Review by Andy Martin for Sewell Block on Rod and Norman Block Vanish by Paul Lembo
5 out of 5
Wow what an impressive piece of magic from Paul Lembo’s private collection! Only 4 of these were made and it is large and gorgeous and amazing to see. The Sewell Block on Rod appearance defies explanation because you can really see all around and through and there are no signs of the box. And yet a really solid and heavy block arrives magically on the solid brass rod after vanishing just as cleanly on the other pedestal without any explanation! This is one of Paul’s great reproductions and there are very few craftsmen left who pay this much attention to detail on this larger stage size scale. Really wonderful Paul!
Review by Andy Martin for Chip Trick by Willi Wessel
5 out of 5
Good old Willi! This is a wonderful routine with beautiful props from the amazing Willi Wessel! What I really like in the routine is how clean everything looks and how much Willi makes out of some relatively simple props. Also in the routine he ends up 100% ready to roll again. The beautiful box that houses the chips is also designed such that they are securely held in place during transport so you could comfortably use this for multiple tables at a close-up event.
Review by Andy Martin for HWallet by Henri Beaumont
5 out of 5
New magic wallets are almost as plentiful as custom decks of cards, almost. So I was keen to try out this new wallet designed by Henri Beaumont and produced by Marchand de Trucs (www.marchanddetrucs.com)
It turns out the HWallet is a wonderful multi-purpose wallet that is made of a fine, top-quality leather and is easily strong enough to be used as your everyday wallet. It has plenty of spaces for credit cards and cash and won’t look out of place like some magic wallets do. It has pretty much all the magical and mentalist features you can imagine including: card to wallet (palm and no-palm), out-to-lunch, shogun, multiple outs, peeks and some clever loading and unloading features. On the DVD (which is in French and English) there are five particularly good routines included too.
If you still have not found your “perfect” magic wallet, then this bad boy could be just what you have been waiting for.
Review by Andy Martin for Huitzilopochtli (2015) by Thomas Pohle
5 out of 5
I must say these are the best of the series so far. Huitzilopochtli is the Aztec God of War and this effect involves a very clean and clearly impossible penetration of the figure of Huitzilopochtli (conveniently stored in the base of the unit) through a disk held securely in the frame.
You show the beautiful and colorful disk in the frame and cover it with two bars that each have a channel through which the figure will eventually be passed. Using some cleverly designed clips the bars attach easily onto the frame and the set-up looks quite amazing. The spectator can try to push the figure through the channel with no luck. The magician can show the unit all around – there is nothing to hide, add or take away, and then with a magic wave of the hand the magician or the spectator is able to slowly but surely push Huitzilopochtli all the way through the disk. It really looks quite magical to behold. If you desire you can show the disk again at the end.
Please Note: In the photo you will see a hairline crack along the disk this is because of the high resolution close-up photos I take with my camera, for only a few feet this will not be noticed. The penetration really looks quite impossible.
A wonderful addition to the Aztec Series, that I know collector’s will quickly jump to!
Review by Andy Martin for The Golden Coin of The Aztecs (2015) by Thomas Pohle
5 out of 5
This is the fifth effect in the Aztec Series and my personal favorite so far. In fact this is one of my all time favorites of all the beautiful items Thomas has created. Firstly the outer box looks amazing – with very intricate patterns throughout. Thomas never spares any expense on creating the right atmosphere for his magic. This is reminiscent of one of Thomas’ classic effects: the Witch Boxes. However, the boxes are much higher quality and I think the main routine is more interesting and the mechanism itself is easier to work.
What I love about this apparatus is how smoothly you can switch between: gold, colored or empty coins because at any time any of the three can happen. This means the apparatus itself lends itself to other routines. But the one supplied by Thomas seems to work pretty smoothly.
Review by Andy Martin for Victorian Prediction (Drawer) Box by Dave Powell
5 out of 5
Dave Powell builds the most exceptional magic and I hate him for it. I’d love to buy his cute boxes and sell them quickly to make my site look good without having to incur the cost or the space in my office, but he has a habit of just creating the definitive versions of so many classics, that you have no choice but to keep them. I already have too much magic lying around here, so what does Dave do? Force me to keep more!
Dave’s magic doesn’t just look better, it operates smoother and looks more convincing. There are very few other current craftsman that are consistently producing magic of Dave Powell’s quality and imagination. Other craftsmen produce great items every now and then, but Dave hits them out of the park time after time after time. This Victorian Drawer Box is a case in point – I’ve seen plenty of drawer boxes, but none get close to the smoothness of operation as this one. Nothing compares. And if you factor in the prices he charges then it becomes even more crazy. His prices really are amazingly fair for such works of art.
What is really crazy is I still don’t think Dave has the reputation he should have. His magic creations are just amazing. If you have any sense you’d hurry over to his site now and buy all that you don’t have – you won’t be disappointed. Unless of course you really don’t want to buy any more really high quality magic but are in fact trying to slow down. Then, sadly, you will be disappointed.
Highly Recommended for anyone who appreciates quality and craftsmanship.
When you are serious about Magic Trick apparatus, Martin’s Magic is the place to see, and if you want to buy visit their sister site at Quality Magic Sales! They are the most reputable in the industry for serious magicians and apprentices who enjoy collecting the best from the best.
Review by George Guerra for Blue Phantom Perfected by Wellington Enterprises
5 out of 5
This is one amazing version of a classic in magic. I always liked this trick but never indulged myself to buy the parlor size due to drawbacks to the method, so settled with the Voit miniature model. All my concerns about the original effect have been addressed by Bill Schmeelk.
The base is gorgeous in natural walnut and deceptive in size. The cover is the same height as the stack of 7 checkers and looks beautiful in that hammered copper powder finish Finally, the checkers can be demonstrated to be separate at all times during the effect…yes, even with the blue in the middle (position can be varied if one likes but the middle is the classic one)
Operation of the effect is, to me, semi-automatic with no fumbling around the base, stack, or pole. All this comes neatly storable in the accompanying case. Only 13 sold to the public. Expensive but a lot of designing and work that is not so apparent by the pictures is in this apparatus.
This has to be my favorite Anverdi effect! For years I ignored it because I thought I knew what it was and didn’t want to pay for it. However, I’m so glad I recently purchased one because it really is a beauty and a 100% fooler!
It looks like a nice looking petty cash box – in fact I load it up with cash so it IS a cash box. You’ll notice when you open the box there is the cash and a smaller box inside – this holds the 7 keys. I show the cash and then take out the little box and rattle it ask the audience what do they think is inside – they invariably say coins. So I say no and tip out the keys and locate the one with the purple key fob (you could use a ribbon etc, but I like the idea of a fob as you could also have a prediction on there if you so desired). I give this to the spectator to lock the box – you never need touch it again after it is closed and locked by the spectator.
I then take off the key fob and shake up the keys so that no one knows which key opens the box. Then I tell the spectator they have 6 chances out of 7 to choose the correct key, and if they do they can keep all of the cash. This gets them interested for sure. Each time they chose a key and they try to open the box I ask them to discard the key in the little box so that we know we tried it. They can change their mind as many times as they want and they can try each key as many times as they want – there is no chance that the box will open. But when they finally leave you with one key, they can pick it up and amazingly the box opens.
This is so clean – nothing added or taken away and it just looks as clean as can be. A real miracle!
Highly Recommended for Collectors and Performers everywhere!
Review by Andy Martin for Dante's Magic Clock – Limited Edition (2015) by Thomas Pohle
5 out of 5
So Thomas has been so busy fulfilling orders he has not had too much time to work on new magic, but after a long wait I have received potentially the pinnacle of Thomas’ career so far – the absolutely stunning and beautiful: Dante’s Magic Clock. This item is going to be very rare due to the amount of work required to build it, but if you can get one pay whatever it costs!
Here is my routine:
You begin by showing the amazing Dante’s Clock – it has two dials that slowly click by with suits and numbers on. They just keep clicking around. At this point no one knows why but the routine is counterpointed by the subtle clicking of the clock as the dials move around. At the base of the clock is a drawer, which you open to display a deck of Steampunk Pirates which look perfect next to the clock. You take the cards out and have them shuffled – they are clearly all different.
You have two cards selected – the first one is not looked at but is instead placed directly into the matching card box face down. The second card is selected and this one is seen by the spectator and then placed clearly into the middle of the deck: let’s say it is the Ten of Clubs.
After these choices have been made, the audience is made aware that the clock has stopped ticking. It was ticking away and then silence. Now the magic really begins:
Firstly the two dials are looked at and they show the Ten of Clubs!
Then the secret card that was chosen first is tipped out of the card box, and it is the perfect mate to the Ten of Clubs, the Ten of Spades
Then the deck is counted and only 51 cards are found – the Ten of Clubs is missing!
Finally, the drawer at the base of the clock which was clearly shown empty just seconds earlier is opened and one card is face down there. The whole drawer is pulled out and the card turned over – it is the missing Ten of Clubs!
The effect ends with the eerie Dante’s clock mysteriously ticking again.
Thomas pulled out all the stops for this beauty. My photos only begin to show how beautiful it is.
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