Thread: Unopened C-MON HF on eBay: how old could this razor be?

Originally Posted by Falafel

I'm sorry I didn't mean to go public with the... uh... public eBay item. I thought people who're actively watching for such razors would know of things like this. I really didn't mean to step on anyone's toes; my apologies

No worries! Many of us prefer to keep items on ebay on the low until after it's sold. Most of us on SRP have noticed when a live auction is slapped up here is jumps in price and in some instances what could have been the deal of the year for you just jumped from $50 to hundreds and hundreds. That or after you see the link here the next morning you wake up and there are 100 extra watchers, 20 more bids and 30 Best Offers that were shot down and your $50 bid looks weak against those that saw the link that have more buying power. It is what it is and that's the game. *shrugs*

I wouldn't worry about it in the least bit. I was just being a dork. Please accept my apologies if I offended you. If I didn't offend you, well, lets have a beer and see how high the price can go.

Originally Posted by hamilton946

I've seen this with pocket watches as well. NOS, unopened boxes. Problem is, unless you own a fluoroscope; (here's mine)

Attachment 81370

You don't know if the watch is a frozen up rusted piece of junk or not. BTW, if you know what the machine is in the photo, you're officially old.

My feet still glow from those machines.

Looks like one of the old foot x ray machines that used to be in shoe stores.

Originally Posted by hamilton946

I've seen this with pocket watches as well. NOS, unopened boxes. Problem is, unless you own a fluoroscope; (here's mine)

Attachment 81370

You don't know if the watch is a frozen up rusted piece of junk or not. BTW, if you know what the machine is in the photo, you're officially old.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

My feet still glow from those machines.

Originally Posted by whavens

Looks like one of the old foot x ray machines that used to be in shoe stores.

Correct gentlemen! And I've now officially "dated" myself. (not that anyone else would)

I doubt you outing this one was a big deal. I have been watching it and the other NOS razors all week. I think they have plenty of people watching them as it is. They are already over my price limit. And a bit above normal already. IMHO.

I doubt that these NOS razors are really old. There are 2-3 sellers constantly selling them on eBay. If you check feedback of these sellers you will see dozens of already sold NOS razors. And not a single old razor. They simply don't have old razors. These sellers will tell you good stories of magic preservation of the razors since 1920-1930. Don't believe. Just few facts from the history. After the Second World war German economy was ruined, absolutely. In the first turn factories, which produces razors. Because during the war they produced ammunition for german army. The whole country was in ruins, german marka was useless in the market, it's value was close to zero. So, in the end of 1940 - beginning of 1950s german market was based on barter, exchange trade. Items of considerable value were being changed for food, nobody tried to preserve razors for future generations. I would guess that majority of NOS was used as payment for food within first 10 years after the war. Yes, few items were left, but not quantity enough for constant trade for years or months.
Another thing. Any razor, manufactured 70-90 years back and sealed in a box, will be covered by corrosion nowadays. Because of the moisture in the air. But condition of the razors, sold today, is really excellent. How can it be?
I can offer one explanation. These razors are new. Manufactured nowadays. It's easy to use trademarks of Filarmonica, Puma, DubleDuck, C-Mon and others instead of producing and selling under new unknown trademark. One more interesting fact, cheaper trademarks like Carbono were not preserved, nobody is selling NOS Carbono.
Majority of those NOS razors, sold on eBay, is a fake. It is absolutely evident for me.

@Zelenbach that is an interesting theory, and possibly plausible. it would be interesting to know if it is true, has anyone purchased any of the NOS razors sold lately?

Originally Posted by sidmind

@Zelenbach that is an interesting theory, and possibly plausible.

Yes it's plausible. But if the straights were stored properly, there would be no reason to think their condition wouldn't be NOS. As an eBay-er myself, I know that anything considered rare or valuable is ripe for copying. As to the term "Mint"; that's something you get when you leave the restaurant

I have some experience with buying NOS razor. Once I bought one and it came with a crack on the handle. I wrote an e-mail to the seller(Italian), who promised to make change. I sent him back my razor and after two weeks received another NOS with the same brand name. And I'm sure that was another razor, simply the seller has many NOS razors. I'm sure this razor was newly made. There is one more argument, supporting my theory. Price. Just compare, cost of new Dovo razor is 120-250$, Price of NOS is almost the same, sometimes cheaper. How can it be? Rare collectible item in the same price as newly made razor. It must be 3-5 times more expensive. But sellers seems happy to get 150$ for their rarity.

I appreciate your apology Logistics, no offense was taken
Zelenbakh brings up something that I've been curious about:

Originally Posted by Zelenbakh

I have some experience with buying NOS razor. Once I bought one and it came with a crack on the handle. I wrote an e-mail to the seller(Italian), who promised to make change. I sent him back my razor and after two weeks received another NOS with the same brand name. And I'm sure that was another razor, simply the seller has many NOS razors. I'm sure this razor was newly made. There is one more argument, supporting my theory. Price. Just compare, cost of new Dovo razor is 120-250$, Price of NOS is almost the same, sometimes cheaper. How can it be? Rare collectible item in the same price as newly made razor. It must be 3-5 times more expensive. But sellers seems happy to get 150$ for their rarity.

Over the past few years I've noticed that there are a few distinct sellers who have a seemingly endless supply of particular nos vintage razors. I won't mention names, but I'm sure that those of you who keep tabs on eBay know who I'm referring to (they're mostly in European countries). How is it that they can have so many razors of the same kind that are in nos condition? I understand that collectors, spending much time finding and restoring razors, will have a regular supply at hand. But, these certain individuals seem to have more than just a supply; it would be more suitable to say that they have storage-rooms-full of particular brand razors. Is it just me who finds this odd?