I picked this up at an estate sale recently, and it was marked new, but I have opened it up to look at it. It does not appear that this has ever been used. It is very clean so it should be new in an open box as you say. The total length on this was right around 77 inches from the bottom of the handle to the tip. They may consider that a 6 foot rod then. See pictures for condition details as they are part of the description. As is. All sales are final. Thanks for looking.