German Schick Premium DE blades, 25x5 pillars, black packaging. These NOS?

[Mitsimonsta]

I just picked up 500 of these on fleabay, rather strangely these are 125 blade per pillar, 25 packs of 5. So I obviously bought 4 pillars.... just because.



I think these are NOS blades. Anyone got any ideas? Not able to find these in the reviews section.

[Sledgehammer39]

I have no clue if they are NOS.. They look pretty cool.. Let us know how they perform..

[Mitsimonsta]

I have no clue if they are NOS.. They look pretty cool.. Let us know how they perform..

Will do. Expecting 2 weeks to get my hands on them.

Just the look of the Arial/Hevetica lettering on the 'Premium' wording looks suspiciously like Swiss721BT to this old compositor and graphic designer.

Swiss721 which really died once Adobe pushed out the Helvetica type 1 fonts in the early '90s. Microsoft did Arial which was their version of it.... that was about the same time but it was only a truetype font which graphic designers baulked at.

I am guessing but mid-late 1980s is a fairly reasonable guess in my book for the manufacture date of these.

[rm71]

They look NOS. Joel where are you finding all these blades??

[Mitsimonsta]

fleabay

They look NOS. Joel where are you finding all these blades??

Because you can't read Rocco....

There is one pillar left there if anyone is game.

[Stubblefield]

Judging by the blade cases, I'd guess late 80's or after.

[rm71]

Because you can't read Rocco....

[Mitsimonsta]

Judging by the blade cases, I'd guess late 80's or after.

Great, very happy that someone tends to think that they are a similar age to what I believe.

I guess the proof in the pudding will be if they state country of manufacture as West Germany which gives us a fairly decent 'before 1990' dating. I believe they would be Solingen-manufactured which most certainly is in West Germany.

So you going to grab the other pillar??

[Oel]

Mitsimonsta,

have you shaved with one of these blades? I'm curious how they shave.

[Mitsimonsta]

I am still awaiting delivery, they are coming from Russia to Australia. Don't get much directly from Russia but it usually takes dead-on 2 weeks from the UK, Spain, Italy, plus the US. Canadian shipments adds a few days usually.

I might have them on Friday (Tuesday midday as I type). I if not then hopefully early next week.

[atison]

Will do. Expecting 2 weeks to get my hands on them.

Just the look of the Arial/Hevetica lettering on the 'Premium' wording looks suspiciously like Swiss721BT to this old compositor and graphic designer.

Swiss721 which really died once Adobe pushed out the Helvetica type 1 fonts in the early '90s. Microsoft did Arial which was their version of it.... that was about the same time but it was only a truetype font which graphic designers baulked at.

I am guessing but mid-late 1980s is a fairly reasonable guess in my book for the manufacture date of these.

Wow, I am impressed with the expertise we have on this board and the varied ways in which we apply it. That is some impressive detective work.

[Mitsimonsta]

Wow, I am impressed with the expertise we have on this board and the varied ways in which we apply it. That is some impressive detective work.

We all apply our life experience in different ways. There is a massive spread of people here, some may have been office workers all their life, some may be miners or on the floor in the manufacturing game. We have actors and IT guys and mechanics and CEOs here.

But we are all blokes, we all have hair on our face.

Hopefully these blades will be here in a week or so.

[Mitsimonsta]

Okay, the blades have arrived. Luckily, I went to the post office before shaving, so glad I did. A nice parcel of these NOS blades were waiting.

I am able to date thes blades to between 1993 and 2000. Unfortunately the are marked 'Made in Germany' so they are post-reunification, however they are branded Shick, but are addressed as manufactured by Wilkinson Sword. It also has "A member of the Warner-Lambert Group" printed on the rear of the pillar.

According to the Pfizer website, Wilkinson Sword was aquired by Warner-Lambert in 1993, and Pfizer took over Warner-Lambert in 2000.

In 1970, Warner-Lambert acquired the Schick® wet-shave product line from Eversharp. The company was founded in 1929 by Jacob Schick, whose magazine-loading razor was inspired by the repeating rifle.

In 1993, Warner-Lambert acquired Wilkinson Sword, combining it with Schick® to create the world's second largest wet-shave business.

Pfizer and Warner-Lambert announced their intention to join, a transaction completed in June 2000, creating the world's most valuable and fastest-growing pharmaceutical company.

So these blades are somewhere between 11 and 18 years old. I would guess that it would have taken some time to get the packaging redesigned, new address and company details etc, so I imagine they are from 1995-96. I have not received any provenance from the eBay seller at all, but I imagine that they are from a deceased estate. I feel privileged to hold what is likely to be the largest single holding of these blades and report on them to the B&B community. A further 125 were sold by the eBay seller - lucky person who got these!

Jumped into a shower after throwing my Muhle Pure Badger brush into the sink soak. Lathered up with TOBS Jermyn St cream, and loaded the blade into my Fatboy dialled on 6 which is my normal setting.

Immediate thought was 'oooh, it's sharp' quickly followed by 'great blade feedback'. Yes, the blade sung nicely and was a pleasurable shave. Noticed that the blade did not appear to show any signs of overt smoothness, however it was absolutely and totally devoid of any roughness. I would go as far as saying these may be uncoated blades, however the performance was more than satisfactory.

As when testing all blades, I do my normal 2-pass (WTG+XTG) shave, then wash off and then apply an Alum block to test for irritation and weepers. Nothing major to report, other than one spot from a previous zit which I had given the tiniest of nicks to. Gave the alum 30 seconds on my face and towelled off (no rinse).

Result was a normal DFS - BBS on cheeks as I get with many blades, just that roughness under my chin as normal. I find that ATG is the only way to get that and only with the sharpest of blades, not something that I do with a first-time use of a previously-unknown blade.

To put them in perspective with my 2000-vintage NOS Bleue Extras, I would say the Blue Extra is a slightly better blade. Smoother during the shave, similar sharpness, slightly closer result. Still, the Bleue Extras are coated with PTFE, these are not. By no means disgraced at all, the performance for what these are is simply excellent, and just goes to show how much we have lost with so many blades going the way of the dodo.

If you see them, grab them. Definitely worth a buy. If you receive a pack (and there are a few going to get a sample) then please enjoy them as my gift to you.

[Altair]

Definitely sounds like a nice blade. I wonder if you have the last in the world

[Mitsimonsta]

Definitely sounds like a nice blade. I wonder if you have the last in the world

I should think I have the largest stash of them.... there is another 125-blade pillar out there that I didn't buy.

[Sledgehammer39]

Sounds like this blade is an excellent performer, congrats..

[VvVv51]

Here in Georgia, Tbilisi you can see them in almost every shop for about 1 lari for a 5pc pack which is about 70 cents. Didn't like the blade in my EJ98l, I felt as it was sort of tugging. Derby Extra worked much better for me.

[ateace]

I had that auction on my watch list for months but I never pulled the trigger.
I'm glad that they worked out for you.

I'd imagine that any pre-Energizer Schicks are pretty good.