New Wilkinson razor.....anybody tried it yet?

[buddha]

Yesterday I was walking through my local Wally World and in the very spot where the beloved M5 was formerly on display there is now a Wilkinson razor for $5.00. They also sell 3 and 5 blade carts for this at $5 for 4 carts. I thought about grabbing one just to try it out but I have had not-so-good results with Wilkinson products in the past, plus, I am still not over the loss of the M5.
Has anybody out there seen or tried this razor?

Added 01/22/11 @ 0125 hrs:
OK, so I went back to my local Wally World and bought one of the Wilkinsons. It has a 3 blade cart and the 4 packs are $5. There is no 5 blade cart like I thought. I have not used this razor yet, perhaps later today or tomorrow at the latest but I will post up as soon as I know something.

[buddha]

OK, here 'tis. First, my disclaimer:
I have to confess to having a prejudice here based on the fact that I am imagining that the Wilkinson Tech 3 has been placed in its position on my local Wally World display as a substitute for the M5. Being that I was quite enamored with the M5 it stands to reason that anything that follows will be starting from a position of disadvantage. I tried to keep this in mind as I began my shave ritual so as to remain as impartial as possible. I simply do not believe that there will ever be another like the M5 for me. It gave the closest shave I've known in some time from a stick razor and for the money, $5.62 for the starter and also for 4 packs of carts, it just doesn't seem possible that anyone else can ever hope to compete.
I followed my usual routine, good wash, pre-shave and then KOS gel. The thing that I noticed was the lack of irritation that I had experienced with previous Wilkinson products. In the past they always made me feel like I had just attempted to shave with a handful of finely ground glass or steel wool. My dome always felt as though I had spent 9 innings in the Wrigley bleachers on a sunny day sans hat or sunblock and it burned for half a day afterward no matter what I slathered on it. So there was none of that and as I sit here after scraping my skull I ponder how much better the Tech 3 is than its Wilkinson predecessors.
That being said let's move on to the not-so positive.
The blades in the Tech 3 are either not very sharp out of the box or they are recessed to the extreme in an attempt to prevent the irritation that I associate with Wilkinson blades. The downside of this, for me, was the necessity of repeated passes over areas that the M5 or the HB would have knocked down in 1 pass or, at the most, 2. And the whole shave was like this for me. One area that is usually particularly difficult for me is the sides of the head above and behind the ears. This is because of the direction of hair growth. It grows roughly in the direction of my chin. Once I became aware of utilizing different angles of attack the M5 handled these problem areas even better than the HB. Not so the Wilkinson. I ended up having to re-scrape with the M5 to clean up what the Wilkie had left behind. The problem with this strategy is that I only have a couple of unused M5 carts left.
The Wilkie is an attractive looking razor and for the money it works well enough in a pinch. Like if I went somewhere for a weekend and the only thing I had was the Wilkie. But it certainly would not be my razor of choice.

[Noodles]

Hmm.. maybe the M5 dedicated users could all ban together and bombard the company with requests to keep the M5 carts in production, even if by mail order only!!

Wishful thinking...maybe.. but stranger things have hapened!! 

- Cap'n Noodles -

As far as myself, I never had the pleasure of crossing paths with an M5.

[buddha]

The disturbing news that I heard was that Personna (American Safety Razor Company) has gone bankrupt. I wrote an e-mail to a person in the company that I had corresponded with at one point but no answer. It's been about 3 weeks.

[Cochise]

All the M5 cartridges you can handle
http://www.razorsdirect.com/magnum.html?gclid=CMzirOn6mKkCFQU6gwodW1a7tg

[Mikekoz13]

Personna still makes the M5 razor and cartridges. Currently thay have a free shipping deal and at $5.89 for a pack of 4 cartridges it's a great deal. Check it out here:

https://personna.alice.com/products?brand=1189

Luckily for me, I saw the hand writing on the wall with the M5 and I bought a LOT of packs of cartridges before they disappeared. I probably still have enough left for about 8 months.

I'm going to treat myself to the purchase of an extra M5 razor and a new stash of cartridges in the near future.

I said this before and I'll say it again. I believe the reason that the M5 is no longer available at Wally World is because Gillette and the other big boys saw it as a threat. It is a superior product at a fair price that was starting to take a bite out of their sales. I believe they put the pressure on Wally World to make it go away or else.
Since that is 100% against the American free enterprise system I say screw WalMart and I no longer buy any shaving items there.

[tomgallagher]

Mike, I can't seem to find the free shipping deal. What am I doing wrong.?

[Mikekoz13]

Tom-

In this link, look to the right of the "Buy online now" button next to the photo of the pack of cartridges.

http://www.personna.com/personna/blades/shaving/detail/m5-magnum-for-men/

[tomgallagher]

OK, got it. Thanks Mike.

[balddaniel]

Mike,

Thanks for the tip, but I have about 15 Mach III blades left.  Think I may buy it and try it anyway.  Hope I don't get too spoiled, or my Mach III may have to stay in the cabinet for awhile