Himber’s Fifth Dimension (Streamlined version) by Merv Taylor, Richard Himber

Piece-by-Piece Card restorations began in the 19th century with Hofzinser and Roterberg, but these were relatively primitive compared to the Visible Restoratation of a Card created by Okito (c. 1909); (See: Conjuring Credits).

Okito’s version was a direct descendant to Richard Himber’s Fifth Dimension, whether Richard Himber admitted it at the time or not. Himber’s initial version used a larger wooden frame, 5.5″ x 7″ x 1″, and the first copy reportedly sold for $200 in 1944 (which would have been approximately $3,681 in 2025), but most of them after that sold for around $25.

About a year after the original run Himber had Merv Taylor create a new streamlined thin steel version and it was quite stunning and was a lot smaller, particularly the thickness: 5″ x 6.5″ x 3/8″.  This streamlined version really is a beauty and is significantly smaller than even Collectors’ Workshop’s Vienna Card Frame that was released over 40 years later (see the final photos at the end on this page).

This is a lovely piece of craftsmanship from Merv Taylor.  It is easy to set and works perfectly. The only slight inconvenience is  that it was built for bridge sized cards not poker.  If I had a choice of this one or the CW one, I’d choose this one.  In this case smaller is certainly better 🙂

Effect: A selected card is torn into quarters and one is handed to the spectator for safe keeping – no switch.

The three remaining pieces are then vanished using your favorite method (something like the P&L Ultra Perfect Card box is just the ticket). Then the magician pretends to through one piece at a time towards the frame and they magically appear inside-beneath the glass-like a jigsaw puzzle.

The completely restored card can then be removed from the frame, and tossed out into the audience for examination.

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