Fusion prices increase, number of blades decrease

[Tyler]

Check out this article on the Consumerist about how Gilette is raising prices on the Fusion but lowering the count of blades in the box.

http://consumerist.com/2010/02/gilette-raises-razor-blade-prices-then-deploys-shrink-ray.html

[Mikekoz13]

So now an alreayd over priced product is even MORE expensive!!

Here's your solution.............. The M5 Razor from Personna. Still less than $6 for a pack of four blades.

[-Doug-]

The fusion is my weapon of choice for my face. Definitely going to give the M5 a second chance.

[D.A.L.U.I.]

Who's running Gillette these days, the former managers of Chrysler ?  M5 is equal if not superior to their product, about 1/2 the price.  Personna's problem, like HB, is the shelf space war w/ the major players in the retail sales market.

[bartman]

I go onto Ebay and buy my blades. I like the Schick Quattro Titanium. They cut the best and stay shaper longer IMHO of course (titanium should. 6 bucks for 4 blades seems a little steep. I hunt around to get a deal on ebay. The quattros are less that $1 a blade, which is cheaper than $1.50 for M5 and no titanium.

I have found them cheaper than a buck a blade but these are the lowest buy it now for quattro.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Schick-Quattro-Titanium-24-Refill-Cartridges-SALE_W0QQitemZ320492892566QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item4a9edd7196

Here is the price for Fusion and they are expensive, the best current buy it now price was $2 a blade
http://cgi.ebay.com/12-GILLETTE-FUSION-POWER-RAZORS-BLADES-100-ORIGINAL_W0QQitemZ150417473297QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item2305947f11

M5 Blades are a little cheaper at $1.40 per blade.
http://cgi.ebay.com/M5-magnum-2-Cartridges-5-Blades-with-Trimmer_W0QQitemZ310196799875QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item48392b8983

In the end it is what you like. To me they all perform very similarly. I think the quattro works a little better for me but that my all be in my head... or on my head actually.

I do think the titanium blades last longer. The thing that makes me think this other than experience is that what really causes a blade to dull quickly is not use but micro rust (oxidization) which causes a blade to dull more quickly as it eats away more quickly at metal. Titanium is know to be much more resistant to oxidization thus has the ability to stay sharper longer. So that is my story... and I am sticking to it.

[Arnie]

Doesn't Tiger Woods endorse Fusion?  Maybe they are trying to offset "that".

[SBG Math Guy]

Well, Fusion is great but as long as there's Mach 3 and I remain a student
I will not go for Fusion. 

[hipstersaint]

I haven't seen the 3 pack yet...  maybe it's a wal mart thing?

[Rusty Shackleford]

A year and a half ago I bought a pile of Fusion blades when I had a free membership at BJ's and they are close to running out.  I may have to give the M5 a chance because the Fusion blades were already too pricey for my liking even at wholesale club prices.  It's annoying when you enjoy a product but for every dollar in its price 10¢ goes towards the product and 90¢ goes into the pockets of the celebrities that appear in the product's commercials.

My problem is that I tend to judge a razor more on the feel of the handle than the smoothness of the shave.  The Fusion is just a damn fine razor to hold.  I felt the same way about the Mac 3, but I made the switch to the Fusion just fine.  Now I find my old Mac 3 blades awkward to hold.

[Teehach]

All the more reason to go with the M5....Not that I needed any.  I keep the blades in EV Olive Oil per a topic in the forum, and they seem to last about 10 shaves....Twice as many as w/out olive oil.

As an extra bonus, if you email Personna and tell them how great they are, you know a lil back side smoochin, they will send you a pack of refills for free.....Also info I gathered from the forum.

Scott       

[Ming the Merciless]

I've raised this point before, but if I liked to do it once, I'll love to do it twice.

I think a lot of us are being seduced by "the next new thing" when it comes to razors and shaving.  Maybe I'm just an old mossback (I can collect full SS in six months), but shaving my dome is done by a razor that was put on the market at least seventy years ago:

http://www.safetyrazors.net/schick/schicktech.htm

The blades that worked in this razor then work today (in my ca. 1940s holder [Thanks, Ozzie!]) and, at least to yesterday (when I was at the pharmacy), although the razor has been not so long ago discontinued, there are still blades for it to be had.

You might say, "Oh, mighty Ming, how can you say that this razor system is 'good enough,' without having tried others?"  Well, folks, I've tried a couple in the last couple of years, and can say that it's very difficult to see any difference between the results of "the antique," and "the latest hot-diggety."  It's product, guys, not process, that matters.  What is it about razors and shaving that needs "improvement," hmm?

So, guys, while one frets over the exorbitant gouging by the blademeisters, realize that...there are other and less pricy roads to to a smooth dome.

If you want one of the kind I favor, you have to go to eBay.  Unfortunately, some of the more recent handles go for astonishing (to me) prices, but some of the earlier ones (gold plate! amber Bakelite handles! elegant artifact!) are fairly inexpensive.  And still available (cheap) injector blades will fit every one!

Here endeth the sermon.