Firstly, it's a "slim" candle. That's what the packaging says. That isn't a problem, but it also isn't described as such here, so I wanted to let you all know that. I don't own another appearing candle, but it is a bit narrower than my vanishing candle (unknown maker), and a bit longer, too.

The locking mechanism works fine. No complaints after a handful of trials with it.

I haven't filled the tank yet, nor tried the wick. To be honest, I plan on modifying it so as not to use them, anyway, so I will not likely be able to give info on their quality at any time.

I'm not sure what problem the prior reviewer had, but the only thing I can think of is this: The candle came with a small piece of tape securing the lowermost coil. The instructions don't tell you to remove it, but remove it you must! I can imagine that the problems he described could occur if you don't remove that little piece of tape. So yeah, remove it.

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My ratings scale:
5* = The most amazing thing ever. (I rarely give 5* reviews.)
4* = Really, really good. I like it a *lot*. I give these where others will give 5*.
3* = Good. Does what it's supposed to do, and I'm happy with it.
2* = I don't hate it, but it isn't quite as good as I'd hoped.
1* = Nope.
0* = Run away!

if you know what an appearing candle is and you are looking to find a good one, well this is exactly what you will get here.

Well I bought this and the good thing was that it came very quick. I took it out of the package and the instructions just said to give it a twist counter-clockwise to collapse. I tried and tried but I couldn't. I had to somewhat mess with the bottom part to loosen it a bit and now it appears, but it doesn't stand up straight and the bottom is a mess. Maybe I did something wrong from the beginning but I'm not going to be using this for my show.