Hello, Ed,
I'm sure there will be a bit of a market difference, as I'm not sure what British production was for the Valet. In the States, we generally see $8 (USD) to $15, going up significantly in some cases of ebay insanity. So, what, about 3-5 Pounds (or whatever the last 60 seconds showed on the Euro)?
My preference is for the earlier models(VC-1, IIRC), with the flat spring-clip blade holder, as shown on Stropper.com These versions will take a de-spined & clipped Gem SE blade, or the (more expensive) clipped Feather SE.
I also have the late VC-4, and it will take the Feather blade, via its locating pins.
They function by the lower roller impinging slightly on the strop, which provides enough traction to flip the blade when one reverses the stropping direction. If the razor was heavily used, and the lower roller has a flat spot, or if the holes that hold the roller pins are elongated, the blade may not flip, and you will have a new, possibly expensive (if you bought a repro), custom short strop. Or a two-bit Cat-o'-two-tails.:s
If you want to strop, the rollers should be fully round, with no elongation of the holes in the sides of the head. Stropping really only works if using vintage, or high-carbon, blades. Of course, if you're using it enough to strop, you'll probably want a hone handle, such as the King's or Scott's and a decent stone.
If you buy a VC-1, Gem blades are as cheap as can be, moving up to the VC-4, the Feathers are a tad pricier, but fine shavers. Feathers will fit a few of the other pin-locating Valet's, but I'm not expert enough to recommend.
