I'm curious about the new one as well. I've got the original, picked it up reasonable on the bay, and I like it. I wrote a glowing review on it when I first got it, but since then I've become less enthusiastic. It is a good razor, and is as good as shave as the Merkur, maybe slightly better ....... maybe only as good. Depends on the day.

What I like about the original is the weight, well made, and I believe the head angle is slightly different. The stainless handle, knurling and all, is great. What I don't like ..... the ends of the blade cannot be accessed once the top cap is on. So the blade exposure from one side to the other is difficult to adjust. I use the flat of my thumbnail against the edge to accomplish that. IME it will not tighten with equal blade exposure unless you give it that attention. The Merkur's top cap allows access to the blade ends, making adjustment easy.

I do not like the black finish on this new one. A deal breaker for me, but I am curious as to how it differs from the first iteration. Finally, is it worth the $ ? I collect slants, so for me it was a matter of waiting for the right price on a used copy. Is it worth 3 or 4 Merkurs ? Dunno, how much it is worth is in the eye of the beholder/end user.