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Schick Razor Blade Date Codes

I have a pretty decent collection of Schick Super Chromium and Plus Platinum razor blades. The blades appear to have a date code designated by a letter on the lower left front side of each blade. Does anyone know what years these codes match to?

Also, there is a number on the top left front side of the blade. Anyone know what the number designates?

If I can match the letters to the corresponding years, I can post photos of the blade packages for most of the years the blades were in production.
 
You can classify your blades depending of the dispenser they are in. There is no date codes but you can devide them in 5 categories 62-64 65-67 68-70 71-73 and 74-later.
 
you can devide them in 5 categories 62-64 65-67 68-70 71-73 and 74-later.

Here's a photo of six different case types I have. Any idea of the production years for each case?

$SuperChromium.jpg
 
I think those are all 1967 or later. That was about when Schick started using chromium hardness coatings. The Krona-Chrome are probably the earliest, ca. 1967-68. Any that say "patents pending" are probably 1967-72, and any that have US3632494 should be 1972 or later.

On those codes, my highly speculative theory is that the letters correspond to manufacturing facilities: different buildings or production lines in Milford, and maybe other locations too. That does not help with the numbers, though. They might correspond to weeks of the year, or not.
 
Here's a good post about the Schick Plus Platinum.
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The first package dates from circa 1988 or thereabouts. Schick drops the phrase “with exclusive TEFLON coating” and replaces it with “Fits all double edge razors.”


Second package dates from between 1969 and 1971. Blister packs have the words Super Stainless printed on them. The dispenser is mostly made of metal instead of plastic.

Third package dates from between 1972 and 1976. The font serif is added. The plastic dispenser replaces the metal dispenser. The phrase Super Stainless is dropped. Dispensers are off white/grey and the tops are painted solid blue for the dispensers of 10s and 15s. The phrase, “with exclusive TEFLON coating” is first used in 1976.

Insofar as they all contain Teflon and platinum, there is no difference between any version of the Schick Plus Platinum blades that I know of. I find they either last me several days or over a week and it does very a bit from blade to blade. I cannot recommend them over Wilkinson UK or older Gillette blades, but they are pretty good. Btw, I have never used the earliest version.

Note: The first dispenser is the last and final evolution of the Schick Plus Platinum, it looked that way from the mid 70's to the end of the production in the 80's.
 
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Thanks for both of those posts.

So the Platinum and Chromium ran in parallel from about 1969 to the 1980s end of production for each? I wonder why?
 
Thanks for both of those posts.

So the Platinum and Chromium ran in parallel from about 1969 to the 1980s end of production for each? I wonder why?

From what I can tell, the Super Chromium are just step bellow the Plus Platinum so maybe they were slightly less expensive ? As a comparison, Gillette had the Platinum Plus and the Super Silver at the same time + the Super Stainless.
 
Any info on the Kronas?

The first Krona stainless on the market was the 'Schick Stainless Krona Plus' available in 1963.

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Probably for marketing reasons, they renamed them in Schick Stainless ''Krona Comfort Edge'' in early 1964.

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the Schick Super Stainless in 1966, those were available until late 1969. I believe they did not survived the acquisition of Schick (Property of Erversharp) by Warner-Lambert. I didn't found any advertising after 1969.


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Late in 1968, the Chromium appeared with the Schick Krona Chrome. They were on the market for less than a year.
Note: They were listed at 1.45$ for 8 blades back in 1968, a bit expensive when you consider that you could purchase a pack of 15 Gillette Super Stainless for less than a dollar.

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Now there is only ONE mystery left... I have virtually 0 input on this blades.

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The packaging is very appealing and pleasing to the eye. I would not be surprised if these were made in Germany even though Schick is producing the Schick Super Chromium in China. Do you know if they are made in China, Germany or Japan?
 
The packaging is very appealing and pleasing to the eye. I would not be surprised if these were made in Germany even though Schick is producing the Schick Super Chromium in China. Do you know if they are made in China, Germany or Japan?

Here's the ¥ history chart for 420 Yen.
Average value in USD
2010 = 4.79
2005 = 3.81
2000 = 3.89
1995 = 4.49
1990 = 2.91
1985 = 1.77
1980 = 1.86
1975 = 1.41
1970 = 1.17

Pick what you think is reasonable for a pack of 5 blades. About the provenance, could they came from the same obscure factory as the 'Schick Platinum' made in holland ?

Also here's pictures of Japanese Krona with a pack of these 'Super Stainless'.

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Wow, nice match! I was just checking out their Japanese website here, and and that's when I knew they were definitely NOS. Schick uses the newer logo universally.
 
Wow, nice match! I was just checking out their Japanese website here, and and that's when I knew they were definitely NOS. Schick uses the newer logo universally.

Good eye Mister, I didn't noticed the Schick logo difference. I found a hint that they could be Made in Holland, I never saw any Schick blades with the small arrow but the Made in Holland Platinum.



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You guys are a wealth of information. I'm definitely bookmarking this conversation. Thanks for your help.

At some point I'm going to try to consolidate all this blade information into one location so there is a place folks can go for dating info - similar to what Mr. Razor has done for Gillettes. Do you think this is worth doing?
 
So the Platinum and Chromium ran in parallel from about 1969 to the 1980s end of production for each? I wonder why?

Schick introduced some new graphics in 1990. These graphics were pretty much the same ones that are still being used for their injector blades. Aside from slight color variations, I think the only difference is the addition of the newer logo. In other forums it has been said the quality went down hill in the 1990s. I don't remember ever shaving with the 1990s version.

The Schick Plus Platinum was still in production during the early 1990s. Since the last iteration came packaged with the more recent graphics, it probably lingered around for awhile after they discontinued it. They continued producing the Super Chromium after they moved production overseas, but their distribution has changed, and they are now made in China.
 
You guys are a wealth of information. I'm definitely bookmarking this conversation. Thanks for your help.

At some point I'm going to try to consolidate all this blade information into one location so there is a place folks can go for dating info - similar to what Mr. Razor has done for Gillettes. Do you think this is worth doing?

I encourage you to contribute to the wiki: http://wiki.badgerandblade.com
 
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