Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Update 04/01/2015 Just got a current model of the Bostitch "Contemporary" (aka Easy) to replace this "Professional" (which I didn't like) and have discovered they (unfortunately) changed its design over the years and it's now got a narrow blade. Not as narrow as the "Professional" but the current "Contemporary" does not have a blade as wide as my old version of the "Contemporary." I've uploaded a picture today of the 3 for comparison. The picture is a little misleading but I promise you the older model "Contempoary" (the one on the far right in the picture) has a blade wider than the other two. I don't have much more time to spend here in the review. Let me just say, I have a tiny company and I have multiple point of sale receipts (cash register tapes, if you will) to remove from cash vouchers and other documents. Of the 3 staple removers, only my old "Contemporary" model can reliably remove the staples without severely obliterating data from the tissue paper thin receipts during the process of lifting the staple. I hope Bostitch reads this. That's the main reason I'm posting this review. I hope they find it worthwhile to redesign the blade so that the blade width more closely matches the staple width--just like the "good old days." They'll have a great product again! This Bostitch "Professional" model 40000M-BLK rips paper much more than the standard Bostitch "Easy" model BOS40000. Well, 'the other plastic staple remover is called "Easy" at an Amazon product page but Bostitch actually calls it "Contemporary" at the Bostitch web site.. See bostitchoffice-dot-com and navigate to their staple removers. But, for the sake of simplicity, I'll just call them Professional and Easy in this review. Just remember that Easy is actually Contemporary as Bostitch names it. The Easy model (aka Contemporary) is what I had used for years. It has a wider blade and it didn't rip paper as much as the Professional model. But, when I broke my trusty Easy model using it as a pry bar to disassemble my TV remote control, I was forced to buy something to replace it. I thought I would try an upgrade to this Bostitch Professional model but it turned out to be a downgrade in my estimation. I do like the magnetic pick up capability of the Professional version. There was no magnet in the Easy version. But, this Professional version definitely rips more paper compared to the Easy version. This Professional version has a narrower blade than the Easy. It seems those few millimeters of blade width make a real difference. The wide blade on the Easy reached out farther towards the staple crimps so that the crimps were more effectively lifted from the pages while the wide blade stabilized the paper to shield it from a rip. I have finally realized that pulling a staple without ripping the paper is best accomplished when the puller blade width matches the width of the staple. This Professional version, however, has a narrower blade so that the paper is ripped when the staple is removed because there is not as much blade to hold the paper and shield it from rip forces. I have to wonder how this thing got so many good reviews? I think it is possible that people who rave about this Bostitch Professional version have used only claw-type staple removers in the past. I suspect many people have never used the Easy (aka Contemporary) version of this device. So, what you are now reading might be one of very few, or maybe even the only review comparing the Bostitch Easy Staple Remover to the Bostitch Professional Staple Remover. My main use for this device is to remove staples from point of sale receipts that are tissue paper thin and they are affixed to other documents. The Bostitch Easy model did that job very, very well. This Professional version is ripping paper to the point that important data from the receipts is obliterated unless I am really careful and attentive to the task. That's no fun. I don't want to have to be attentive to such a mundane and tedious chore. Removing staples should be easy. It actually was easy when I had a Bostitch Easy model. I'm going to order one. I hope they haven't modified the Easy to give it a narrow blade. The Easy model I broke was several years old. I hope that since that time, they haven't decided to change the design of the Easy model for some silly reason. There is an all-metal chrome puller by Bostitch. It looks good. I don't know how wide its blade is but I do know that it does not have an overlying hood that will retain the staples after they are released from the paper. It's that "retention hood" that I broke off of my good old Easy/Contemporary model. So, the old one still removes staples, but staples fly all over the desk because there's no hood to keep them from flying away. So, I'm thinking that a similar experience would be had with the all metal chrome version due to its lack of a retention hood. I remember as a child, my Dad had one of those all metal chrome Bostitch versions. It was all that I knew at the time. I think I pulled staples for him by keeping my thumb on the staple to hold it in place on the staple remover. For all the office supply junkies out there, Dad used the Ace Clipper stapler. It used "undulated" staples. Yep. It's still available today. Amazon's got 'em. Ace undulated staples. There you go. But, if you get one of those pretty chrome staplers, you've got to get the Bostitch chrome staple remover. Even if you don't use it, you've got to leave the Bostitch shiny chrome stapler remover laying near your shiny chrome Ace Clipper stapler on your desk. If I keep this Bostitch Professional model, I'll never use it. I wonder how much trouble it will be to return it to Amazon? I guess I'll give it a try. By the way, I tried a Westcott brand staple remover a while back. It too ripped paper because of its narrow, pointy, blade. It had a blade that was even more narrow than this Bostitch Professional.