I can only comment on what I own but overall I'm very pleased. I dig the storage rack that the combination wrenches come in. Being able to discern all the wrenches quickly and not having them ******* in a roll or taking up the space that the Ernst grippers do is nice. The finish on the wrenches is very good, especially if you like bright chrome. I haven't had any flaking, bubbling, peeling, or miscellaneous grind marks/asymmetrical finishing. The open ends are indeed plain but that's why I own them. I've really started to dislike how my Wright sets mar the living **** out of the cheap and/or more malleable metal fasteners at work and at the house. The fit is much better than my other Craftsman sets. In fact, my V Series open ends fit as well as my Stahlwille open ends (not scientifically proven, just going on experience and play from use at work). I'm not saying they are comparable overall, just that the broaching on these particular wrenches are really good and consistent. No premature wear or slipping or opening up either on the open ends. The box end broaching on all is centered and clean. The I-beam does make them ergonomically friendly and they don't dig into my hands when I'm cranking on them. They are definitely shorter, however. The smaller sizes like the 1/4, 5/16, and 7/8mm are like midget wrenches. They have the same offset as the Facom and Mac wrenches so it took me a bit to get used to it. The sizes for the regular combo wrenches do skip, but not that many. I think the 9mm isn't in the metric set and I think the SAE set is pretty much complete. I personally like them a lot and believe they are a good buy if you aren't a huge wrench turner or if you want a decent convenient set. Another plus is that the regular V Series combo wrenches go on sale with Craftsman's regular promos. Most of their V Series line doesn't seem to go on sale often, if at all.
The French-made screwdrivers are pretty nice. The grip is kind of like this weird pseudo-rubber. It's shaped and feels like a Wiha driver on Weight Watchers. So the neck is thinner and the bulbous backend doesn't quite fit my palm as well due to the smaller profile. But they aren't uncomfortable and turn really nice in your palm. They do have hex bolsters on them which is awesome. The blades are holding up well. I don't think they are any better than my German-made screwdrivers and they are leaps ahead of my older US Craftsman drivers. I don't know if I would personally recommend a full set due to their costs and that they are very, very rarely on sale. You can get a much larger Wiha set for about $15 more and they sometimes have deals or coupons available to negate that price difference.
The biggest downsides for the V Series line are that it is limited in offerings, has a very light store presence, and many of the items are non-competitively priced against better-known brands. I think only one ACE hardware in my whole metro area has the V Series on their shelves and Lowes only has the items online (though they are having a bit of a sale for the line-up which is nice). Personally, I like their regular combination wrenches. I've been thinking about ordering a set of ratcheting wrenches even with the skipped sizes but not being able to feel the ratcheting action is kinda keeping me from pulling the trigger. I cannot comment on the sockets or ratchets but I've noticed the former has had many positive reviews while the latter seems to have a negative reputation. I don't believe Craftsman did as poorly with the launch as many on here do, but I also feel like the V Series is kinda orphaned much like the gunmetal chrome stuff.
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