A lady on my league team has the Acme case that resembles the Ultimate Rugged 3x6. After reading through this thread, I decided to do a close inspection/evaluation of her case the other night, and this is what I observed:
The Acme case, though a decent value at its price point, is not in the same class as the Ultimate Rugged. It was obvious from the moment I picked up her case that the outside material was not as tightly sewn onto the main tube of the case. The material around where the handles are sewn on is inferior to the JB case, as are the zippers. The interior of the case (the "heart" of a cue case imho) is decent on the Acme, better than a lot of cases out there, but not in the same class as a JB case. Acme did have a feature on the case that I thought was a good idea...a tab that when pulled allows you to pull the entire innards of the case upwards allowing easy access to remove the cues.
All that said, I've bought a lot worse cases than an Acme case like the one my teammate has, but for my money I still think a JB cases offers a better quality case with top-of-the-line protection for my cues. On a side-by-side comparison of our two cases, it was clearly obvious that Acme was absolutely trying to copy the looks of the JB case, using cheaper materials, and selling it at a lower price point.
And just so you all know, John and I have had our differences in the past so I am not posting this because I'm a fanboy, but simply because I believe in his product.
BTW John, thanks for personally fielding my phone call last week amid all the turmoil you were going through and helped me find the tracking info on my recently ordered case (it came that very day). Not a lot of companies out there where you can call for support and actually talk to the head honcho. I appreciate that and I'm forming a new and better opinion of you.
Take care and keep on crankin' out those excellent cases.
Maniac