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The Closing of Malco's Eagle Grip Locking Pliers
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- Опубликовано: 13 ноя 2022
- My dad and I discuss the closing of the US made eagle grip locking pliers, the problem with the new online distribution network and an update on the new liquidation deal.
My father-in-law worked for this company for over 40 years. He gave me one of these pliers and I was astounded by the feel and quality of it. I have many similar products but none of them had the grip or feel of this one. He is currently on the board of directors after retiring. He also told me the story of how they wanted to build the best locking plier in the marketplace. I'm going to have to get the larger plier now.
Always enjoy your videos. Sad with Malco's eagle grips going away.
I really enjoy these videos.
Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to make these videos and share your thoughts on the tool world.
They may be pricey, but I see it as owning the finest locking pliers I've ever handled or had the opportunity to purchase. #eaglegrip
this was a great video... we need more usa made tools
It's such a shame they are shutting down. I'm so glad I found out and was able to pick up two from you last week. I had a cheap set of Kobalt locking pliers and I don't even think they lasted a year before the locking mechanism on all three stopped working, and I hardly ever used them.
First off, love the content! Please keep it coming! (Podcast would be awesome too!)
Second, I would 100% be in support of channel lock filling the void of good, USA made, locking pliers!
Glad you guys are selling what's left of these. I wish I could have come to town to buy in person, but I live near Baltimore, so I'm looking forward to receiving the order I placed.
Someday I want to open your guys' east coast branch out here in Maryland. 😉
When one cable for our garage door failed and the door was resting at an angle, the garage tech brought out a bucket of vise grips and used six per side to straighten the door. There are other trades that use a lot of vise grips to position items like welders. There is no economic way to afford the Eagle Grip vise grips for the average trade.
BTW, I own a complete set of Eagle Grips and they are wonderful vise grips but I can’t afford a bucket of them.
Thanks for the video.
It apparently was a sudden decision. I had just talked with a guy in their R&D department about a needle nose locking version. He sent me a survey and asked if he could call back and use me for further info to help develop the product. He said they had been working on them but needed to see there was a demand. Not even a month later the announcement came out they were closing.
Sad indeed. They are the nicest locking pliers ever made. Nicer than the originals.
Sad! Glad I got a couple pairs
Me too I bought 2 of them earlier this year
I bought a pair and they are great. Well made and look good. It's one of those things we're they could have marketed it better sold them a little cheaper. I hopeful that channellock buys them...
I've got one of each variety they manufacture. They're by far the best locking pliers I've ever owned, even better than the original vise-grip IMHO. I think this is where marketing failures killed the product.
I have 2 of them they are the best vise grips ever made
Premium prices can be had in a limited market. Malco jumped into a market flooded with useable, reasonably priced pliers and offered something that was unnecessarily better. Stanley ruined the Made in America reputation for everyone.
Hands down the best locking pliers out there.. buy them all up now snapon bought the tooling so you are going to pay dbl the price if you want a set of best locking pliers that will ever be built
I don't recall what they were price wise when they were released, but when I just looked them up again and my gut felt the same way I felt years ago, so I imagine they were about in the same ball bark.
Locking pliers are just about the most disposable ones aside from cutting pliers, so I can understand the market hesitation to spend $50+ on them.
Best case usage scenario for locking pliers for me is squeezing for the life of God on a stripped road salt corroded bolt head while making guttural noises hoping I don't wipe out the teeth once I get it to lock and start torquing on it. The cheap ones deform first try doing that, the Dewitt Peterson's are my favorite, but still they wear. I imagine if you're doing anything like that on a daily basis then those or the Malco's wouldn't last a very long time (relative to other tools like ratchets).
Physiologically for me it's that locking pliers are a wear item, if they charged these prices or a little higher and had replaceable inserts for the teeth, I'd be on board, but for the same reason I wouldn't buy permanently sealed ratchets makes it somewhat of a hard sell in my opinion.
I will also say I was puzzled when they first came out that they kept the standard release design. I imagine they did it just due to the iconography but I think the Grip-On style release is far superior to the original Vise-Grip release since it is far easier to remove, sometimes I need a second set of pliers to try and squeeze the release lever after clamping them so tight, at those prices I'd expect the best mechanical design.
Just sad. Maybe they should have tried some marketing.
What about wilde
That would be perfect. Great OEM producer, fairly nearby, so they could consolidate their supply and distribution chains to better their margins.
Who made the Armstrong vice grips they included in their gmtk kits?
They were making them for snap on too, a guy at work bought them and they are identical to the Malco ones with an added snap on roll mark and another 20 or 30 dollars
Another 20 or 30, I wonder what the first amount was.
@@Dancing_Alone_wRentals I believe he paid $84 for them
@@clinrbrtog tHanks.... There is a lot to think about there. Almost as if historically a company like Snap On made something first...and cheaper companies copied.
This looks like the lower cost version was taken and made more expensive.....opposite of the way things work day to day.
@Dancing_Alone_wRentals SnapOn is mostly rebrands of their subsidiaries, like Williams and Bahco, but also sources from a lot of different OEMs for tools like this, so they can sell it on the truck for a huge markup.
This is really sad to hear. I have both the 7 inch pliers and the 11 inch clamp and they are fantastic products.
I did just buy three Malco Eagle Grip Pliers! Today, a rummer is Snap-on might buy Malco. They made the Snap-on version.
I’ve bought the Eagle Grips. They are super nice. Makes me sad Malco is pulling the plug. The ones that k have will prolly last longer than me and will be part of the inevitable estate sale.
I bought a set from you and love them but the adjusting bolt snapped recently. Do you guys know if I can still get a replacement or would you be able to help me get one?
Pretty sure they are just a standard SAE bolt size, might have to file the end to the same contour at the end that pushes the lever that adjust the sizing but it wouldn't be hard.
i felt this happening 2 years ago so bought 2 of everything they made. feels good to have them but sad they will no longer be available.
Lifetime guarantee doesn't apply if they no longer make it
@@danh2134 i didn't buy them for the lifetime guarantee. though i understand the appeal of lifetime warranty i will always be willing to pay extra if it has USA stamped on it
@@danh2134 it still applies. They already said that. If they don’t have stock they will give credit.
@@RSellers28 a credit toward clamps?
@@danh2134 no they will give the cost of the tool back to you. So not really a bad deal honestly
Good conversation with just a couple of comments. As a tradesmen myself I don’t carry just one or two or five locking pliers on my truck but I carry about 25 or 30 because that’s how many I might need for a big job. If each pair of pliers is 40 or $50 and they’re not something that I would consider to be a permanent tool because they do get destroyed and used then that’s not realistic for me to have such an expensive hand tool. I can see the do it yourself person who might buy these pliers and use them two or three times a year as a more practical customer but there just aren’t as many of those around as there used to be. The cost of manufacturing in this country is outrageously expensive even in a state like Nebraska so I don’t think Malco was gouging anybody on the price. I just think they were charging what they had to charge to make a couple of dollars. It just isn’t realistic to put out a product that costs four or five times as much as the competition and expect to have any measurable sales except for the die hard ‘made in USA’ collectors. By the way I own a pair of the 10 inch pliers but they’re almost too good to use so I use them as a paperweight on my desk in the office 😊
Agreed, Channelock would be perfect, at least for branding.
also this factory is just for eagle grips? they didn't diversify the factory? (more than just push button pliers)
The problem is the Irwin vise grips aren’t that bad… If they were invented now they would be made in china. I don’t think they were ever intended to be a top quality heritage tool.
These tool companies need to fire all of their marketing and development people and hire people from youtube who are enthusiastic about the brands
I bet you have been saying this for a while. I hope the companies start to listen to you.
If this current administration did something to give American manufacturing companies a fighting chance against less expensive products, that would be great. But manufacturing companies would rather make things overseas where there are less stringent regulations and working conditions.
Malco really shot their wad making a huge deal about it in 2017, and then making people wait until like 2020-2021 to actually get them. All the buzz from years prior was long gone. They could have kept it low key and then made the huge splash about it closer to the actual release date.
That and they were stupidly expensive. Finely finished, almost heirloom quality even though they're a consumable for a lot of people, but expeeeeeennnssiiiiiiiiive. I can point you to a lot of American companies still making fine products without charging you truck prices for it. The brand was hardly established so it couldn't use that to justify prices, and I'm not sure if they even tried pushing for fed contracts like many do which is a great way to sell huge lots of wares.
Glad I bought some, too bad we keep sending the China people our money!!
I'm happy you guys are carrying koken now marketing is the crutch that kills companies these days because social media is so relevant if you sleep on it someone else will get your business
You can still buy these you just have to pay for the snap on rebrand.
sounds like an investor issue where we are not getting payback soon enough, maybe not. hence the sudden yank.
Malco Eagle Grip closing down - what a disappointment. Possibly the downside was the lack of marketing similar to what Knipex do so well or face to face spruiking.
Cost - people still buy expensive tools such as Snap On - once the market is aware of the quality advantage.
Distribution - critical in the USA and Canada - the advantage of Amazon / Internet - allows customers in countries such as my country Australia to buy US manufactured tools that are normally not easily available at competitive prices, and a convenient purchase process. My view is the internet is an up market version of the old mail order catalogue for customers in remote locations.
I recently learned that Malco discontinued these and I'm disappointed to say the least. After I heard I got on and bought the ones I wanted from them. For me being a diy person they will last me a long time if not my lifetime. My locking clamps actually are coming from you all. Small world. I think this really goes to show how difficult it is for a company to make USA made tools on top of the points you all made here. Bad marketing and a poor dealer network on top of a premium price tag will kill a product. I like many people really preach for USA made tools but I try to put my money where my mouth is when I can. I understand that not everyone has that luxury. Super sad to see this line go under. I literally learned about these last year and now they are almost gone. Only good thing is I got $10 off each from the retail price but would rather see the line stay and thrive.
also i think for something like this to be successful they should be putting a pair in ever youtubers hands AND we need a made in USA gras roots YT/social media push in regards to making jobs but, i'm also not a smart man lol
Rumor has it that Snap On is going to take over the plant
I don't see how they didn't sell like crazy other than the price but no one has the same quality how much would it cost to make the exact same thing elsewhere nobody does even the europeans don't quite make it they should have been sold through wright sk matco and snap on the real big seller would be stanley black and decker with proto crapsman and mac rebrands
Hi Steve & Jori! I would add to your accurate statement about distribution government mandated wage control and multiple layers of taxes.
Dude this is sad and embarrassing for America
It is
Facom FCM500A Check them out. Made in France, but much bulkier.
Lang has some locking pliers also , made in Germany
I don't think it was price but really lousy marketing and sales channels
I watched the buzz among the Internet groups. Price absolutely factored in, it really seemed like Malco had spent a lot of money and a lot longer than they intended just to get production set up and were pushing to make their investment back. Some companies tend to get very short sighted when it comes to profits. This is of course speculation about the corporate side of things, but the price did push a lot of people to ask "why would I buy those flashy things for THAT much when Irwins do just fine for me still, and I can get old MIUSA stuff at flea markets for cheap?"
It's sad. I bought two of each, and was waiting for them to make some needle nose and bent needle nose. Eagle Grips made my Knipex locking pliers look like the overhyped import garbage they truly are. Everyone wants it CHEAP and they want it NOW. Eagle grips are neither of those things. But they are the best I've ever used--nothing else even comes close. Hopefully someone (Snap-On?) will pick up the pieces and keep making them.
I just bought a pair of snap on rebrand. Get this, 89 bucks.
@@aaronwoessner7093 I just bought two more from Harry Epstein for ~$50 each.
@@elcheapo5302 I got 6 of each, and 10 of the locking c clamps. Should I buy more to stock up? Lol
@@aaronwoessner7093 I think you'll be ok for 7 or 8 lifetimes lol
The Malcolm Eagle Grips are nice pliers just over priced, some of the pliers made in Taiwan are almost as nice for 1/3rd the price. I hope someone takes them over and makes them more competitive.
Spend alot of money to not make money?
quality doesnt have a price with tools
so....resellers are better off....more $$ for old used made in usa
Pretty obvious guys. Started the business in a good economy and failed in the worst economic conditions we've seen.
Worst economic conditions we've seen? They just closed shop a few months ago, and the economy is roaring. 2008 was the worst anyone has seen since at least the Great Depression.
i thought Fap Off was going taiwanese mfg now? also i stop on amazon and pull you guys up, i need to put in an order, your website is decent, maybe one day i'll stop in the store after work but, that would probably be bad for my wallet.