Side by Side Comparison of: Lighter USA vs Queen City Candy vs Fujima vs Sigara vs Hometown General

This is my third Top-O- Matic purchase and I will say probably the sturdiest machine you can find at any price. I have been using the original for years and years and a spring finally broke. My second purchase was for the electronic model which I found out cannot make 100mm cigarettes.I have tried many times and the tobacco simply will not fill up the tubes fully. So back to the manual machine will makes perfect 100mm filtered cigarettes.

We had a similar looking machine that was horrible to use for the 4 years we had used it. The Top-O-Matic is far more consistent, smoother and quieter. No more wasted tubes due to incomplete fills or breakage.

Love this thing, I save so much rolling my own smokes now it's not even funny. This thing knocks out a pack of smokes in 5 mins or less when you know what you're doing. Only tip is to make sure you do not over fill this or it will jam up on you. Once you get the hang of how much to put into it this thing is a breeze.

My first experience with rolling my own smokes. It was so easy I couldn't believe it. This is a heavy duty piece of equipment. I am impressed. No trouble using it what-so-ever except for the tubes not filling right from time-to-time. I saw reviews where this was so hard to turn the handle, and I have to chuckle. I am a 58 yr young woman who has been very ill and out of shape. THERE IS NO PROBLEM MAKING SMOKES WITH THIS QUALITY PRODUCT. (I took the advise of a friend and some reviewers and did not buy the "newer" version. They remarked this one was far superior. Glad I listened.) With the vast positive reviews on this product that speaks for itself.

I'll start off by saying I ordered this machine around 2am Jan 20th. Somehow, I received it on a SUNDAY, just four days later!! This is two days before it's ETA. I couldn't be happier already.From opening, to rolling 20 perfect, error-proof cigs, took only 35mins. I'm sure I'll be even faster next time! This is almost fun.One things I noticed, is that upon injection, the tube slips off the nipple. This makes a small amount of spillage, but at least the tube is completely filled.Follow the directions, don't be overzealous, and enjoy saving $$$ while you smoke :)Oh yeah, the included hardpack is the cherry on top!

I have been using this machine since September 2013. Works without fail. I strongly recommend it.I normally use pipe tobacco, buying Natural Tobacco in bulk 5 pounds at a time for $13-$14 per pound. Expect to get 2-3 cartons per pound depending on what kind of tobacco you are using and how tightly you pack it. If you don't know, pipe tobacco is normally coarser than cigarette tobacco. If used as is, you will normally have a smoke that burns fairly quickly because it ends up being packed loosely. Lately I have been dropping my tobacco into a blender giving me a finer tobacco and definitely longer smoke. Works like a charm.I use 100's filter tubes. Handle them gently as they get crushed easily. I have found that a round pencil saves any tube that gets damaged. Simply insert the pencil, smooth out the paper with your finger and your ready to go. You also need to carefully insert each tube onto the top-o-matic stainless steel tube. Undoubtedly you will damage the end on a few cigarettes. Simply remove them, insert the pencil, and your tube is saved.One of the secrets which took me a couple of weeks to learn is, "Don't pack your tobacco to tight into the holding chamber". If you do you will end up using a lot of muscle on the lever that inserts the tube and tobacco into your tube. If you are using finer tobacco, use your packing finger very lightly. Your goal is to be able to insert tobacco into you tube with only moderate pressure on the insert lever.The pot-a-gold behind all of your effort is that you can expect to reduce your cigarette costs to around $20 - $25 per carton if you purchase bulk tobacco. That is a nice savings in today's market place.

It's a nice cigarette machine. My mom ordered it for her but when she found out it was not made in THE USA she sold it to me and I like it but I have to go to the kitchen to make mine becuse it has to be on a flat surface. But it does make them fast a little messy but if you put it on a paper you can save what drops off

Well I bought this for my son and he loves it..... I have rolled many cigs as well with this and I was over filling them at first and.the crank would jam. I learned not to do that....not to over pack. I don't smoke so wasn't sure how much to put in but I only gave 4 stars because my hand really hurt after using the Top o matic. Cranking them didn't hurt but holding the machine in place with my left hand made my hand and thumb hurt. All in all seems to be a good cig maker and you get your money's worth of all the cigarette's it makes.

My husband is a smoker and to save money I roll his cigarettes at home for him so that he doesn't have to be constantly buying packs at the gas station. It is quite a bit smaller than our old one but it is perfect for me because my hands aren't that big so this is just the right size. My only issue with this is that sometimes Tabaco can get a little backed up after a dozen cigarettes and will jam from time to time and it makes it difficult clean it out.

Improved sliding action from the one I bought several years ago. Only problem I have with this is that the tube that holds the paper tube may be thousandth too large. Some paper tubes bind and generally tight. If it gets to be annoying, I'll sand the outside until the tubes are generally snug.

This is my 3rd Top-O-Matic cigarette rolling machine. The first one lasted for well over two years; excellent machine. I absolutely wore it out. So I bought a 'new and improved' Top-O-Matic II. Less than satisfactory service out of that unit, so I returned it and bought the original design unit. This last unit appears identical to the original rolling machine, but truthfully, it tends to hang up a little more often. That could be the tobacco, or it could be looser tolerances in the unit manufacturing; I just don't know for sure. The cure for the problem is simply to clean the machine occasionally.Either way, I recommend this original Top-O-Matic rolling machine. One can easily roll a carton of cigarettes in less than 45 minutes.

Good product, I've had it now for about 6 months or there abouts, One problem I have with it is that it has a plastic bushing on crank handle (inside body) it hasn't broken yet but I had ordered a backup just in case. Nice steel body, easy fixes just order parts (even if your not mechanically inclined, it's easy to repair). It's still doing a good job, consistent rolls as long as you pack corners with tobacco first as instructed and don't over stuff the chamber (build up of tar on blade) easy to clean with vinegar. Vinegar cleans tar off blade better since it is an acid. Alcohol doesn't do as good a job. If you take care of the unit and clean it often it will last awhile. Do order replacement parts in case it breaks. I ordered the plastic bushing and 2 blades, tobacco blades (stuffs tobacco in tubes). I won't buy cigarettes in stores again.

It gets the job done.

I bought this machine back in November and it worked beautifully now it's the end of March and I already need a new one. It's already jammed in a way it's worth $45 every 4 months but then again it's not.. something is wrong with it and I know it's not the springs.

Sometimes a little difficult

This model and the one after it are great machines but you need to learn how to load them properly and how to fix them when they get damaged which is rather cheap. But they definitely art is durable as you would think.

Don't be stupid like me, buy a 'spare', and then not try it out until the one you're using breaks. This has happened to me TWICE with this brand. In fact the first one I purchased was making a grinding noise from the jump, but since it was my first experience rolling and with this brand of machine I didn't realize I had a dud.So 3 stars since sometimes they send you a 5-star machine, other times they send you a zero. I'll probably buy another, but I'm getting tired of this since the latest machine only lasted about 2 or 3 months.

Its an alright product, it does what it needs to but I couldn't get it to fill 100mm cigarette tubes even after I removed the piece of metal that you're suppose to in order for it to be able to fill 100's so I had to use king sizes, which isnt that big of a deal, the main issue is that after about a month (pack a day smoker by the way) it s***ted out on me, the thing that holds the tube in place doesn't hold on to it for as long as it should, so I would hold it shut with my fingers and sometimes that worked but usually it would cause the tube to tare. In other words I recommend this product, if you're buying enough cigarettes that the amount of money you'd save would actually make a difference but if not dont waste your money.

About 1/3 of "cigarettes" fill correctly. Just doesn't pack em down to the butt, resulting in a limp, floppy, worthless finished product. Have tried everything to get consistency, just won't cooperate. If you like wasting 2/3 of your time and materials, this is the machine for you, thus the 2 stars.

Works great but broke after a months use. So bummed. But it is under warranty for 1 year. Thought I finally found a good one. Maybe I just got lucky, as usual, and got a faulty one. I will not take another chance to exchange

This product is only a couple of months old and already doesn't distribute the tobacco evenly through out the tube. I pack the ends first just like directions state and do not over pack but it doesn't send the tobacco all the way to the filter end. I have cleaned and checked everything but can't seem to find if there is a problem. Not happy with it as it should of lasted at lot longer than this for the price.

I give it two stars bc I dont like how it rolls obviously. Half way through the process it gets stuck..Feels like scraping metal. I know this is a good machine. May I advise the assemblers...Dont use the product before you test it. You smoke weed, so I shouldnt need champion arms to roll a smoke dude. So yes, I will order this one more time..Then I can only assume ur hiring a bunch of heads for assembly work..Where do I sign up?

I know the billions of positive reviews may outweigh mine but I know what I'm talking about. I have tried everything: adjusting the amount of tobacco, packing just the ends, packing all of it, etc & the cigarettes almost never come out right. Either they are too loose or too tight and don't want to burn. I am about to give up on this machine. The machine seems to be made well but it does not do the trick. Yeah, it seems to be a stellar idea but it's next to impossible to get a perfect smoke. My opinion; don't waste your time. It may cause you a headache!

This machine worked great for about 3 weeks, then every part of it started to slowly break down. Eventually, the crank handle became so loose (with no way to tighten it) and the whole machine became useless. Very disappointing. I would not recommend this product. I replaced it with the Powermatic 2 Electric Cigarette Injector Machine, which was about $22 more than what I paid for the Top-O-Matic. Wish I had gone with that from the start; lesson learned.

I gave the machine a second chance, this being my second time buying one, but the exact same thing happened again. Basically it works amazing for a bit (this one lasted only two months) but then for some reason it just stops filling the tubes all the way with tobacco. You can sit there and hold the tube in to try to make it work but that's just a huge pain. You could waste 12 dollars if you had activated the warranty within 30 days of the purchase, or you could just spend about 20 dollars more and get an electric one in the first place which have had no problems so far.

Product worked correctly the first few times, then suddenly it decided to stop working altogether after a day or two. It would refuse to dispense any tobacco whatsoever into my filter tubes. I had one which I purchased in stores and that exact same one never gave me an issue. I decided to order this one as a gift, but it broke soon after. I emailed the seller and not once did they reply to me. Not only was I ignored, but I am also stuck with this heavy paperweight now.

I have bought 5 of these in the last 6 months and they have all broken this is a really bad product and a waste of my money. some of these did not work out of the box. I will submit my claim to Amazon and see where it goes but this product SUCKS.

I am a very long time user of this machine. I have noticed that the life of this product is getting shorter and shorter. I just received my latest machine yesterday and am thoroughly disgusted. I have rolled two cartons and have gotten blisters from using it. It is such a shame too because this used to be a good product but after my last two machines I am switching. I would send it back right now except I don't have the extra $200 for the machine I will be buying next. It is also a shame because if they used some more durable parts in building the machine and had better quality control the machine it would be a great product.

I have had several of these machines over the years. Sadly, this one has not worked correctly from day one. I am lucky to get one good cigarette for every 5 attempts. Either they are not making these as well, or I just got a defective one. These machines are nice if they are working properly.

Tolerance of the parts that DO fail is so lax this machine I received began to poke holes in the tubes within the first 50 smokes; the last 2 I owned lasted for 3 years but the moving parts have so much play the engineers either did not know or care and it is sure that Republic Tobacco doesn’t give a darn.I was going to return the JUNK but did not figure to get anything better from the company as the ratings have been down for the last couple of years and did not wish to waste my time or gas, the TOP tobacco is also pretty bad so I prefer Bugler but will soon go back to buying packs of some brand from the store.It is a shame as I had good luck with my last machines and the seller did send the machine on time without troubles.Companies could care less about their reputation.