Quote Originally Posted by Chribo View Post
Well, whats interesting about the whole SR thing is how many different ways there are to collect.

1) Mint condition in the box - the classic way.
2) Great condition... but used to shave!! what would a stamp collector say if you said "Got a great stamp.. and mailed a letter with it!
3) OK condition, and totally overhauled... !! What would a coin collector say if you said "Have this coin with 100 years of patina... and I cleaned it!!"
4) OK condition and polished and new scales added ... shaves like a dream!! What would a gun collector say if you said "Had this Muzzle loader, polished it all up, replaced the Wooden bits... now it shoots really well!!!

So... there are liberties accepted in the straight Razor community that few other collecting fields accept!
No, I don't think there are more liberties taken in the straight razor community than in other fields. Your #1 definition is in the strictest sense what a collectors is. OTH anyone with more than one of the same item has the basis for a collection and people that don't collect tend to view that as a collection in the broadest sense or the word. Then there is the huge area in between of varying strict adherence to the #1 definition. In practical use the term collector is pretty flexible.

I used to make real collectors cringe by redoing the stocks on 1950s Brno small ring Mauser rifles and bedding the actions to make them more consistently accurate when shooting. Other members of the shooting community thought I was a collector having a dozen or so of the same type rifle. Personally I did not care as I was doing what I liked doing.

Never did the same with cameras but always put at least one roll of film through them to make sure they were working. If not working properly I fixed them or sent them out to be repaired. That is something a #1 definition collector would cringe at doing.

The decision and difference is one of deciding if you want to start a museum or use the darn things as intended.

Bob