anndel
Well-known member
I have their 10" and 7" curved jaws with wire cutters and been waiting for a long nose version. I guess if they are shutting down and shuddering the plant next month I'll pick up some Tektons.
Malco Eagle Grip pliers
- Thread starter Kscardsfan
- Start date
i think the biggest failure was not being available. i have never seen a pair available anywere. my idea was to support a local business that sold them. not in ace, hardware hank, menards, home depot, lowes, acme.........nothing.
i am especially disappointed with acme, they carry malco tools in house.
could irwin be saying if you carry the eagle grips you don't get out stuff?
i am especially disappointed with acme, they carry malco tools in house.
could irwin be saying if you carry the eagle grips you don't get out stuff?
2ndGearRubber
Well-known member
Hopefully snap-on keeps a stash around or produces a similar product. Otherwise my math of buying their rebrand for warranty purposes will fall apart.
They're awesome pliers regardless. They just work.
They're awesome pliers regardless. They just work.
scooby074
Well-known member
I could see SO buying them. I think their big issue was going "super premium". All that finishing had to add considerably.
Launching a rough finished model to compete with the Original VG mass market, maybe for a slight premium, and doing the full polish models for the tool trucks would have made sense to me.
The few people who saw them in stores, next to "GENUINE" branded Vise Grips couldnt justify paying a premium for a no-name (in their eyes) brand when the actual VG brand was so much cheaper. Most people who arent professional dont know who Malco actually is. Of course they actually have to get the product into stores! I didnt see a single pair even in trade focused wholesalers who sell other Malco products .
The design and production work is done, its just a question of who sees the value in the company to walk in and pick up the pieces.
Launching a rough finished model to compete with the Original VG mass market, maybe for a slight premium, and doing the full polish models for the tool trucks would have made sense to me.
The few people who saw them in stores, next to "GENUINE" branded Vise Grips couldnt justify paying a premium for a no-name (in their eyes) brand when the actual VG brand was so much cheaper. Most people who arent professional dont know who Malco actually is. Of course they actually have to get the product into stores! I didnt see a single pair even in trade focused wholesalers who sell other Malco products .
The design and production work is done, its just a question of who sees the value in the company to walk in and pick up the pieces.
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I've relieved full refunds from my old dealer for a product they no longer carried.
dnschmidt
Well-known member
Doomed from the start. Vice grips are by nature dirty tools used for dirty purposes. Welding, working on old rusty **** etc. They built, sold and priced them as museum pieces of art. I predicted this failure (I believe Fedwrench did as well) at their introduction. A blind man could have seen this coming. $20 yes, $50 NO.
I was going to wait a bit and eventually buy some when they hopefully got a bit cheaper. Seems that won't happen except it sounds like they might still make a cheaper version. I am used to vise-grips so any of the others with the release the other way is unusual for me.
Buckgnarly
Well-known member
Damn, x2. For thr money, they were worth it for sway bar and other brutal holding while impacting rusty ****. They are VERY nice, might actually just grab another set for future use.
Gripon sell for a lot more than 20 bucks a piece no issues, to me biggest issue was not expanding range or being innovative, marketing/social media was non excitant and if they can't sell enough why haven't they made effort get them to europe market & revise pricing a bit .
Piss poor business effort that just another axe strike to the usa locking grips coffin :-( I think a bunch of school kids could of come up with better product manufacture/business plan) .
You got feel for the factory workers at Nebraska dealing with this mess again ...
FSUwelder1212
Well-known member
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- Jul 9, 2013
- Messages
- 149
I'm wondering if Channellock would be interested in acquiring them, it seems to fit their core competency and they have experience manufacturing highly functional tools in the US and have the broad distribution network to get them out there. I would also think with their expertise they could look at the manufacturing and design to retain the functionality while bringing the price down to something more palatable.
tool_scrounge
Well-known member
What store is that in Annadale? Thanks
neophyte
Well-known member
Most places were selling the Eagle Grip pliers for more than $50.
The main issue was that German made locking pliers could be purchased for less than $30 per pair, and sometimes $20 per pair.
Asian Import pliers made to a high quality and out of decent steel can be purchased for $15 or less, with no name brands going for under $10.
Vise-Grip branded locking pliers can also be had for less than $15 for modt styles, and have done very well recently in quality tests.
The other main issues were;
Malco kept the Peterson release lever design, which doesn’t work well one handed, and which can wack your fingertips badly if you open the handles wrong, which makes the release hated by a lot of people.
Also;
Malco only made several types of the locking pliers.
Curved and straight jaw versions of the standard locking plier design, in 10” and 7” versions, and two styles of locking C-clamp.
For what the pliers cost, they would really need to have made a bunch of the weirder jaw styles that usually sell for a premium.
Facom has the weird locking pliers that can be opened very wide, and those are made in France, and have a similar price give or take.
German tool manufacturers have multiple styles with parallel or pivoting jaws.
There was no chain version for gripping large pipe.
Etc.
Harry Epsteins has them, and is a local store to somebody. Just order enough to make the shipping worth it.
American Locomotive
Well-known member
I'm disappointed that they're giving up after basically just a year in production. The Eagle Grips were hands down the best pair of locking pliers I've ever used. While I admit the price was a bit high, I think they were worth it.
I really don't think people mind premium tool prices - as companies like Knipex have shown. Grip-On manages to sell $40 locking pliers without much issue - manufactured in Europe. I think Malco missed the mark on marketing - all of the Tool YouTubers probably should have gotten a demonstration set. I saw some traditional print magazines review them - but not too many YouTubers.
It also begs the question as to why they're $55, is that really as cheap as they could make them?
I really don't think people mind premium tool prices - as companies like Knipex have shown. Grip-On manages to sell $40 locking pliers without much issue - manufactured in Europe. I think Malco missed the mark on marketing - all of the Tool YouTubers probably should have gotten a demonstration set. I saw some traditional print magazines review them - but not too many YouTubers.
It also begs the question as to why they're $55, is that really as cheap as they could make them?
SheetMetalGod
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- Aug 17, 2022
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Bubba Fett
Well-known member
I know they were very well made, but I'm not sure Vise Grip pliers need so much chrome. In fact that might be a detriment, since chrome is slippery with oily hands, and you need to be able to grip them well enough to lock them.
Plus this type of plier us usually used with welding, plumbing, and other work that tends to be hard on them. No matter how good they are, spalling can damage them, and they are honestly glorified clamps. Locking pliers are somewhat disposable in many applications.
I really applauded Malco's efforts, but no brick and mortar store had them. Even stores that carry Malco products didn't have them. And the only places that do have them want over $50, which is a very high price for this type of tool. That's very hard to justify when the Bremen pliers at HF (which are quite good, and made in Taiwan) are less than $10. Hell, even the Irwin's are decent now, even though they are still made in China. They are better than when Rubbermaid owned Irwin, at least.
I'm sure the pandemic and supply chain issues didn't help things either. I do hope SBD (or someone) can buy the factory and make them again, maybe with less chrome and more variants, but it's a long shot.
Plus this type of plier us usually used with welding, plumbing, and other work that tends to be hard on them. No matter how good they are, spalling can damage them, and they are honestly glorified clamps. Locking pliers are somewhat disposable in many applications.
I really applauded Malco's efforts, but no brick and mortar store had them. Even stores that carry Malco products didn't have them. And the only places that do have them want over $50, which is a very high price for this type of tool. That's very hard to justify when the Bremen pliers at HF (which are quite good, and made in Taiwan) are less than $10. Hell, even the Irwin's are decent now, even though they are still made in China. They are better than when Rubbermaid owned Irwin, at least.
I'm sure the pandemic and supply chain issues didn't help things either. I do hope SBD (or someone) can buy the factory and make them again, maybe with less chrome and more variants, but it's a long shot.
SheetMetalGod
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Mr. B nailed. Piss poor business plan. Malco has no marketing group. They rely on the Malco name and gear toward the professional. That is fine for their HVAC type tools. Nobody knows the EagleGrip name. If you want to sell professional tools then keep the Malco name on those. The market cap I think would be in the $25 range for the do it yourself user. Build a less expensive version for that group. Just looking at the current tool I can see a lot of changes they could make and still have the best/strongest pliers in the world; plating, pinned jaw, etc. Talking to a couple employees there they said everything was ran thru Annandale, MN by their engineers. They do not manufacture anything there. They assemble parts somebody else made. They do not know how manufacturing works. Annandale didn't want to listen to the engineers, tool/die folks in Dewitt who I was told between the supervisors, tool/die have close to 200 years of experience building these tools. Employees said at times they were throwing more tools away than they were keeping. I don't know. Just too bad. For all of you that think these other brands (insert name here) are quality tools havent busted your knuckles when you rip the teeth off them. There is nothing that even comes close to the superior quality of an EagleGrip. Yes, I am bias because I have many friends who work at EagleGrip and worked for Petersen when they were building ViseGrips. I happily paid $50/tool for the 2 I have. However, I do understand they are not for everyone. I hope somebody can buy EagleGrip who knows what they are doing and can streamline the company to make it a go. Thank you to everyone for your opinions and comments. I am trying to bring attention to a fabulous American made product.
milkovich
Well-known member
We carry both brands and were never told anything like that. Truth be told, SBD isn't smart enough to try games like that. They're too busy losing money at Home Depot to care about any other distributor on the planet. The issue with the Eagle Grips was that they were just too expensive. Many people (on this forum especially) proudly pay a premium for US made heirloom quality products but the general consumer is brutally objective about value and the price point was maybe $15-20 too high in my opinion.
SheetMetalGod
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- Aug 17, 2022
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- 14
Sounds like the same old, same old. Malco got the info they needed out of the reboot. Listening to the dusty old manufacturing/ machinist dudes probably gets tiring when all they got is the way they did it 40 years ago and refuse to listen or adapt to new ideas. Malco can probably contract out the different parts now and assembly themselves and still make money at half the cost.
SheetMetalGod
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SheetMetalGod
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- Aug 17, 2022
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Wolley, that makes absolutely no sense.
If you can, try the Tektons out before buying them. I bought their locking plier set and was quite disappointed. They have so much side to side flex in them that they seem to be worthless for most tasks. I plan on setting them out in my next yard sale. I was a Tekton fan before this. I haven't bought anything from them since.
jsmeece
Well-known member
I have been quite happy with my black Proto locking pliers made in Spain and the few HF Quinn models I have. I have several of the Tekton version but they are like 10 years old some of them may have "MIT" stamped on them that is how old they are. The Tekton versions, at lease the ones I have, are on par with some early Irwin versions, good for home use but that is about it. I do have a few later model Irwin versions and they did get better over time. Nothing comes close for the money than the black Proto locking pliers I have and they can be purchased for under $20 a piece.
SilverDeck
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 7, 2016
- Messages
- 481
Malco released an official statement on the Eagle Grip website today regarding the the status of the product:
Malco Eagle Grip FAQs
The earlier reports have proven to be true.
Malco Eagle Grip FAQs
The earlier reports have proven to be true.
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neophyte
Well-known member
Stanley Black & Decker by revenue is maybe 10%-12% of the global tool market.
The power tool division of S B&D is maybe the third largest power tool supplier in the world.
The largest is supposedly Bosch, which acquired a large chunk of their power tool line after purchasing Stanley’s original power tool division several decades ago.
I’m not sure why Stanley sold Bosch their power tool division, but it may have been to solidify their position in the hand tool market, which they have done fairly well.
Bosch is also a much larger company than S B& D in terms of revenue, because of all the other industries Bosch is involved in.
milkovich
Well-known member
No one is sure why Stanley does anything it does. Originally, the brand "Husky" was an SBD brand, then it became a HD exclusive, then SBD gave it lock stock to HD, now it looks to be mostly made by Apex. I was just speaking to locking pliers where I suspect that Irwin/Vice-Grip is the category leader. They never reached out to say "If you carry Malco, you can't carry VG" That kind of focus on distribution isn't in their repertoire. They barely answer the phone for Lowes, let alone any other distributors.
i think it comes down to cost. tool polishers and people who buy US made will pay the price, your average consumer doesnt care and feels that they are likely to expensive. Reality is they were to expensive for what they are, 50 bucks a set - I get it that was allowing them profit b/c they are a small company. but when vise grips at home depot and milwaukee vise grips are half of that, how do you compete?
Bubba Fett
Well-known member
I've heard several theories about SBD being mad abut Malco and saying this is why they are no longer supplying Snap-On with Irwin taps and dies. But I've seen absolutely zero evidence to support that, and it's clear that Irwin is having a hard time getting tap and die sets out even under their own brand.
I also agree that even though us GJ members get the value of the tool, we make up a very miniscule number of the general public, which would see that price as extremely high, assuming they can even get it in the first place.
Like others have said, doomed from the start, based on the price alone. These are the best locking pliers based on the PF testing, but that doesn't really matter when you cost 5X as much as the competition - and need to sell more than a few hundred a day off the SO trucks to stay in business. People talked about lack of marketing, etc, but that wouldn't matter- the price point alone killed this. Almost no, or no, large store chain would stock them because they'd never sell them when they're next to a $12 Vise Grip brand; more Malcos would be stolen than sold.
And as said, there was no reason to make this a mirror polished piece of art- that plating just peels off under stress. They should've just made it like almost every other locking plier with a thin nickel and chrome plating; like the original Vise Grips. I get that they were trying for premium, but Knipex makes premium pliers, and most aren't plated; and they're sold at a sensible price, with essentially no marketing in the US, and they sell.
And as said, there was no reason to make this a mirror polished piece of art- that plating just peels off under stress. They should've just made it like almost every other locking plier with a thin nickel and chrome plating; like the original Vise Grips. I get that they were trying for premium, but Knipex makes premium pliers, and most aren't plated; and they're sold at a sensible price, with essentially no marketing in the US, and they sell.
metaldad
Well-known member
dammit
larry4406
Well-known member
They looked very nice. Sad.
How many GJ guys actually ran out and ordered some? How many did you buy?
I didn’t buy any.
My stock of existing Petersens/ Irwin’s will last me well after death.
How many GJ guys actually ran out and ordered some? How many did you buy?
I didn’t buy any.
My stock of existing Petersens/ Irwin’s will last me well after death.
General Geoff
Well-known member
I bought two locking pliers and two locking clamps. Sad to see them go.
I bought 1, probably will buy a few more now they're closing down. Gotta turn into a hoarder I guess
dutchgray
Well-known member
I own a couple pairs of the Facom locking pliers, never seen another pair anywhere in real lifr, not in use, at a boot sale, ruined in the scrap pile, seen a ton of cheap imports and loads of Vice grips, mole grips etc. They are also too expensive for the vast majority of locking plier users.
jeffmoss26
Well-known member
ughhh
Snapped-off
Well-known member
4 total, 2 from the snappy truck, 2 from Epsteins. Gave 1 set away for GJSS last year
