It's not too often that I can actually respond to one of coolford's posts with positive content and a little interesting information too. The Facom made, Sears /Craftsman branded, angle socket wrenches were offered in Sears catalogs from about 1994 to 1996. They were also available in the their department stores as well as their hardware stores. Full retail was $75 per set. I remember seeing these at my local Sears store around the time they came out, and thinking they'd be nice to have......but not for $75. Based on my situation at the time, I just couldn't justify buying either the SAE or metic set. Every time I went to Sears, I'd stroll through the tool isles, maybe buy something, and usually check out those wrenches. The funny thing is that every time I saw those wrench sets, there were plenty on hand. They were either flying off the hooks and they kept restocking them, or they couldn't give them away. One or the other. Eventually, after looking at them for almost two years, I asked one of the sales associates what was up with those wrenches. Well, it was the latter. The wrenches just weren't selling. He also told me, kinda on the "down low," that they'd be going on sale pretty soon and to check back every couple of weeks because the price would keep dropping until they were gone. I took his his advise and checked back every week or so. After a few months they were priced at $25 per set. (See the price reduction stickers in the second photo below.) By the time they hit $25 per set there weren't too many left so I bought a set of each, SAE and metric.
The wrenches themselves seem to be pretty well made and I'd say the overall quality is very good. That being said, even after I got them, I rarely used them. While they're handy and their design is unique, I still found myself reaching for my standard DBE, DOE and combo wrenches. I'm not even sure why, but I hardly used them, and now that they're sort of collectible, they never come out of the drawer....except for pictures.
Jim C.
