What are yellow and blue and NWS underneath? These new Irwin Vise Grip Pliers!
NWS is a very well regarded brand of German-made pliers. The brand isn’t very well known in the USA market, but that’s slowly changing. If you recall our recent post, Lee Valley recently started carrying NWS pliers, which is probably going to help the brand gain exposure here and in Canada.
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As discussed a few years ago, I am quite fond of the couple of NWS pliers I own:
These pliers are unmistakably made by NWS, although the handle grips are very slightly different.
Sizes and Styles
6″ high leverage diagonal cutting pliers, 1902411
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7″ Max Leverage diagonal cutting pliers with PowerSlot, 1902412
8″ Max Leverage diagonal cutting pliers with PowerSlot, 1902413
8″ high leverage lineman’s pliers, 1902414
9-1/2″ high leverage lineman’s pliers with fish tape puller, 1902415
9-1/2″ high leverage lineman’s pliers with fish tape puller and crimper, 1902416
6″ standard long nose pliers, 1902417
8″ standard long nose pliers, 1902418
8″ Ergomulti long nose pliers with wire Stripper and crimper, 1902419
6-3/4″ bent-nose pliers, 1902420
End-cutting pliers with PowerSlot, 1902421
Safety leash, 1902422
Common features include a rust-resistant coating, induction-hardened cutting edges that can be used on everything from soft copper wires to ACSR, nails, and even screws or piano wire, and comfort grip handles with built-in loops for a safety lanyard.
Some of the pliers have built-in box-end wrenches that can also grip things like screws and grounding rods, and the high-leverage models have special force-multiplier PowerSlot pivots.
Buy Now(via Amazon)
First Thoughts
Although I really like NWS pliers, I find myself a little hesitant to fully endorse Irwin’s new relabeled pliers. Over at Amazon, Irwin’s new pliers are priced higher than their NWS equivalents. In some cases they’re priced a lot higher.
I can understand why some might pay more for these pliers just for the Irwin or Vise Grip branding. On one hand, these pliers are all backed by Irwin’s Lifetime Guarantee. Plus Irwin and Vise Grip have name recognition among professional users, contractors, DIYers, and other tool users. But on the other hand, why pay more for the same pliers just because they’re blue and yellow with Irwin branding?
Amazon’s pricing might not be accurate, since the new Irwin pliers are listed as being able to “ship within 2 to 5 weeks.” Once Amazon has stock on-hand, maybe the prices will be reduced a little, but I don’t think that will happen.
It will be interesting to see what develops from this. Personally, I hope to see lower prices and even greater product selection. Irwin is going to have to be very aggressive with how they promote these new pliers to even have a chance of competing against brands such as Klein, Channellock, and even Knipex.
Phenom
Very interesting.
mnoswad1
In the Irwin livery, they look goofy. I’ll go for the NWS originals myself.
Yes, just because of the the looks.
Stan
I agree with you. At least with NWS, those look more sleek and professional in my opinion.
Hard to believe these aren’t made in China, as most Irwin items seem to be these days. Wasn’t always that way, but that was more than several years since any 100% American made Irwin branded tools have existed.
So definite pass with me as the original NWS pliers seem to be much more appealing.
Nigiiplee
Same here. Piss on Irwin. I’ll pay NWS direct. More if necessary.
Eric
Just checked at my local Lowes, the packaging states Made in Taiwan
mike
Wonder if they will be carrying these at Home Depot and the like in future.
Id like to have some of those Ergo pliers.
Dennis
I’m pretty sure Irwin moved over to Lowes. At least their clamps did. Maybe they’ll start carrying these at Lowes to make up for getting rid of Knipex and replacing it with cheap Chinese knock-offs.
Stuart
I think so too. My father showed me a full spread of Irwin tools in the latest Lowes weekly sales circular.
Toolfreak
Bizarre that they are pricing them higher than the originals.
Hopefully that is just amazon BS, as they do sell some stuff that’s way overpriced compared to what you can buy it for in the store or even someone else online that they won’t price match.
Getting these in the stores would be great though, to have a decent selection of U.S. and German made tools, rather than just a broad price range of made-in-China stuff.
Stuart
Why would that be bizarre? This happens with a lot of rebranded Snap-on tools as well. Everyone wants to make money. Even if NWS offered Irwin a big discount, and Irwin slimmed down their typical margins, the pliers would still likely cost more than original NWS pliers.
Toolfreak
It’s bizarre because Newell-Rubbermaid, who owns Irwin, is a HUGE company with billions in capital, and can buy all the pliers it wants, at the biggest volume discount NWS could offer. That should allow it to price the pliers well below what NWS sells them for and still make a hefty profit.
There’s really no point in re-branding something from a specialty brand like NWS to a common brand like Irwin, only to sell it for more than the original.
Craftsman is a good example. Craftsman tools are really just re-branded versions of tools from specialty companies, but with Craftsman you not only get the in-store warranty, you usually pay a lot less than what the original tool sold by the manufacturer goes for since Craftsman contracted to buy zillions of them.
I’m not sure why any sane person would buy a re-branded Snap-on made tool for more than the Snap-on version, not to mention, Snappy stuff is usually the most expensive stuff out there.
Maybe Irwin buyers are thought to be so blindly brand-loyal they will pay more for re-branded stuff.
Stuart
I too have noticed that Craftsman tools are occasionally cheaper than OEM versions of tools.
The pricing isn’t too strange.
Add in another middle man, and there’s only so much that can be done to avoid increasing the price. Everyone wants their cut.
Toolfreak
Maybe the high retail price point is just to allow plenty of profit cushion in the actual ‘sale’ prices these will really sell for.
Craftsman does that too – put the ‘regular’ price at a level nobody would actually pay, but have the tool on perpetual ‘sale’, the actual price it’s sold for.
SteveR
Perhaps the logic in charging more for an NWS re-branded tool sold under Irwin’s name is that some (a lot of) Irwin stuff is now Asian-sourced. If you knew that NWS (a German-based tool company) made the tool for Irwin, then you were certain it wasn’t Asian-produced and, therefore, worth a price premium. I suppose that’s a “multi-tiered pricing strategy” that works, though not seamlessly because of the free exchange of information on the internet. The only question left is whether the tool was unique to Irwin (made to their specs) or if it was an existing NWS tool with different grips.
Stuart
There’s at least one unique-to-Irwin combination pliers model, and Irwin emphasized that the grips are also different for Irwin tools.
Here’s the logic:
NWS is not a household name. Irwin is, and they have more distribution channels here in the USA.
Irwin prices are comparable to NWS, perhaps sometimes lower.
fred
Sometime I think there a 2 different things going on at Amazon. The first is that they may be building in single unit shipping costs into the price of the item – so they can say that shipping is free for Prime members.
The second is that if you add these to your wish list now – they can come along a bit later and say that the price has dropped – not unlike what I think I see at Lowes – where seemingly brand-new offerings are marked as being on sale at a reduced price.
928'er
This. After years of destroying the Vice Grip reputation by slapping their brand on chinese crap? You have to wonder what they’re thinking. I don’t think anyone who was burned by a Irwin branded tool is ever going to pay a premium for anything with blue and yellow handles. Shame, ’cause NWS makes a quality product. Unfortunately Vice Grip now has a reputation that rivals Harbor Fright for sheer crappyness.
Stan
Hence why I bluntly put will forever hate Irwin for what they did to that brand and the hundreds jobs that were lost when they outsourced that line of tools to China.
Sure other manufacturers have outsourced production as well and I sure as heck don’t enjoy seeing that either, but not as much as Irwin has in one sitting.
If you have had family or friends lose their livelihood due to outsourcing, chances are you would see where I am coming from, but few people want to accept reality these days. Seemingly easier for some to live in a very distorted reality of these big corporations as your friends and thinking they’ll do what is your in best interests.
Dan
Most likely this will only help NWS sales as it will be possible for those that know about them to go and have a look at these in a shop before ordering the proper ones online.
T
Was able to do a side by side comparo with my NWS and a sales rep from Irwin, TODAY. Happened to be a tool expo at my dealer and I accidentally stumbled on these. Honestly, other than colour, I like the Irwins more. The Irwins handles are just a bit different, more of a Facom ergo style. Rep was surprised about the OEM and the availability of the NWS pieces. He also showed me the msrp sheets and said actual retail will prob be 10-15% below, but we shall see. One major plus, these will be much more readily available in retail world vs the NWS versions. Good for Irwin, imo. Vise Grips are still a sore subject with the rep too.
Gary T.
I noticed that the Amazon price on these pliers have dropped a few dollars on all the pliers. Hopefully they will drop even more.
Chris Fyfe
I now own quite a bit of NWS , like them lots . Hope the collaboration /repatching works well for all concerned .
Chris
Josh B.
Definitely intrigued by this. Have been looking at picking up some NWS pliers. If these end up being any cheaper than the NWS version then I’ll pick these up.
Gary T.
I ordered a 6 inch needle nose from Amazon. I also own NWS pliers. The pliers are the same except for the linesman pliers that have some additional length between the pivot point and the handles. The grips are the same except the Irwin’s have the cushioned area running the whole side of the handle. The Irwin’s also have depressed banding on the cushioned grip area, while the NWS has dimples in bands on the cushioned area for added grip. Over all they are very similar, but I still prefer the NWS grips. To me the price on the Irwin’s need to be lower to make it an equal value to the NWS pliers.
Lukas
I’m having trouble finding the NWS version of the two 9.5″ lineman pliers you have shown here. Does anyone have the NWS model number for these?
Stuart
Upon close inspection, and scrutiny of NWS’s full catalog, all of the lineman’s styles appear to be unique to Irwin.
Nic. S.
Me, I’m going to buy NWS every time. I own loads of German made tools now, I replaced all of my construction tools with Metabo and HILTI (i know some of their stuff is made in china) and a lot of my finish tools with FESTOOL. Yes it’s expensive and yes it comes with the threat of divorce but they sure do feel good in your hands. I don’t want to pay money to some big fortune five hundred company who outsources everything so I end up with crappy tools and people here lose their jobs while the company comes out smelling of roses and the CEO is on the cover of Forbes. There was a time when Porter Cable made great tools (Tiger Saw being one) and I think they were made in Tennessee. Back in the day made in the USA meant something now it seems ‘Made in Germany’ does,
Jim
Bang on
timbo
1. NWS has fantastic handles, irwin seems different (upper section seems no comfort).
2. VDE insulation is a must for me, there for colour difference has no meaning as there can not be such thing.
3. If I am buying expensive tool, I only trust made in Germany or Japan. (due couple of experiences)But also I know a company (German) with a huge regret with made in PRC (or Malasia, Philipinnes, Vietnam and the latest member Czech R.) and calling it back certain tools to be made in house, prestige at steak !
Did you know only the most experienced engineers work on R8 line of Audi, the rest work on below 8.
Love these….. Festool, Metabo, Hilti, Fein, Panasonic, Nws, Knipex, Facom, Victorinox
Norm
My local lowes had the Irwin “Ergomulti” for $16-$17 down from $40. I thought that was the right price. So I picked one up. I do like the feel and hope I get a chance to use it in the field soon.
Stan
I have bought recently the item:
https://shop.nws-tools.de/en/datasheet/pdf/inline/product/1651-12-180/
but, just fancy, its jaws have 30% slack of its wide.
I have cheap Chinese no-name plies without any slack.
So, I’m interested to understand where was really produced this NWS plier, which has mark – made in Germany.
Tool
2018 – just understand that NWS is not the same quality as Knipex. However their FantasticoPlus are preferred over the Knipex Twin Force by many. But for deep lasting quality & finish Knipex is the standard.
2018 – pricing if you read this far: the Irwin version of the NWS Fantasticos is $25 LESS on amazon.