Gillette Fat Boy and Slim Razors - Value?

SpeedyPC said:
No I've never used a vintage Gillette safety razor because I was going through a family photo album and I saw my granddad holding a Gillette 1966 Fatboy, and I prefer to get a new and clean model see link http://www.razoremporium.com/1966-gillette-slim-adjustable-de-safety-razor-l4/ and I wanted something really special just for me and to be able to remember my granddad.

Cheers ;)
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I have no doubt you will love a Gillette adjustable. I was doubtful of the hype until I got my Fatboy. It is an amazing shave.
Buying from that site means that you do get an assurance that it is in working condition, however, you certainly pay a premium for it. Factor in the weak Aussie dollar and shipping and you're looking at A$200. That's way too much for a razor that hasn't been replated in my view. And it's a Slim not a Fatboy, so there are a lot of them out there.

Try the usual auction site, or Etsy. I think a good price for a Slim at the moment, factoring in the Australian Peso, would be around A$60-70 landed. Fatboys a little more. But you never know.
I found a great Fatboy for well under that recently.

If you do a search on here @Mark1966 has a superb series of posts about buying vintage razors from Ebay. They helped me immensely.
 
EBAY LINK

Might be worth keeping your eye or gixen on this one from Germany (European sales keep US buyers away as they don't like the postage). This guy has 66 and 64 years (64 is in better nick, but understand you may be chasing a 66).
 
So since I started this thread I have learnt quite a bit about Gillette adjustable razors. the absolute top ens that I would pay for a slim including postage would be $70 AUD and it would have to be in very very good condition. Generally you should be able to pick one up for about $50-$60 AUD including postage in good usable condition.

Fat boys are an entirely different kettle of fish. I would expect to pay between $100 and $150 AUD including postage for one that is in good usable condition (obviously the higher the price the better the condition). After that it comes down to how much do you want to spend. Bear in mind though that if you start looking at more expensive Fat Boys you would want them to come with the original box and blades and you would want both of these to be in good condition as well. Hard to say what the ceiling is on these as date code, condition, case condition, blade conditrion etc. play a big part and they are certainly rarer and more collectible than slims.

Then there is also Fat Boy red dots, bottom dials, toggles.....
 
Sorry I also meant to add that the best advice I can offer is to get someone who knows what they are looking at to have a look at whatever you are thinking of buying. A trained eye that knows what to look for will pick up things that may not be immediately obvious such as brassing, potential brassing, thin plating, bent baseplates, bent safety bars, bent doors. The key is to get one that is in good usable condition. You don't need to necessarily buy the cleanest and most shiny razor either. A little bit of dust or grime may make it harder to see the condition of the plating but you will still be able to tell if the razor is usable and you never know how well it may clean up.
 
I may have a L3 Slim.
 
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