I stopped by the local Lowes yesterday to pick up a few things, and was surprised to see massive quantities of unsold holiday-special tools. At the front of the store were Kobalt Double Drive screwdriver set, Double Drive ratchet, and Magnum Grip pliers displays, full with merchandise.
In past years, new holiday-timed Kobalt hand tools always sold out quickly in stores. This year the new Double Drive screwdriver set and ratchet seem to have sold well, but there were still many left on shelves. There were so many more Magnum Grip pliers that I took a quick photo to share.
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Surprisingly, the products are also still available for purchase at Lowes.com. To help clear stock in-store and online, Lowes dropped the price of the Magnum Grip set to $15.
New Sale Price via Lowes
Maybe the Magnum Grip pliers and other new Kobalt tools sold phenomenally well during the holiday season. it could be that the display was cleared out and replenished, but this seems unlikely. The couple of times I stopped by my local Lowes in the past two months, the display always looked full.
It looks like there are 9 units per row and 18 rows in the display, meaning that as of yesterday there are still more than 150 units of these pliers sets at my local Lowes.
You might be tempted by the Magnum Grip pliers’ new $15 price. But honestly, Husky’s self-adjusting pliers (which I reviewed here) and Vise Grip’s GrooveLock pliers (reviewed here) are simply better products.
I previewed the Magnum Grip pliers back in October but haven’t used them enough since then to be able to write a review. When great testing opportunities arose, I always reached for other pliers. The same goes for the Double Drive ratchet, but the new screwdriver set came in handy a few times.
In 2010 the main holiday focus was on the Multi-Drive wrench. In 2011, the must-have was the original Double Drive screwdriver. This year there were 3 Kobalt products sharing the limelight (and advertising budget). That – coupled with how these pliers really aren’t that special (sorry, but it’s the truth) – is why there are so many unsold Magnum Grip pliers sets in-store and online.
Jay
Tnx for the honesty… A good price doesnt always mean a good buy…
Frank
At my store we received a pallet of these things on Dec. 23
Stuart
Thanks for the info! Maybe there was stock left over from online and phone sales so they pushed it to retail stores to move them quicker at a sale price?
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My neighbor gave me two pairs of these for Christmas, but I haven’t had a chance to really try ’em out yet. I’m not surprised these aren’t anything special, and I’m usually a little skeptical of Kobalt brand in general.
Stuart
I feel that, as a brand in general, Kobalt has a good balance of strengths and weaknesses. But these pliers are definitely not a strength.
Curt
These are total junk. I love my kobalt sockets and open/box wrenches, but I bought these and stripped the teeth off of them the first nut I used them on. They are several layers of steel, not a solid piece. The teeth are mush.
David
What more could you expect from a Chinese Lowes’ brand? Lowes sucks and so do all their tools.
Dick Isenberg
I was watching tv and just about missed an ad for kobalt vice grips 9′ and 6′ set I have looked on line but can’t find this item. send info
David
At $15, that’s still $15 too much to pay for this space-wasting unreliable junk.