Remind Me - What's so special about the CF V Series @ Lowes

[mobiledynamics]

Remind Me - What's so special about the CF V Series @ Lowes
I was grabbing a pack of screws and swung by to finally take a look at these

Wrenches appear thin
This is not the overdrive series with the RBRT teeth in them
The finish or lack of....the chrome on was anything to drool over.
I'm not no guru on CF tools but my older CF ratcheting wrenches finish wise looked 10X better than what I saw.
So aside from the wrenches being thin.......I'm off to search the recent GJ threads on V series topics.

 

[drtyler]

The combo & reversible ratcheting wrenches, screwdrivers, and sockets appear to be Craftsman versions of Facom tools. Generally well designed and good quality. Most are made in Taiwan, except for the screwdrivers which are made in France.

Which is a step ahead of the regular Craftsman tools that have been sold lately.

 

[KnurledNut]

They had V-series on the shelf at your store?
These had been order only.

 

[mobiledynamics]

I see. So basically a -upgrade- from the current offerings. And the pattern of.....

Given the 2 options, if one was C'Man shopping, without seeing the OverDrive series, wouldn't one *might* want the Overdrive series with the slightly better bite, albeit it might mark up the fastener more.

I have no Datapoint on the China Craftsman finishes and was just using a set of Ratcheting Wrenches I have that were probably *I dunno, Apex Made*. The finish on the wrenches just looked extremely cheap when compared to the Ratcheting Wrenches I do have of theirs

 

[Andres26tnt]

Craftsman V is the new Professional line strictly marketed to car mechanics. Most of the tools come from the Facom/Expert and USAG European brands Stanley owns.

Not sure what you mean by the lack of chrome, but the wrenches are excellent. They are the 440 from Facom and are highly regarded. I own the Facom set, and they are great. The pliers and screwdrivers are from France(also Facom). the rest of the items are Taiwan. the only not-so-good product is the ratchets, as the heads are big and sealed.

 

[JradM]

Your visual impressions aside, the wrenches are very good in practice. Look for the data from Torque Test Channel, for example (for Facom, I don't think they tested V-series specifically).



Price compare those V-Series wrenches against Facom offerings too. I bought the metric reversible ratcheting set when it was on special awhile back. It skips some sizes and I thought: "Hey, I'll grab the missing ones from Facom and still be cheaper than a full Facom set". While that's true, I realized that the 3 missing sizes were going to cost more than my 8pc set and changed my mind.



The hex bit sockets and t-handles use Mac RBRT technology - well, more like 1/2 RBRT. Still, compare the set versus an RBRT and it's a nice budget offering (or as pointed out in a recent thread, now Dewalt is offering V-series lookalikes for even less - lots of SBD crossbreeding going on).



Basically, V-series is a selection of Facom tools with different branding. They're quite good and apparently good value too. Kind of a weird offshoot of the Craftsman brand - I wondered when they first came out if they were an experiment. I thought maybe SBD wanted to see if premium tools would sell under the Craftsman brand too - but without having to manufacture something new. They stuck around longer than I expected though.

Overdrive also looks good - but I think it's an entirely different category. It seems like SBD is trying Mac and Proto RBRT and Anti-slip designs in tools designed to compete in the mid and lower-tier price points. That's a great idea honestly - though I wonder whether it might cannibalize their own sales.



I don't think there's been any testing on these yet. "Cheap" tools have improved so much in the last decade, that the gap between cheap and expensive has shrunk. That doesn't mean it doesn't exist, but even cheap import tools can be relatively precise, have good chrome and be made of good materials.

If the OverDrive tools use Anti-Slip Design similar to Proto, might they end up offering 95% of the performance for a fraction of the price? One can hope.

 

[Andres26tnt]

Your visual impressions aside, the wrenches are very good in practice. Look for the data from Torque Test Channel, for example (for Facom, I don't think they tested V-series specifically).



Price compare those V-Series wrenches against Facom offerings too. I bought the metric reversible ratcheting set when it was on special awhile back. It skips some sizes and I thought: "Hey, I'll grab the missing ones from Facom and still be cheaper than a full Facom set". While that's true, I realized that the 3 missing sizes were going to cost more than my 8pc set and changed my mind.



The hex bit sockets and t-handles use Mac RBRT technology - well, more like 1/2 RBRT. Still, compare the set versus an RBRT and it's a nice budget offering (or as pointed out in a recent thread, now Dewalt is offering V-series lookalikes for even less - lots of SBD crossbreeding going on).



Basically, V-series is a selection of Facom tools with different branding. They're quite good and apparently good value too. Kind of a weird offshoot of the Craftsman brand - I wondered when they first came out if they were an experiment. I thought maybe SBD wanted to see if premium tools would sell under the Craftsman brand too - but without having to manufacture something new. They stuck around longer than I expected though.

Overdrive also looks good - but I think it's an entirely different category. It seems like SBD is trying Mac and Proto RBRT and Anti-slip designs in tools designed to compete in the mid and lower-tier price points. That's a great idea honestly - though I wonder whether it might cannibalize their own sales.



I don't think there's been any testing on these yet. "Cheap" tools have improved so much in the last decade, that the gap between cheap and expensive has shrunk. That doesn't mean it doesn't exist, but even cheap import tools can be relatively precise, have good chrome and be made of good materials.

If the OverDrive tools use Anti-Slip Design similar to Proto, might they end up offering 95% of the performance for a fraction of the price? One can hope.

Just by the look alone is using the same design just less aggressive teeth so it's going to perform just as well. From the price point, it is a win-win for the consumer, not so sure for Stanley. Not everything is priced well, the pliers/ratchets are way too expensive.

 

[Fedwrench]

Remind Me - What's so special about the CF V Series @ Lowes
I was grabbing a pack of screws and swung by to finally take a look at these

Wrenches appear thin
This is not the overdrive series with the RBRT teeth in them
The finish or lack of....the chrome on was anything to drool over.
I'm not no guru on CF tools but my older CF ratcheting wrenches finish wise looked 10X better than what I saw.
So aside from the wrenches being thin.......I'm off to search the recent GJ threads on V series topics.

I'm not sure what you were looking at because, the current Craftsman V Series wrenches have excellent chrome, and are finished very nicely
To me, the Craftsman V series offers some nice clones of USAG and FACOM tools. It's just that SBD screwed up the product launch and marketing of the tools I also feel SBD Craftsman made a huge mistake by omitting 15 & 18 mm sizes in their ratcheting wrench sets. I also feel SBD Craftsman in trying to release unique ratchets missed the mark by creating thick headed, non servicable ratchets with probably the highest back drag of any other ratchet on the market today.

 

[JradM]

I'm not sure what you were looking at because, the current Craftsman V Series wrenches have excellent chrome, and are finished very nicely
To me, the Craftsman V series offers some nice clones of USAG and FACOM tools. It's just that SBD screwed up the product launch and marketing of the tools I also feel SBD Craftsman made a huge mistake by omitting 15 & 18 mm sizes in their ratcheting wrench sets. I also feel SBD Craftsman in trying to release unique ratchets missed the mark by creating thick headed, non servicable ratchets with probably the highest back drag of any other ratchet on the market today.

Yes - give me some open stock V-series wrenches so I can complete my set please!

I bought the 8pc set for ~$90 in Canada (I remember them being around $69 in the USA at the time), but when I tried to find USAG or Facom single wrenches for the missing sizes, they were going to be like $35-40/each! That's like Proto pricing (which is already inflated in Canada).

Those V-series wrenches though, are awesome. I'd give the edge to my Proto black chrome reversible ratcheting wrenches, but it's a close call.

 

[Bubba Fett]

If the V-Series and Overdrive tools had any other brand name on them, people would be fawning all over them.

 

[Kuma601]

Saw some at the local Ace store and they looked good. For the price, it was not as easy a swallow. My local Lowes don't have any, order online.

 

[neophyte]

Just by the look alone is using the same design just less aggressive teeth so it's going to perform just as well. From the price point, it is a win-win for the consumer, not so sure for Stanley. Not everything is priced well, the pliers/ratchets are way too expensive.

The pliers are made in France, and are comparable in price to Knipex.

 

[Etchase]

The pliers are made in France, and are comparable in price to Knipex.

And I personally like them over the knipex because of the ratcheting size adjust. Much more ergonomic then the two hand size adjustment on the Knipex.

 

[ItwastheChad]

I bought the V series 4 pc flex ratchets set when they first launched (ordered online from Lowes) and I paid $$$ for them. They have since come down significantly in price. The 3/8" long handled Flex head has since become my "go to" ratchet and I really like how smooth it is.

I have never seen them sold in store at Lowes, but my local Lowes had the new V series tool boxes last time I was in.

As far as the overdrive series you can get a whole 100+ piece tool kit in stock at Lowes for less than what I paid for the V series ratchet set (I haven't tried the overdrive out).

 

[Andres26tnt]

The pliers are made in France, and are comparable in price to Knipex.

yep, I know, just saying the price doesn't match the brand. It's too expensive for the average CF consumer.

 

[Davefr]

So for $160 you can get a couple V-series SAE/Metric 1 2 pc combo sets. (24 total wrenches with a couple skipped sizes). But for $230 you can get the 44 pc master Gearwrench set with no skipped sizes. (ie almost 2X the content for about 1.5X the price).

Or $190 for the 34 pc Tekton set. (no skips)

CM has it's head up it's *** with V-series IMHO and it'll flop in B&M retail.

 

[M6erfan]

So for $160 you can get a couple V-series SAE/Metric 1 2 pc combo sets. (24 total wrenches with a couple skipped sizes). But for $230 you can get the 44 pc master Gearwrench set with no skipped sizes. (ie almost 2X the content for about 1.5X the price).

Or $190 for the 34 pc Tekton set. (no skips)

CM has it's head up it's *** with V-series IMHO and it'll flop in B&M retail.

Yeah, the V series 'skips' have me shaking my head.

 

[JradM]

So for $160 you can get a couple V-series SAE/Metric 1 2 pc combo sets. (24 total wrenches with a couple skipped sizes). But for $230 you can get the 44 pc master Gearwrench set with no skipped sizes. (ie almost 2X the content for about 1.5X the price).

Or $190 for the 34 pc Tekton set. (no skips)

CM has it's head up it's *** with V-series IMHO and it'll flop in B&M retail.

Skips are annoying, but I'm not sure the V-series compares best with either of those brands. It's closer to my Proto reversible ratcheting wrenches than my Gearwrench (I don't have Tekton to compare).

Wait - are we talking about the ratcheting combination wrenches? Because those are 8pc sets. At the occasional "sale" pricing, you're talking $138 for 16 pieces (8 metric + 8 SAE). If that's a deal depends on your comparison point - the 9pc Proto JSCV9s set is $174 on Zoro, so we're talking beyond 2x the price even after you account for the extra wrench.

The non-ratcheting sets though, I see your point. They are $79 for the 12 pc metric and $73 for the 12 pc SAE on Amazon right now = $152. Still excellent wrenches, but not really a "deal" because Facom 440 is in that price range.

 

[dnschmidt]

A while back Craftsman had a line of wrenches called Craftsman Professional which were made, I believe, by APEX in the USA and were very nice. Why not just call the good stuff Craftsman Professional once again? This tells the buyer that this isn't the cheap Chinesium garbage they typically sell and informs the intelligent buyer that these are pro level tools. If also makes clear that they are going to cost more than the their typical trash. What the **** is "V" series?

 

[JradM]

A while back Craftsman had a line of wrenches called Craftsman Professional which were made, I believe, by APEX in the USA and were very nice. Why not just call the good stuff Craftsman Professional once again? This tells the buyer that this isn't the cheap Chinesium garbage they typically sell and informs the intelligent buyer that these are pro level tools. If also makes clear that they are going to cost more than the their typical trash. What the **** is "V" series?

I wonder if SBD has license to use that trademark. They might only have bought the right to use the Craftsman brand, so "Craftsman Professional" might step on some toes.

I agree in general though. The "V" might have some historical precedent, but it's pretty obscure. It's part of why I thought the line was an experiment rather than a permanent fixture. At this point though? Might as well stick with it.

 

[neophyte]

yep, I know, just saying the price doesn't match the brand. It's too expensive for the average CF consumer.

Craftsman stuff varied in price somewhat.
Dome stuff was affordable.
Other stuff was actually sort of expensive.
Craftsman rebranded items made by Facom, SK, Knipex, and Bahco back during the 1990s and later.
I presume the current executives at Stanley in charge of the Craftsman brand, are trying to both find products that Stanley is already producing, that can be branded Craftsman, but also trying to up the quality of the Craftsman brand in the eyes of tool users who know where the higher end V-series tools actually come from.

 

[neophyte]

I wonder if SBD has license to use that trademark. They might only have bought the right to use the Craftsman brand, so "Craftsman Professional" might step on some toes.

I agree in general though. The "V" might have some historical precedent, but it's pretty obscure. It's part of why I thought the line was an experiment rather than a permanent fixture. At this point though? Might as well stick with it.

Adding the term “Professional” to a trademark, will likely not step on any toes legally, unless the purchase agreement for Craftsman specifically excluded the use of “Professional” or “Craftsman Professional”.
“Professional” is a basic descriptive term, that likely is so generic that there is no way to trademark it, unless you are applying the term to something that would likely never be combined with the term “Professional”.

 

[Andres26tnt]

Stanley has too many tool brands to properly run them all. The V line could have worked if it was made in the USA, as the V is associated with an old USA craftsman stamping. Even a mix of Taiwan/USA/France would have worked better.

 

[Andres26tnt]

Craftsman stuff varied in price somewhat.
Dome stuff was affordable.
Other stuff was actually sort of expensive.
Craftsman rebranded items made by Facom, SK, Knipex, and Bahco back during the 1990s and later.
I presume the current executives at Stanley in charge of the Craftsman brand, are trying to both find products that Stanley is already producing, that can be branded Craftsman, but also trying to up the quality of the Craftsman brand in the eyes of tool users who know where the higher end V-series tools actually come from.

There has always been a distinction between the most expensive craftsman(craftsman professional) and the generic craftsman, with some bleeding in between. with this new craftsman all over the place, the V line has no clear direction. they also doing a bad job of positioning the brand, whats the major complaints consumers have about the brand and the V-line? aside from Not made in the USA.
They should be cornering the mid-tier Mechanics tool market with the V-line and introducing USA tools even if they have to outsource them. Anyway, they have more issues to solve, advertising and tool availability a major one.

 

[M6erfan]

Stanley has too many tool brands to properly run them all. The V line could have worked if it was made in the USA, as the V is associated with an old USA craftsman stamping. Even a mix of Taiwan/USA/France would have worked better.

There has always been a distinction between the most expensive craftsman(craftsman professional) and the generic craftsman, with some bleeding in between. with this new craftsman all over the place, the V line has no clear direction. they also doing a bad job of positioning the brand, whats the major complaints consumers have about the brand and the V-line? aside from Not made in the USA.
They should be cornering the mid-tier Mechanics tool market with the V-line and introducing USA tools even if they have to outsource them. Anyway, they have more issues to solve, advertising and tool availability a major one.

This is what happens when everyone gets a 'participation trophy' in school. Later they enter the workforce and make such decisions . . .

 

[Andres26tnt]

This is what happens when everyone gets a 'participation trophy' in school. Later they enter the workforce and make such decisions . . .

that's not true, it the greed plain and simple. Decisions are made for the investors at the cost of the consumer. What drove Stanley to buy Craftsman in Name only? it wasn't to give everyone participation trophies. Comglomarets make decisions based on money, how much can I squeeze out of this brand?

 

[M6erfan]

that's not true, it the greed plain and simple. Decisions are made for the investors at the cost of the consumer. What drove Stanley to buy Craftsman in Name only? it wasn't to give everyone participation trophies. Comglomarets make decisions based on money, how much can I squeeze out of this brand?

The partici[ation trophies are awarded long before they became decision makers. But I see your point.

 

[GX460DIYguy]

I put a set of the 3/8” hex sockets and 1/2” sockets on my Christmas list(which means I’ll probably end getting them myself at some point) just to try them out. Not expecting top quality, but as long as they do their job I’ll be happy.

 

[CaptCJ]

I know this is an old thread, but I'm new here. For anyone interested, Lowes has back in stock, at low quantities, the V Series 8 pc metric & sae ratcheting combo wrenches at 29.95/ea. Killer deal, in my estimation.

 

[Andres26tnt]

I know this is an old thread, but I'm new here. For anyone interested, Lowes has back in stock, at low quantities, the V Series 8 pc metric & sae ratcheting combo wrenches at 29.95/ea. Killer deal, in my estimation.

A lot of V series is also on sale in Amazon. The 1/4 ratchet/bit/socket set is 38$ killer deal. The long 6pt ratchet wrenches are 100$ another good deal.

 

[AJHD]

I know this is an old thread, but I'm new here. For anyone interested, Lowes has back in stock, at low quantities, the V Series 8 pc metric & sae ratcheting combo wrenches at 29.95/ea. Killer deal, in my estimation.

If you can find them locally and they're not available online.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/CRAFTSMAN-V-Series-8482-SAE-Reversible-Ratcheting-Combination-Wrench-Set-8-pc/5005414239

https://www.lowes.com/pd/CRAFTSMAN-V-Series-8482-Metric-Reversible-Ratcheting-Combination-Wrench-Set-8-pc/5005413971

// EDIT:
$65 and $67 on Amazon currently

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B5JQ5385?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[Jaysreal]

I know this is an old thread, but I'm new here. For anyone interested, Lowes has back in stock, at low quantities, the V Series 8 pc metric & sae ratcheting combo wrenches at 29.95/ea. Killer deal, in my estimation.

Its more than that plenty of the Craftsman V series sets are on sale at lowes

 

[JradM]

Personally, I doubt it's a "closeout" given the volume of tools on sale at Lowes. Seems more like an intentional promotion. Yet I agree - those are ridiculously good prices on V-series tools.

Makes me want to speculate:

• is Lowes using these as a loss leader?
• Maybe SBD wants to generate some revived interest in the Craftsman brand - give it back some cachet after the hits it's taken since reintroduction.
• Did SBD manage to reduce production costs?
• Is there a huge surplus of these tools for some reason?

 

[four.cycle]

• is Lowes using these as a loss leader?
• Maybe SBD wants to generate some revived interest in the Craftsman brand - give it back some cachet after the hits it's taken since reintroduction.
• Did SBD manage to reduce production costs?
• Is there a huge surplus of these tools for some reason?

Yes to all of the above.
This is a passing phase. Buy them now while they're on sale and stop wondering about the "why" part.
Prices will be back to normal after the "after Christmas" sales.

This all makes perfect sense from a marketing standpoint: they want to get the NAME out there under the Christmas tree. Getting the product in your face is 50% of the sale.
SBD isn't stupid. They know what they're doing.
Best guess: ACE wasn't producing the numbers they had anticipated and SBD's marketing team cooked up some cozy little deal with Lowes for a "pre-Christmas" promotion - probably gave 'em 90-120-180 day billing + 2% 10th proximo + ad money. They have deep enough pockets they could do that.

 

[username2]

lol. Sweet. The last thing I need is more hand tools, but thought I'd check out the ratcheting wrenches.


So....I can drive for a fair distance...or Lowe's charges me $79 for delivery.

Quite a bargain, this.

(PS. I get 'free shipping' as I was well above the minimum..going to get some furnace filters and whatnot, but the second you add the CRAFTSMAN V-SERIES superduper tools, $79 'delivery charge')

(PPS. Fooling around with shopping carts, my guess is that there's stock in stores but nowhere else. Any delivery implies somebody gathering it up and throwing it in a box from the store. Thus $79. Is that possible? Ack. I've never bought anything from Lowes before, thought I'd give it a shot even though the other stuff I wanted was a bit more than The Despot. Nope. Too much craziness. Screw them.)

 

[iamhomeless]

I am thinking about picking up some of the V-series long handle flex ratchets, any thoughts on the comfort grips and how well they hold up?