Thread: Where do you see the straight razor trend in........?

Originally Posted by ChrisL

It may be a vice I'm guilty of in regard to collecting straight razors. What would you call those that have hundreds or even thousands of razors in their collection?

Chris L

Very fortunate.

Originally Posted by ChrisL

What would you call those that have hundreds or even thousands of razors in their collection?

Very enthusiastic razor collectors.

I wasn't having a dig. It was just that someone had expressed the feeling that he was being priced out of his hobby by the rising cost of purchasing nice razors.
Obviously price is driven by demand. If more people want them,or individuals want more of them, then prices will rise.
I would say that those with a huge appetite for collecting prized razors could well be driving up demand and with it, prices.
Which is fair enough.

Originally Posted by welshwizard

There is an element of greed. With one hundred razors being described by some as a modest collection. How many razors do you really need? Why should you be able to buy them cheaply if the demand is high?
I have ten razors all of which please me, not one is rare or sought after. To me, I probably have eight too many.

Sounds like Capitalism, of which I'm a big fan. I've been hit by a recent bout of RAD and put in bids of a few Ebay specials lately. On one of them I got into a bidding war and won, but still got a good price as far as I'm concerned. The others have been restoration projects needing serious attention, but costing me no more than $20 apiece. I plan on cleaning them up and parting with some of the more nondescript ones for people who are just getting started.

Goog

I have always been a collector of 'stuff'. As a kid it was comic books and in my adult life it has been briar tobacco pipes, pocket knives, razors, bicycles and handguns. Interest comes and goes in these things. Some stay and others get sold. I have had more than a dozen bicycles come and go in the last ten years. I am down to a manageable 5 right now. With the razors I was like a basking shark inhaling every thing that was in my path for a time. Now I am far more discriminating than a year or two ago.

In the past I might have bought some fairly grungy razors with hone wear and what have you. Nowadays, since I don't restore razors I only go for items that I'm attracted to and that are in really nice condition. Naturally it costs more but I buy far less and I'm usually happy with what I end up with when I stick to that buying philosophy.

I was up to a few hundred tobacco pipes, like any normal person, a few years ago. I was talking with a friend who has 600 give or take a few. He is a lawyer and a very intelligent man in his 60s. I said that I thought it was a sickness and he said, "Oh yeah, it is a disease." I was surprised that he was so casual in recognizing that. It was as if he knew it and was okay with it. Then again, I guess I am too.

I have noticed this too and I'm saddened buy it. Originally I would buy stuff on ebay, resto it and hone it, then sell it again on ebay, but that only happened like three times, now I'm just gonna hang on to them cus my collection isn't that big and I fear if I sell a bunch I may not be able to afford getting more.

Possibly the trend will mimic the knife industry. There were two trends in the sport knife industry over the last several years. First, a push for exotic steel. Many knives are advertised based on the steel, and some even have the steel type stamped on the blade.

A second trend has been a gradual shift of manufacturing to Taiwan and China. I don't mean junk knives. I mean Buck, Spyderco, etc. They can carefully cultivate a Chinese partner and by controlling tooling, materials, and QC they can eventually get a first class product. A top quality USA or Japan made Spyderco might retail for two or three times an equivalent Chinese made version.

So maybe someday there will be a Chinese made Dovo or a new razor made with some trendy steel.

I wonder if blade width will be like surf boards and skirt lengths. Ten years from now we will look back at the popularity of 7/8 and 8/8 blades and say "what were we thinking."

Originally Posted by matt321

I wonder if blade width will be like surf boards and skirt lengths. Ten years from now we will look back at the popularity of 7/8 and 8/8 blades and say "what were we thinking."

I sure hope so

One of the most interesting aspects of straight razor shaving is how many choices there really are. I have and still use, on occasion, a DE for 2 years. I have tried at least 20 different brands of blades and about 40 different razors. To be honest, the difference between different makes, honing, steels, grinds, and styles of a straight is much greater than a DE or cartridge.

I think this will be key moving forward. While this will be niche market, most people will have a number of razors as they experiment. They will resell some and keep others while they acquire new ones to try. This will keep the market full of good quality razors. Prices will then be driven more by the cost of skilled labor than by anything else.

I guess there are 2 basic markets - collector/investors and users.

Collectors
The interest in buying and selling razors as collectibles may well depend on the growth of prices - are they worthwhile investments?

Actual users - this will probably remain a pretty small number. Most people would be happy with getting in and out of the bathroom quickly with an adequate shave. Most people wouldn't invest the time and effort to get a decent straight razor shave.

However - I wouldn't be surprised if the DE users increased in number. This isn't such a step away from the disposables.

Also interesting is the number of people who appear to be interested in DIY razors. Again a limited number, but certainly another interesting development.

Funny how being in a community where you share a similar interest can give you the impression that there are many more of us out there.

All the best,
Michael.