The old ones were great, but it's clear the quality has gone way ...
921571
I originally bought these around 2013 or so, but after they broke I bought a new pair.  The old ones were great, but it's clear the quality has gone way down.  These are constantly slipping off my head and are not comfortable.  I can't even bring myself to wear them so it was $25 wasted.
3830197
I thought they would be wonderful but they are not as good as they use to be. I think the recioe has changed.
2515684
I use to play this when I was little. Was trying to pass it down to my kids and so I bought it but the quality has definitely changed over the years.
89563
These were great a few years back, but it seems the manufacturer has gone cheaper and they don't work as good as they used to. I am forced to look elsewhere now for quality.
2811992
I bought one from a fundraiser last weekend. I have bought these for years so I recognize that the quality is just no longer there. It was not good at all, where they used to be truly excellent.
956311
Not as good as they used to be not long ago - maybe because they were out of date upon arrival?
2726275
I bought this pen to replace a similar one I'd had for years and recently lost...and boy I'm even more sorry about losing my old one than before. The new isn't bad, but it's definitely not on the same quality level as they used to be as several others review note. I wish they'd spent less money on the overdone packaging and invested that in maintaining the high quality Cross for which Cross used to be known. Don't get me wrong, it's a nice been, it's just not nearly as nice and impressive as it used to be.
3208428
Quality has gone down a bit, they are not the same as the ones before . I still have a set of the thicker ones.
1044146
First off the contents of the box are the same as years before.
When the first holiday gift box came out. I got 2 to see how they were. The boxes to hold cards were amazing. They seemed to protect them better than the standard white box with the stickers to label things. Fast forward to this box
The quality of the box has declined. Not by a little. By a lot. The dividers don't hold the cards in right.  And they are much thinner. The protection seems better than a fat pack box but not much. If the quality stays the same or gets worse.  The white cardboard boxes look good again (yikes)
2553939
I have ordered many of these in the past (in blue, red, and green), and for the most part, been very happy with them. Recently though, there seems to have been a disappointing change in the way they manufacture these. In two of my last three orders, the wires are sleeved and shrink-wrapped with much larger, sloppier material, which makes them somewhat unsightly and significantly more difficult to conceal. The sleeving is twice as big in diameter than it used to be, and the shrink-wrap at the ends is much thicker and sloppier fitting than ever. The wires inside are not any larger than they used to be, so as you can imagine, it produces a very sloppy and unprofessional look and feel. Anyone who uses these to build custom/show computers (as I do) is going to find them to be a more conspicuous and unsightly addition to their builds.

It appears the reason for the change is due to a change in the LED they use. Apparently, they are now using a lower voltage LED that requires an inline resistor, and necessitates much larger sleeving and shrink wrap for the sole purpose of being able to slide it over the resistor.

If this is the way these are going to be made from here on out, I will be hesitant to use them in my builds, as they are pretty ugly compared to what they used to be. Im going to try to RMA these back to the vendor, but Im guessing they will require me to pay return shipping costs, and Ill be better off just throwing them in my scrap drawer instead.
617670
I bought the same set about 2 years ago, and felt like the quality has really gone down.
1446616
Definitely not the quality of the Gold Fibre 5x8 pads from a few years ago (I have some copyright 2007 packs left) from before Ampad was bought out by Esselte.  The old ones were absolutely amazing.  These are "not horrible" but certainly no longer a premium product.  The paper is clearly a lower quality, glossier stock and the ruling is no longer the high quality brown ink.  Visually it's clear that even the manufacturing equipment is less precise.  Esselte should be embarassed.
1499339
I've ordered a LOT of these cables in the last year (because they were great; we put them all over the place, in each car, etc.) but the last couple of batches are noticeably not as thick, much flimsier, more like a standard, non-premium cable.  The connectors used to be molded on, now the wire at the ends looks like it's just shoved inside the plastic connectors.

The shipments now come in plastic bags, rather than the sturdy Mediabridge boxes they came in previously.  The cables seem to work, but not sure of the durability.  Guess it's time to look for a new cable supplier.
2984508
The quality of these wrenches went down hill. I have the same set that is about 10 years old and they are by far better quality!
167156
As other reviewers may have mentioned, the build quality has gone down quite a bit production was moved to China.

The binder is less rigid, and the paper quality is 50% of what it was before. Disappointing.
4920860
They seem to be made out of a different material than they use to ....they don't last any more. After a few weeks the turn to mush,,,,,,
2682335
I've had these for years and the new ones only get better....