I have a $6.00 Rival iron from WallyWorld. It replaced three (different brands) expensive "quilters" irons that died one after another, none lasting more than three months (one only a week!).
I looked at the quilters irons on Amazon, read every single review; read the reviews for more irons; decided to just go buy something cheap until I made up my mind if "expensive" was worth it.
*LOL* The little Rival turned out to be the perfect quilting iron: it irons dry without spitting, has plenty of steam when I want steam, is very lightweight, and turned out to be the ultimate bargain! 
BTW, the three expensive irons were either replaced or we got our money back because Costco has great customer service!
Last edited by HouseDragon; 12-17-2012 at 11:09 AM.