Ricks Cues are top Notch!! In my personal opinion his mace break/jumps are the best out there... I have used numerous break cues and no other cue works as well for me... as Far as Quality he uses nicely figured woods and high grade materials and he also stands behind his product, I had an Insert mess up on the jump cut on my cue I went over to the shop showed him what happend and he fixed it free of charge.. the only cue that could compete with it to me would be an X-breaker a friend of mine purchased one, but I wasnt that impressed with the way it broke, I break better with my Mace w/water buffalo... but that damn thing could jump!!!! I dont think there is a better jumping cue out there.. the quality of the X- Breaker could have been a bit better for 400.00 there were some inconsistanties (sp) in the finish, and the tip seemed like it was "mushroomed" out a bit and rough on the edges(dull tool?)... I mean these things happen, I understand when you have to pump out so many cues some of these things are over looked.. and they dont really affect the way the cue performs. I think over-all it is a great product, unfortunely our pool hall has outlawed the x breaker because when you break it leaves white "scratches" on the cloth...