Perhaps you could do what I have been doing. I haunt thrift stores yard sales and places like that for old rods that are fixable. About 3 weeks ago I got a 6.5 ft Abu Garcia spinning rod that looked terrible. I cleaned it up, replaced the tip top and now it is a spinning rod nice enough for any youngster to be proud of. My cost $.50 for the rod, $1.50 for the tip top, labor free. Can't beat that plus it might just get a kid into fishing and off the streets.

Tim