Wait till you fish them for a few years straight without any sort of maintenance or rinsing in fresh water (other then a quick cleaning at the end of the season) and there won't be a hint of rust on them. Also the 7" jaws have a perfect slot to grip eel hooks with when you tighten down your knots. And when an obnoxious toothy criiter inhales multiple trebles your pliers will have a death grip on the hook as you remove it. That's why they are worth it. For me anyways.
That and maybe the old pliers had jaws that didn't cut Fireline and Spectra, but the recent ones do just fine cutting briad on a daily basis.
Good price on the pliers as well, you more or less got the sheath and lanyard for free.
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