Bendix Bombshell (1985) with Booklet by Dave Bendix, R.A.R. Magic

“The Bendix Bombshell is the BEST card in wallet ever and will fool everyone. Even magicians won’t see it coming” – John Mendoza

There have been at least four authorized versions of the wallet produced that I have seen (and probably plenty more unauthorized ones):

1. Original c. 1975 – (3 7/8″ x 7 3/4″) – R.A.R. Magic.
2. Version 2 c. 1982 – (4″ x 8″) – R.A.R. Magic – this is the one John Mendoza had.
3. Version 3 c. 1985 -(4 3/8″ x 7 1/4″) – R.A.R. Magic – first release of Bendix Bombshell routine book,  this set the mold for future wallets.
4. Version 4 c. 2010 – (4 3/8″ x 7 1/4″) – Martin Breese and Tony Curtis – updated release of Bendix Bombshell routine book.

This is Version 3 c. 1985 complete with The Bendix Bombshell booklet.

Here are a few details that I have been able to piece together (mainly from Roy Roth’s account here) of the early days of development of the Bendix Bombshell:

Ed Brown created the Window Wallet c. 1975 and a routine using it was published in Kabbala Vol.3, No. 1, January 1976, called: Between Elmsley, Brown, and Himber.

The Window Wallet was the inspiration for a number of great card men including, Ed Marlo, Dave Solomon (using Ed Brown’s own wallet), Jon Rachenbaumer (Talismanic Card in Wallet – Lecture Notes 1, 1976) , and Dave Bendix to create some wonderful Card to Wallet routines.  The second you see the the diagram on page 1 of the Kabbala article you will recognize the familiar set-up for the special Himber wallet that we recognize today as the Bendix Bombshell.

In August 1975,  having seen Ed Brown’s wallet (even before it was published in Kabbala), Dave Bendix wrote to Roy Roth of R.A.R. Magic asking to have a special wallet created and by December 1975 Roy had delivered three wallets as promised to Dave, who gave his spares to Ed Marlo and Dave Solomon.

Dave Bendix gave exclusive rights to Roy Roth to create and market the wallet and the first ads for, the Roth named, Bendix Bombshell appeared in Abracadabra December 27, 1975 – the early versions even included routines by Ed Marlo and Dave Solomon.

As far as I can tell the big change to the Window Wallet that Dave Bendix came up with was the addition of the zipper and the layout of the slots such that it could facilitate the easy retrieval of the chosen card from inside the zippered compartment. These beautiful changes in combination with the other ideas of the original Window Wallet – in particular the amazingly clean switch – make for such a satisfying effect which is probably why so many great performers like the Bendix.

Effect: The 1985 wallet was also released with the first version of the Bendix Bombshell booklet. It was written by R.A. Roth and edited by Martin Breese. This booklet was later re-typeset and cleaned up with the images recreated and released by Martin Breese c. 2010 (with no reference to Roy Roth whose name was on the first release!) as the book Routines for the Bendix Bombshell Wallet and issued with the Breese/Curtis wallet.

The first edition (of 51 pages) had these contents:

• Introduction
• The Bendix Bombshell
• Card to Wallet by David Bendix
• A Roy Roth Alternative
• Marlo Variation of Bendix Presentation
• Two Selections and a Wallet by David Solomon
• The Wallet Game by David Solomon
• The Roy Roth Bombshell Routine
• The Enigma Bombshell Routine by Bob Driebeek
• Marlo’s Wallet Combination by Edward Marlo
• Marlo’s Alternative Ending
• Bendix Bombshell for Cabaret by Larry Becker
• A Better Bendix by Karrell Fox
• Currency Exchange by Phil Goldstein
• Blushing Jumper by Roberto Giobbi
• Seeing with the Heart by Borodin
• C.B.S. Transpo by Peter Isaacs

And also why John Mendoza has said many times it really is the Best Card to Wallet ever 🙂

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