Happy to say the Fatboy has arrived safely this morning. I deliberately delayed shaving until the postie had been in the hope it would.
Too early to 'review' but here are my first impressions.
This does not feel like a 63-year-old mechanism, it's withstood not only all those years, but also being passed around heaven alone knows how many people, and feels nice and solid, no rattle or anything. Only signs of age are the patina.
It's a lovely solid feel in the hand. Holding it anywhere under the adjusting ring makes it head heavy. Heavy is the operative word: at 81.5g locked and loaded it's 22g heavier than my ball end Tech. Seeing the two side by side makes it clear why it's called Fatboy.
The head appears bulky but in every dimension that actually matters, it is very similar to the Tech.
A twist of the TTO knob opens the wings and the fresh Astra SP I chose from the samples included drops in, locating reassuringly on the chamfered central pillar.
Somewhat enthusiastically, I boldly set it to #7. After a hot towel and wash with Pears I'm using Truefitt and Hill luxury shave soap which is a good performer which I used for my last shave (straight razor, a day and a half ago). The angle is easily found and the weight does the work. A day and a half's growth is rapidly reduced on the first WTG pass. Rinse and repeat XTG. It glides effortlessly through the little stubble left after 1st pass. I am new to adjustable razors and its the first time with the Astra SP. I suspect #7/#8 was a tad hasty. Finishing ATG, with no problems on the top lip, but a tiny weeper on the chin, I am really impressed with the smooth result, but there is a little irritation, and I noticed a slight sensation when I applied Cien Hydroage moisturiser, which normally never stings. So basically that's given me a baseline. I wanted to find out what more aggressive razors felt like compared to the mild Tech. Now I can either dial back one or two notches, or start from the mild end and work back up to see where my sweet spot is. Exactly why I wanted to try an adjustable, and what better razor to pick than the legendary Fatboy?
As luck would have it, I've also just bought Tony's Pearl Flexi, so I'll be able to compare 2 different adjustable razors. I'll probably get lost in all the permutations of razor, setting and blade choice, but that's the fun isn't it?