I have used many of these types of cane in past, and so i was very disheartened when the one I purchased basically over popped apart on first release. It shot out so hard it unwound. We were able to get in re-sprung, but now are unable to successfully close the whole way no matter how we attempting to rewind it. Very stiff. This was to be our backup for an trick in the musical PIPPIN. Fortunatly my 20 year old cane was still functioning great.

The mechanism will fail probably about every third time you use it. Which means, if you ever want to use the cane again, you'll spend who knows how long crawling around on your hands and knees searching for the tiny bits of metal that go flying when the mechanism fails. If you're looking for an appearing cane, keep looking, this one isn't worth a dime.

The appearing magic cane works very well. You must be careful not to trigger the mechanism before you want it to appear. It can be sensitive. The biggest problem is returning the cane to its' original configuration to use again, The enclosed video (DVD) is not clear and of only some help. There are no printed instructions, which could be very helpful.

When the cane appears, everyone is surprised, including the older boys with attitudes. The cane reliably swallows the silk I show first. My earlier cane, which was pretty good, got jammed by the silk and it broke. It may happen with this one too but not so far.

It takes a little practice to properly handle the cane when it appears because it comes out with a lot of force. A couple of times it shot out of my hands like a spear.

If you're not careful, you can cut your hands a little winding the cane back up. My wrist ached a bit after winding it up a lot during long practices, so frequent moderate practice is best.

But, again, it has great presentation and comes off as strong magic. Good to use when you want the kids attention.