Year: 2020

Wow a really unique Haunted Skeleton Key hand crafted from scratch by the amazing Buma complete with a very unique gimmick you’ll really blow them all away with. Takes a little practice to make it look as good as Buma does in the video, but not hard too do.

Just look at the time Buma put in to create such a unique key. Great job Buma!

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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.

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Gammatration and Cosmovision was invented by R.W. Hull c. 1935 and was refined and perfectly manufactured by John Snyder c. 1938 and less than fifty of the deluxe version were created. It is a very clever piece of magic combining two basic effects – the penetration of a jumbo card and the visible transposition of the two jumbo cards complete with signature!  And at the end both cards can be minutely examined there are no holes or damage.

The instructions are quite long and confusing but once you understand what is going on the effect is easy to do and basically works itself.  A little practice is important to get the routine smooth but if you spend an hour or two playing with this you’ll have a miracle on your hands that will amaze and amuse all who see it.  This will even fool the boys down the club.

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The legendary British Inventor, Craftsman, and Dealer, Jack Hughes, invented this item c. 1938 when he was building magic for Davenport’s. 

This is a very rare find and the first time I have seen a genuine Jack Hughes original – if you look closely on the base, you can clearly see the name “J. Hughes” stamped not once but twice. Not only is this the original, it is the best version of the effect I have seen.  Some key points:

• It works with both Bridge and Poker sized cards
• Allows for more than one card to be vanished with zero reset.  You can vanish one after the other up to five cards (not that you would want that many, but multiple vanishes does look good).
• The release uses two prongs made from clock springs, one on either side, which are very reliable and make for a clean vanish almost every time.
• Easy load – just drop the card in the frame (as though it was just a frame!).
• No premature Vanishes.
• The Vanish does not require visual queues, you can stare at the audience the whole time.
• Never misses – some versions of Card Go can miss and seeing a card flutter to the floor maybe funny but it is not very magical.
• Almost silent operation.

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This item is remake of the amazing close-up effect by Clarence Miller called  Nuts & Bolts.  Apart from the ornate design this uses the same method as Clarence.  Magic Wagon changed one key part by removing the need for black art, but to be honest I’m not convinced it was a necessary change and now you can’t freely show the back of the cabinet and an extra action is required for the effect. It does look a little cleaner when you look inside the box closely, but I’m not sure how big a problem that was with the original.  The look is definitely way more impressive and the construction will last a lifetime, but otherwise it is all Clarence.  For collectors who like the ornate style there is no doubt the Magic Wagon version will appeal more, but as I a have said many times when it comes to entertaining and fooling the public, less is often more.

On to the videos … things are really heating up in the Magic Wagon YouTube world and competition is stiff. For this bad boy there are six versions!!!  Not all good Magic Wagon items get many (or any) videos but if they are easy to do and visual then they will get more.  I don’t ever recall seeing six videos so this item is very popular!  I’ve included five (which is my website’s limit) on this page.  The winner is the amazing Simon Corneille who was clearly inspired to produce an outstanding video with all the extra trimmings that Simon is making a name for.   Simon’s video is a real inspiration 🙂 There maybe more videos at some point so follow this link for more demonstrations.  (I should add that Simon did add a few extra pieces to be able to perform his video, including buying two sets of the prop itself.)

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This is a real winner from the always thinking German craftsman Thomas Pohle.   When I first saw Madison’s video I was amazed because I called out the name of the trick without knowing it (WTF!).  I had no clue how it worked, until I received it then I could see again.  What a clever idea that will fool them.  Madison’s video is perfect.

Great job Thomas – good to see you still can fool and amaze me 🙂

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It is hard to put into words how good this wonderful collection is from the English Master Craftsman Colin Rose.  But Richard Kaufman says it best : 

“I was thrilled to receive my Colin Rose 20th Anniversary Box, certainly the finest magic set made in the last century. Every piece, including the box, speaks to Colin’s amazing craftsmanship as a master woodworker.”
Richard Kaufman (8/29/2020)

Here are some of my thoughts on this stunning project.  Firstly, there is a ton of magic filling every inch of this beautiful box:

1. Mini Ornate Flash Frame
2. Baffle Box
3. Block & Tube
4. Obedient Ball
5. Snapper
6. Spot Paddles
7. Money Box
8. ‘Mystified’ Card Box
9. Dutch Sandwich
10. Chinese Compass
11. Geometrik
12. Imp Bottle
13. Ball Vase
14. Money Machine
15. Billet Knife
16. Loose Change/Chop Cup Combo
17. Coin Wand
18. Cups & Balls
19. Large Wand
20. DieCeption

Secondly, Colin goes through every single item showing you the effect and how to do it in a video that was specially created just for this collection.  What I enjoy most about this video is how much joy Colin gets from talking about and performing each effect.  You can clearly see that he has put a little bit of his heart & soul into this project.  You can see the performances  in the videos individually laid out on this page (I have edited out the methods of course).  My guess is that by watching the videos you will quickly be inspired to revisit some of these effects as Colin’s joy in performing them is quite infectious.

Thirdly, what an amazing selection of new and old items all crafted with such care and attention.  There is no dud in the box and for the price Colin is clearly not doing this for the money.  Even at Colin’s every day reasonable prices, there is still about $2000 worth of magic in this box.  The collection is so good I have decided to keep it for now.  If you watch my site you know how rarely I actually keep anything, but this box fits neatly on my shelf and I feel it is worth keeping around as it will be hard to part with.

Finally, what I most like about this boxed set is how it makes me feel about magic.  How can you not love magic after receiving this box, playing with the magic inside, and watching Colin’s joy and expertise in performing the items right out of the box. I still smile every time I hear Colin say: “Where does that onion keep coming from?” 🙂

It is truly a magical box created by a very talented craftsman and magician who clearly loves magic.

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One of my favorite Jack Hughes items is Penetra-Spheres that was invented c. 1937 shortly after Jack invented his tray version of Coins In Glass. Penetra-Spheres was licensed by Abbott’s for sale in the USA and was sold for the first time c. 1947 under the name Hole in One which is the name most people know this effect today.

There have been many versions of this wonderful effect produced, but it has been years since a good version has been created.  Until now.  Arsène Lupin (Slawomir Piestrzeniewicz), the Polish magician, inventor and manufacturer, has created easily the best version of Penetra-Spheres available today.  It is not quite as good as the infamous Definitive Hole in One of which only three were made by The Trickery c. 2004, but it is close enough.  This is what I like about Arsène’s version:

1. Very precise and quick mechanism with no balancing or peeking required!  You don’t need to look at all and I have yet to miss.  Just cover up your balls, ask the audience which ball they chose, staring at them all the time, then when you whisk away the hanky their ball is sitting right there  entrapped in the center.  Works perfectly!
2. Related to 1. the small shot glass has been replaced with a permanently fixed metal holder so you’ll never drop the shot glass ever again. 🙂
3. High quality materials.
4. Thin base (unlike the appalling version here).
5. No small fence border that is common in the Abbott’s versions and even the original Jack Hughes version – you’ve probably got used to it by it is not clear it really serves any useful purpose and it does reduce the visibility of where the action happens.

If you ever wanted to perform this beautiful classic now is the time.  You’ll love this version and if you have ever tried one of the Abbott’s versions or most of the others you will be very pleased how easy this one is to master. 

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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.

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This is an application of Lenz’s Law and there have been a number of effects based on this  phenomenon including the beautiful Mystic Tubes of Sea-Ling by Richard Gerlitz and Paul Green’s comedy presentation: Field Sobriety Test. 

However, for my money, if you want to perform the effect this is the best version. This routine is structured so each phase builds until you are convinced that that the moon rock is real and magical.  This is a great example of how a good routine can transform a simple science experiment into full on wizardry!  The belief is aided by the beautiful props that are solid and look genuine as you have come to expect from Wellington Enterprises.

There is a simple switch involved but because the routine is so well structured you’ll have plenty of cover and if you want to perform this you’ll quickly master it even if you avoid other effects that require a switch.

These are now getting hard to track down, but well worth the effort if you like creating miracles 🙂

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