Kobalt hand tools

[powertrip]

my store looked Red before, so this is actually new. Anyway, SBD needed floor space for craftsman to mimic sears in a way. Lowes should become the main Craftsman hub, it's in their interest to do it.

I disagree. Not with the quality and prices of the "new" craftsman. Prices are higher than Kobalt for comparable items. The Kobalt 16 pc. metric 1/2 deep impact socket set is $59 made in Taiwan. The Craftsman 12 pc. 1/2 deep metric set is $69 and made in China. Since a lot of the Kobalt tools are out of the stores its hard to do a comparison but you can be sure the Craftsman equivalent is more expensive not any better in quality.

 

[Andres26tnt]

I disagree. Not with the quality and prices of the "new" craftsman. Prices are higher than Kobalt for comparable items. The Kobalt 16 pc. metric 1/2 deep impact socket set is $59 made in Taiwan. The Craftsman 12 pc. 1/2 deep metric set is $69 and made in China. Since a lot of the Kobalt tools are out of the stores its hard to do a comparison but you can be sure the Craftsman equivalent is more expensive not any better in quality.

Brand recognition, Craftsman will always have higher prices no matter what COO is stamped on the tool. I would say the Quality of Craftsman is about the same with Kobalt/husky including the older sears USA made tools. I own quite a few US made Craftsman and without a doubt, the quality is the same for the new China/Taiwan tools they make. Regardless of COO or price, craftsman has more reach than Kobalt in the market.

 

[javyLSU]

Out of curiosity I decided to stop at another Lowe’s store on my way home from work today, and it looks like I arrived smack-dab in the middle of the the Craftsman roll out. For those of you that haven’t gotten the full roll out yet, this is what’s on its way to you:

 

[catron44]

Out of curiosity I decided to stop at another Lowe’s store on my way home from work today, and it looks like I arrived smack-dab in the middle of the the Craftsman roll out. For those of you that haven’t gotten the full roll out yet, this is what’s on its way to you:

not to hijack the thread, but which location is this? I work in Norwalk and live not far from the Derby Lowes.

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[Brownsfan]

Most ive been to that have made the switch still are not fully stocked. None have had flex head ratchets or many other things. They are selling the 36t crappy Craftsman base 1/4" dr ratchet for $20. The Kobalt 90t ratchet was also selling at $20 before it was dropped. The Kobalt is a far superior ratchet in every way for the same price. Unless these prices come down to realistic levels they wont be selling much. Too many options out there now. Seems they are relying on the Craftsman name to sell these tools. I don't think the name means as much as they think. Especially when you can go the Home depot or Harbor Freight and buy a better or equivalent for less.

 

[Jtels85]

I’ve said it before, it’s too little and too late. I didn’t expect the tools to be made in the USA immediately, however I am disappointed with the majority of offerings. It’s either rebranded Apex sourced Craftsman or cheap, Stanley knock off’s. The ratchets aren’t serviceable. The gunmetal is “gimmicky”, IMO. The sets skips sizes. I don’t care if a 9mm and 11mm are barely used, if you skip them, I’m not buying the set. I’m OCD like that.

The new owners of Craftsman didn’t listen to their loyal consumer base and it shows. I wish them all the best, but Lowe’s and Stanley B&D won’t be getting any of my money.

Lastly, I sincerely hope they pick a better spokesperson than **** Rawlings. That guy is a douche. They should’ve brought back Bob Villa or even someone who has a show on HGTV. Seeing anything endorsed by Foose or Gas Monkey is an immediate turn off.

 

[Jtels85]

Oh, and I forgot one more thing, the new Craftsman ratcheting wrenches sold at Lowe’s are Apex sourced Sears/Craftsman ratcheting wrenches with the giant, goofy lobster claw open ends.

I bet the guys at Gas Monkey use them all day building those fancy cars!

That was probably the second biggest complaint people made other than the tools being made in China and they couldn’t even fix that.

If you don’t give a **** about what we want, I don’t give a **** to support your brand.

 

[AceofSpad3s]

I’ve said it before, it’s too little and too late. I didn’t expect the tools to be made in the USA immediately, however I am disappointed with the majority of offerings. It’s either rebranded Apex sourced Craftsman or cheap, Stanley knock off’s. The ratchets aren’t serviceable. The gunmetal is “gimmicky”, IMO. The sets skips sizes. I don’t care if a 9mm and 11mm are barely used, if you skip them, I’m not buying the set. I’m OCD like that.

The new owners of Craftsman didn’t listen to their loyal consumer base and it shows. I wish them all the best, but Lowe’s and Stanley B&D won’t be getting any of my money.

Lastly, I sincerely hope they pick a better spokesperson than **** Rawlings. That guy is a douche. They should’ve brought back Bob Villa or even someone who has a show on HGTV. Seeing anything endorsed by Foose or Gas Monkey is an immediate turn off.

They aren't marketing to people here, I would bet the average person probably still thought it was made here, and if they didn't and somehow heard Stanley said they are going to make stuff here again, they probably assume the stuff at the store is US made now too.
I really don't understand what all this fuss is about, I highly doubt the majority of people here is really in desperate need of more tools from consumer brands. Only good things they had was the rebrands of the hammers from Vaughn, mayhew prybars, some consumables and a few other small things. The screwdrivers were garbage, sockets were meh, ratchets especially have been awful mediocre (baring the tool truck priced premiums) for decades. If I did need something cheap I'd just save more than half the price and visit HF and buy something branded pro Taiwanese that's probably better quality. Average joe consumer doesn't care besides cost.
Craftsman only worked because there was dozens of other companies to re brand things from being produced here.

 

[Handyandy23]

I think Craftsman name actually has more average Joe draw than people realize. I went to Lowe's a couple weeks back with a buddy from work who is probably the epitome of "average Joe dad". Around 40, has enough tools to fix up stuff around the house on the weekend, but nowhere hear as fanatical about his tools as anyone on here.

He went to Lowe's to get a DeWalt drill and driver combo that was on sale. We get there and they have a Craftsman cordless drill and driver combo that's the same price (reg price) as the DeWalt cordless set on sale. He says "oh hey look, craftsman!" and I actually had to convince him not to buy it over the DW. Couldn't believe it.

COO or who the parent company is were not even thoughts that crossed his mind. Just Craftsman is a name that resonated.

I'm also surprised at the pricing on the Craftsman hand tools in the US. In Canada at Lowe's the CM hand tools are cheaper than the Kobalt equivalents they are replacing. Still look like junk to me, but at least priced accordingly here.

 

[The Fall]

What a complete and utter lackluster revamp. I'll stick with SK. Had they gotten hand tool production back in the USA -- wrenches and sockets -- it would've been a whole different story. Just that alone -- outsource a lot of the rest. There's nothing more lackluster than imported tools used daily. The best CMan tools remain the old stock found at ACE -- the USA stuff, not the China junk (I found a 7/16" combo wrench last weekend that I dubbed "Boomerang" when I showed a friend -- damn thing was bowed like a wet board."

 

[powertrip]

Brand recognition, Craftsman will always have higher prices no matter what COO is stamped on the tool. I would say the Quality of Craftsman is about the same with Kobalt/husky including the older sears USA made tools. I own quite a few US made Craftsman and without a doubt, the quality is the same for the new China/Taiwan tools they make. Regardless of COO or price, craftsman has more reach than Kobalt in the market.

Brand recognition I certainly agree with. That was part of my point. The fact that Stanley is probably not going to start making Craftsman hand tools in the USA is preciously because of brand recognition. They don't need to release USA made tools like was stated by them when this whole acquisition of Craftsman started. They will continue to release Asian made tools at higher prices than the USA equivalents that were in the Sears stores years ago. They have no plans to sell USA made hand tools. At this point its all brand recognition. The China made stuff that is in Lowes right now will not be replaced down the road with USA stuff. We were all fooled. Most new consumers only look at price and not so much brand. They will see the Craftsman being pretty expensive for what it is and put it back on the shelf. The seasoned tool buyer like most people on GJ will remember the USA made stuff and the promises made by Stanley, look at the label, look at the price and put it back on the shelf. Lowes will sell some Craftsman but I don't see it being game changing. Actually I think after the whole newness wears off, Lowes tools sales will go down instead of up. Money talks and Craftsman is more expensive for the same items that were offered from Kobalt. Young buyers starting a collection will let there wallet decide. Old buyers with a pretty extensive collection probably won't touch the stuff.
Disclaimer: 80% of what I own is USA Craftsman.

 

[Handyandy23]

What a complete and utter lackluster revamp. I'll stick with SK. Had they gotten hand tool production back in the USA -- wrenches and sockets -- it would've been a whole different story. Just that alone -- outsource a lot of the rest. There's nothing more lackluster than imported tools used daily. The best CMan tools remain the old stock found at ACE -- the USA stuff, not the China junk (I found a 7/16" combo wrench last weekend that I dubbed "Boomerang" when I showed a friend -- damn thing was bowed like a wet board."

I haven't really been following this Craftsman re-brand story from the start, but I think it's a bit naive to think CMan would ever go back to USA production and trying to compete with SK or Proto, etc. There's a reason you can't walk into HD or Lowes and buy SK or Proto or US-made hand tools (for the most part), which is that at that price point they wouldn't sell enough to justify the floor space.

The tool nuts that really want SK or Proto will buy it online or from whatever sources they need to. And although that's what type of person this forum is full of, they're few and far between in real life.

The average Joe Blow walking into Lowes looking for a socket set has a low budget and COO hasn't even crossed his mind. If they carried US-made sockets at SK prices I think there would be a lot of dusty shelves in there. It's more so the fault of the consumers in wanting cheap tools than it is for the big box stores not catering to a small minority of shoppers.

 

[javyLSU]

not to hijack the thread, but which location is this? I work in Norwalk and live not far from the Derby Lowes.

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This was at the Danbury store.

 

[mcj115]

Time to use a word from the word of the day calendar.

I HOPE that SDB start some bifurcation with Craftsman, Sears did it years ago and it worked. What do I mean? Well have the standard Craftsman (imports) line offered at Lowes, then offer the standard stuff and Craftsman (imports) and the second line of Craftsman Professional (higher priced american made) tools) offered at the TrueValue/Ace stores.

I don't thing Craftsman should be all import or all domestic. They should have two lines of different quality and prices to address most folks needs. There is brand value to C'man they just need to fidn a way to maximize it.

I love my old sets of C'Man Pro wrenches sourced from SK. Lets do it again!

 

[The Fall]

I haven't really been following this Craftsman re-brand story from the start, but I think it's a bit naive to think CMan would ever go back to USA production and trying to compete with SK or Proto, etc. There's a reason you can't walk into HD or Lowes and buy SK or Proto or US-made hand tools (for the most part), which is that at that price point they wouldn't sell enough to justify the floor space.

The tool nuts that really want SK or Proto will buy it online or from whatever sources they need to. And although that's what type of person this forum is full of, they're few and far between in real life.

The average Joe Blow walking into Lowes looking for a socket set has a low budget and COO hasn't even crossed his mind. If they carried US-made sockets at SK prices I think there would be a lot of dusty shelves in there. It's more so the fault of the consumers in wanting cheap tools than it is for the big box stores not catering to a small minority of shoppers.

Unless it was an SK rebrand, CMan never competed with Proto or SK -- at least during my lifetime. Who said they would start when SBD bought them?

What I liked about CMan was the return policy on broken tools and the fact that up until two years ago there were three stores within 15 miles of my house. Now there are zero. Many hard-line tools were made in the US and satisfactory for professional use. I just had a long SK wrench spread on me. It took three weeks to get a replacement. No big deal -- I have backups and SK was great to deal with -- but several years ago, I could've WALKED to my local Sears and gotten the CMan Pro equivalent swapped the next day.

I never understood the speculation regarding American consumers. Unless you've run some focus groups and carried out quantitative market research that we're unaware of, they are whoever you want them to be. Apparently, they're all a lobotomized mass, looking for the cheapest and most unsafe tools on the market. My experience has been different: folks I'd come across knew about the precipitous decline in CMan's quality and were looking elsewhere. It's an anecdotal observation, to be certain, but contrary to what I read on here. Also, I don't know what CMan's COO deal was in Canada, but after DECADES of "MADE IN USA" and SBD hyping up American manufacturing, uh, yeah, it's been an anticlimactic revamp to say the least. Much ado about nothing; the line should've died. The market if flooded with cheap, inferior tools.

 

[Citation]

I'm just curious about something. I've seen a number of people on this site complain that SBD said they were going to move some Cman mfg back to the US. A number of people feel they have in effect lied because the current hand tools are still largely (entirely?) made outside of the US.

Two questions.
1. Did SBD actually say they were going to move the mfg of things like ratchets, wrenches and screwdrivers back to the US?

2. If yes to #1 did they say they would do it in less than a year or over a longer period of time?

First, I think people should realize that SBD has at least moved some mfg of Cman tools back to the US. They are mfg some portion of their cordless tools in the US. I don't think that was true of any of the Sears cordless tools. So if nothing else they have moved at least some stuff back to the US. Second, unless SBD had a factory in the US that could produce hand tools at the needed price points already lined up its no surprise that they would start their tenure of Cman with tools made overseas. That doesn't mean they don't intend to move yet more mfg back to the US, only that they haven't got those factories up and running yet and that will take time.

 

[powertrip]

SBD does have USA manufacturing of hand tools. Proto and Mac (although a lot of Mac is Asian made there is some still US) brands come to mind.

 

[MarvinBerry]

I think Craftsman name actually has more average Joe draw than people realize. I went to Lowe's a couple weeks back with a buddy from work who is probably the epitome of "average Joe dad". Around 40, has enough tools to fix up stuff around the house on the weekend, but nowhere hear as fanatical about his tools as anyone on here.

He went to Lowe's to get a DeWalt drill and driver combo that was on sale. We get there and they have a Craftsman cordless drill and driver combo that's the same price (reg price) as the DeWalt cordless set on sale. He says "oh hey look, craftsman!" and I actually had to convince him not to buy it over the DW. Couldn't believe it.

There's literally a million people like that.

I know & have met a fair amount of people, including grown *** home owning married men in their 30s & 40s who don't know **** about tools let alone how to execute any sort of DIY repair.

No joke few years ago I went through this whole thing with a guy who said there's a problem...funny looking screws.

They were hex bolts. Really.

Among my circle of friends I'm the only guy who has a roller stack & believe me it's nothing fancy... 26 husky & Cman combo & a blow mold socket set. Far from crazy...

More then once I've gone shopping with friends & friends of friends for tools. Like you can't borrow my **** but I'll help you put a kit together.

For people like that Cman was always a solid choice. Maybe I'm not shopping with them...go buy some craftsman. It'll be solid, better then buying no name junk and/or upgrade from whatever $20 tool kit they got when opening a checking account.

Frankly, back in the day I worked at Sears while in high school...early mid 90s & the vast majority of people who bought stuff were homeowners not pros but had plenty of them too.

I think the future of Cman is pretty safe with those kinds of people. The wife & kids who are coming in to get a set of screwdrivers or whatever as a present for dad.

Even if the hand tools are Stanley grade metal, which they are...as long as the warranty holds up & they replace on site I can't see a problem.

Fwiw - I ended up with some new sbd Cman for Christmas courtesy of momma Berry!

Asked for new tools for the box I keep in my truck, rarely used fwiw to replace missing & worn out bits. No they're not awesome but for as often as they'll get used? Good enough!

That's the target market so I sorta fail to see the problem.

 

[joe_pinehill1]

The clearance prices are not in all stores. I stopped at my local Lowe’s yesterday to get some security bits, and after seeing this I walked out with a digital torque wrench as well...


Out of curiosity I stopped at three other Lowe’s here in southern CT and none of them had the same clearance prices on these torque wrenches. I did notice however that all of them had next to nothing left of Kobalt hand tools. It’s clear they are making room for something, presumably Craftsman.

I have the digital kobalt torque wrench. I learned its good to take the batteries out when not in use. The garage environment isn't the best for todays chinese batteries.

 

[Nineeightyone]

I have the digital kobalt torque wrench. I learned its good to take the batteries out when not in use. The garage environment isn't the best for todays chinese batteries.

I've been checking the Lowe's around me because that digital torque wrench would be awesome, but sadly it seems none in PA are discounting that heavily.

Who wants to buy one and ship it to me for paypal?

 

[crrcoal]

Back in the 80's if you couldn't afford Snap On or MAC, you bought Craftsman. I've got a mixture of both from back then. The Craftsman back then were great tools. Never had an issue with them when I was wrenching at work or on my own "muscle" cars. The good ole days.

The other day I walked into Lowes and saw some of their hand tools were on sale. Bought Kobalt SAE and Metric 3/8 Allen Socket sets for 13 each and a stubby 3/8 ratchet for 9 bucks. The ratchet was an impulse buy. Seems decent. The Allen sets will hold me over until I find a nice quality set.

 

[Junkdrawer Dog]

No tool department reset at my store. Over 90% of the hand tools are still Kobalt, Irwin, Lennox and the usual suspects. No Kobalt clearance deals to be found. Most of the new Craftsman stuff is on end caps or randomly placed around the store. Largest amount of Craftsman inventory is tool storage and power tools. A few new Craftsman hand tools were on display. Soft grip ratchets in three drive sizes. Kind of a clunky design. Not near as nice as the composite jobs that HF has sold for ages at a lower price. New Craftsman linemans and diagonal cutters look suspiciously like red and black versions of the same pliers available at Walmart with Stanley or FAT MAX branding. I'm sure they'll get the job done for 99% of prospective buyers, but it looks like I could just go to Wallyworld and buy the same hand tools branded as Stanley and save some coin. Or just go to HF, lol. I didn't see a whole lot to get excited about.