5 Stars

Oh boy what an stunning beauty from Italy this item is!  It is a complete re-imagining of Magiro’s highly sought after Babuska by Ottavio Belli’s N8 Quality Magic.

Although the basic method is all Magiro the look and quality of the props, and the improved mechanism are all Ottavio.  This prop is a huge upgrade on the original and looks simply breathtaking.  Some times when Magiro’s items are redone, they loose some of their magic, but not so with this beauty.  This is just the right amount of ostentation and improvements to fully perfect Magiro’s masterpiece and if Magiro were still with us I’m confident he would be very pleased with this release.

This will certainly look perfect in your mini-magic collection and if you put in the practice to make it as smooth as Ottavio’s demo you will have an effect that will continue to wow them for years to come.

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It’s very rare that I get to add a new Richard Gerlitz item to my site and although Richard released this beauty in 2005 this is the first time I am adding one to my site 🙂

As with all of Richard’s items he spends a lot of time creating intricate methods and routines.  When this item was released some collector’s raved less about this item than others.  I think that is mostly because it takes a little more practice to get smooth than some of Richard’s other items.  But like all things once you read the instructions and play with the props a few times the handling starts to fall into place.  There is nothing difficult to do, with no sleights, and a few trial runs will have you performing this bad boy like a champ.  Just by looking at Richard’s original video or my freshly minted Speed Demo you can see how effective the presentation is.

After playing with this today I can appreciate this more than I did when I started and as a rare Gerlitz beauty whether you perform it or display it will always look good in your collection.

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Boy what an amazing resource Jim Kleefled has created here 🙂  It is filled with pretty much every lock trick you can think of and tons more.  In addition to reading about amazing props and locks, I love how it has lots of historical tidbits to really immerse yourself in the history of this fascinating subject and a very detailed discussion on the highly popular Seven Keys to Baldpate theme.

The only lock effect on my site I could not find in the book is the super rare Keyrumba by Carl Williams but everything else I searched for I was able to find, and there are many others I don’t have that of course appear too.  Makes you wonder what I’ve been up to all these years 🙁

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This is Loyd’s  wonderful mini illusion: The Jewel Chest of Ching See.  I featured the Mike O’Dowd’s remake a few years ago and although I found the O’Dowd version quite serviceable there is no doubt this original looks better and works smoother. The Jewel Chest of Ching See itself is most likely derived from the Phantom Die Cabinet offered by Thayer Quality Magic as far back as 1912.

Loyd (Edward Loyd Enochs: 1897-1968) was born in the UK and moved to the Pasadena, California as a young man.  He made some of the finest magic apparatus available during the 1930’s-50’s which was sold through Thayer’s and as Loyd’s Magic.

This Jewel Chest was the inspiration for Richard Gerlitz’s incredible Jewel Chest of Sea-Ling so if you are unable to find or afford Richard’s beautiful version this beauty will help you scratch that itch 🙂

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If you didn’t think Jim Kleefeld could top his previous Magnum Opus, Locked, think again.  Jim has done it again with a second massive work for mentalists, magicians and historians – this time tackling the ever popular category of magic and mentalism: The Book Test. 

Here are just a few of the commercial products he features in his book and these barely scratch the surface of the amazing treasure trove that awaits you. Every time I think I have a pretty good selection of magic on my site I open up one of Jim’s books and quickly realize so many more effects there are out there, this history project of mine could take a while 🙁

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The idea for the Counterfeit Detector was created by Dick Zimmerman c. 1989. He contacted George Robinson at Viking Mfg. and after some refinements it was released in 1992. Viking made a one-time run of 500 units and it has not been produced again. It is a great little item with a wonderful routine.

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This is Eric Lewis’ wonderful Savoy from his book A Continuation of Miracles, built by the talented builder and designer Carl Williams.  Mr. Lewis built just two sets and gave one of these to Carl Williams in 1991.  Carl then built just 12 copies (with permission from Eric Lewis) and presented them as highly desirable Christmas presents to his magic friends in 1993. The following year Eric’s son Martin Lewis created his version and sold them through Magikraft Studios c. 1994.

The Savoy is one of the best switching devices ever created and looks so clean.  It can be used for coins, cards, billets, rings, and pretty much anything that will fit inside the locket. Even though you can see the chain and locket all the time you can make the switch at any time simply by pulling on the chain and lifting the locket up into the spectator’s hand.

For the demo I coupled it with Viking’s half dollar version of Quartokito which is the perfect size for this locket used in this version.

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This is one of Alan’s earliest creations from his painted mini-magic period.  It is similar in look to Dice-A-Matic which was produced shortly afterwards.  Like Dice-A-Matic it is a simple method but with Alan’s routine you get the most out of it.  I can just imagine the look of wonder of the child helper when she hears the invisible man scratching away inside the box 🙂

Because it is a general purpose box it can be used for any kind of note or can be used to force a card or business card or billet.  A great little item that I’ve only recently managed to track down.

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Wow what a rare beauty this is 🙂

This is really something different for sure. Perfectly made, great looking, and entertaining routines, that are easy enough to perform with a little practice. There are two main routines detailed below as Effect 1 and 2.  Effect 2 is easier to do and really doesn’t require any great skills and the only move is called the Gypsy Switch which is cleanly explained in the instructions and really is just a flick of the silk hanky.

The harder thing might appear to be adding the coin to the very well gimmicked watch but when the great Fred  Kaps used to perform this he would simply have his hands behind his back while the audience were participating.    Like all well planned routines if the tricky things (mentally or physically) are performed at the correct moments most of the stress (guilt?) is taken away from the performer.  Once you perform it a few times all of those fears tend to fade.  I used to worry about John Kennedy’s Mystery Box for years until I finally performed it live and the response was so great I’ve been doing it ever since without issue.

Based on my practices today for the Speed Demo I will be keeping this bad boy and I am looking forward to performing this live soon, so unfortunately you won’t see it on my auction site anytime soon 🙁

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Finally released in Half Dollar size – thanks George 🙂

Here is another overlooked classic effect created by George Robinson at Viking Mfg.  It might seem similar to other Okito Box type effects, but it is quite unique in effect and method.  In essence the QuartOkito Coin Box is a Boston Box designed to hold a single half dollar.  But there is really nothing like it and it is simpler to use than most boxes and due to the visual vanish in mid air is under less scrutiny than usual because the spectator sees the coin disappear!

The set-up is even easier 🙂 If you read the instructions first and read how to do “the move” – it is not really a sleight because you don’t really do anything in secret and it is not the same as the normal Okito turnover move because it is all covered by picking up the lid – you’ll be pleasantly surprised how easy this is to do right in front of them. Watch the video and it should be clear how smooth this is (I hope!). play with this for a ten minutes you will very quickly see how effective and easy to perform this is. 

When it comes to the vanish what is particularly effective is that the coin that the spectator thinks they signed can be seen right up to the second it vanishes instantly in front of their noses. Why this is important is that there is no heat on the switch into the box or tube that the coin reappears in, and the spectator swears that the coin was still in the box after you hand them the Lippincott box (which is supplied separately).

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