Reviews

This effect uses the exact same method and a very similar gimmick to Richard Himber’s Solid Gold Gimmick marketed by Richard Himber c. 1957.

Although there is no credit to Himber (which is always sad to see) Dr. Schwartz’s version does work very well and if you are one of the many who does not own the original Himber version (since there were only 100 created) this will work perfectly well in it’s place.

There is a lot to like about this method and effect.  It is easy to do and looks very good from the spectator’s view.  The mechanism is quiet and although you certainly cannot be surrounded the angles are great from the front.  The fact that you can hand the deck to be shuffled at the beginning and handed out at the end really is a great advantage.  There are also no electronics to recharge.

Although I’m still a Devano type of guy I could see this being a useful if you really want a clean, hands off close-up rising cards.

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Fifth times a charm? Not for me 🙁

So here is yet another version of the T.A. Waters’ amazing Box Office which has been recreated so many times it is hard to keep up.

Magic Wagon themselves have now produced five different versions of this effect. For this version they have changed the internal mechanism quite drastically. As a result you no longer require a paper clip attached to the predictions, and the prediction is seen roughly in the center of the box.

However, for me, these are only things magicians even think about, and I prefer the simpler classic mechanism.  I found this new method a little more finicky and the change does not seem like progress.  The box looks amazing and it will look great in your collection.  But if I was going to perform this effect I would use Mind Paintings II or preferably my custom version here which I feel are both superior to this version.

Magic Wagon’s other versions of Box Office:

• Mental Safari
• Mental Safari Deluxe
• Mind Paintings
• Mind Paintings II
• Egyptian Prediction Chest

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I first purchased this beautiful close-up performance area in 2002 and loved it. Unfortunately, I was forced to sell it a year later 🙁

Luckily in 2021 I was able to purchase it back from the same person who bought it from me. The good news is it was exactly the same complete with my original initials “ARM” neatly stamped on the rear, and it looks perfect in the Porcupine 🙂

I will not replace my standard Gig Rig table but I’m sure there will be a time when it will be just what I’m looking for.

When you see this baby, your heart melts. It is bigger than you would expect, and provides a perfect working surface for performing. It also has plenty of room inside to store cards, coins, and everything magical. Even above the mirror there is space for cards and other small items. Also the door that folds down has felt on it to layout cards.

Arlen Studios advertise themselves as Magic Handcrafted by Magicians for Magicians. Well this was clearly thought out by a magician. Very strongly recommended.

Wonderful finish, very solid. This box is not overpriced at all. I wish the photos could do justice to it.

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This is one of the best items that Mikame Craft ever made. Heavier and more substantial than many of their other wooden items and beautifully made in natural Japanese Oak.  It is also more practical than the striking Criterion  Demo Table from Collectors’ Workshop, and looks as good or better.

The “demonstration table” is not designed for table hopping like their MC Hopping Table though at first glance it looks similar. This is designed to sit in once place on your table for formal close-up and/or dealer demonstrations.  It has storage for lots of close-up items beneath it, and coin and card sneaks on the backside. It also has a larger shiner to get glimpses of cards.

It really looks beautiful 🙂

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This is a beautifully made teak prediction box from Magic Wagon.  The prediction method is well hidden and quite devious.  However, I’m not sure predicting a card is what I would use this box for – there are already so many ways to predict chosen cards already.  A better usage would be to predict something much less expected.

One example would be to load up the box with letters or shapes or icons and have a spectator choose (say) 3 different symbols. Then use that as your prediction. That would be a lot stronger and not really any harder to perform.  It might take some research online to find the correct shapes or symbols but I think the effort would be worth it to turn this into the miracle it could be.

Just a shame to have such a big and beautiful box to reveal a chosen or thought of card 🙁

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A great version of Magiro’s Spirit Dice from Anthony Yap and Retro Rocketeers. What I particularly like about it is Anthony has made it look and work better than the original without going over the top.

Magic Wagon, who are no stranger to reproducing Magiro’s items, often go a little too far and ruin the effect.  So their version of Spirit Dice, called Devil’s Dice is a great looking item which does work well, but now you have this big box which certainly takes away from the simplicity of the original idea.  I know collector’s like their wooden boxes, who doesn’t, but it should not be at the cost of the actual effect.

What I believe that Anthony has done is create something that is still more interesting to collector’s but is not so ornate it detracts from the actual effect itself.  This version is simple and clean with bold dice and works and looks perfect.

Great job Anthony 🙂

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This is another beautiful item from Retro Rocketeers based on Okito’s Triangular Mystery. It  is a little more convincing than Magic Wagon’s version called Dragon’s Alter c. 2011, considerably cheaper and the props still look amazing.

What I also like about this effect is that it is mostly made from wood, Australian Jarrah Eucalyptus to be precise, rather than plastic and 3D-Printing.  It is nice to see Anthony focusing on wood as well as plastic to produce the most pleasing items possible.

It seems that 2024 was a great year for Retro Rocketeers to really establish themselves 🙂

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Meister des Zufalls (Master of Chance) was invented by Lubor Fielder c. 1960 and published in issue 1 of the German magazine Zauberkunst in December 1962.  This first issue was filled with amazing ideas from Lubor and was sub-titled “Neue Magische Ideen” (New Magical Ideas) and boy was that title correct.  The world of magic would never be quite the same after seeing Lubor’s ingenious and out of the box thinking.

Master of Chance epitomizes Lubor Fielder’s out of the box thinking  and it has fooled some of the most knowledgeable magicians in the world. The most amazing feature of this particular effect is every method you come up with (extra spots, magnetic spots, sliding panels, switches, forces, etc.) are all wrong and unless you are shown the method it is unlikely you would ever come up with the solution.  Everything can be examined before and after the effect with nothing added or taken away, and it is always ready to perform.

Wellington Enterprises have really knocked the construction of this effect out of the park and focused on the absolute cleanness of the method to maximize every inch out of this effect.  So much so that I’m going to keep my set for a while, which if you watch my auctions, know is quite a rarity 🙂

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Even with the recent release of Wellington Enterprise’s perfect version of this effect Anthony Yap at Retro Rocketeers was not intimidated and set out to produce a different and improved version of Lubor’s creation.  Whilst Wellington’s version was really stripped down to almost no stylistic elements, Anthony has added some nice touches so visually the props look a little more interesting.  He has also incorporated some design tweaks that make doing the moves even simpler.

If I was to perform this effect to lay people I’d probably stick with the Wellington version, even though there is little doubt this Retro Rocketeers’ version is slightly simpler to perform.  However, because the whole effect is so clean and simple and with the addition of the printed triangle prediction in the Wellington version there is no heat on the move anyway, so making the move easier is almost unnecessary.

That being said this really is a very worthwhile version from Retro Rocketeers, and it is great to perform and looks good in your collection too.

Retro Rocketeers continue to produce well priced, interesting and improved versions of many amazing magical creations and I look forward to seeing more from them in 2025.

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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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