Author of $10,000 eBay auction for Wolfman Razor admits his motive

This thread turned out to be an interesting read for sure. Some good points were made about our hobby, but I think maybe others were left out. Sure it's odd for us to be so enthusiastic about such a mundane grooming task, and maybe we get carried away at times with the acquisition aspect of it. However, some guys such as myself come to a forum such as this because of issues caused by having to shave. I had a job that requires me to be groomed, and I assure you that it's rather embarrassing to be in public with enough infected ingrown hairs to make you look a pubescent teen, and cuts and razor burn to make you look like you shaved with a dull chainsaw. Thankfully, I found a forum where such a topic was discussed, got into DE and later straights, and my issues were then resolved. I know I for one, would not have found these methods or attempted them without a resource such as this.I no longer loathe shaving, and I look presentable and feel better. So yeah, it may seem ridiculous to have the discussions we do, spend what we do in gear, but at the same time the forum provides help for a little discussed topic, as well as an enjoyable hobby.


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This thread turned out to be an interesting read for sure. Some good points were made about our hobby, but I think maybe others were left out. Sure it's odd for us to be so enthusiastic about such a mundane grooming task, and maybe we get carried away at times with the acquisition aspect of it. However, some guys such as myself come to a forum such as this because of issues caused by having to shave. I had a job that requires me to be groomed, and I assure you that it's rather embarrassing to be in public with enough infected ingrown hairs to make you look a pubescent teen, and cuts and razor burn to make you look like you shaved with a dull chainsaw. Thankfully, I found a forum where such a topic was discussed, got into DE and later straights, and my issues were then resolved. I know I for one, would not have found these methods or attempted them without a resource such as this.I no longer loathe shaving, and I look presentable and feel better. So yeah, it may seem ridiculous to have the discussions we do, spend what we do in gear, but at the same time the forum provides help for a little discussed topic, as well as an enjoyable hobby.


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I hear ya man. I'm like you in that I'm very prone to ingrown hairs. while my issue is a lot better now that I use a DE razor, it's still not completely resolved yet...still working on a few issues.

the original owner of this forum way back when was the one who actually got me started with wet shaving.

In my experience (I can't believe I'm saying this, but I had my first wet shave in 1971 with my grandfather's TTO Gillette, an Old Spice soap and mug and one of his hand me down brushes) I've only had ingrowns hairs with a true South to North pass. North to South, no problem, of course. With an Across The Grain, I tend more for a diagonally down from ear to chin. And for an 'Against the Grain', instead of a South to North, I find a diagonally upward from chin to nose seems to get almost as close as South to North without flirting with the ingrowns. Almost every time I've tried a true South to North pass, I pay for it with bumps or an ingrown hair. Of course, this is very skin and beard dependent, but I got this tip from an old Italian barber in New York, and it's one of those bits of wisdom that I've found to be true in my experience.

I don't want to be out of line here, and I hope the mods don't object, but I wanted to follow up with a post I made pointing out that some joker put up a spoof eBay listing with a Buy It Now price of $10,000 for a '1st ever made' WR. Today, he edited the title to admit it was a joke (as if we didn't know).

 Now that is funny!  Maybe somebody tried to buy the razor?

But what's of interest is this person's vitriol toward our beloved hobby

Yet it was not considered vitriol on multiple forums when others made posts critical of the ridiculous prices asked (and paid!) for razors on eBay.  In fact, they received a great deal of approval and agreement.

What is wrong with celebrating our hobby, celebrating the oasis we create, the 30 minutes of quiet enjoyment, the elevation of a workaday task into a celebration of texture, of fragrance, of the cool hardness of steel against the warm softness of lather?

What is wrong with using and enjoying Art of Shaving products?  Try doing that and rocks will be thrown your way.  Ironically, some of the rock throwers are willing to spend hundreds of dollars on a razor.  Hypocritical much?

What is wrong with showing off our shaving equipment, whether it be costly or humble, famous brand or unsung artisan?

Apparently the same thing that is wrong with pointing out that a $20 razor can shave every bit as well as a $500 or $10,000 razor.  Technique trumps tools.  It is rather amusing watching the wetshaving world go Chernobyl over a single eBay auction.

Surely, we don't have to take ourselves too seriously about it all, and I had a good chuckle (at myself) about his original auction description, but I dislike his criticism of our 'culture'.

Which culture?  The online wetshaving world has now split into two cultures, one that is an elitist wetshaving culture of consumption and another that is still all about getting a great, affordable shave.  The latter is the 99.9999 percent, mostly comprised of the countless millions worldwide who have always been traditional wetshavers.

Too many jealous people out there.  Instead of feeling happy for others and their good fortunes, they spend their time hating.  

Jealous of what?  That some folks get the opportunity to spend hundreds of dollars on razors that give them the same BBS shave one can get from a $35  Edwin Jagger DE89?  Jealous because some folks can buy Martin de Candre shaving soap that give shaves every bit as good as a $10 container of Kiss My Face cream?   That makes no sense whatsoever.

As much as I agree with a lot of the complaints about waiting list snafus, etc, this whole mess with Wolfman was made by the same community that criticizes this ebayer and his description of basically a dysfunctional community.

While the wetshaving community might act like a bunch of six year olds, it also creates a huge demand for products.  That is income for a lot of cottage industry producers.  Besides, the millions are the real wetshaving "community".

Since I have been told by the administration that I'm the "most hated member" at DFS, let me share a few small thoughts.

Holy crap dude, you didn't buy a Fusion did you!?  For what it's worth,  I still like you.

If some folks buy $10,000 razors, hoard soaps and blades like survivalists, or dress up like a chick, I will think it is hella weird.  But I won't hate on them or wish them ill.

Edit: But if they use glycerine-based shaving soap instead of tallow-based soap, I will hate on them and wish them banished to the hottest corner of hell.

All this angst over a Sullivan jive and joke. Yet scalpers active on shaving forums bought UFO handles in September and resold on EBAY for $299, used WOLFMEN razors, Limited Edition Paladin and Simpson brushes resold at well over double the original price causing the craftsmen of these items to seriously consider RAISING THEIR PRICES since people are willing to pay up. When these items DO approach our comedians joke have a care shaving in the morning. You may be laughing at the man in the mirror.

All this angst over a Sullivan  jive and joke. Yet scalpers active on shaving forums  bought UFO handles in September and resold on EBAY for $299,  used WOLFMEN razors, Limited Edition Paladin and Simpson brushes  resold at well over double the original price causing the craftsmen of these items to seriously consider RAISING THEIR PRICES since people are willing to pay up. When these items DO approach our comedians joke have a care shaving in the morning. You may be  laughing at the man in the mirror.

we're not going to keep rehashing the same drama over and over and over.

if someone wants to sell something for $100,000 and there's a willing & voluntary buyer, who cares?

All this angst over a Sullivan  jive and joke. Yet scalpers active on shaving forums  bought UFO handles in September and resold on EBAY for $299,  used WOLFMEN razors, Limited Edition Paladin and Simpson brushes  resold at well over double the original price causing the craftsmen of these items to seriously consider RAISING THEIR PRICES since people are willing to pay up. When these items DO approach our comedians joke have a care shaving in the morning. You may be  laughing at the man in the mirror.

so you revived post that the last person posted in it was towards end of August. You also have only 2 posts on this forum and you just signed up?

Half the forum members here know me from other forums. I've been around for 9 years. This forum has rules. Other forums have rules. When a member knowingly violates one forum's rules he is in effect castrating any pretense of rules on the rest. Scalping hurts the community. Some people may not care. I do.

Half the forum members here know me from other forums. I've been around for 9 years. This forum has rules. Other forums have rules. When a member knowingly violates one forum's rules he is in effect castrating any pretense of rules on the rest. Scalping hurts the community. Some people may not care. I do.

this thread isn't even about the issue you brought up and that user did not violate any rules on this forum. we don't go by the rules from other forums.

This thread turned out to be an interesting read for sure. Some good points were made about our hobby, but I think maybe others were left out. Sure it's odd for us to be so enthusiastic about such a mundane grooming task, and maybe we get carried away at times with the acquisition aspect of it. However, some guys such as myself come to a forum such as this because of issues caused by having to shave. I had a job that requires me to be groomed, and I assure you that it's rather embarrassing to be in public with enough infected ingrown hairs to make you look a pubescent teen, and cuts and razor burn to make you look like you shaved with a dull chainsaw. Thankfully, I found a forum where such a topic was discussed, got into DE and later straights, and my issues were then resolved. I know I for one, would not have found these methods or attempted them without a resource such as this.I no longer loathe shaving, and I look presentable and feel better. So yeah, it may seem ridiculous to have the discussions we do, spend what we do in gear, but at the same time the forum provides help for a little discussed topic, as well as an enjoyable hobby.


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I hear ya man.  I'm like you in that I'm very prone to ingrown hairs.  while my issue is a lot better now that I use a DE razor, it's still not completely resolved yet...still working on a few issues.

the original owner of this forum way back when was the one who actually got me started with wet shaving.

On ingrown hairs, have you tried Anthony Shaveworks The Cool Fix? I'm not prone to ingrown hairs but I get them occasionally and this product is the best I've tried for me.
https://www.fendrihan.ca/products/anthon...ravel-size