Well, screwing my courage to the sticking place, I gingerly opened a pack of the SuperMaxes. First impression, not good, some discolouration (not rust!) of the blade surface was visible on both sides of this particular example. OK, time to rock 'n' roll then...
I thought I would play it safe, and loaded up the AS-D2 - my thinking being, that if the blade is completely pants, I can rely on old faithful to protect my face.
I lathered up with C&E West Indian Limes. First few strokes felt a little bit tuggy, but stubble was being removed OK. I started going a bit quicker - which can sometimes make up for a lack of sharpness in the blade - and things were still OK, no sign of red anywhere. Finished up 2 pass and hey presto a DFS; not the last word in smoothness, as I didn't want to push it too far.
No irritation, but I splashed on some orange Myrsol F./Extra - no stinging at all nor any redness.
A pleasant surprise, then, that the exercise did not descend into a bloodbath.
For the price paid for the blades these are actually OK - not great, but good for 1, possibly 2 shaves. Clearly, they won't challenge the leaderboard, but that's missing the point which is that a cheap n cheerful blade can still do the job.
Anyone else?