Great thread. I've really enjoyed reading it, it's been great to have some focus on some less glamourous razors.
The DOC is a clone is a
40's razor designed by Mellon, PAA brought it back first and was made in India (the first zamak one, the aluminium or SS ones might USA made) but was supposed to be very mild. Yaqi then came with a zamak one a little more efficient than the PAA counterpart.
As for the Scalloped head, IMO it's much more aggressive than the DE89 - it's supposed to be closer to the Parker closed comb head, which might be a more efficient take on the DE89?
There's the Yaqi Cobbed head as well, which I've seen a number of MIC variants (eg Yintal), but I have no idea who made it first .
The Vikings Blade adjustable is MIC as well, and there's talk they are made by Weishi in their factory. Having a look at some other Viking Blade products and they are rebranded Baili/Weishi products. Some of the higher end VB razors look to have a higher QC than other MIC razors and look pretty decent though.
IMO, not all MIC clones are worthwhile. My Futur Clone is pretty ramshackle, and wasn't worth the small amount I made for it but my Yaqi razor heads are pretty good. Also Yaqi have been making a few original designs recently, their DOC slant and NIGHT HELMET (can't say that without laughing)
As for cloning in razors, it's pretty common place be it low end (MIC Yaqis eg) or high end eg Feather AS-DS2, which isn't to say there aren't new original designs eg Rockwell 6S.