Year: 2008

Beautiful Collectable Magic

It’s always exciting to get a new piece from the amazing French craftsman Francois Danis. I have just received his two latest items both using Dominoes. This first one, The Dutchman’s Dominoes, has a very striking red and black box with gold trim and lined with red felt to protect the solid walnut dominoes within.

The finish and preciseness of these props is perfect. Francois has come a very long way from some of the early props he was making. The effect is a clean prediction of any of the dominoes. The dominoes are gimmicked and can be used either to force a specific domino (4) or with a simple ruse show that you predicted a different domino. They can choose any of the 6. The props are versatile enough it seems you could use them in a number of ways and due to the number of dominoes there are obvious tie-ins with dice.

This is a small enough prop with no real reset that you could even use it for walk around. It does come with an interesting patter story, as does all of Francois’ magic, but I’m not sure it would fit my style.

I would give this 4 stars for routine and mechanics, but 5+ stars for the craftsmanship. It is just a beautiful outfit.

Highly Recommended for Collectors everywhere!

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Great Routine to Complement Sheer Beauty!

So when you have a truly beautiful prop like Mel Babcock’s Rainbow Die Box, it helps if you have a great routine to go along with it.

I assembled these props using basically the routine that Larry Wilfong devised (and that ships with the Rainbow Die Box instructions). It requires 4 silks (Red, Yellow, Green and Blue), a Silk Production Box (which has been renamed thanks to the wonderful world of P.C.!) and of course the Rainbow Die Box.

It’s a great little routine and allows you to make the most of each phase of the Rainbow Die Box.

Thanks Larry for inspiring me!

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Sometimes you can sell too much!

Most magicians I have known have, at one time or another, sold a prop that they never used only to really regret it later. Dean’s Box is one of those for me.

I don’t really know why I sold it, but I’m glad to have purchased a new one. Interestingly enough, the cloth has changed color from red to black and back to red since the first time I purchased this effect.

This is a beautifully made box with a really wonderful series of three effects with some rope and a ring. It is easy to do, though it takes some handling practice.

Highly recommended, and this time I hope not to sell it!

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The Exquisite Joy of Mel Babcock at his Finest!

When it comes to Die Boxes, Mel Babcock really is in a league of his own. If you have never experienced the giddy feeling you get when you receive one of his packages you are truly missing out on one of Magic’s great experiences!

This latest version of the Die Box, based on an old Thayer design, is surely the best Die Box Mel has ever made. As with his standard Die Box, the weight and feel of the box is perfect. You have to hold it to really appreciate how well it sits and works in your hands. All the actions are incredibly smooth.

Now for the extra features – the doors and ends of the box have inlayed wood panels which truly look beautiful. In addition you are supplied with two brightly colored and superbly painted dice, which during the course of the routine change places and finally change into two dice of totally different color.

I can’t express how wonderful I felt as I opened my package today!

A wonderful, wonderful piece of craftsmanship.

Highly recommended!

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Good use for a Rainbow Deck

This is a fun routine that logically makes sense from R.A.R magic back in the ’80s. I updated it to use Randay Wakeman’s Rainbow Deck II instead of the deck it came with. The wallet is beautiful of course as is all the leather work of Roy Roth, and has 3 color changings.

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The best Rainbow Deck?

Most rainbow decks are made up of a collection of random cards from real decks. Sometimes the colors are wrong, they don’t have borders, they don’t fan smoothly, or they are not all precisely cut to the same size.

This deck is different: it was specially printed to have different backs from the outset. Very well produced and useful for many different card effects if you use your imagination.

The only possible issue I have with it is that some of the designs don’t really look like card backs at all – just 52 almost random images. Not sure if this is really an issue, but if I was to show you some of the designs you would not think it was a card back. Again this might not really be an issue, just a thought.

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Five Stars for Ingenuity!

Steve Dusheck might not be the best craftsman in the world, but his ideas are second to none. This is an old item that I managed to track down again and I love it. It is not made as well as I would like from a Collector’s point of view, but it is a very clever idea and works perfectly.

The effect allows you to tell which number they select on the die without any funny peaking or moves. Instant reset too. Very clean.

I’d love to see this made in Walnut or something similar – I wonder if my good friends over at the Trickery are listening?

Wonderful Effect!

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Clean, Simple, and Nice Props too!

Steve Dusheck always has clever ideas and this one well made too!

The effect allows you to tell which number they select on the dice without any funny peaking or moves. Instant reset too. Very clean.

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The Perfect Rattle Box!

What a wonder this little rattle box is – and I do mean little, it is a fraction of the size of regular rattle boxes. Craig Brooks has a real winner on his hands with this amazing little device. I have sold all my other rattle boxes and now only use this one. Unfortunately, this means I could not put a picture of a more traditional rattle box as a side by side comparison – but there is a huge difference in both height and length.

It looks beautiful and works perfectly too. This level of detail and very fine craftsmanship is something you rarely see these days, particularly for such an inexpensive item. The small size makes it all the more convincing as it is much closer in size to the coin you are vanishing. The new style rattle mechanism, which takes a little while to get used to, is unique to Craig’s box too and you soon realize what you’ve been missing all these years!

All in all, a very perfect addition to my collection – I can’t wait to see the next magical item that Craig produces!

Highly Recommended!

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