Thread: Whence the old Fillies?

So, as I continue to learn about all the wonderful things that have ever existed - and, fortuantely, when it come to straight razors, if it ever existed we can make it work like new (or at least Glen or Max can) - I keep hearing about these Filarmonicas. Now, it is pretty wierd that there is this one Spanish razor and, despite the Spanish tradition of making fine steel, cutlery, and precision manufacturing (like we find in Germany, int he Ruhr and Sah vallyes, in Japan, in France, in the States....), I'm still surprised it comes from Spain.

But that's not my question here today. I'm wondering why there are so many New Old Stock (NOS) Fillies around? Far more than any other razor manufacturer, especially compared to the other prime collectible brands (Dubl Duck, Boker, etc).


Any ideas?

My guess would be that someone or someones stumbled across boxes of them. Then, once prices shot up, others started digging out their boxes and BAM ebay is a madhouse.

You can have my vintage Fillys when you pry them from my cold dead fingers.

Originally Posted by Mijbil

I'm wondering why there are so many New Old Stock (NOS) Fillies around? Far more than any other razor manufacturer, especially compared to the other prime collectible brands (Dubl Duck, Boker, etc).

That information is incorrect. There are several thousands of NOS Henckels somewhere in this world, possibly still in the one cache from which they originated. I know one guy who has three moving boxes of NOS Dubl Ducks (he is not selling).

Filarmonicas are nowhere near as rare as you are being led to believe by their current prices. Additionally, they are nowhere near worth these prices from a perspective of function or performance, either.

Yea man, all razors were mass produced. Where do you think they went when the sales stopped? There are probabaly boxes of everything somewhere, either with someone sitting on them for their retirement or someone who forgot where they stashed them.

Well, there is a guy in my area who sells NOS Herder kitchen knives. He says he's got "several boxes full of razors, mostly large ones, in a store in West Germany". That is one of the reasons I get a bit excited about USD 500 NOS razors. Somewhere out there, there are a number of people killing themselves laughing, trust me. I have never paid more than USD 150 for an NOS razor, and I have absolutely zero intention of changing that behaviour (there are some that may justifiably fetch more, like an 8/8 DD or a Grim Reaper, but then we are talking collector razors, not everyday tools).

I remember reading on one of the forums somewhere about a guy who found an ancient shipping crate with something like 600 (I believe) old W&B in it. Just sitting in an abandoned warehouse in the Northeast US.


I need to start looting old warehouses.