5 Stars

This is an Haenchen Die Box made in Honduras Mahogany. It has a single door gimmick and a fairly unique feature that of: controllable sliding sound. This means you can control when the sound is made or not as you tip the box from side to side. I have not seen this feature on any other Die Box I’ve owned and really like it 🙂

The locking single door gimmick allows you to show a die on the box or not.  Haenchen produced boxes with no gimick, a single door gimmick (like this one), and a double door gimmick.

This is a nicely made box that will last for many years.  These are not as exotic as some of the Mel Babcock beauties, but still a fine prop.

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Magic Wagon had another great year in 2021 and as I look at the items they produced this year I continue to be amazed how they keep coming up with new ideas and have also managed to maintain their quality even during the pandemic.

Ghost Glass looks amazing and has a very clever mechanism that fans of Magic Wagon will love. It is based on larger stage item by Collectors’ Workshop called Toast of The Town c. 1997.  I particularly like the presentation by the always interesting Madison Hagler.   You can use any small object that fits inside the “glass” container and because there is no switch involved a wide variety of presentations could be developed if you want to spend some time playing with this.

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Magic Wagon had another great year in 2021 and as I look at the items they produced this year I continue to be amazed how they keep coming up with new ideas and have also managed to maintain their quality even during the pandemic.

It is pretty easy to get a little confused (jaded?) with all of the glass and mirror penetrations that have been devised, a few of which can be seen here.  Magic Wagon themselves have created at least seven:

1. Atomic Glass Penetration
2. Mod Quad Penetration
3. Pagoda Mystery
4. Silken Glass Mystery
5. Ultimate Penetration Frame
6. Impossible Glass Penetration
7. Mystic Mirror

But I must say after seeing Madison Hagler’s incredible performance this moves right up the list.  Not only does Madison weave an interesting story line during his performance he displays the prop perfectly and operates the gimmick flawlessly.  Having spent hundreds of hours creating my Speed Demos I am very familiar with how long it takes to create such a smooth performance.  Madison makes it look easy and effortless – or maybe he is just that good 🙂  Either way, I really appreciate the effort Madison –  a really perfect performance.  I look forward to many more in 2022!

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They ended the year on another high note with a wonderful card penetration performed perfectly and then some by Madison Hagler. Madison shows two routines which are a little different from the supplied routine and really turns this bad boy into a complete miracle.

The method has shades of Wolfgang Grosskopf’s Pocket Sawing in Half though Wolfgang uses a much simpler prop and his method is less angle-prone.  However, I think if you perform this straight on, as Madison does, you can come up with more interesting routines using Magic Wagon’s item.

Either way Magic Wagon had another great year in 2021 and 2022 is just around the corner. One can only wonder what goodies they have in store for us next year, I can’t wait 🙂

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A Super Card Penetration that was originally called Phantom Penetration and was invented by the English magician and inventor Brian “Tish” Godfrey c. 1933 and sold by Davenport’s.  Brian Godfrey also created an improved version c. 1936 called Penetrating Giant Card Mystery. This was also released by Davenport’s, who purchased the sole selling rights.

It was subsequently renamed as Improbability and released c. 1937 by the National Magic Company in Chicago, Sherms Inc. (Robert Sherman), and Stanyon’s.  None of these versions gave credit to Godfrey.  Even Dr. Albo states it was invented by National Magic Company in Vol. 3 of his Classic book series.  A notable version was also released in 1970 by Buma’s House of Magic in San Francisco.

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What a cute piece of magic this is created in a very limited edition by Méo and Mandrile.  It is called a Magic Toy rather than a magic prop but really it is just as magical as many, many items from Tenyo and they don’t call their items Magic Toys.

It is really very magical …  and if you watch Rob’s routine in the video he has developed a wonderful routine that is easy to do and has some fun and plenty of mystery.  It works automatically as you close the lid, there is nothing to flick or hidden switches to move.  Just open and close the lid and the magic happens.

It cannot be examined and as issued it does not come with any sort of routine.  But after reading the account of how David Williamson made Attaboy a closer for his act in David Regal’s excellent book Interpreting Magic,what makes an entertaining routine is clearly nothing to do with the prop and everything to do with the performer.  So in the right hands, I am quite sure this could be a complete miracle, with tears and laughter too and if you watch Rob’s routine in the video he has it all and he has done an amazing job 🙂

This really does everything you see in the video. So if you like what you see then you will love this bad boy.  I can’t see anything going wrong with this and if you spend a little time coming up with a routine lie Rob did in the video, you will have a real miracle on your hands.

Great Job Méo and Mandrile 🙂

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I wasn’t consciously collecting the Okito-Williams series masterly crafted by Carl Williams but I seem to have added quite a number of them.  This latest addition is by far the most impressive of the series and one of the prettiest pieces of magic you can own.

I can’t imagine how difficult these are to make from scratch but it looks beautiful and after I maintained the vertical slide bars, according to the instructions, it works smoothly every time.  It is easy to perform but quite large so you will need a reasonable size table to perform this.

I included a beautiful and large 36″ silk and brass bullet wand so that you’ll have some suitable objects out of the gate to use for the penetrations.  An effect this breathtaking requires equally fine items to use for the penetrations 🙂

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Boy what a rare and beautiful example of D.A. Tayade’s work this Rice Vase is.  It stands 15″ tall which is quite a lot more impressive and rarer than the 11″ and 13″ ones you normally see. This will look amazing in your collection or in your next performance.  Made from wood and perfectly hand painted this is a premium example of this classic effect.

The load chamber is massive and although you can fill it pretty close to the brim and still vanish all of the rice, I found it easier to work with if you minimize the amount of rice you use – just makes the whole effect a little more manageable and less messy without detracting from the magic.

The problem I have with this effect is normally it is over too quickly.  I managed to track down a great set of routines by Eddie Joseph titled Queen Esther’s Magic Vase that appeared in the December 1965 issue of Genii magazine.  And after reading through those routines I came up with the routine below.

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This is one of the last things I purchased from Frank Starsinic’s great company before he closed-up shop earlier this year. Frank produced a great line of custom bags, pouches, cases, and various leather goods and will be missed. If you have a nice set of Linking Rings then this is the perfect carry bag.

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I’ve always liked Masuda’s Frozen in Time, but this latest update using ideas from Swedish Mentalist Lars-Peter Loeld really turns this is to a real miracle because the frame can be fully examined by the audience.

It is easy to do and you’ll no doubt love this as so many others already do.

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