I knew when I ordered these that they were cheap knock offs of the really fancy, really expensive, Japanese tools. I figured for 60 bucks it was worth a shot, and I am glad I took the chance.
Pros:
1. Affordable for entry level into the hobby. Plant material can be costly, tools can be costly, etc. This affordable kit has enough in it to keep a beginner working for a long time. For less than the price of one tool from the high end. For bonsai you need 3 things: Concave cutters, Wire cutters, and scissors of some sort, a root rake/pick is nice but a chopstick or skewer will work for this in a pinch. And the concave cutters are semi negotiable depending on your tree. All 3 are here.
2. Relatively decent quality on the tools that are important (see above)
3. Ordered with super saver shipping and got it a day or two before earliest estimate.
Cons
1. The biggest set of scissors is very stiff. I tried lubrication and that didn't help, it's just a stiff joint.
2. 3 pairs of scissors seems a little extreme. I styled a new tree the day after I got these, and literally 2 of the 3 sets of scissors are unused.
3. This one is the biggest one, the wire cutter is almost worthless for bonsai. It is a scissor type wire cutter and for bonsai you really need a cutter that the blades butt into each other (think bolt cutters). The scissor style cutters have a tendency to bend wire as it cuts. When taking wire off of a tree that can lead to real bad scarring to your branches that will take well over a year to grow out.
Overall I'm giving these a 4/5. The tools I needed are in good working order but some of the other stuff is junky. The tools I didn't "need" are a nice addition. If I had purchaed (for example) a high end concave cutter it would in no way improve my tree or bonsai skills but I would have paid more for that 1 tool than for this whole set. If I had to go back and make the choice, I would definitely order again