18-Piece Premium Kitchen Knife Block Set

It was past time to replace my dollar store chef knife with a decent set with a bread knife and no steak knives. I first looked at Wüsthof as I always liked that brand, but never owned any. I used a borrowed paring knife for a while and was impressed with the quality. My line cooking time is over and though I would have liked to have a set of forged Wüsthofs, the price was too much for occasional use. My favorite chef knife was a 10" wide Victorinox/Forschner until it got stolen. I replaced it with an 8" version, but it was not wide and felt very different. Still my first choice for stamped high-carbon stainless steel blades. Again, the price for a set was a bit high for use once in a while. I spotted the Amazon Basics 9-Piece Premium Kitchen Knife Block Set. Wait. A forged high carbon stainless steel knife set for that price? I read through all the reviews even the one with the picture of the broken knife, the set seems to be a good buy. Certainly better than a dollar-store knife and a few dollars more than an empty knife block. While I haven't given them a good workout on food yet, I can tell they are very good given the price. I would have liked the chef's knife to be a bit wider, but I can live with it as is. I tried the index finger and thumb holding test on the chef knife and it was comfortable, but not so much on the Santoku knife. I am new to the Santoku Knife. I guess I would hold and use it more like a cleaver. The knives all feel pretty sharp out of the box, though like nearly all new knives, they need some fine-tuning to be really sharp. Sure they are not a top-name branded knife set and if I was still a working line cook I would choose a different set, but as a casual home cook, I like these very much.