Gillette takes a swipe at traditional wet shavers?

[Eeyore]

The Trac II is over 40 years old and Gillette still makes cartridges for it.

More important, Personna, Lord, and Dorco also make cartridges for it. So you still have choices, even for a 40 years old cartridge razor.

 

[Sabre]

Just looked up an ad from 1954, in a Dutch newspaper.

A Gillette aluminium Tech, with two blades, would cost Fl 1,10.

In today's money, that would be only €3,75

Not too different from the Fusion really.

Of course the alu Tech was a budget razor.

I must have expensive tastes

 

[Sabre]

More important, Personna, Lord, and Dorco also make cartridges for it. So you still have choices, even for a 40 years old cartridge razor.

Schick, SuperMax/Gallant, Laser/Zorrik, Treet, Rapira, Feather, Kai and at least five Chinese factories still manufacture Trac II compatible cartridges. And possibly a new factory in Malaysia too!

 

[Eeyore]

I meant so called cartridge types.

What's the difference between proprietary cartridges and proprietary slots for DE razors? Both served to protect Gillette's market, and make it impossible to use competitor products.

BTW, I never used those cartridges you referred to. But the Gillette of today is not really different from the Gillette of seventy years ago, in my opinion.

 

[Sabre]

What's the difference between proprietary cartridges and proprietary slots for DE razors? Both served to protect Gillette's market, and make it impossible to use competitor products.

Something that has always surprised me is that Trac II, Atra, and Sensor carts were not proprietary or if they were the patents could be circumvented.

 

[Eeyore]

Something that has always surprised me is that Trac II, Atra, and Sensor carts were not proprietary or if they were the patents could be circumvented.

AFAIK the Atra cartridges were, but patents expire. And any patent on the Trac also has expired long ago.

I never used a Sensor; the Trac II was good enough for me. So I don't know if there were third party Sensor cartridges.

 

[Beard Dregs]

How's this really different?

The Old type is awesome, try it and buy these disposable blades. patent expires, others can make blades.
The NEW is awesome, it needs different cutout blades so competitors can't make them. patent expires, others can make blades.
The NEW Improved is awesome, it needs different cutout blades so competitors can't make them. patent expires, others can make blades.
The Tech is awesome....

If they don't keep changing, for the sake of change, they'll lose out on a lot of money because they can't have a monopoly on their refills for whatever is the current system.

Besides, we're NOT their target audience. Just like some of the straight razor crowd didn't go to safety, we've gone back away from current.

 

[Sabre]

AFAIK the Atra cartridges were, but patents expire. And any patent on the Trac also has expired long ago.

I never used a Sensor; the Trac II was good enough for me. So I don't know if there were third party Sensor cartridges.

The Trac II was compatible with the Schick Super II and Wilkinson Sword WII, the Atra with the Schick Ultrex/Ultra and Wilkinson Sword Profile. The Personna Actiflex/Tri-Flexxx
are compatible with the Sensor.

 

[Eeyore]

If they don't keep changing, for the sake of change, they'll lose out on a lot of money because they can't have a monopoly on their refills for whatever is the current system.

That's been Gillette's strategy for as long as they exist ... cartridge razors were just the next step in a long line of "innovations" to stay ahead of the competition.

 

[MisfitWy23]

Am I the only person who's never shaved with these expensive contraptions?

Naw, there are a few like me who don't know what they're missing. I bought a few disposables to use as travel razors and take in the field because I valued my old Super Speed too much to risk. I didn't like them and bought a Schick injector to use as a travel razor. I'm more a creature of habit and continued to use both the DE and injector all my life. I didn't even have a clue about cartridges and didn't even know DEs were no longer in fashion until I saw the pawn shop hawker making it sound like they had phased out ages ago. That made me wonder if I was the only one, and got me worried about whether I might start having trouble finding blades, and that made me stumble across B&B.

It seems like I tend to be more negatively affected by advertising. If I notice them it tends to be because I find them irritating and deceptive, and it makes me want to avoid everything "new and improved." Then again, I guess it could be partly because I've been fooled by marketing hype for various products in the past making me cynical. Or it could just be I'm a neanderthal. In any case, I am cheap, and if something works I stick with it.

 

[Cash_Stronomer]

I don't think comparing yesterday's and today's prices is really relevant to anything usually. I mean, I watched an ultra HD movie last night that I downloaded for free, and remember buying VHS versions back in the day for well over 20$ to play on an almost 1,400$ VCR, in today's money that's 2,900$. Technology is what's important, and as far as cost, it's only important to that specific thing at that specific time.

 

[90quattrocoupe]

To me, shaving now is what coffee was in the 80s.

You bought coffee that was cheap and easy to make from a brand like Folgers or Maxwell House. Often it involved something called "flavor crystals." The customer valued convenience over taste or presentation. As a result American coffee was famous for being terrible. Same for American bread, etc. The only way an American ever encountered a good cup of coffee was on vacation in Europe -- and he hated it. He was happy with Folgers crystals.

And then he wasn't. Suddenly, the entire market changed. American tastes changed radically. Americans embraced coffee that was strong, dark, laborious to prepare, and expensive. People who would have laughed at anyone who paid more than 50 cents for coffee now stood in line waiting to pay for coffee that cost 8X as much.

I don't even know if it's possible to buy Folgers crystals anymore.

What happened? Americans embraced the old-fashioned approach to coffee that Europeans had never abandoned. In fact they embraced it so aggressively that they turned around and started selling it to the Europeans.

Shaving is coffee. The people who lovingly lather MdC are the same ones who rhapsodize about the crema from their espresso machines. It's the same thing.

Would Americans ever embrace wet shaving? I think it could happen in a heartbeat, the same way coffee changed in the 1990s. Overnight, and completely.

Thank God, I never drank coffee. Another expensive habit I never had.

Greg W.

 

[90quattrocoupe]

I never got into anything more than a twin blade. I went to a twin blade after dropping my 60s SS and damaging it. Maybe it was me being cheap, but I could never stand paying the price for more blades.

I always had to shave the same way, whether using a DE or a disposable. One WTG and one ATG. Only way I ever got a smooth shave. Disposables never lasted any longer that the DE blades. 4 maybe 5 shaves and that was it. So going back to DEs was a way to save money, but still get a smooth shave.

Since I retired, I only shave every 3 days. So, a blade in the razor lasts me about 12 to 15 days. I use two razors to shave so call it 6 to 7 days per blade. So 5 blades a month. Even with the cost of my Med Preps, the cost of shaving, as far as razor costs go, it $1.25 a month.

I got my soap supply from my Dad when he passed away. A Old Spice mug and 5 boxes of soap. Been 3 years since he passed, and I haven't used it up yet. Maybe not the best lathering, but does the job. I use a couple of old brushes he had.

Basically, I just shave because I have to. I am not going to spend a lot of money doing it.

Greg W.

 

[BigJ]

To be totally honest, I doubt Gillette feels threatened whatsoever by traditional shaving trends.
Rather, this may just be a jab at the 'dollar shave club' and similars.
Far bigger threat, IMHO, is the much larger, non-shaving style today.

+1. Precisely. Wet shaving is not much of a threat to Gillette. Their problem is the subscription services (at least according to the business press.)

 

[paintflinger]

I never got into anything more than a twin blade. I went to a twin blade after dropping my 60s SS and damaging it. Maybe it was me being cheap, but I could never stand paying the price for more blades.

I always had to shave the same way, whether using a DE or a disposable. One WTG and one ATG. Only way I ever got a smooth shave. Disposables never lasted any longer that the DE blades. 4 maybe 5 shaves and that was it. So going back to DEs was a way to save money, but still get a smooth shave.

Since I retired, I only shave every 3 days. So, a blade in the razor lasts me about 12 to 15 days. I use two razors to shave so call it 6 to 7 days per blade. So 5 blades a month. Even with the cost of my Med Preps, the cost of shaving, as far as razor costs go, it $1.25 a month.

I got my soap supply from my Dad when he passed away. A Old Spice mug and 5 boxes of soap. Been 3 years since he passed, and I haven't used it up yet. Maybe not the best lathering, but does the job. I use a couple of old brushes he had.

Basically, I just shave because I have to. I am not going to spend a lot of money doing it.

Greg W.

Hold up a sec, is that 5 boxes of vintage old spice soap?

 

[Nick_O]

I never got into anything more than a twin blade. I went to a twin blade after dropping my 60s SS and damaging it. Maybe it was me being cheap, but I could never stand paying the price for more blades.

I always had to shave the same way, whether using a DE or a disposable. One WTG and one ATG. Only way I ever got a smooth shave. Disposables never lasted any longer that the DE blades. 4 maybe 5 shaves and that was it. So going back to DEs was a way to save money, but still get a smooth shave.

Since I retired, I only shave every 3 days. So, a blade in the razor lasts me about 12 to 15 days. I use two razors to shave so call it 6 to 7 days per blade. So 5 blades a month. Even with the cost of my Med Preps, the cost of shaving, as far as razor costs go, it $1.25 a month.

I got my soap supply from my Dad when he passed away. A Old Spice mug and 5 boxes of soap. Been 3 years since he passed, and I haven't used it up yet. Maybe not the best lathering, but does the job. I use a couple of old brushes he had.

Basically, I just shave because I have to. I am not going to spend a lot of money doing it.

Greg W.

I love Old Spice lather. I too have 5 pucks of it and I use it almost every Monday. It smells and lather amazingly.

 

[90quattrocoupe]

Hold up a sec, is that 5 boxes of vintage old spice soap?

Yes.

 

[EternalBachelor]

Am I the only person who's never shaved with these expensive contraptions? I only ever bought cheapo single or double blade disposables. Sometimes I used a handle with replaceable twin blade heads but again always cheapo and usually unknown brands. Back then good cheapos actually existed. The brand was irrelevant to me if they shaved well. And they were cheap. I switched because cheapo became crap and I wouldn't pay the price of expensive cheapo razors.

Maybe there's so much animosity toward Gillette because so many people bought into the expensive cheapo crap for so long.

Same, I never used cartridge razors. I took one look at the prices and said, "Nu-uh!" (and I had never heard of the Trac II and other inexpensive cartridge options before coming to B&B, which by then I already gave up on those types of razors for DE razors). I also used two-bladed disposables before switching to DE, because that's what my dad uses. Naturally, they're the generic blue ones you can find for next to nothing at your local supermarket.