Is this a Fatboy or a Slim please?

DiggaDog

DiggaDog

Messages
189
Location
Richmond, New Zealand
All I know is it's a Gillette.
The owner sent me the photo, and I'm going to look at the razor tomorrow.
He tells me it's made in USA, and has serial numbers on it (? Well OK, that helps me a lot).
No idea of year made, etc.
So what's it worth if it works OK? (yeah, I know. How long is a piece of string)?
Gold Fatboy or Gold Slim in clean, working order maybe $40 - $60 - $80?
Thanks for any info.
 
It's a gold Fatboy, mate ........ Otherwise known as the Gillette Executive.

I couldn't tell you its worth as the market is all over the place at the moment, but they generally fetch more than a standard Fatty. I know if I were flogging one today ...... and it had all its plating intact ..... I'd expect to fetch anywhere from £70 - £100 GBP for it, the upper price being on a good day.
 
Get the vendor to tell you the letter/number code from under the head and you can get the exact date made (within three months anyway).
 
The gold on these (and the slim equivalent) tends to wear very badly - only pay top price if it the plating is mint. For some reason the gold variants don's sell for as much as the brass / nickel alternatives - perhaps because good ones are so rare and normal users aren't aware of them.

Some other points to check

Open the butterfly doors, and the adjustment knob should spin freely between 1-9 with little or no resistance and should click at each point.

The butterfly doors should open symmetrically (and freely) the final resting point being more important than the actual movement.

When closed, they should both have the same gap against the guard bar - which should be equal across the entire bar.

When looking down (from the tip of the handle) the guard bars should be parallel.

When looking across the razor (from the end cap - which should both be there btw), the guard bars should run in line to the base plate and not drop. The two end caps should be in line with the base plate.

http://www.gilletteadjustable.com/executive-fatboy.html
 
BlkKnight said:
The gold on these (and the slim equivalent) tends to wear very badly - only pay top price if it the plating is mint. For some reason the gold variants don's sell for as much as the brass / nickel alternatives - perhaps because good ones are so rare and normal users aren't aware of them.

Some other points to check

Open the butterfly doors, and the adjustment knob should spin freely between 1-9 with little or no resistance and should click at each point.

The butterfly doors should open symmetrically (and freely) the final resting point being more important than the actual movement.

When closed, they should both have the same gap against the guard bar - which should be equal across the entire bar.

When looking down (from the tip of the handle) the guard bars should be parallel.

When looking across the razor (from the end cap - which should both be there btw), the guard bars should run in line to the base plate and not drop. The two end caps should be in line with the base plate.

http://www.gilletteadjustable.com/executive-fatboy.html
Click to expand...

Also make sure that after closing the silo doors that the knob turns another quarter turn to lock them down.
 
Shemen Zait said:
What is it with Gillette adjustables? eBay is flooded at the moment..

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Adjustable razors are for some men like that floozy at the club. She dresses like a slut, has fake boobs, has been in more "hot water" than a six year old T-shirt and used more than a courtesy car to a cathouse. Yes, it takes a strong man to resist her. ;)
 
DiggaDog said:
All I know is it's a Gillette.
The owner sent me the photo, and I'm going to look at the razor tomorrow.

So what's it worth if it works OK? (yeah, I know. How long is a piece of string)?
Gold Fatboy or Gold Slim in clean, working order maybe $40 - $60 - $80

Wishbone said:
It's a gold Fatboy, mate ........ Otherwise known as the Gillette Executive.

.
Click to expand...

Yep, it's an Executive and my guess would be 1958. The gold plate isn't very thick for so early a year and one in excellent shape's tough to find. Handle pattern's the same as a Toggle and I prefer it over the Fatboy's. It's been a top razor of mine for the last 7-8 years, taking over the FB slot by just a smidge although the shave's about the same. I should also say that all Executives do not shave the same.

Over the years I've been fortunate in being able to have many old Gillettes run through my hands, including easily over 150 adjustables of about every type. I would say about 20% have some kinda unpleasantness to em. The adjuster's froze up or worthless, doors or other TTO issues going on....stuff like that. Most common problems though by a long shot is the surprisingly often amount of uneven blade exposure showing up by looking at the loaded razor's safety bar. I have seen a crazy amount, if one in five sounds high.

Then, you can't be sure you'll like the shave till it's wet and working. Heh, kind of a crapshoot but a great razor if the fit is there.

Martin
Click to expand...
 
Many thanks for all the help and advice guys.
I did buy it. The owner never used it (it had been his Dad's razor).
Yeah, thin Gold, but enough left to still be good looking.
All the bits work nice, doors open and close, adjuster clicks nicely through.
$60, so not a ground breaking amount to pay if it shaves OK.

http://i.imgur.com/bkH8ZAz.jpg[/img]']http://i.imgur.com/uDpKiIK.jpg[/img]']
http://i.imgur.com/bkH8ZAz.jpg[/img]']http://i.imgur.com/1gh95dM.jpg[/img]']
http://i.imgur.com/bkH8ZAz.jpg[/img]']http://i.imgur.com/pJkjeYe.jpg[/img]']
It's a nice clean user, so I'll give it a go tomorrow.
Has G1 on the base (1961).
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom