Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Out of desperation due to my recent addiction to cotton candy and failure of my Nostalgia Retro machine after one month....I bought both this one and the $49 Waring. I'm sending the Waring back...it is the appliance from hell. If Stephen King made appliances instead of wrote books...he would have made this thing. Not only did it simply not work.....while cleaning it to put it back in the box it cut me deeply enough to need a butterfly. The edges of the spinner head were that sharp. But this little guy? I'm truly amazed. After screwing around with that Nostalgia thing for a month I could barely keep up with the speed this Back to Basics produced. And to all the people complaining about the size of the cone.....it's technique I promise you. Something else I value highly.....this product is made by Westbend. As a precaution I wanted to purchase a new spinner head and bowl. I went to the website expecting a massive hassle and in less than 5 minutes had found the parts. They were so cheap I bought two....LOL. CON....one con.....the bowl itself is very flimsy and cheap. I cracked it the first time I washed it (does not effect function) and it rattles...a lot. Earthquake putty took care of that little problem. :) But the price of a new one from Westbend....$5.99. Spinner heads.....$5.99 For the price you really can't beat this machine. And it really is technique...it just takes practice. And YES you can use plain sugar...YES you can make your own flavors with Koolaide (premixed with the sugar) or any type of extract added directly to the spinner head along with the plain sugar. NO you should not use sugarless candy no matter what the other machine says and NO you should not use extra fine sugar. I use the organic sugar Amazon sells....it works great. Have fun! Upgrading to 5stars...it's now June 2012 and I am still delighted with this machine. I am over the "living on cotton candy" phase but still use it a couple times a week. The only slight "complaint" I have is that when it gets hot the plastic expands on the bowl and it gets loose...which is why it rattles. But a very minor thing compared to the performance for under $30