Let me detail some of the problems with removing the cartridges:
Lime builds up on the brass sleeve around the o-rings. You can't pull past it, particularly because on an old valve the o-rings have become hard as a rock.
You start with the Moen puller. The core pulls out. At this point, you can switch to the Pasco tool. That has a little spring-loaded button that slides into the cartridge body until it pops into an inlet hole.
You then try to twist the cartridge and slide it out.
But the cartridge won't budge - won't twist, won't pull.
You're stuck.
Now, you cannot remove the Pasco tool.
You put more pressure on the tool, and it bends. Now, not only can you not get it out, but when you take out the faucet or valve and cut it to pieces, the bent tool will no longer fit in a cartridge so you have to throw it away.
And, to add insult to injury, the 1225 plastic cartridges are getting older and will actually break in half when you try to pull them with the Moen puller, leaving the bottom half embedded in the faucet body.
Maybe that's why Moen is now moving away from the 1200 series cartridges to newer-style designs that don't resemble them at all.