Smogue

[sired8]

Finally after a good month of waiting I had the fortune of informing a good friend of mine his gift had arrived.

Of 113 brushes 2 of which were purchased locally, this has got to be the worst packaged brush. I've seen 5-year-olds pack better than this.

I convinced my buddy it wasn't worth sending back for he would incur the costs or worse not get his replacement if at all and instead he could pick any number of brushes-Simpsons X2L being a dome profile I suggested that and reckon I'd get another one later on and he needn't worry bout me losing a silly brush.

The only thing that looked great was the tube cap ( initially out of the tube upon receipt ) followed by tube then the brush.

In spite of the disheveled bristle and piss-poor packaging I'm selling this at $100. A joke perhaps but it's a Smogue and an LE at that! Look how dense it is!

[Possum]

Ivan,

I have enough brushes for my needs but even with lousy packing I would bet that this brush will shape up and be a really good one once it was broken in.

Speaking of packing, I am also a collector of vintage cast iron cookware. I can tell you some nightmare stories of my fellow collectors who have received broken cast iron skillets and all from eBayers who don't know how to pack the cast iron. And some of these guys pay 100's of $ for this cookware. Shippers think they can just stuff it in an Express Mail box and put a bit of newspaper and packing peanuts to fill the box and it will be just fine. While very heavy cast iron is also very brittle and breaks and cracks very easily.

You're lucky that the handle on this brush did not come all broken or cracked.

[sired8]

Hey Bryce I feel you. I'm relieved it wasn't damaged at all. I tried convincing my buddy give it a shot. Personally I would keep the brush if it weren't crazy dense, knot and loft size. Reckon due to the plug-tied versus hand-tied knots Simpsons employ-now this is a stupid dense brush! But it's just bout right in density.

Awhile back a buddy of mine sold me his Smogue LE Boar. Had I seen it in person prior to sale I would never have bought it. I love using my soaps and creams but if I had kept that Boar and made a habit of using it on daily basis I'd be out of soap with the quickness!

The two LE's are nearly identical:
Boar
Loft: 57 mm Base: 57 mm/60 ring Base Dia: 33/37 mm Knot: 24 mm

LE
Loft: 54 mm Base: 44/47 ring Dia: 35/36 mm Knot: 24 mm

In any case I should have known better than to order this LE. The 620 despite it being dome was actually good. The 830's fan profile I much preferred despite the loft height. This was probably the max density I would probably use as far as Smogue brushes but ideally would be something like the 620. FWIW I don't think my buddy would have kept this LE despite the piss-poor packaging from the vendor. It was just too dense and he'd no interest whatsoever. Hopefully the X2L will serve him right.