30 bucks a pop. One is a nice Bengal, but at 30 it has to be special.
I live in the Chicago suburbs, so I can visit Mertz Apothecary, known online as Smallflower. I do intend to visit some day, but rarely drive downtown. I have ordered a number of things from them by mail. It is so much easier than fighting the Chicago traffic.
The the nice thing is that I can also order by mail from a variety of other shops around the country and have my friendly postal worker deliver the goodies in 2-3 days. It is not quite as nice as being able to look at the products on the shelves, smell the aftershaves, etc. but it sure is convenient to be able to order from the comfort of home.
Yeah one place near my folks has some I wanted, but they were priced the same way.Quote:
Originally Posted by MrZ
I went into one antique store that had a LOT of straight razors and some old strops. It looked like the razors were the bottom of the barrel someone culled from their collection. They weren't priced that way though! I remember the strops were expensive too.
You guys break my heart :)
We don't have vintage razors in shops here in London
However if you want a cappuccino your lucks in.
An expensive version of something that tastes bad, and no sweet iced tea. Sorry brother. :(Quote:
Originally Posted by JOB15
As with tea, the freshness of the ingredients, and the skill of the person making the preparation are the key to quality in the cup.Quote:
Originally Posted by JP5
~Richard
Doesn't have to be remote . . . start at the base of Yonge St in Toronto and head north. You can drive for almost a full day and not leave the Province. 22 hours of driving. google it.Quote:
Originally Posted by MrZ
I travel far as wide in search for razors. I come across lots of them, the real problem nowadays is I'm too picky. I'll find a razor that's in good shape and needs little work if any, but I ussally pass due to it being nothing special or just uninteresting.
Thank you~:chapeauQuote:
Originally Posted by TrilliumLT
That is a really nice thing to do allowing newbies/starting out collectors the sense of the hunt...with game at the end!
I filled out a couple years back. I even have sent some folks to what were my honey trees.
~Richard
All I can find near me is one antique store that has quite a few razors but they need a lot of work and priced like nos. So the hunt continues, my area is growing quite a bit from traveling for work now. So I keep the hopes up on finding a gem at a good price. It is exciting to find a new place of opportunity in the wild.
In my area there's just antique shops. Unfortunately they think every razor should sell for $40+.
Not sure where you are in upstate NY, but im in that region. You'll notice a little jump in the spring if you visit the shops often. There's a few large antiques sales in the early fall that are good. Also flea markets in the summer seem to produce. If you travel within the Hudson Valley you can look for shops further south. Ive come back with some good hauls travelling between Poughkeepsie and Albany. Leave your number with shop owners and they will sometimes call you when they pick up a cache of barbering equipment. If you really want to dig deep start checking out estate auctions to see if they have any barbering supplies.
A few years ago i wouldn't have mentioned any of this since i was out hounding after razors in the wild myself.. but i have enough blades to satisfy my lustful wantings for the time being, plus i got some really good tips from members here when i starting hunting.
Good luck with the search!!
I've had good luck finding razors and vintage shaving/honing gear around here, but the hunting is always best when I put in tons of leg work. It's about increasing the odds so, when I'm in hunting mode, I go far, wide and often and shoot for finding something in about 1 out of 4 or 5 tries. Talking to the dealers is key. Making connections.
I sometimes find razors in a case at an antiques store and buy them after a bit a haggling with the store owner. But I want to get to know the dealers who are stocking the cases. If I keep going back until I meet the dealer who's case that is, talk to him or her, I find they usually have many other razors and shaving items they didn't put in there. That's the stuff I want to get at, the box that's in the garage or barn somewhere, the stuff that doesn't have a price tag on it yet.
The antiques store becomes just the meeting place (and occasional buying place), and only really shows the tip of the real inventory. Most of these dealers have so much stuff piled into garages and basements that they'll never be able cycle it all through their display case, it never even makes it through the front door of the store. But, if they know they have an interested and willing buyer, they will feel more motivated to dig through the piles and find what they know they have buried somewhere. However, it slows down in the winter months. But when spring comes its full on.
Listen to the man! He has the right of it!:tu
~Richard
Excellent point. Ive had a few vendors start bringing in more shaving stuff after i mentioned interest and made a few purchases.Quote:
Originally Posted by xiaotuzi
With limited shelf space, they don't always display everything they have.