Wiha Screwdriver Mystery

[Driverblues]

Hello all,

I've been loitering here for years, regularly finding answers to my tool questions, but this time something's come up that I can't find any mention of.

I today received 3 new Wiha SoftFinish screwdrivers, which look identical to my old ones from around 2010, except that these ones have 'Trojan' written in large letters on the opposite side to Wiha SoftFinish. I can find no mention of the name Trojan on Wiha's website and when I google the EAN number for one of them on the attached plastic label the only hits I get are for the TooledUp website that I bought them from. So, are they copies? Have Wiha been taken over? Am I missing something?

Thanks for any help.

 

[wyckerman]

Hello all,

I've been loitering here for years, regularly finding answers to my tool questions, but this time something's come up that I can't find any mention of.

I today received 3 new Wiha SoftFinish screwdrivers, which look identical to my old ones from around 2010, except that these ones have 'Trojan' written in large letters on the opposite side to Wiha SoftFinish. I can find no mention of the name Trojan on Wiha's website and when I google the EAN number for one of them on the attached plastic label the only hits I get are for the TooledUp website that I bought them from. So, are they copies? Have Wiha been taken over? Am I missing something?

Thanks for any help.

Where abouts are you located? In Australia, "Trojan" is the house brand of Bunnings. I believe they are owned by ITW-Proline, but I am not 100% certain. Funny thing is that Bunnings also carry Wiha. The 2 Wiha drivers I have purchased there do not have Trojan written on the other side to the Wiha Soft Finish, just a barcode.

 

[Driverblues]

Hi Wyckerman,

I'm in the UK and bought them here

 

[wyckerman]

Interesting. Is there any chance you could post a photo of the screwdrivers and the logos? Does the Trojan name have the same font as in the screenshot attached to my previous post?

 

[Driverblues]

Not sure what I'm doing here, but hopefully it's worked!

 

[gdocktor3]

I could only assume it's just like Mac putting their name on Knipex pliers, Craftsman on Cobra pliers, Matco on everything, etc etc

 

[dutchgray]

Bunnings has just come to the UK, they bought out one of our DIY store chains.

 

[wyckerman]

Huh, those are definitely different to what I have purchased from Bunnings, and the Trojan logo is different too. They look like genuine Wihas though, it just looks like someone else has added their name to them.

 

[wyckerman]

Bunnings has just come to the UK, they bought out one of our DIY store chains.

Does Homebase have any connection to ToolUp? This looks like a straight up rebrand, like gdoc3 mentioned.

 

[Driverblues]

I've just had a google and can't link TooledUp to either Homebase, Bunnings or 'Trojan'. Curiouser and curiouser ...

 

[Jimmcd]

I've a couple of these too marked 'Trojan', the Wiha markings are also on them and I don't think they are counterfeit

 

[Driverblues]

Well, it's mystery solved(ish). I phoned up Wiha and a very nice lady said that a big wholesaler ordered a raft with Trojan on hoping to promote their business, but it was a little while ago and they haven't repeated it. So, they're genuine. Question is, should TooledUp mention it in the description? I know shouldn't really matter, but I rather begrudge having Trojan on my drivers where it should say Wiha

 

[fatfillup]

Here we use Trojan for prevention of STD's and pregnancy

 

[truckdriver]

Trojans are very important when you screw!