I have owned many versions of Jack Hughes’ Penetra-Spheres (more popularly known as Hole in One) that Jack first invented c. 1937 (see World of Magic Vol. 1, pg. 109) . However, I must say this is the first version I have seen that pretty much works itself without any special balancing act and also allows the chosen ball to be placed in any location instead of the same place each time.
Anthony Yap at Retro Rocketeers really has created a marvelous version that looks great and works incredibly smoothly and although it cannot be examined it can be fairly freely shown all around without fear of detection.
What I really like about Anthony’s work is not only does he have the technical and creative skills to create these beautiful props, but he understands enough about performing magic to also create props that still make sense and routine well. Sadly, this is not always the case with some collectible props.
The only minor issue I had with this release was the choice of marbles – they are quite fragile and in fact one arrived in pieces when this unit was shipped to me. I have subsequently replaced the original marbles with more suitable ones that do not suffer from this weakness. There are plenty of 16mm marbles to choose online so this was not a big deal.
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