Review by Andy Martin for Perfection Card Box by National Magic Company
4 out of 5
This is a very worthy attempt by Jim Sherman’s National Magic Company to create a card box as good as P&L’s stunning Ultra Perfect Card Box.
My copy is past it’s prime (and it looks like the interior has been repainted), but you can see how close Jim got. The soldering is not as clean and the overall finish is a not as shiny (though that could be age). If you look at the final photos you can see how similar it looks to the Standard Model P&L pictured. But a very worthy attempt and a nice looking card box for sure.
Review by Andy Martin for Spin A Card by Bob Kline
4 out of 5
This is visually appealing item from Bob Kline and there were only 12 made. The unit stands 14″ high and is very well made of thick Plexiglas. The wheel spins very smoothly and it is easy to perform. If desired the whole dial can be examined and freely spun before and after.
The effect is very similar to the classic Spirit Clock Dial using cards instead of a clock dial. The method in fact is the same as Tony Lackner’s Astral Dial though I’m pretty sure it was first used decades before that.
Review by Andy Martin for Mental Clock by Arsene Lupin
4 out of 5
Arsène Lupin (Slawomir Piestrzeniewicz) is a qualified medical doctor from Poland who became a full-time professional magician in 1980. He placed second for Manipulation in FISM 1982 and 1991, and third for Invention in 2003. He creates some really wonderful and unique magic that is well priced.
This is well made effect by the Arsène that is similar in method to Final Card however instead of just one card being found, 4 numbers are revealed in the end. The effect described, with all of the audience looking at their watches, sounds more amazing than the method really is. For sure it is possible to perform the effect as stated below, but it does require fairly precise timing and most people will probably not want to be bothered with it. Instead they will go with a more fixed target of a prediction or a birth date, etc.
One more from the talented Kent Bergmann! Before Kent became the king of 3D printing he created quite a stir with his Z-Wood (Zebrawood) line of magic. This is a rare beauty from those times. Anything from his Z-Wood Magic line is highly sought after by collectors.
Betcha looks really pretty, but the effects that come with it are a little disappointing compared with the quality of the props. In essence there is a magician’s choice, a mathematical game, a corny joke, and a surprising magical transposition to end. Luckily all is not lost … if I was to perform Betcha I would incorporate one or two other effects:
Free Will using the props that come with Betcha (die, chess piece, domino, and prediction)
Free Will (play this last if you don’t do the Anverdi Mental Dice)
Domino transposition
Anverdi Mental Dice (Extra Optional Bonus)
If you don’t have either Free Will or the new Anverdi Mental Dice I would strongly advise that you get them …
Of course you can stick with the original routine and you might decide to tweak it a little. It is not bad, but just felt a little light for the beautiful props. If it was a cheaper item it would probably be fine. But who are we kidding, if you are a collector you’ll probably never perform this anyway, so it will look great on the shelf regardless 🙂
I would give this 5 stars if Free Will had been incorporated into the original effect.
Review by Andy Martin for Majestic Meteor Ball by Magic Wagon
4 out of 5
And here is the final effect from Magic Wagon for 2019 and I’m actually caught up for the first time in years! This is another unique and well made effect which looks good and will certainly appeal to collectors. There appears to be no sign as to where the little golden meteor ball disappears too – it simply vanishes between the two blocks into thin air!
In some ways it is similar to the Atomic ball effect with a little more dressing. Some collector’s really love all the dressing up of the props, but if you are going to perform to lay people I prefer things stripped down – well made, but without all the frills. That is why I much prefer the original Magiro Hydro Die to the much more impressive Magic Wagon Majestic Hydro Die. In many ways this is why I like Eddy Taytelbaum’s magic so much – he makes really excellent props but with the possible exception of his Mummies they are understated without too many extra embellishments. But it takes all sorts and these beautiful props do make for a very wonderful display 🙂
Review by Andy Martin for The Talismanic Card in Wallet (Window Wallet) by R.A.R. Magic, Ed Brown
4 out of 5
This is the Talismanic Card in Wallet or Window Wallet that inspired Dave Bendix to create the Bendix Bombshell. This wallet was made by Roy Roth, but it is based on the original ones made by Ed Brown. 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.
Having seen both wallets up close I still prefer the Bendix, but both wallets have interesting applications.
Review by Andy Martin for Self-Locking Card Box by Wayne Sanderson, Tannen's
4 out of 5
Locking Card boxes have been around at least as early as 1876 with Professor Hoffmann’s seminal Modern Magic and also 1897 with the publication of August Roterberg’s amazing and detailed book New Era Card Tricks but the locking mechanism’s in both Hoffman’s and Roterberg’s designs use springs and/or pressure. Even Thayer’s beautiful mahogany Lock-Flap Card Box c. 1931 used a similar method.
Most modern locking card boxes use magnets and as far as I can ascertain this one by Wayne Sanderson was the first of it’s kind and it was released by Tannen’s in 1947. This particular version is designed for bridge sized cards and can hold a full deck (though not in the card case). The locking mechanism is so perfectly weighted that it does not need an external magnet to release the flap, just shaking the box in the hand with the correct downward motion will release the flap. This is actually a nice touch if you have lost as many magnets as I have 🙂 The other feature of note on this box is that it has a black painted interior such that you don’t have to worry about the wood grain changing after the reveal.
The wood used is not a fine hard wood like many of the special card boxes produced today, but it works well and the flap works very reliably.
The name of this prop in German is actually Kartenetui: which Google translates to Card Case. And the German instructions refer to three distinct effects. Unfortunately, their are only English instructions for the final sawing effect, and although there are German instructions I am not sure if they are complete or not. I don’t speak German and the Google translation was not that useful.
As a collectible this is certainly rare, but you will need to spend some time with the props and a good translator to figure out all the details. As it stands you can perform the final sawing effect but the other two are a little more elusive and should be considered bonus items if you can figure them out. At the very least a deck of bridge sized cards would be needed.
By continuing to use the site, you agree to the use of cookies. more information
The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this.
