Sure enough my crappy brushes have the pear shaped handles. Anyway, it's been a while since this article was written and I'm looking for news. Has this lapse in quality been fixed? Has anyone ordered any Raphael 8404s recently and might be able to share some good news?
I've tried to replace them with Rosemary and Co.'s brushes but I don't like them at all, and I'm not too keen on going back to Winsor and Newtons. Sadly Scharff can only be bought in the US so I can't try them at the moment. In the event that Raphael brushes remain disappointing, I'm open to suggestions.

Thanks guys!
H