Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I'm going to go into some detail here as I had a hard time picking a hoop. You really can't go to the store and look at 10-15 so hopefully this helps some of you. I'll specifically be talking about the product itself in the review and then I'll add in the auxiliary stuff at the end. 1. Sturdiness: one of the important things for me was how much it feels like playing in a gym with a real gym model. Our neighbors have a different brand and it feels like a toy version as the ball "thuds," agains the backboard. It wobbles after hit as well. This one does not. The ball comes off the rim and backboard almost as good as a gym backboard. The base is solid and does not have any give (see below on the base). 2. Materials: The pole is steel and the base is a hard plastic (with steel frame underneath). The wheels are hard plastic. You fill both with water to weigh them down. The base takes 25 gallons (I didn't measure it but that's what the instructions say and it that seemed about right). So the base alone is around 200 pounds. The backboard actually isn't heavy at all (my 8 year old daughter helped to hold it up while I screwed it in). The rim is a standard BB rim. 3. Heigh adjustment: Pretty easy. I'd say a 10 year old and up could easily do it themselves. 4. Portability: with the base filled, it's pretty heavy. If you want a hoop you can easily move around, you'd have to fill the base far less or maybe go with a different model. 5. Backboard size: 54" is nice. I don't think I'd say you'd need 60". Our neighbors have a 44" and that feels way too small, even for elementary ages. 6. Looks: it really looks nice. All the neighbors commented that it looks very nice. 7: Kids' vote: I was curious if the neighorhood kids would use it. Of course they were at the hoop within 10 minutes of me setting it up. They are skipping over the other hoops in the neighborhood that aren't as good (maybe a bad thing if you don't want all the kids around). Other issues: these aren't things that matter to me personally but I know other buyers do. So here goes: 1. Shipping: was delayed by 3 days. I think it was 7-8 days received after ordered though. Not bad. I was expecting 10 days anyway. 2. Instructions: instructions are very good. Actually, I'll say excellent. Almost any kid product you have to put together always has some parts that just aren't 100% understandable and you do your best guess. These were not. I had zero issue understanding the instructions. 3. Time to build: they say 90 minutes. That wasn't my experience. Of course I had 3 kids bothering me half the time but 90 minutes seems like a pretty aggressive estimation. 4. Customer service: I thought I was missing a part (it ended up being in one of the main pole parts). They were friendly and responsive. 5. Tools needed: you need a large ratchet set. If you do not have a large ratchet set, you will need to get one. The standard size will not work. I did not purchase the assembly from Amazon but I should have. I didn't because we were to receive the product on a Saturday and assembly would have been a couple of days later. I knew the kids couldn't wait if we had it on a Saturday. The price is only $20 - pay to have someone do it. It's not terribly difficult but still, if you have enough to buy this thing, $20 isn't much consideration. Overall: I like how it feels when playing. Almost gym quality on a portable backboard. Very nice. Significantly better than similar models.