Gerber Mr. Pinchy Multi Plier Club

[Sam Lim]

Hey Greg, have u receive your stuff yet?

Yes thank you, and very happy with it too     

I've sent you two emails so far, have you checked your junk folder ?

Hmm. I cant find those emails. But good to know that it have reach u safe and sound. Thanks again! 

[gerleatherberman]

I'm gonna pinch ya..five times. 

[gregozedobe]

I'm gonna pinch ya..five times. 

Nice older Gerbers      

[Sam Lim]

I'm gonna pinch ya..five times. 

The 2nd row, 3rd and 4th doesn't look so pinchy. Did you do something or are they stock? I bet your blood blister badges are piling up.. 

[gerleatherberman]

I'm gonna pinch ya..five times. 

Nice older Gerbers      

Thank you, gregozedobe!

I'm gonna pinch ya..five times. 

The 2nd row, 3rd and 4th doesn't look so pinchy. Did you do something or are they stock? I bet your blood blister badges are piling up.. 

Good eye, Sam! The 3rd has little washers I installed between the handles and plier body. 1/16" extra gap, so the bite isn't so bloody.
The 4th is a version 4 needle nose with rivets holding in the pliers. I guess by version 4 they designed the plier head to give the handles some splay. Which is nice.

[Sam Lim]

I'm gonna pinch ya..five times. 

Nice older Gerbers      

Thank you, gregozedobe!

I'm gonna pinch ya..five times. 

The 2nd row, 3rd and 4th doesn't look so pinchy. Did you do something or are they stock? I bet your blood blister badges are piling up.. 

Good eye, Sam! The 3rd has little washers I installed between the handles and plier body. 1/16" extra gap, so the bite isn't so bloody.
The 4th is a version 4 needle nose with rivets holding in the pliers. I guess by version 4 they designed the plier head to give the handles some splay. Which is nice.

I have a version 2 ( I think).. I tried to install a washer inbetween where you mentioned but it's not exactly working. The spring and the buttons are rather short.. Not enough to lock up the pliers when extended.. I ended up only doing on one side only..

[gerleatherberman]

I have a version 2 ( I think).. I tried to install a washer inbetween where you mentioned but it's not exactly working. The spring and the buttons are rather short.. Not enough to lock up the pliers when extended.. I ended up only doing on one side only..

It takes quite a bit of fiddling to get it perfect. Mine has washers on the "top and bottom" screws on one side and a washer in the "bottom" of the other side.
I carried a v.3 pinchy for over a decade before I got into Multitools as a hobby. At some point, using one everyday, you learn how to use it without getting pinched. Unfortunately I got my badge when I started putting the pinchy back into my edc rotation(and had forgotten the muscle memory to avoid putting my palm close to the handle gap) and got bit.

[gerleatherberman]

Finally got a good deal on a V.4 BN. The other photos show it with the other Pinchy tools.


Left to right: V.1, V.2, V.3(small plier pivot), V.3(large plier pivot), V.4 BN, and V.4 NN. Please forgive the little piece of tissue in the V.3(small pivot) pliers.

[gerleatherberman]

Apologies for the bad photos earlier. Hope these are a bit better.

Gerber Multi-Plier 1 by None, on Flickr
Gerber Multi-Plier 2 by None, on Flickr
Gerber Multi-Plier 3 by None, on Flickr
Gerber Multi-Plier 4 by None, on Flickr

[Sam Lim]

That's alot of Pinchies!! 

[gerleatherberman]

That's alot of Pinchies!! 

They want your palm!

I've got one more on the way. NIB V.3(small pivot). Since the current one is the only used one in the group. 
That does mean one thing. The current V.3 small pivot is getting a mod or two 

[gerleatherberman]

Got more than I bargained for with this NIB Pinchy. I bought it thinking it would be good to have in the collection since my v.3 with small plier pivot is my user pinchy. Well, this V.3 is more of a mix between a V.2 and V.3. It has the death awl instead of the file, lathe cut button rivots in the handles, and a less "finished" version of the small pivot V.3 pliers. It also only has a single Patent No. V.2 has Pat. Pend. And my other V.3s have two Patent Nos.
Anyway, I know there are about 20 variations of the Pinchy, so here are the photos.









Top is V.3 small plier pivot with sharper defined pliers.
Middle is the one from the packaging - note the handle rivot and patent No.
Bottom is a V.3 large plier pivot.

[gregozedobe]

Nice writeup GLBM.     Yep, Gerber definitely made lots of different variations of Mr Pinchies.

There was a Fiskars branded version which had some of the characteristics of the later Mr Pinchies but had the "death awl".  Your V2/3 might have been made around the same time. 

I wonder if some of these "transitional" versions were simply the result of the factory assemblers using up left-over parts from previous versions ?

[gerleatherberman]

Thank you for the information, Greg!

That definitely makes sense with the single Pat. No, death awl, and lathed rivets. It may be I have never noticed single patent handles, but that was really neat to see on it.
I appreciate you chiming in, because I am pretty late in the MT collecting world and it seems many collectors have gone dormant.

[gerleatherberman]

Finally got a brand new small pivot V.3 to stand in for ny user Pinchy in the collection.


*user Pinchy top left.

[gerleatherberman]

Different pliers versions.

[gerleatherberman]

More Pinchy tools!

Mint FPR V.1 and Mint V.1 BO.











I don't think the box for the SS is the right one and am not sure if the sheaths are correct(especially the FPR, which should have had a leather sheath according to the instruction pamplet). 

But, I knew all of that when I blew the money. I'm not as into boxes and packaging as some collectors, so I am pretty happy.

[gerleatherberman]

V.1 FPR, V.1(later with fixed nail knick), V.1 BO(early with reverse nail knick - out of order for photo symmetry), V.2, V.2/V.3 transitional, V.3 w/small plier pivot, V.3 w/large plier pivot, V.4 BN, V.4 NN, and early CK&T version.

I know...'stop with the Multi-Pliers, GLBM'....but....I can't help myself.

[gerleatherberman]

[gerleatherberman]

Added a few more Multi-Pliers to the collection, so a few more photos. 

Group shot.

_________________________________
Left to right:
MP V1.0 First Production Run - Polished SS, MP V1.0 Black Oxide, MP V1.1(fixed nail nicks) - Polished SS, MP V2 Black Oxide, MP V2 Satin SS, and MP V2/V3 transitional(Factory Mix of both versions) - Satin SS.

Left to right:
MP V3(small pliers pivot) - Satin SS, MP V3(small pliers pivot) - Black Oxide, MP V3(large pliers pivot) - Satin SS, MP V4 Blunt Nose - Satin SS, MP V4 Needle Nose - Satin SS, and CK&T Clone by Fiskars - Polished SS.

[gerleatherberman]

Updated Pinchy crew.

[gerleatherberman]

Finally added a Fiskars marked example. Tool was absolutely filthy to begin with. Two hours of break down and cleaning made this example look brand new. 
The Fiskars marked sheath is going in for a few wash cycles to clean it up. Hopefully it will look good when it is done as well.

[gerleatherberman]

Sheath came out of the wash looking pretty nice. 

[gerleatherberman]

More updated Pinchy pics!
I did remove the dirt from the stamping on the Fiskars as well, as I noticed how much dirt was in the stamping after I posted the photos.
Far right is my user V.3(large pliers pivot).
Top row:
V.1.0 FPR, V.1.0 BO, V.1.1(fixed nail nicks), V.2 BO, V.2 SS, V.3 BO(small pliers pivot), and V.2.2 SS(hybrid V2/V3 pliers w/ death awl).
Bottom row:
V3 SS(small pliers pivot), V3 SS(large pliers pivot), V.4 SSBN, V.4 SSNN, Fiskars branded MP, CK&T Early tool, and CK&T Later tool.





I corrected the order for this last photo. V2.2 is before V3 BO.

[gregozedobe]

More updated Pinchy pics!

Excellent assortment of Mr Pinchies, GLBM      

[gerleatherberman]

Excellent assortment of Mr Pinchies, GLBM      

Thank you much, Greg!

The only Pinchy I can think of that would kind of round the set off is a BO V.4.

Are there any important oddball versions I'm missing that you know of, Greg?
Just as something to keep an eye out for later down the road.

[gregozedobe]

Thank you much, Greg!

The only Pinchy I can think of that would kind of round the set off is a BO V.4.

Are there any important oddball versions I'm missing that you know of, Greg?
Just as something to keep an eye out for later down the road.

Here is an updated version of a list I wrote a while back (the major change is the addition of v1.1.5 ), hope that helps:

I copied much of the following info from a earlier post on MTo (possibly by Bob ? ), with revisions and additions from looking at various Mr Pinchies (and some assumptions on my part).  Naturally any errors/omissions are my fault.  If anyone has any corrections and/or extra info please speak up (eg which versions were made with a BO finish).  Sorry, I can't do photos.  I hope this helps out all those interested in the development of gerber's (in)famous "Mr Pinchy".

EARLY GERBER MULTI-PLIERS ("Mr Pinchy")          

Gerber kept making small changes to their Multi-Plier throughout the 1990's, so we tend to see a lot of subtle variations. Some were stamped and sold with the Fiskars logo, and at least some of these had slightly different tool loads (Fiskars owned Gerber at that time).  At some stage Gerber started making a BO finish available, as well as the much more common bead blasted SS finish.   Here's a summary of the main steps along the way:

Version 1) The very first models had a high-polish finish, instead of the bead blast we've seen on Gerber tools since. It also had button-head screws in all four blade pivot points, and button head screws on the plier slides. Also note the pivot bushing between the plier jaws. A crude pair of scissors was included, and a VERY thick Lanyard clip.  The very first run of Multi-Pliers were etched with “FIRST PRODUCTION RUN” (a.k.a. “FPR” ) on one handle.

V1.0  FPR
V1.1  One handle cut-out, mis-matched nail nicks (don’t line up with cut-outs)
V1.1.5  One handle cut-out, matched nail nick on PE blade, mismatched nail nick on SE blade
V1.2  One handle cut-out, matched nail nicks
V1.2  Two handle cut-outs, matched nail nicks

All ?     “PATENT PENDING”


Version 2) The second version went to the now-familiar bead blast finish. The scissors were replaced by a big triangular shaped awl. This version still has button head pivots, button head sliders, and the pivot bushing between the plier jaws. The pliers had slightly beefier jaws with a squarer shape, while the lanyard clip was slimmed to a more “normal” thickness.  There seems to have been some variations in the font of the labels on the handles.

V2.0  “PATENT PENDING”
V2.1 “U.S. PATENT NO 5142721”


Version 3) This version wasn't much of a change really. They simply did away with the pivot bushing. Later production V3s had the round nut on the handles.

All ?  “U.S. PATENT NO 5142721”


Version 4) Changes: On one side of each handle, the button head screw was replaced with a round nut, while a file replaced the large awl.

V4.0   “U.S. PATENT NO
         5142721/5142844”        NB The 5142844 # was possibly an error, as later versions all used 5212844.

V4.1      “    U.S.    5142721
            PATENT    5212844
         PAT PEND”


Version 5) This introduced a new, even beefier shape to the blunt nose plier jaws, and needle nose jaws were offered for the first time as well.  Gone were the button head slider screws, replaced by two different sizes of round-headed rivets.

All ?     “U.S.      5142721
         PATENT    5212844
       PAT PEND”


At this point Gerber stopped with the minor evolutions of the Multi-Plier (Mr Pinchy) and came out with a major overhaul. Called the Multi-Lock when it first hit the market, the new tool had all-locking blades, plastic sliding lock releases, unique blade-pivot screws, the now familiar little circlip spring steel slider clips, etc.

After a while this tool became the 600-series Multi-Plier (MP600), with all its many tool component and plier type configurations. The very first ones were also stamped "First Production Run" (FPR).
All ?     “U.S.      5142721
        PATENT    5212844
       PAT PEND”           NB This is stamped inside the handle, not externally as before (and in a very small font).

This information was last updated by gregozedobe on 6 March 2019

Note there are are quite a few odd-ball Mr Pinchies floating around, some are definitely prototypes, others seem to be transitional variants with components/handles from two different versions (or they could be repair jobs by Gerber or private individuals).  Substituting the awl for the file seemed to happen a bit on some later versions (and on all the Fiskars labelled ones I've seen) .  BO variants are way less common then their SS counterparts.

[gerleatherberman]

Wow! Great list and information. Thank you, Greg!


Looks like I need to reclassify some of the ones I listed, based on the information. Will do that at some point today.

I felt lucky getting a V1 BO and V2 BO, as they seem to be extremely rare. 

The biggest difference I've noted with what I've been calling V3s, is that there are two very different pliers designs. One with a classic smaller plier pivot and clean casting and ones with a larger pivot and casting flaw in the mounting areas.

[gerleatherberman]

Top row:
V1.0 FPR, V1.1 BO, V1.2 SS, V2.0 SS, V2.0 BO, V4.1 BO(older pliers head), & V3 SS.
Bottom row:
V4.1 SS(older pliers head), V5 BN SS, V5 NN SS, Fiskars(with awl and file - awl instead of can opener - factory), CK&T old, & CK&T new.

I'll take an updated photo at some point as well to put the V3 before the 4.1 BO.

[gerleatherberman]

Here are two photos showing(what you've designated V4.1) the two different pliers heads on the 4.1. All of this(with 5142721/5212844/PAT.PEND on handles) have either og these two pliers heads from what I have seen. And the later, larger pivot, usually has casting flaws in the mounts. Doesn't hurt the function, but is cosmetically ugly.


The two different heads, and both have the small nut/bolt fasteners in the pivot centers.


The inside, where the casting flaws are obvious.


Some early MP pliers heads also had casting flaws aound the mounts, but not as gnarly as the flaws on the lg. pliers pivot on the 4.1.