Craftsmanomania?

[WWheeler]

The first two rules of selling things.
If you see it, it hasn't sold.
Just because something is listed at some dumb price doesn't mean it will sell for it.

Just look at the 'Sold' listings then, for example this used 15pc raised panel set sold Mar 23 2022 for $1,626.00 + $15 shipping.

Vintage 15 pc Craftsman metric series -V- combination wrench set made in USA | eBay

<p dir="ltr" style="margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;">They look unused and include wrenches 25-8mm. The set included 15 i am including 2 bonus Wrenches. Thanks for looking and happy bidding.</p>

www.ebay.com

 

[qqzj]

Just look at the 'Sold' listings then, for example this used 15pc raised panel set sold Mar 23 2022 for $1,626.00 + $15 shipping.

Vintage 15 pc Craftsman metric series -V- combination wrench set made in USA | eBay

<p dir="ltr" style="margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;">They look unused and include wrenches 25-8mm. The set included 15 i am including 2 bonus Wrenches. Thanks for looking and happy bidding.</p>

www.ebay.com

It's not sold. Buyers on eBay are dumb, but not that dumb. The winning bidder didn't pay, so the item is relisted.

 

[Old Donn]

As others have mentioned, the asking price and selling price are two different stories. Anyone who's dealt in collectibles can testify to that.

 

[qqzj]

Picked up two more today.

First is a pair of death sticks. I have a pair made in Taiwan. This would work well with my existing pair because sometimes 3 sticks are recommended.

 

[qqzj]

The second is more cool. First time for me to come across.

 

[Robinson1]

Ebay would say yes.

Prices are rising, but there's still not much profit in it once you figure shipping.

I've got a nice big set of Metric and SAE wrenches I bought in the 2000's that would bring decent money, but what would I replace them with? New SK or Snap-On would still cost me more to replace them and it seems foolish to replace them with an import.

That my thoughts exactly. If you have extra tools you dont need you can make a little by flipping them on ebay BUT if they are tools you use it will cost more to replace. And I'm not replacing good USA tools with imports

 

[qqzj]

Look at what I picked up today! The holy grail of Craftsman USA gimmicky tools! In a displayable book-box!

 

[slowtwitch73]

Those Robogrips actually have a following and sell pretty quick on Ebay. I had some from my dad that I never reached for and they were so hideous to look at that I sold them.

 

[qqzj]

I am not selling. I plan to make an exhibition cabinet and this will stay there. Just need a gold plated ratchet to anchor the display!

 

[jpaw]

Believe it or not I use my robogrips at work quite often.

 

[qqzj]

Those Robogrips actually have a following and sell pretty quick on Ebay. I had some from my dad that I never reached for and they were so hideous to look at that I sold them.

No kidding ... Just the two pliers are now $45 with shipping. Bidding is not over yet.

2 Craftsman USA Robo Grip Pliers 45008, 45010 | eBay

See photos for details.

www.ebay.com

Relative to that, the whole set for $88 is not that bad of a deal. Search Craftsman 95444, there are two sets for sale now.

 

[zendriver]

Saw a new looking 3 pack of robo grips in a fancy plastic "presentation" case, sell for $135 at estate auction. I'd bought them to resell, but not at that price, which I was not really surprised.

 

[B_Bimmer]

I know I had a pair of those hideous things at one point... no idea where they landed, or that anyone would actually want them.

 

[m6z]

I recall SK selling robo grips as recent as last year. I almost bought a pair but they've always seemed like a gimmick.

 

[Ton ton]

I recall SK selling robo grips as recent as last year. I almost bought a pair but they've always seemed like a gimmick.

They're a gimmick. Yes, I bought some years ago.

 

[MarkH]

I do not know how my wife missed that 9 piece gift set. My christmas present for many years what the Sears gimmick tool for the holiday season. They had the wives and children pegged. He does not have this get it. For other times of the year shopping for tools for special days was better called a gift certificate. In recent years has been switched to one from Cabelas.

I have a small box of gimmick tools from those days. Most never used.

 

[qqzj]

Look at my loot this weekend!

9 piece 6-point metric combination wrench set

 

[Ton ton]

Look at my loot this weekend!

9 piece 6-point metric combination wrench set

I spy a 10mm wrench. You ****.

 

[qqzj]

12 piece 12-point wrench set

 

[qqzj]

The metric version of my gimmicky speed wrenches. Missing the most important one though.

 

[qqzj]

Reeled in a couple of big fishes yesterday! I got them from a retired union electrician who became a homeless right after retirement. Kind of sad. The guy was real nice and we had a good chat for about an hour. Quite unusual for a Craigslist pick-up. Both sat in his storage for dozens of years. Took me a whole hour to remove all the dust and sanitize ...

26 piece set of metric wrenches, 7-22 no skip, in a pleasant carrier, nice.



The tool count is boosted by these midget wrenches. Are midget wrenches the same as ignition wrenches?

 

[qqzj]

The next item is even better thou. It is 34 lbs of awesomeness. VQ ratchets, G1 sockets and H series extensions. All the 226 pieces (my quick count, may not be accurate) are present. I am just curious that there aren't any wrenches even thou the trays have slots explicitly for wrenches. I don't think the seller lied to me. Just find this is strange.

 

[qqzj]

Found them this weekend. Absolutely new after almost 20 years. I never needed them and don't think I would need them in the future. But when they are available at my finger tip, cannot say no.

 

[fourjeepin]

I have that SAE set but yours looks brand new. i threw out the foam piece 20 years

 

[qqzj]

I have that SAE set but yours looks brand new. i threw out the foam piece 20 years

I put the piece of paper in the SAE set between two boxes. Once it is pressed flat, it will look even better

 

[Jtels85]

The next item is even better thou. It is 34 lbs of awesomeness. VQ ratchets, G1 sockets and H series extensions. All the 226 pieces (my quick count, may not be accurate) are present. I am just curious that there aren't any wrenches even thou the trays have slots explicitly for wrenches. I don't think the seller lied to me. Just find this is strange.

Nice score! VQ would put that set around the year 2001. I have a similar set and the ratchets are stamped VR with G1 sockets and the Sears paperwork/parts list is from 2002. Another set I have is KX ratchets, G2 sockets with paperwork from 2008. Another has KAA ratchets and the paperwork is from 2011.

A couple of the older sets I have like yours also did not come with wrenches. I don’t know why they did that, but it was a thing.

 

[qqzj]

Nice score! VQ would put that set around the year 2001. I have a similar set and the ratchets are stamped VR with G1 sockets and the Sears paperwork/parts list is from 2002. Another set I have is KX ratchets, G2 sockets with paperwork from 2008. Another has KAA ratchets and the paperwork is from 2011.

A couple of the older sets I have like yours also did not come with wrenches. I don’t know why they did that, but it was a thing.

Nice. Besides this huge set, I have three other complete sets. We really should have a huge thread to collect the image of all these box sets and rank them to see which one is better. That would be fun!

 

[qqzj]

Spend another 1 hr today to sanitize and clean up the big box. It is the best box set I have seen so far, excluding those with metal boxes. The first tray has 1/4 drive and small stuff, 79 pieces.



The 2nd one has 3/8 stuff, 75 pieces



The 3rd tray has 1/2 stuff, 32 pieces



The 4th tray has I guess 40 pieces? The extra spark plug is a gift from previous owner. Doesn't count. So the whole set has 226 pieces.



Interestingly, large Allen wrenches are of the -V- series while smaller ones are of -H- series. I actually noticed that I am missing a 5/32 long arm Allen wrench. Thank god that I have a spare one from an incomplete set of the -H- series. So it is an identical replacement. Otherwise, this will bother me to no end.

Each tray has its own part number.


There are also note in the front of the trays.



The only things I think it falls short is to include that piece of **** aluminum screwdriver and all the 1/2 sockets are 12 points. Otherwise, it seems perfect with almost every sockets necessary and extra space for other essential tools.

 

[SRU1436]

I like the robogrips, I use them very frequently.

 

[Jtels85]

Spend another 1 hr today to sanitize and clean up the big box. It is the best box set I have seen so far, excluding those with metal boxes. The first tray has 1/4 drive and small stuff, 79 pieces.



The 2nd one has 3/8 stuff, 75 pieces



The 3rd tray has 1/2 stuff, 32 pieces



The 4th tray has I guess 40 pieces? The extra spark plug is a gift from previous owner. Doesn't count. So the whole set has 226 pieces.



Interestingly, large Allen wrenches are of the -V- series while smaller ones are of -H- series. I actually noticed that I am missing a 5/32 long arm Allen wrench. Thank god that I have a spare one from an incomplete set of the -H- series. So it is an identical replacement. Otherwise, this will bother me to no end.

Each tray has its own part number.


There are also note in the front of the trays.



The only things I think it falls short is to include that piece of **** aluminum screwdriver and all the 1/2 sockets are 12 points. Otherwise, it seems perfect with almost every sockets necessary and extra space for other essential tools.

I went and check my similar mechanics set and sure enough, some of the Allen wrenches are “V”. They must’ve had a bunch leftover before the “H” switch.

 

[qqzj]

I went and check my similar mechanics set and sure enough, some of the Allen wrenches are “V”. They must’ve had a bunch leftover before the “H” switch.

Thanks, Man! That helps a lot! I really need the verification.

 

[m6z]

Spend another 1 hr today to sanitize and clean up the big box. It is the best box set I have seen so far, excluding those with metal boxes. The first tray has 1/4 drive and small stuff, 79 pieces.



The 2nd one has 3/8 stuff, 75 pieces



The 3rd tray has 1/2 stuff, 32 pieces



The 4th tray has I guess 40 pieces? The extra spark plug is a gift from previous owner. Doesn't count. So the whole set has 226 pieces.



Interestingly, large Allen wrenches are of the -V- series while smaller ones are of -H- series. I actually noticed that I am missing a 5/32 long arm Allen wrench. Thank god that I have a spare one from an incomplete set of the -H- series. So it is an identical replacement. Otherwise, this will bother me to no end.

Each tray has its own part number.


There are also note in the front of the trays.



The only things I think it falls short is to include that piece of **** aluminum screwdriver and all the 1/2 sockets are 12 points. Otherwise, it seems perfect with almost every sockets necessary and extra space for other essential tools.

Nice. That kit looks to be the the exact kit I started with. I did eventually add some 1/2 deep sockets, but it certainly served me well for a number of years. You could fit a decent amount of stuff in the bottom drawer.

 

[qqzj]

Today I totally by chance I found out that I have a non USA Craftsman screwdriver hidden in the corner of my tool box. It has steel shaft, bit storage, and fits perfectly in the slot for the screwdriver in the tray. How nice it would be if my set came with this kind!

 

[qqzj]

Got a full set of SK sourced Craftsman stubby wrenches ...



Let's compare them vs the Danaher sourced ones





I would agree that SK ones are shaped more artistically. But tool-wise, that is not clear. The Danaher ones have slightly tighter fit on the open end. On the closed end, the Danaher ones have a lot less chamfer. But for such stubby wrenches, probably does not matter much. BTW, I also collected the complete inch set for the Danaher ones. 11 pieces in total. And I can tell you that it is more satisfying to have the Danaher ones. Why? 11 pieces vs 7 pieces. The 4 additional ones are all large ones from 13/16 to 1 inch. The big ones feel a lot more majestic than the tiny 3/8 wrenches. The metric set of the Danaher ones are even more amazing. At least 12 pieces in the whole set.

 

[Fedwrench]

I always thought the SK sourced stubbies were fat, heavy, and too thick where the beam joins the boxed end but, that's just me. I think the KD version of those wrenches were pretty sweet though.

 

[qqzj]

I got a truck load of good Craftsman stuff last weekend. But I have been so busy that I haven't find time to clean them up and take pictures. Finally find a little bit of time today. So I am going to show them in the increasing order of desirability.

First up is a 5/8 chisel. It is much larger than the 3/8 Mayhew I had before. But it is in a slightly rougher condition than I have expected. This is also good in that it is not going to be a tool drawer queen like most of my other tools. I am going to actually use it. I soaked it in ATF after taking pictures. Hopefully ATF can remove some of the rust. Otherwise, I plan to use rust remover to do some intensive work. Pretty annoying for a tool not that valuable.

 

[qqzj]

Next is two pairs of slip joint pliers. Slip joint pliers are my least favorite type. But I have been craving for this style of pliers in general. So bought them anyway. Both have essentially new jaws. But have some surface rust. Especially for the smaller pair. If anyone can teach me how to remove the rust without hurting the finish, please do let me know. Thanks!

 

[qqzj]

Real fun starts from now on. A set of V series crow foot wrenches with original pouch.

Before last weekend, I never had any V series tools besides insignificant items like Allen keys.

 

[qqzj]

Next is a set of 10 double box end VV series wrench, mint, in original pouch.



At the risk of emphasizing an obvious point, I have to say size matters. They are much more satisfying than holding the normal 12-point combination wrench. Here is a 17-inch pry bar beside them.

 

[webscrounger]

I've got set of those Craftsman flat ground, black handled pliers, about 22 different ones, basically NOS. They're really some of the nicest pliers I've seen but I have so many others I never needed to use them. They've been sitting in one of my roll cabs for maybe 20+- years with a load of other unused tools I've accumulated over the years. Most are marked Western Forge - WF C and a 9 . One water pump plier is just marked France with a 5 digit Craftsman number. I think it's actually Facom made for Craftsman, Maybe I'll put them up in the sale section.