Lowe’s, which apparently doesn’t believe in press releases anymore, quietly launched a new line of “Home Repair” pliers under their Kobalt brand.
Frankly speaking, I can’t tell if this is actually a new cohesive product line, or if they simply copy/pasted “Home Repair” into the title of each pliers for search optimization purpose.
We recently called out Lowe’s for describing a Jonard fiber optic installation and maintenance tool kit – a very specialized tool set – as a “household tool kit,” and Lowe’s lurkers quickly had it changed to read “electronics repair maintenance tool kit.”
Maybe those same folks can explain what we’re seeing here.
Shown above are the new Kobalt “Home Repair Multitool pliers,” which looks a lot like fencing pliers to me.
The Kobalt 11-inch “Home Repair needle nose pliers” caught my attention.
Lowe’s says they provide “easy access to tight spots and narrow spaces, keeps hands a safe distance from hot surfaces and sharp edges.”
While they don’t have a compound joint design, which would decrease the opening width for even better reach in tight spaces, the basic extra-long pliers do look decent.
Lowe’s price is $20, and you can find nearly identical Workpro pliers for $14 at Amazon.
Lowe’s also has new Kobalt “Home Repair” snap ring pliers.
The new Kobalt snap ring pliers features 4 interchangeable tip sets that can be used for accessing internal or external rings.
There are a couple of other pliers included in Lowe’s listing of new Kobalt hand tools – 3 sizes of adjustable pliers and 2 end cutters.
All have the same “Home Repair” designation.
I’m happy to see Lowe’s expand their Kobalt hand tool lineup, but I’m not sure what to think about these.
All of the new Kobalt pliers look… generic, for lack of a better description. You can find similar and even nearly identical-looking pliers for less, with the only obvious differences being the Kobalt black and blue-colored handled grips.
Lowe’s piqued my interest, and then it all came crashing down.
Maybe I’m being too harsh. Lowe’s didn’t even bother editing the Kobalt color pallet out of some of their images. It’s a simple oversight, but one more sign that suggests nobody at Lowe’s truly cares about the Kobalt tool brand anymore.
If Lowe’s doesn’t seem to care about Kobalt, why should anyone else? I should be used to being disappointed by Lowe’s and Kobalt by now, but going from “ooh, new tools!” to “oh, there’s no reason to care” is still upsetting.
Someone please convince me I’m wrong, and that these Kobalt pliers aren’t just rebrands of generic pliers with blue handles and higher prices.