Yesterday morning I got up early and decided to do a quick walk through of one of the local flea markets to see what I can see. It wasn't one of the better flea markets for razor hunting but it is real close to the house. I have had some great razor finds there in the past (nice C.V. Heljestrand for $8, 1960 Fatboy for $4, to name a few.) More often than not though, I get skunked at this place.

So I'm wandering through the booths looking for straights and or old Gillettes when I see 5 or so old straight razors in a glass case. Even though initial indications weren't good, I asked the guy to open the case so I could have a look. Now, I'm very familiar with the "new to me" razor, they're not often pretty and I'm OK with that. Often all they need is a little TLC and a good home and they're off and running. This gentleman obviously didn't have the slightest clue about the concept of a restorable razor. Turns out all five were absolute garbage (large portions of the edge completely gone, spine wear, pointed razors, 6/8" at the heel and 1/16" of an inch at the toe, scale rot, etc.) In short there wasn't enough restorable metal on all of the five to make ONE restorable razor! I doubt I would have paid $5 for the lot but the cheapest one was $28!


Cheese and Crackers! It's bad enough the guy is selling complete garbage but asking exhorbitant prices for it is quite another issue. Of course when I lost interest (to add insult to injury) he was very keen to sell me a Pakistani Letter Opener for $70 or so. What a Gomer! The whole episode kinda gave me a case of the red ass. I probably would have felt better if I'd just done my walk through, not seen a razor and left with no joy in Mudville.