Are These Plats Genuine?

Because of concerns about counterfeit blades, the PPI plant in Russia that produces many of the Gillette, Astra, and 7 O'Clock blades has started to use laser etching, I do not know if all of their production lines have been converted.  That is far more difficult to fake than the ink stamps on the blades. The etch is only done on one side, so the back side is clean (except for the wax dots). Although it could be possible that the blades are counterfeit, the chances of that are remote. There may still be older ink-stamped blades in inventory at some vendors, so you might get either version.

Thanks for that info. I just bought some Astra SS blades, and they were only etched on one side. I too wondered about their authenticity. Now, I know.

On a side note, I will say that the quality seems different though. For some reason, maybe psychological, it seems like the new blades aren't as sharp or last as long. I liked the previous iteration (w/ black ink), and found them to be as good as my favorite blades, Nacet (in my Wunderbar at least). That just doesn't seem to be the case now.

When razor blades are produced by the millions and we normally purchase a few tucks or maybe a 100 pack, we are only sampling a small percentage of the production. When you go back and sample another batch of blades months or even years later, there may be minor differences in quality. That is the reality of production lines.  

I have tried Astra SP blade from a variety of sources in hopes that I would one day find a batch that was a good as some people claim ASP blades to be. However, I have never found a batch to be anywhere near as good as Astra SS.

Counterfeit blades! Yikes. How much profit can be had by making and selling knock offs? It's not a rhetorical question, I mean, if they're stooping to counterfeiting Astras instead of Rolexes and Louis Vuitton handbags, we're all doomed.