Help me understand the allure of a vintage DE razor over a modern DE razor.

I reject the idea that modern methods of manufacture are better and therefore modern razors are better. Tell that to Eric, who spent the better part of two years working on trying to make a modern toggle, with a modicum of success, depending on who you are speaking with. Ask Rockwell hlw easy it is, using modern technology and know-how, to make a tto adjustable razor.
Gillette made the Toggle and then the Fatboy and the Slim, and made them well enough that many of them still function perfectly to this day. These were actually pretty sophisticated designs, and they work great. Even the humble and inexpensive Tech is a fantastic example of razor design that is, in my opinion, as good as any modern razor out there at any price.
If you have given a legitimate try to vintage razors and then modern and have decided you prefer modern, that's great. I think there are some people out there who reject vintage razors without really giving them a try, or who tried one when they were just learning and had bad technique, and then blamed the poor shave on the razor.

I have nothing against modern razors and have several of them in my den, so this is not an anti-modern razor diatribe. I feel that both modern and vintage razors can be wonderful.

There's a large group who associate vintage as meaning light weight , short handles, mild, and Gillette and modern with 130g long handled big gap razors which they imagine to be somehow better. I don't associate vintage particularly with Gillette and my 130g modern monster razors (ok 115g for Wolfman and Paradigm) , fine examples of industrial art, don't shave any better than my little Bakelite Shake Sharp or $15 Enders Speed. Corvettes are fine but I'll take the old Porsche thanks.

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Wet shaving is a human practice ,
evolving human-made materials and tools.
Thus, it is quite dynamic and subject to constant evolution .
Razors evolve ,brushes evolve,blades evolve,
soaps evolve ,etc.
Each one of us is free to choose any article
of wet shaving ,from any stage of its evolution, of course .

Some may choose a modern razor,others a vintage one.
Carbon steel bladesor stainless steel multicoated ones .
Badger/boar hair or synthetic fibers.
And so on .
Each one of us is unique and different from the rest.A very diverse species,we are.
So are our choices,practices,needs,etc.

An simple concept,but indeed most -if not all-
of us are facing various levels of difficulty to fully understand.

I've got quite a few old Gillettes, pre-war and post war German slant (twisted head) DEs. I used to love them, and still 'like' them. But I rarely shave with them since the artisan razors came along. A Wolfman, Charcoal Goods, Blackbird, are my weapon of choice to attack those whiskers now. 

Wet shaving is a human practice ,
evolving human-made materials and tools.
Thus, it is quite dynamic and subject to constant evolution .
Razors evolve ,brushes evolve,blades evolve,
soaps evolve ,etc.
Each one of us is free to choose any article
of wet shaving ,from any stage of its evolution, of course .

Some may choose a modern razor,others a vintage one.
Carbon steel bladesor stainless steel multicoated ones .
Badger/boar hair or synthetic fibers.
And so on .
Each one of us is unique and different from the rest.A very diverse species,we are.
So are our choices,practices,needs,etc.

An simple concept,but indeed most -if not all-
of us are facing various levels of difficulty to fully understand.

Lovely prose (and elegant spacing) but does that mean you like vintage or modern or what?

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Myself ,I’ m trying to be a man of his times.
Enjoying modern razors ,stainless steel blades,synthetic brushes,modern soaps and so on .The only vintage associated with wet shaving is the faint memories of my grandfather shaving with an odd razor that used a double edged blade .
All the rest ,shaving associated ,are from modern times.

Edit: I use only three DE razors:
My daily shaver is the RR GC 0.84-P ,
Timeless 0.95 stainless Scalloped for 
travel and a Karve brass “G” plate when 
I wish for a mirror finish face.
All solid bars.

Favourite blades are Nacets,GSBs,Treet Platinums,Concords and 7o’clock Sharp Edge .

About ten EJ ,Muhle and Simpsons are the participants of the brush rotation,all synthetics 
( STF v1 & v2,Sovereign fibers ).

Regarding soaps ,I prefer italian croaps and 
british triple -milled .

Quite often I'm not in the standard.
My favs are modern SE with AC guarded blade.
I prefer long handled safety razors.
I mostly hate heavy metals (SS, Titanium, Brass, Copper).
My champion is a modern standard EJ head with long aluminium Maggard handle.
But I love too my Schick Krona, as well as the newest 3D printed ones.

And I can not understand the hype about jewel-like "artisanal" razors.
I've tried dozens, but what I see It's just a nice shape.
No better performances.
... and the q/p ratio is very different.

IMHO, I don't care about vintage vs modern.
What I look is the effciency, inside my tastes.

When you are new in vintage razors, I recommend you to get cheaper ones like Gillette New Long Comb, Schick Type E or G, Gem MMOC, Gillette Slim etc.
They are pretty good razors and you can get each of them under $30. 

Some vintage razors are very expensive, it doesn't mean they are good razors.
They are just rare, some pays high bills to collect them.

Honestly I have 5 Razors that I would really, really regret getting rid of: The ATT H1, Muhle R-41, Charcoal Goods lvl 3OC, Gillette Pre-war tech, and the Gillette Red tip.
None of my other razors including the 3 wolfmans would be missed as much as the above 5.

I reject the idea that modern methods of manufacture are better and therefore modern razors are better. Tell that to Eric, who spent the better part of two years working on trying to make a modern toggle, with a modicum of success, depending on who you are speaking with.  Ask Rockwell hlw easy it is, using modern technology and know-how, to make a tto adjustable razor.
Gillette made the Toggle and then the Fatboy and the Slim, and made them well enough that many of them still function perfectly to this day. These were actually pretty sophisticated designs, and they work great. Even the humble and inexpensive Tech is a fantastic example of razor design that is, in my opinion, as good as any modern razor out there at any price.
If you have given a legitimate try to vintage razors and then modern and have decided you prefer modern, that's great. I think there are some people out there who reject vintage razors without really giving them a try, or who tried one when they were just learning and had bad technique, and then blamed the poor shave on the razor.

I have nothing against modern razors and have several of them in my den, so this is not an anti-modern razor diatribe. I feel that both modern and vintage razors can be wonderful.

Could not have said it better. I have a variety of modern as well as a collection of vintage, some over 100 years old and still use them. There's room for appreciating both.

Nothing like an ultra smooth shave with a British Aristocrat in rhodium...