From the “Toy Story” franchise to the “Santa Clause” film series, Tim Allen has remained a staple of pop culture for decades. Of course, for many, he’ll always be Tim “Tool Man” Taylor from the iconic sitcom “Home Improvement,” which he starred in from 1991 to 1999, becoming a fixture of the big and small screen. In fact, the show as a whole has yet to fade from the zeitgeist all the years after its conclusion.
Despite wrapping up almost 30 years ago, “Home Improvement” has maintained some measure of relevancy in interesting ways, such as Allen reprising his Tim Taylor role on his other long-running sitcom, “Last Man Standing.” There’s also the prevalence of Binford — the fictional tool brand present throughout “Home Improvement” — in other projects. It turns up in a surprising number of non-“Home Improvement” projects, so many that you’d be forgiven if you might’ve thought that it actually existed in the real world among the best and worst of the major power tool brands.
Decades after the end of “Home Improvement,” Binford Tools is still all over the place. Here’s where else you can spot its branding throughout the entertainment world.
Last Man Standing
Years after “Home Improvement” ended, Tim Allen returned to ABC’s sitcom spotlight on a similar project. “Last Man Standing” featured Allen as Mike Baxter, a marketing executive with a wife and three daughters, rendering him the odd man out. Seeing as “Last Man Standing” was an ABC production and Baxter wasn’t too dissimilar from him as a character, it’s no surprise that the face of “Home Improvement,” Tim Taylor, swung by for a cameo — once again portrayed by Allen, of course.
Taylor’s presence isn’t the only nod to “Home Improvement” in his “Last Man Standing” episode. Not only was the Season 9 installment, titled “Dual Time,” a play on the name of Taylor’s in-universe home improvement television program “Tool Time,” but it also features a reference to its biggest sponsor, Binford Tools. As seen above, Taylor wears a Binford shirt along with his signature tool belt. Overall, though, this Binford Easter egg wasn’t too much of a shock when it aired. After all, the brand had appeared on “Last Man Standing” before, such as in Season 6’s “A New Place for One of Our People,” in the form of a toolbox.
Toy Story
Even though Buzz was a totally different role than Tim Taylor, “Toy Story” still manages to pay homage to the series. With Woody (Tom Hanks) trapped in the toy-butchering Sid’s (Erik von Detten) room, Buzz has to free his friend from his imprisonment. On top of the box confining Woody is a toolbox weighing it down, which bears the Binford Tools logo. Oddly, the toolbox is colored red instead of Binford’s signature blue color. Perhaps this was to make it appear like an innocuous, generic red metal toolbox or like a piece from one of the major portable toolbox brands.
Will Shifting Gears Feature A Binford Reference?
Even though Tim Allen is still all-in on the “Toy Story” franchise, with the fifth film on the horizon, he’s still committed to his small screen roots and his affinity for everyman roles. January 2025 saw the premiere of his latest project, “Shifting Gears.” This time around, Allen portrays the widowed owner of a classic car restoration garage — not unlike those at the center of the best car restoration shows out today — named Matt. His world is turned upside down when his estranged daughter Riley (Kat Dennings) and her two kids enter the picture.
At the time of this writing, “Shifting Gears” is only a few episodes deep, so viewers have only just gotten an idea of what to expect from the series. However, it doesn’t take much to tell that the show is the perfect platform for the return of Binford Tools to the small screen. Allen’s Matt is a similar enough character to Tim Taylor and Mike Baxter, and the show predominantly takes place in a garage, which is the perfect setting for a tool brand to make its presence known. It also helps that “Shifting Gears” is an ABC production, just like “Home Improvement” and “Last Man Standing.” Thus, the stage is set for the Binford Tools-iverse to expand even further.
On screens of all sizes, Binford has stuck around well beyond “Home Improvement.” Time will tell when, where, and how the fictional brand will pop up next.
