I recently became aware of a couple of interesting resources for getting good quality tools without going broke.

The first one is a list from 2014 entitled 10 Hand Tool Brands That Don’t Get The Love They Deserve (local copy here).

Personal favorites on that list include Proto (yes, they're still in business!) and Wright. My 3/4" breaker bar and the socket I use on mower blades are both Wright and they're super nice.

The second one is a web site called Tool Truck Rebrands which is pretty much what it says on the tin. It will come as no surprise to people who are students of supply chains and know, for instance, that there is a huge wholesale market in bulk whiskey and that the local craftwork is ageing and blending (our local distillery, Bowman's, actually uses feedstock from Buffalo Trace) that a lot of the tools from tool truck manufacturers are actually OEMed elsewhere and have exact duplicates available from OTC, Lang, etc.

Check them both out.