Thank you for the opportunity to feedback: Each alligator clip had a broken jaw apparently due to the manufacturing process. They were forcibly closed so that one jaw twisted into the opposite jaw and got stuck there; requires opening the jaws with a miniature screwdriver. They were clamped so tightly that attempts to force them apart by "unclamping" in their intended position, like the usual means of spreading the jaws apart, proved futile. The use of this particular product in production requires a second jam clearance prior to use, which should be avoided. I would characterize this anomaly as a quality issue.