The Casino Phantom by Retro Rocketeers

What a wonderful item from Anthony Yap’s Retro Rocketeers all the way down under in Australia 🙂 If you’ve been looking for one of Magic Wagon’s Mini Phantom’s from 2013 but have been unable to find one at any price, then this is your closest alternative.  Anthony does a great good job blending 3D printed items with real wood (in this case Jarrah Eucalyptus). Although, in my opinion, you’ll never truly compete with fine hard woods and brass, Casino Phantom comes close enough for all but the real die-hard fans 🙂

This item comes with two sets of chips: wooden chips and standard poker chips.  I personally found the standard poker chips the better choice for real performances – they contrast better and look more familiar.  However, having both choices is a wonderful touch and the wooden chips do allow you to perform a quicker version of the same effect with chips due to their thickness.

For someone who spends way too many hours researching the history of magic props, I’m pleased to see Anthony has taken the time to give a detailed and accurate historic account of  this effect on his website and video introduction.  Of course this item primarily began with Erhard Liebenow’s Chip Lift.

Retro Rocketeers have a growing product-line that is sure to interest many of you looking for your cool magic fix so I would check them out when you have a spare moment.

Effect: The Casino Phantom is a beautiful rendition of a classic piece with a rich history. This set comes with both wooden color chips and poker chips so that you can choose to perform a variety of routines and story lines. Within this piece a mysterious looking container is presented to the audience. Upon lifting off the container a stack of colored chips are revealed inside. All of the color chips are shown to be the same color (Eg. White) except for one differently colored chip (Eg. Copper). The Copper chip is placed right at the bottom of the stack and placed within the container. With a magical gesture the magician removes the container to now show that the copper chip has mysteriously jumped up through the stack by 1 position. The magician can then repeat this feat numerous times bringing the copper chip right to the top of the stack. At this point however a mysterious thing happens. When directing the copper chip to move downwards through the stack it instead is seen to completely disappear! Only now to be found having traveled all the way down through the stack and underneath the platform itself!

With the platform being made from a Australian Jarrah Eucalyptus wood for a luxurious natural deep red hue along with handmade and hand painted parts, each of these sets is produced with care and in limited series. A collectors signed certificate of authenticity is included with each set.

A rich magical history: This stunning piece has roots that date back nearly 100 years. The most commonly known origin was the effect Blue Phantom made by Hans Truck almost 100 years ago now in 1924. This used larger pucks on a rod and often saw a bright blue puck make it’s way up and down a stack of golden or white pucks. Then in 1969 German magician Ernhard Liebenow created his miniature rendition known as Chip Lift. Chip Lift used a new method to manipulate colored chips with the odd colored chip slowly moving up through the stack. This version has been what all the most recent versions have grown from. In 1990 Tony Lackner released Super Chip Lift. This saw him introduce the now iconic bell shape lid along with advances in a variety of routines that saw the odd colored chip first appear within the stack, seeing it rise through the stack only to then disappear from the stack and reappear under the base! Next up and most recently Magic Wagon released their Mini Phantom now 10 years ago in 2013. They kept the iconic bell shape and introduced the idea of Casino chips instead of colored chips. In this set you’ll have the option of using colored chips or poker chips with differences in both of these explained within your tutorial.

Assembled piece measures approx. 10cm Wide x 7cm high

Video Tutorial Link Included: A link and password to a video tutorial is included along with your items. This video features Anthony Yap walking you through the method, explanation, and some helpful tips on learning this effect.

Material: Australian Jarrah Eucalyptus & Eco Friendly PLA Bio-Plastic.

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