"Autolycus" wrote in message
...
Why do all electrical appliances sold with 13A plugtops have plastic
protectors on the pins?

Because all of the leads with it come from an enormous factory 4 hours north
of Shanghai where somebody once complained of the brass they were using was
tarnishing before it got to the customer. This was their solution. They
make millions of these leads a week and so the cost per unit of the plastic
is very low, but I agree it's a total waste.