How are you supposed to tell razors apart? Where are the tier lists?

There are at least a dozen "main" luxury brands ($200+ razor) thrown around here, each with often a couple different offerings. Plus a few dozen medium/entry brands. I've been reading for hours, but how are they differentiated from each other? 

In most other hobbies there are various stats or at least marketing jumbo you can point to. A tier list is usually opinion based but leads to discussion comparing items head to head. 

As a newcomer to razors, but not collection hobbies, the information available isn't overwhelming so much as incomplete. Everything seems to talk about individual razors in a vacuum. Few comparisons to other razors. Subjective terms and opinions being given with not even abstract ratings, much less concrete data. Even the marketing materials don't seem to give much more than a few sentences that offer little specific to the model. 

Short of buying everything, how do you choose what to go for?

There are at least a dozen "main" luxury brands ($200+ razor) thrown around here, each with often a couple different offerings. Plus a few dozen medium/entry brands. I've been reading for hours, but how are they differentiated from each other? 

In most other hobbies there are various stats or at least marketing jumbo you can point to. A tier list is usually opinion based but leads to discussion comparing items head to head. 

As a newcomer to razors, but not collection hobbies, the information available isn't overwhelming so much as incomplete. Everything seems to talk about individual razors in a vacuum. Few comparisons to other razors. Subjective terms and opinions being given with not even abstract ratings, much less concrete data. Even the marketing materials don't seem to give much more than a few sentences that offer little specific to the model. 

Short of buying everything, how do you choose what to go for?

Do you want to shave or do you want to collect?
I ask, because MOST wet shavers start out wanting a better shave. This often morphs into a hobby, with accumulation of gear.
I have never known someone who wanted to start collecting, before wanting to enjoy shaving.
Go on Ebay and search DE razors. Filter to sold and completed and see what commands top dollar. You'll start to get an idea.
Other than that, participate in the forum and ask questions.

If you're looking for a shave - not a collection - you'll need to start somewhere and ask questions based on your experience. The forums are a great way to get info and direction.

I started with a cheap Weshi TTO. Pretty quickly I got a Rockwell 6c, which is notoriously smooth and "adjustable", offering options to try milder or wilder shaves. Other common "entry razors" might be the Edwin Jagger DE89 or a smooth vintage Gillette (Tech, super speed, etc).

primotenore is right, you're looking at it a bit off. This isn't the same as other collecting hobbies... Unless those rookie Mickey Mantle cards are put in the spokes of your bicycle every week to "use" it. That there is a scary (and expensive) thought.

That said, Dave in KY has a YouTube channel where he shave with and share his thoughts on various razors. He has a rather large collection of vintage ones, and some sort of magical catalog (vintage only) he found on them. Watching his videos would be helpful if you are interested in learning about what's out there, especially some of the rarer vintage pieces.

The end result is there are a lot of razors out there. LOTS!!! I don't know of any catalog for everything. Not to mention, how they work / feel / etc varies from person to person. You really just have to get your feet wet, try something, and discuss / research where to go next.

Good luck!

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DE razors can be put into various classifications such as mild vs aggressive, cast vs machined, modern vs vintage, safety bar vs closed comb, heavyweight vs lightweight, expensive vs cheap, etc. However, there is not such thing as razors tiers. Some people love mild razor; others love aggressive ones. Some people love machined razors for their precise tolerances; but you can get great shaves from cast metal ones as well. Some people prefer to use vintage razors from the first half of the 20th century when DE shaving was at its peak; others prefer newer razors. Some people like razors with a solid safety bar, a ridged safety bar, or a scalloped safety bar; others like open comb razors for their efficiency. Some like heavy razors made of brass, bronze, or stainless steel; others like lightweight razors made from titanium or aluminum. Some people have the finances to purchase $500 gold plated razor; others want to no more than $15 for one made in China.

The thing is that ANY razor that was properly designed and manufactured should be able to give a good shave if equipped with the right blade for your beard and skin. Everything else is just preference. I have about a dozen DE razors ranging from a cheap Chinese made twist to open razor to a more expensive stainless steel CNC machined razor. I am not particularly fond of some of the razors I have purchased, but I use both the cheap TTO and the machined stainless razors with similar frequency.

Razor blades are a different matter. They range significantly in sharpness and smoothness. They are one of the most debated items in traditional wet shaving. My suggestion is to purchase a razor of reasonable price based on your budget and the purchase a sampler pack of DE razor blades consisting of a tuck of blades from a dozen different brands ranging from less sharp (Derby Extra) to super sharp (Feather, BIC). You might find some of the blades to be too dull to slice your beard without tugging. You might find some blades that are so sharp that they will draw blood until your technique improves, but you should find some of the blades that work well in your razor.

Short of buying everything, how do you choose what to go for?

You made an excellent choice with the Henson. After much reading and research 2 years ago I started with a Merkur 34C, as a majority of recommendations suggested. I found it performed well for face shaving, but could not get it to work well for shaving the dome. The Henson was the first razor to give me a BBS result on the back fringe; no cartridge was ever able to do that.

How to choose? Take your time, enjoy what you have, and remain curious. As Shane at Blackland Razors always says, "you can't shave with a spec sheet." Reading what others write helps you get a sense of "if I like this, what else might I like?" Once acclimated to the community with postings and a little time, DFS pass-arounds are also way to experience unfamiliar gear and share your impressions.

An exceptional shave is possible without a high razor price tag. Two years ago I thought it was utter insanity to spend over $50 for a razor. Until I tried a Yates 921 and a Tatara Muramasa on DFS pass arounds

I've found that going up a bit more in price typically helps to a degree. I started with a Gillette Tech, and that is quite good. I found it was a bit short for my preferences, and a bit too mild. I might not remember all of it exactly in order. I think I went to a Muhle R89 Grande and the increased length and diameter of the handle was good for me, but I did find the handle to be a bit too slippery. It was later I learned about using an alum block to help increase my grip. Then it happened I saw a Feather AS-D2 for sale on Amazon, and I was able to get a card to get it for a great price, and that sort of opened the flood gate a bit from there. Nothing like happened to me with brushes, though. I enjoyed the Feather AS-D2 for several years, and eventually wanted a bit better cutting performance. The razor had good grip, I absolutely loved the stainless steel feel and the look of the razor.

I forgot what I went to after that. I've been on quite a few things. I think in terms of what I was looking for in more performance was the Tatara Masamune. I held off on it for some time as I thought the handle would be slippery, but it actually isn't. I might have never bought one had I not won that in a raffle. Give me the performance of the Masamune with the handle of the Feather AS-D2 for everyday shaving and I think I would be happy as a clam. Every other 3 days make it the Nodachi. I'm still pretty happy with the handles of both but really think the Feather AS-D2 handle suits me the best. I haven't used that one in awhile, but won't part with it. Too many fond memories of it. If I haven't shaved in a long time and I don't want to trim my hair down with an electric razor, my Stirling HA razor head.

I found with time I didn't care as much for the zamak and the cheaper heads a whole lot. I liked the extra heft of stainless steel overall. Titanium is nice to play with, but feels a bit too light at times. Aluminum is definitely too light for me and I avoid that. I don't like added maintenance and can't stand the patina look so copper and bronze have never been high on my lists. Already learned my lesson with some copper mugs I bought. Open comb is just not my style overall. I have a few I like here and there, but it's just not for me. The solid bar design is what I prefer. I've found I am not fond of vintage razors. The performance just isn't the same. Overall most of the handles are just too short. The British Gillettes are the best I've found, and keep a #15 I think it is for that, along with a travel Tuckaway with an iKon handle.

What helps is if you can find someone that has similar tastes to what you have, but you do have to start somewhere. I know people recommend the Rockwell 6S, and I like the idea of a kit with different types of plates you can try, but I can't get behind the 6S. If I hadn't tried everything else I had before it I think I might have liked it, but I'm not fond of it myself. I like stuff that has been made out of stainless steel. Just because I don't like it doesn't mean you wouldn't, though. One person's holy grail doesn't mean it will be yours. At the same time it doesn't mean it won't. It might only remain your holy grail for a short time, too. I've shifted from a steady razor over the years to going back and forth with some preferences. Like the Stirling razor with the HA head, that thing is extreme, but I need that when I haven't shaved in weeks. I need a bigger gap. Really need to remember to bust out my Mergress for that. It really comes down to finding the right stuff for your preferences. There's more stuff out there you can make work to cut your hair than not. I can't think of anything that wouldn't. But I do have stuff I am going to avoid using regularly. Like that Stirling HA razor. My face would be hamburger doing that.

Reality is this price does not determine how well a razor works. Razor head geometry along with how sharp the blade is does. That razor head geometry can be identical on a $$$ razor or a 3d printed razor made out of cheap plastic. Both will perform identical. How they feel in the hand and quality issues will differ but they will perform the same all things considered. Problem there is no considered best way to make a razor head geometry. With that said most modern offerings are nothing more than art projects that hold blades with minimal engineering gone into them. At least with the big company vintage stuff like Gillettes for example they spent tons of money on research and design as they went along building those razors unlike some of the modern "high end" who are copying someone else's design and putting lipstick on a pig so to speak to differentiate themselves from the pack.

Onto collecting, simply collect what catches your fancy unless you are looking at it from an investment standpoint then do as primotenore suggests. I'd also suggest looking at amazon and other wet shave retailers like westcoastshaving, bullgoose, etc and see what their best sellers are. Forums are a good source of information but you have to take into account the vocal minority problem that can arise when reading these threads.

If you are looking for a few razors to collect and not necessarily use to get started with these are my suggestions. I'd start in the vintage realm and research out the following.

Barbasol DE razors, iconic brand that is still around is the reason to have at least one on display.

Schick Type A repeater magazine razor. Another iconic brand and that is the first razor they ever produced.

Schick Type D injector, first injector razor ever made, iconic brand and style of razor Schick dominated the markets for decades until cartridges became a thing.

Schick Type F injector, it is the one injector collectors are going after right now regardless of whether they are SE razor fans or not.

Gillette Fatboy adjustable because hey all the cool kids are buying them like they are going out of style Gillette Toggle adjustable because of the design,

Gillette early model double ring or earlier than those single rings old types if you can find one for sale. You'd have to check out websites that have Gillette serial number and date code information to date those earlier razors.

Any Darwin DE razor. I can't figure out the hype on these either but they also go for big money when they come up for sale. Wolfman and Yaqi make modern versions that are copies of the original design too.

Stahly live blade razor. These are wind up vibrating DE razors, totally overengineered and totally cool as a winter's pool to play with and show off.

Lots of good stuff here.  kooshman7 what dont you like about the Rockwell 6s?  It's made out of stainless steel, metal injection molded rather than machined but still stainless steel.  I'm curious because I happen to quite like it.  It's more function and less form for sure but it gives me a great drama free shave every time.  I can crank it to 6 plate for a more aggressive shave if I want.  

I think the advice in this thread is very good - you don't need the data on every razor in existence before deciding to DE/SE shave.  Just get started and see what you think.  I did a google search when I got started a number of years ago and found that the EJ DE89 was a consensus novice razor and figuring that I was a novice I went with that.  I could easily have never bought another razor but I guess human nature is not like that.  Curiosity, marketing, wondering if I could get a better shave all led me to try a bunch of different razors over the years.  Did I get better shaves?  Nope.  I generally get a great shave no matter what razor I use so if I were to give advice it would be to get a razor that you think you'll like and then learn to shave with it. There's no need to look at other razors... but you probably will.  Things go in phases too - who remembers the customized coloured razors from Delta Echo and similar operations?  Coloured ceracoating.  Looks cool I guess but doesn't really do anything for the shave.  I bought a ceramic-coated Gillette Tech from Jay and it's the worst shaver I have.  I don't know if it's the coating or whether it was dropped at some point in its history but it bites.  Live and learn.

Unless one is getting involved in the hobby I’d say that one of the readily available commercial offerings from Merkur or Edwin Jagger or Muhle would fit nicely and the good, better, best scenario would be based on razor price.
But hobbyists wouldn’t have it so easy due to the totally subjective nature of a razor. Some folks like aggressive (or efficient) razors and find them smooth while other gents would feel like they are shaving with a chainsaw. Others like razors that are mild and user friendly and each of these types can be had at highly variable pricing levels. It’s nearly impossible to rate razors as good, better, best even if you separate them to empirically quantifiable data sets such as tolerances and materials used. Making a chart of elite razors means we must decide on the parameters of what elite means. If we choose performance then we run into the juggernaut of personal preference and your top rated elite razor will never be mine. If we go for tolerances we run into much the same issue as manufacturers have no stated paragon to build to.
My best info comes when a reviewer writes a comparison of the razor when put against a well known model most shavers would have experience with. I.e. X razor compared to a Merkur 34C for example. Building a chart and ranking good, better, best seems like an exercise in folly.