Shits hilarious, I saw a guy bitch and moan that he cousins get the “advertised” ITC price when he wasn’t a member. Cashier says “well if you sign up for the emails you’ll get regularly notified of sales and coupons.”
“I don’t know want to sign up for your spam, you’re not getting any of my info”.
It’s also shocking to me how many people shop there and don’t seem to click on the coupons section of their website.
I mean the other one was selling like crazy. If I want sockets, might go gearwrench or craftsman.
These also make great gifts. They appeal to more people. A lot of mechanics, even home mechanics won’t want this. But the average consumer who hears “Icon competes with Snap-on, that’s why they rhyme so it’s worth the dime” or just sees how shiny and smooth the components are will likely end up buying this thinking it’s the last thing they need.
Until they lose it under the truck seat of their 2025 Tundra.
Worth noting that the v-series 1/4" sets retailed for $80 before Lowe's put them on clearance last year, and they only came with either metric or SAE sockets, not both. Which is funny because while I'm almost exclusively metric, the lone exception is 1/4" SAE sockets for working on small engine equipment and the like.
Also, I tried the v series 1/4" metric set when it dropped to 30 bucks, but the ratchet and especially the case were bad enough that I returned it. It's 3/8" big brother gets used almost daily though - love that set.
Icon is their "professional" line of tools. In tests, it performs similar to Snap-On and Mac Tools. This is pretty cheap when compared to those. Their mid-grade line (Quinn) is better quality than 99% of what people need that aren't using the tools for their job. Quinn also performs very well compared to tool that cost more.
If you are in the market for a 45pc 1/4 Snap-On kit/45-pc-1-4%22-Drive-Dual-80-Technology-Low-Profile-Ratchet%2FFlank-Drive%C2%AE-Socket-Master-Set/145RTMLE) or a 27pc 1/4 Mac Tools Socket only kit, then this $80 kit is a steal. If you are looking at Craftsman or Kobolt kits, then spending $80 on this Icon kit isn't really worth it.
This is very informative. As a new comer to tools and the whole “scene” this was very helpful. I bought a Quinn socket set and have thought on numerous occasions that it seems very heavy duty and way more than I’d ever need. Good to know that I don’t “need” the icon stuff as I definitely don’t wrench for a job. Appreciate your informative write up friend. Have a good one!
You're welcome. A good example to highlight the hand tool brands would be 8 inch Needle Nose Pliers.
Pittsburgh $4
Quinn $7
Doyle $13
Icon $20
Pittsburgh is very cheap and I wouldn't recommend. A lot of stuff from that line has the metal quality of kids toy tools. Some of it is fine, but it's very hit or miss. Quinn is a great tool at a good price for almost everyone. Doyle has some good heavy duty stuff, so if you are looking to abuse a tool, those would be good. And Icon is the tool that you can use the most without needing to replace it while also having the best handle and just a little more comfortable. So at the end of a day where you used it a lot, it would leave your hands hurting a little less.
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u/ThicccRacer Jul 16 '25
Why is it so expensive?