i was sold on the van staal after snaping a bunch of plugs back at me w/ a manual penn 704....... plunked down my $$ for a vs 200 only to have the reel handle freeze up on me after i spent a bunch of time crawling out onto a rocky point..... i have also known a few guys that have had them leak oill..... i will stick with it for a while but to me the jury is still way out...... the whole idea is that for the $$ you should not have to worry about them failing.......
as for my vs pliers i dont leave home w/out them........ imo best on the market!