Quote Originally Posted by IanS View Post
If you skim to top couple pages of the Razors forum, there was a "top 5 makers" list. Probably hard to go wrong with one of the makers from there.
Actually, a lot. Because they are hyped, they are generally overpriced. Because they are overpriced and reasonably rare, many are sold that are of dubious quality, to say the least. In short, totally not recommended for a beginner, unless you have more money than sense. There are other issues, too. Dubl Ducks are known to have massive problems with their scales. While they are good shavers (and reasonably easy to hone because of their hollow grind), I fail to see what the hype is about. Same for Filarmonicas, by the way. Given the choice between 5 no name Solingen vintage razors and one of the hyped brand names, I would go for the lot of 5 any time.