Blackland Blackbird Titanium Finally!

Come on!  I could be wrong, since I’m not privy to the Blackbird schematics and production...but I simply and respectfully doubt that Shane changed any codes within the CAD program of the brass, stainless, oxide, or Titanium versions.  
I might accept that there’s a minimal difference between polished and machined and oxide.  Yes, there is certainly a significant difference in weight and some guys like heavy and some like aluminum, I get that.

I own a brass version and love it.  Are you telling me that I’d notice a distinct difference between the same razor in Ti?

Like I mentioned I’ve shaved with 4 different Blackbirds and it’s not that I couldn’t get a very close shave and all that it was lacking something for me as far as the total package.  I usually refer to it as mojo. Either a razor has it or not and of course I’ll say this is just me and there have been other razors like I mentioned such as  the Gamechanger and Original Lupo for example that gets a lot of love as does the SS Blacklbird that I tried but just didn’t connect to.  This Ti version checked all the boxes for me that I mentioned in the OP especially “ in hand feel “ maneuverability, balance and smoothness. An I happened to have a SS Blackbird that a friend sent me with a couple of other razors he wanted me to try so I’ll wait for the beard to grow out to the same 4 days growth and do a side by side Shave Off to see if my feelings are still the same.

BTW the Copper is a real beauty!

I believe you Frank.  There’s certainly a whole lot of variables.  Some variables change daily.  Beard, blade, even attitude.  
Hell, if I don’t like the aesthetics and style of a razor, I’m certainly going to be influenced by that.  
A while ago, I shaved with the same razor, brush and soap for 2 weeks.  While I missed the variety, I really got comfortable with the equipment.  After a few days I was getting amazing shaves over and over...
At some point, I wonder if we’re all chasing something that is already sitting in our shave den...
In the end, if it works for you and the shave makes you happy...excellent!
Pete

All good points Pete.

Does anyone know roughly how many Ti Backbirds Shane releases per batch?

Technically we don't really release in "batches". The goal is to produce en masse for around 12-18 months of anticipated demand. How that looks in reality is a little complicated, but there's basically ongoing production usually in small batches until that entire quantity is met. Then, ideally, a new production cycle kicks off as that supply dwindles and there is no gap in supply. So there are batches from my side, but when things are going right there won't be batches from the customer perspective. I don't want to operate on the drop model if I can avoid it. Hopefully that makes sense.

Obviously, things didn't go right here (or for the stainless Blackbird). There are a couple categories that describe how we can miss and run out of stock. It's either a supply issue or a demand issue (which is just a supply issue caused by poor demand prediction). For the titanium, we ran into a supply issue on the base plates during production. While machining one of those small production batches, something went amiss and we had to toss all of them and start over which led to unexpectedly selling out. This is also why polished hasn't dropped since it's hard to polish parts that are literally in the garbage. We have the other Ti parts so we're running those plates and wrapping them up now. Of course, stainless Blackbirds are back in production right now (and Vector Ti, Sabres, and other stuff, too) so we have a lot of irons in the fire to juggle and manage priorities. Then there's polishing.

Demand has been increasing like crazy so I'm working to scale production across the line as responsibly and quickly as possible while also planning a big product launch for March/April. I'm also upgrading the business in basically every regard (website, branding, packaging, fulfillment, shipping, soaps, aftershaves, employees, etc).

This turned into a more Blackland update than I wanted so sorry for the hijack. I think we're still looking at a bumpy several months of batch-like drops, but things are headed in the right direction toward a permanently stocked store. Scaling bootstrapped operations is tough, it turns out. Who knew?! (answer: everyone)

Does anyone know roughly how many Ti Backbirds Shane releases per batch?

Technically we don't really release in "batches". The goal is to produces en masse for around 12-18 months of anticipated demand. How that looks in reality is a little complicated, but there's basically ongoing production usually in small batches until that entire quantity is met. Then, ideally, a new production cycle kicks off as that supply dwindles and there is no gap in supply. So there are batches from my side, but when things are going right there won't be batches from the customer perspective. I don't want to operate on the drop model if I can avoid it. Hopefully that makes sense.

Obviously, things didn't go right here (or for the stainless Blackbird). There are a couple categories that describe how we can miss and run out of stock. It's either a supply issue or a demand issue (which is just a supply issue caused by poor demand prediction). For the titanium, we ran into a supply issue on the base plates during. While machining one of those small production batches, something went amiss and we had to toss all of them and start over which led to unexpectedly selling out. This is also why polished hasn't dropped since it's hard to polish parts that are literally in the garbage. We have the other Ti parts so we're running those plates and wrapping them up now. Of course, stainless Blackbirds are back in production right now (and Vector Ti, Sabres, and other stuff, too) so we have a lot of irons in the fire to juggle and manage priorities. Then there's polishing.

Demand has been increasing like crazy so I'm working to scale production across the line as responsibly and quickly as possible while also planning a big product launch for March/April. I'm also upgrading the business in basically every regard (website, branding, packaging, fulfillment, shipping, soaps, aftershaves, employees, etc).

This turned into a more Blackland update than I wanted so sorry for the hijack. I think we're still looking at a bumpy several months of batch-like drops, but things are headed in the right direction toward a permanently stocked store. Scaling bootstrapped operations is tough, it turns out. Who knew?! (answer: everyone)

These are great “problems” to have. Very exciting times at Blackland for sure.

I had finally put this out of my mind, but I guess now I really do have to try one.

Same....




Damn you, Frank, et al


hahahahahaha

I had finally put this out of my mind, but I guess now I really do have to try one.

Same....




Damn you, Frank, et al


hahahahahaha

Are you insinuating I’m an enabler? Not me...never! Lol

Are you insinuating I’m an enabler? Not me...never! Lol

<shakesfist>:

Just had a wonderful Vector shave today. Titanium Vector?! I feel a disturbance in the force!

Are you insinuating I’m an enabler? Not me...never! Lol

<shakesfist>:

Haha!

After this wonderful review by Frank, I had to revisit the Blackbird Titanium today loaded with a GSB (4). One of the best shaves of the year so far! This razor lives up to the hype... Blackbird Ti gives Incredible shaves!!

Technically we don't really release in "batches". The goal is to produce en masse for around 12-18 months of anticipated demand. How that looks in reality is a little complicated, but there's basically ongoing production usually in small batches until that entire quantity is met. Then, ideally, a new production cycle kicks off as that supply dwindles and there is no gap in supply. So there are batches from my side, but when things are going right there won't be batches from the customer perspective. I don't want to operate on the drop model if I can avoid it. Hopefully that makes sense.

Yes it does make sense...maybe I asked my question in an overly complicated way.
As the razor is showing as sold out, I just wanted to know how many BB Ti
razors would be offered (estimate) when it next came on sale. 50-100, 100-200?
But if that is privileged information I totally understand.