Pyramid Studio Masters Nickel ClassicR

I have been very unlucky with these strings. I have long dreamed of putting them on my 1954 Stratocaster replica that I built for myself in 2015. It is a dream to play and sounds superb through it's alnico 3 elements with a very light weight 1 piece swamp ash body and maple neck. So far I have had Elixirs on it while I looked around for something really special.
These seemed to fit the bill nicely and were first ordered many months ago. They arrived quickly and they looked good, being nice and smooth and shiny, so I rushed to put them on. Alas I was too hasty and slipped whilst mounting the d string and ruined it. It was late and I was tired and I have never done such a silly thing before or since. Elixirs went back on until recently when I was able to order more.
These arrived quickly but I could see a problem immediately with the nickle winding wire. It was a blotchy grey colour and left grey soot all over my hands when I touched them. I gave them a wipe down and put them on but although the electrified sound was semi-reasonable and at best a bit dull, the unplugged sound was simply awful and very dull and my hands were dark grey within seconds as well as grey flecks all over my natural wood finish. Great for a really fast relic job but not very healthy! They were also very gritty and tore at my fingers and shiny polished frets.
Thomann quickly replaced them with another set and lo and behold exactly the same problem. I am unable to call or email Thomann at this time due to some unknown problem.
To summarise, I think that Thomann have offloaded some very old stock onto me without checking it and it is a frustrating waste of my time. I hope I have better luck in future.
The outside of both packs were somewhat scuffed with white showing through the orange where the string ball ends sit underneath, so there is a clue they have been kicking around for a while. C'mon Thomann, lift your game a bit here please.