reaction: i-con rock throne

What is there to say? It's a stool. Admittedly, it's a comfortable thick cushion to put my fat butt cheeks on. I got it for 2 reasons: it was on sale ($20 instead of the usual $30) and because I was previously playing Rock Band 2 while perched on an old department store fold-out job of a stool... not very comfortable after 3 or 4 songs.

But where does one draw the line from "furniture" to cheap gaming gimmick? Well, I don't know who I-con subcontracts out to for manufacture of their "Rock Throne" but I could feel the cheapness the moment I took it out of the package. I felt it in the form of a metal shard jabbing into my index finger like. The debris appears to be a small metal filing from one of the staples on the underside of the seat cushion. A real furniture company would have quality control to prevent this sort of debris remaining on the final shipping product.

After plucking the sliver out of my skin and applying a Band-Aid, I inspected the seat carefully to make sure there were no other surprises. There weren't, but my point is clear: be careful when you unpack yours.

Assembly is relatively simple. It's a seat cushion, a tri-pod bottom with a locking clamp to hold it open, and a stem with 3 holes drilled into it. A bolt and wingnut (and washer) is inserted into one of the 3 holes along the stem to lock the stool in place. So while you're limited to exactly 3 fixed heights, rest assured it's 3 very solid heights and you won't be accidentally dropping the setting while playing.

In fact, the only down side is seeing the embossed i-con logo on the faux-leather staring at you when you're NOT sitting on it reminding you, "why did I ever buy this anyway?"