ICON Tool Boxes at HF

[allinon72]

Is there some reason, folks should be concerned about the situation of others?

If, in five years the "Icon" brand goes away, it will likely be replaced with something better, so their customers will just buy that and get on with life, because that what HF customers do.

What's the "gamble" they are taking? Just curious since they are basically slapping a name on somewhat common Chinese made products, sold under other "brand names", as well. This is something they have always done, literally since day one.

It's not free to create a new product line, in fact it involves tens of millions of dollars in investment. That's the gamble any company makes, especially a low cost brand going after the big dog in the high end market.

And if this brand fails, there won't be a replacement. They will go back to focusing on their core brands and original target market. To replace one failed brand with another doesn't make any sense.

I do appreciate their effort though. It's just not quite "enough" in my humble opinion.

 

[Shane6377]

the ICON would do fine in a shop but they 3 to 4x the cost of the Husky US Gen Masterforce you referencing being used and you can buy super clean used truck for same/less and that best buy you can do long term on a box .
The lad working for me bought 2 international at silly money on the clearance sale, He less than 1200 into 112" of storage and will upgrade in time to used truck brands when sees a deal .
Nothing wrong buying new if can afford it but buying new boxes on credit or trading a box is basically bending over for a dealer $ ****** and turning hard earned $ into a loss or financial burden .
Main reason I done well on used boxes is so many got done over by truck dealer and themselves then you got a pretty much new box up for grabs and a easy deal if you can deal and go all in 1 day with $ in the hand .

I'm in Kansas and the used market on tool truck boxes is almost non existent. They pop up every now and then but generally older boxes and not at the prices discussed here. I'm sure there are good used deals out there but not everyone has that option.

For someone who wanted a step up from the US General, Husky, Kobalt I think the Icon might be an option.


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[Shane6377]

You didn't list your location but in my area, a blind armless mechanic can make $30-35K

Sorry, I was a little low. I'm in Kansas. $28-$60k with an average of $38k... slightly above Texas at an average of $37k.

I know there are some highly paid mechanics that are buying tool truck boxes but I think the reality is that most are probably looking at other options.


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[lardy1]

What's the "gamble" they are taking? Just curious since they are basically slapping a name on somewhat common Chinese made products, sold under other "brand names", as well.

The gamble for HF, as I see it, was introducing another line of tools to compete directly with their current multiple lines at a considerably higher price. I don't think their biggest drawing card is any big secret and that move seems contradictory to their proven formula.

 

[Steve_P]

Icon's not competing with SO on any measurable level because I doubt more than a few people are cross-shopping the two; Icon is competing with their US general line of tool boxes which are a bargain in comparison

 

[Shane6377]

Icon's not competing with SO on any measurable level because I doubt more than a few people are cross-shopping the two; Icon is competing with their US general line of tool boxes which are a bargain in comparison

I think plenty of people shop both snap on (or other tool trucks) and harbor freight. Also there are plenty of shops that don't have tool truck service.

For every "icon is junk" post, I see another "never buying snap on again" post on other forums. I think harbor freight is adding some competition to tool trucks but they are also putting pressure on Home Depot, Lowes and other big box stores. If they take a little cut from each of these places I think the icon line will do fine.


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[pi_guy]

I think plenty of people shop both snap on (or other tool trucks) and harbor freight. Also there are plenty of shops that don't have tool truck service.

For every "icon is junk" post, I see another "never buying snap on again" post on other forums. I think harbor freight is adding some competition to tool trucks but they are also putting pressure on Home Depot, Lowes and other big box stores. If they take a little cut from each of these places I think the icon line will do fine.

The will not buy SO again is mostly from weekend warriors. The common reason is they will not warranty my ebay purchase or now they charged me shipping.

Large majority of the professional SO users are too busy to post on online forums bitching about tools.

If you do this professionally you will find out SO makes stuff other do not.

A point to ponder many will just be happy with the job completed and don't care how they reach this level and how it is left for the next person to work on it.

 

[Steve_P]

I think plenty of people shop both snap on (or other tool trucks) and harbor freight. Also there are plenty of shops that don't have tool truck service.

For every "icon is junk" post, I see another "never buying snap on again" post on other forums. I think harbor freight is adding some competition to tool trucks but they are also putting pressure on Home Depot, Lowes and other big box stores. If they take a little cut from each of these places I think the icon line will do fine.


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I'm not saying people with SO don't also have HF; I do. But, anyone that buys SO is 95% of the time not comparison shopping because if they did, then they wouldn't pay the ridiculous SO premium vs the competition. This thread, and my post, is about Icon toolboxes; there are hundreds of people here that have posted about their SO and HF USG boxes, these seem to be most popular here, but I havent seen one person post pics of their new Icon box. If they were a decent value I think we would've seen this by now. And I own HF tools, but IMO, like most here, they missed the boat so far with the Icon line.

 

[Shane6377]

The will not buy SO again is mostly from weekend warriors. The common reason is they will not warranty my ebay purchase or now they charged me shipping.



Large majority of the professional SO users are too busy to post on online forums bitching about tools.

Actually quite the opposite. It's the pros in massive debt who are looking for cheaper options and the diy guy who wants the snap on name so they feel like a pro.

Again, I think some of you think of pro mechanics as the guy who's done it for 30 years and makes 6 figures. You forget about the pro making $22k.

Lol. The notion that snap on users are any busier than the rest of us is hilarious. Have you ever read a GJ post? If anything they ***** the most.



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[Shane6377]

Getting back on topic...
I think harbor freight will sell plenty of icon tools and toolboxes. They don't have to be better than snap on quality they just have to be professional quality. Many pros are using US General and are happy with the quality so anything a step up from that is probably going to sell.

They'll get some sales from pros who don't want to pay tool truck prices, some from DIY'ers who don't have access to tool trucks and some from the big box stores who don't offer the pro style options.

Personally, I've got all the tools and tool boxes I need so I won't be buying icon or snap on anytime soon. The only box I'll be in the market for would be the slant style truck boxes like the Montezuma in the next year or so. Maybe harbor freight or snap on will come out with those and I can put them to the test.


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[Mr_B]

^
Most of the hand tool line and may I add it a very small line falls short of professional quality tool range needs and even don't stack up that well to some diy brands .
sure they got a few gems, the ICON boxes themselves pretty decent product but the price and marketing is pure **** ...
When you see what comes out of taiwan and japan for other brands in hand tools air tools etc it makes you wonder why HF picking such **** and such a limited diy range, are they stupid or just pure greedy on margins !

 

[Shane6377]

^
Most of the hand tool line and may I add it a very small line falls short of professional quality tool range needs and even don't stack up that well to some diy brands .
sure they got a few gems, the ICON boxes themselves pretty decent product but the price and marketing is pure **** ...
When you see what comes out of taiwan and japan for other brands in hand tools air tools etc it makes you wonder why HF picking such **** and such a limited diy range, are they stupid or just pure greedy on margins !

Have you actually used any of the tools or is this pure conjecture?


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[Mr_B]

Have you actually used any of the tools or is this pure conjecture?


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Bought from my local store with my own $ and used in daily auto shop for few months.
The icon ratchet wrenches are pretty decent buy (good ratchet wrench oem hi-five), socket ratchets are no better than 15buck specials from usual low cost sources, pretty easy evaluate a lot prior to use via manufature design and tolerance of tools, the idiots like redemption garage and koon trucking making out those ratchets magic just hysterical. With the mass of high quality taiwan and japan and even chinese ratchets, HF ICON only just scraping average consumer grade .
Capri, tekton, welzch, carlyle, facom, astro, Premier, laser, toptul, gw show you some of best of taiwan .
I was surprised at socket softness as not come across that since the early 90's .
When you see what other professional use brands source from taiwan and even mainland china I got no idea why HF picking such poor options, lot of it likely caused by obsession of copying snapon visual design which limiting manufacturers used rather than sourcing or innovating the best from best oems of taiwan .
HF do have some gems (doyle bremen pitts pro us gen) but most of the ICON hand tools ain't even good value let alone a gem .
I think the ICON box is pretty good product but it poorly marketed using snapon baiting and the price is too high to attract the purchases of likely customer demographic .
HF damaged the brand by putiing the focus on packaging and sleazy marketing over actually sourcing and engineering better tool lines .
Astro and Tekton show you better ways of evolving and marketing tool lines of professional level .

 

[Fly YX]

I stopped at a local harbor freight I was asking the guy there about the icon boxes he said his store has not sold any for the store across town did apparently $30,000 worth. And he was giving me the whole comparing too Snap On. I told him there was one huge difference besides quality Snap-On was made in the USA he just looked at me crazy and told me he didn't think so.

 

[DFB]

Just an FYI to sweeten anyone's potential purchase

20% off coupon on any single Icon storage item in February HF catalog.

Good until 2/28/20

 

[m6z]

The packaging really is over the top. Such a waste of materials and it has to add a few bucks to production costs.

I did notice my store had some of the Icon impact sockets priced at $59, so similar to Sunex pricing and probably a decent buy at 20% off. Sunex is still the leader with their complete no skip sets though.

 

[Mr_B]

The packaging really is over the top. Such a waste of materials and it has to add a few bucks to production costs.

I did notice my store had some of the Icon impact sockets priced at $59, so similar to Sunex pricing and probably a decent buy at 20% off. Sunex is still the leader with their complete no skip sets.

Packaging is totally over the top and a good chunk of money.
trays/organisers always a good concept but iphone/nepros like boxing and a micro fibre cloth polish your 8 buck manufacture ratchet is nothing but **** marketing.
They need take on research/test group of pro tool users and employ some engineers and metallurgists and up the game professionally over current trend of "ICON beats Snap-On" marketing **** and endless coupons ******* about with the pricing ...
ICON launch has been biggest let down of anf HF brand line, the promise was big,the result was long winded and small in every measure .
Even the youtube marketing flopped in under 2 months .

 

[lardy1]

It points out what I've said all along. They aren't even trying very hard to sell you those tool boxes. They are working overtime to sell you an image.

 

[EZ_Garage]

My local store still doesn't have any Icon boxes out on display. I did go by the store this morning and it looked like they had one uncrated in the back that maybe was going to make it's way out to the sales floor. I'll check in but I'm not in the market. For me the US General boxes are more than good enough for what I do.

 

[SeisMec]

For every "icon is junk" post, I see another "never buying snap on again" post on other forums. I think harbor freight is adding some competition to tool trucks

About three weeks back I had an hour to kill and spent it in a Harbor Freight. While I was there I check some detail (top drawer depth???) on an 56" Icon box. (Somebody on reddit/tools had asked about whatever detail it was that morning.) While doing that, an older guy - about my age- walked up to me and volunteered that all the boxes in his shop were Snap-on. I said something like - 'they do make nice boxes, don't they." I was there another half hour and saw him go back to take a closer look at that Icon box a couple more times. He left with a small handful of tools. But he was looking.

 

[Bigblue&Goldie]

This site has 26,000 active members who are here to discuss tools and other garage related items, and after a few months of Icon boxes being available we've yet to have a single member post about actually purchasing one. If that isn't proof enough that they've missed their mark, I don't know what else is?

 

[pi_guy]

This site has 26,000 active members who are here to discuss tools and other garage related items, and after a few months of Icon boxes being available we've yet to have a single member post about actually purchasing one. If that isn't proof enough that they've missed their mark, I don't know what else is?

Your just drawing the wrong conclusion.
That is just not right you must be one of the SO guys.....

 

[SeisMec]

This site has 26,000 active members who are here to discuss tools and other garage related items, and after a few months of Icon boxes being available we've yet to have a single member post about actually purchasing one. If that isn't proof enough that they've missed their mark, I don't know what else is?

I expect you're going to be right, but given the number of posts saying 'my store doesn't have a display model' - it may still be an open question.

 

[DFB]

Just wait till they roll out that 36 month 0% financing

 

[kythri]

Just wait till they roll out that 36 month 0% financing

Makes one wonder exactly how many new, dealer-sold Snap-on boxes are purchased without utilizing Snap-on's financing.

 

[M635_Guy]

I was in HF today and they have some on display. They seem extremely nice and well-made. I can't speak to the price-performance, but...

 

[1982fxr]

Haas welding said a school by him bought a couple.

That is literally the only mention of actual sales that I have ever seen.

 

[Parrothead]

I’m not a Harbor Freight hater, in fact I have the ubiquitous HF 44 in my garage. That said I think they missed the mark on a few levels when it comes to the ICON box. Most all of them have to do with the US General.

One, price. Are the ICON boxes apparently nice boxes with some pro level features and construction? Sounds like it. Are they still way too expensive for a Harbor Freight shopper? Yep.

Two. Replacement parts are now available for the US General. Kinda shooting yourself in the foot there. A big reason the fanboys poo poo’d the HF/US General box was parts availability down the road. Well, that’s been solved. You can order slides and casters among other things should they wear out.

Three. Box depth. Thanks to Waterloo, imported boxes had to be made deeper, like pro boxes. They went from 18” to 22” depth at least making them in the ballpark of pro boxes. Be careful what you wish for. Idiots

Four. US General box colors. That Snap-on lime green, or MAC yellow is now available (among other colors) for a fraction of the price of either the truck boxes or the ICON.

In summary, you’ve got a much cheaper box, in your own store that has a proven record of durability and now has replacement parts, color choices and deep enough for pros. Gee, I wonder why the ICON’s aren’t flying off the shelves?

All that said, they’ll sell some of them from financing alone.

 

[M635_Guy]

I didn't see this link posted in the thread - I guess it popped up in my YouTube suggested videos:

The charging drawer for impacts/etc. seems pretty cool. I was already thinking about making something like that for all my Milwaukee stuff (more of an under-caddy for my work-bench though)

 

[m6z]

Just wait till they roll out that 36 month 0% financing

One this happens I think we'll see more actual user reviews.

 

[Brandon_oma#692]

I’m not a Harbor Freight hater, in fact I have the ubiquitous HF 44 in my garage. That said I think they missed the mark on a few levels when it comes to the ICON box. Most all of them have to do with the US General.

One, price. Are the ICON boxes apparently nice boxes with some pro level features and construction? Sounds like it. Are they still way too expensive for a Harbor Freight shopper? Yep.

Two. Replacement parts are now available for the US General. Kinda shooting yourself in the foot there. A big reason the fanboys poo poo’d the HF/US General box was parts availability down the road. Well, that’s been solved. You can order slides and casters among other things should they wear out.

Three. Box depth. Thanks to Waterloo, imported boxes had to be made deeper, like pro boxes. They went from 18” to 22” depth at least making them in the ballpark of pro boxes. Be careful what you wish for. Idiots

Four. US General box colors. That Snap-on lime green, or MAC yellow is now available (among other colors) for a fraction of the price of either the truck boxes or the ICON.

In summary, you’ve got a much cheaper box, in your own store that has a proven record of durability and now has replacement parts, color choices and deep enough for pros. Gee, I wonder why the ICON’s aren’t flying off the shelves?

All that said, they’ll sell some of them from financing alone.

Time to give the us general boxes a substantial price increase.........

 

[SeisMec]

Time to give the us general boxes a substantial price increase.........

Which would make them non-competitive with Husky & etc.

 

[EZ_Garage]

I went back to the store today and sure enough the Icon tool box display is now on the sales floor. I was surprised on how much real estate it takes up.

IMO the Icon boxes are really well built. They are significantly better than the US General boxes. With all that being said, there is no way that I could justify spending that kind of dough on a box when the US General more than meet my needs. I was actually happy to be able to put my hands on one to see what all the hoopla was about.

 

[bobemmerich]

I looked at the HF boxes (Icon and USG) and they seem like decent boxes. For the $$, USG is a good value, Icon, I believe, is a bit pricey. For that kinda dough, I'll buy 2 Kennedy 315's or 3 297's.
Just my .02

 

[zendriver]

Just wait till they roll out that 36 month 0% financing

Even though "happy days are here again" perhaps all that glitters is not gold.

Americans' credit spending was greater than ever in 2018, as debt levels reached record totals. Overall consumer debt reached $13.3 trillion in the last quarter of 2018, while the total amount of unused revolving limits hit $4.1 trillion. Record-setting numbers, based on Experian data from the fourth quarter of 2018, spanned several credit categories:

https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/research/consumer-debt-study/

Not too hard to believe, HF shoppers might be able cough up $800 for USG box, but an Icon at four grand could be a cash no-go.

"EZ credit" might just be the ticket.

Seems to work for everything else, at least for now.

https://www.harborfreight.com/credit

 

[Steve_P]

Icon boxes are half or less of comparative SO box list price. Great, Icon beats SO. But everyone beats SO on price for a comparative item; and have for a century; and yet SO still exists. Icon is 4X+ what a comparable HF USG box costs. USG beats icon! I'm surprised they don't mention that in the Icon ads. Or USG.

I own some HF tools and a little bit of SO, so I'm neutral. But if they want to sell Icon they're gonna need to lower prices.

 

[Steve_P]

This site has 26,000 active members who are here to discuss tools and other garage related items, and after a few months of Icon boxes being available we've yet to have a single member post about actually purchasing one. If that isn't proof enough that they've missed their mark, I don't know what else is?

This. Hundreds of posts on US General and Snap On boxes, but not so much on Icon boxes.

 

[David0858]

Just wait till they roll out that 36 month 0% financing

Harbor Freight Launches 0% Credit Card

 

[ChrisLS8]

Makes one wonder exactly how many new, dealer-sold Snap-on boxes are purchased without utilizing Snap-on's financing.

Very few. At the Ford dealer I was at every single box was financed except mine cause I was the only one with a USG 56". Before that I had a SO but I had some issues and sold it back to the driver after about 7 months at a hit

 

[zendriver]

Harbor Freight Launches 0% Credit Card

Doing financing is actually quite genius.

One of the biggest (and most constant) gripes against HF here, is they no longer just sell "cheap stuff". A $400 miter saw (now $349), simply boggled the mind.

No problem, just put it on the card. Worry about repayment and interest rates later.

HF joins the big league.