First let me say that I really liked this trick because of the presentational concept and knew what I was getting when I bought I. Pre-purchase, I even googled the type of top used for the effect and saw that just with the price of the Dream Totem on Penguin, it was within close range to buying the top alone - making the top, high quality plastic card and ricks's video instruction a good value. (even more so if you used as part of the 5 for $99).

Now for those considering buying this trick you need to be aware that this is not an instant, no skill immediately works 100% of the time miracle like Under Wraps, Panic, etc, where all the effort is in the presentation for those tricks and not in the effects. And unless you're brain-dead, the presentation for those effects are super simple. That really is not the case for Dream Totem. Both the effect and presentation are going to take some effort.

Spinning a top seems simple, right? Wrong. Getting a top to spin in a very confined area, on different types of surfaces to spin the way you want with confident consistency will take lots of practice.

Like most tricks you will need to tailor make the presentation to your style and in this case, your audience's movie knowledge. Inception was a great movie, but not a culture defining one like Star Wars or the Matrix.

Be aware of the following:

1) You cannot hand the Dream Totem out afterwards. And, in casual settings, spectator's want to play with it. And, why not? It's a top! It would have been super cool if someone created a version of the top that just worked like a normal top, that could be swapped out afterward.

2) I do not consider this a pocket trick. A pocket trick is a deck of cards, a hot rod, Powerball 60 that can be used impromptu under all conditions. Dream Totem requires a table, and one that will require a large surface area if you can't control the spin. Also, the top does not spin well on certain surfaces, like plastic or cloth tablecloths.

3) You're going to really need to sell this trick with presentation. What makes this trick special are the props PLUS presentation. This is different than Matchbox Mystery where if you didn't say squat it's still pretty cool.

4) The top itself is not completely an unusual item exclusively used for magic. The spectator is half a google a way from learning about the top's secret.

Just received dream totem by Rick Lax and
although I have only been practising magic
for about a year I found the instructions
made it easy to perform this amazing trick
in a very short time and would recommend
it to beginners and seasoned magicians alike

this was to cheesy. So much more creative things he has shown. It bugs me when I get something like this. The trust goes down in what Lax is selling.

Many of my friends and I had this top many years ago. It was then a plastic or wooden made top when we bought it which is in fact a TOY. I bought the Dream Totem Set (with metal top) partly because the top was aluminium made and partly because I was curious about the Dream Totem which turned out to be an unimpressive and unconvincing piece of plastic card when performed to the audience. The top was just an old toy which the audience were familiar with. It was an embarrassing moment!
The Dream Totem is the most disappointed gadget that I have ever bought. I hope that I can return and exchange it for another Penguin item.

For me this was absolutely a disappointing investment but some of my magician mates still say that it's good.
I don't like it because it's just too much science-fiction when you tell and build up the story.
The gimmick is also not very small and you have to make it disappear and reappear in again.

This bit could be a fun bit at the bar but only if you are an accomplished top spinner, which I'm not. Gave me to a friend that's much more talented than I.

Great trick. You pack light, but you carry a big (figurative) punch.
Rick Lax is an excellent teacher, and you get much more than what you've bargained for — in the positive way. Subtleties, techniques, handling... Great.
Just stop reading and buy.

Great product, durable, portable and easy to do. Great plot and holds attention easily. Worth the price. Thanks for adding to my stash of useable magic.

I've already bought 3 of Rick's products(Binary Code, Soul Paper, Rip and Fold ) all excellent products well worth the money. I have just gotten my totem in the mail today which came exceptionally fast, thanks penguin! The totem is wonderful I haven't had a chance to play with it as much . But, what little time I have spent with it. If is very cool and fun for myself as the other products I have bought I have bought from Rick in the past couple weeks! Thanks for another solid product! Great inventor . I'm sure this will be a killer effect for any laymen to see. I had to get it seeing as how Inception is my favorite movie! Wonderful .

Awesome idea, awesome presentation, Rick and his team work so hard and consistently putting out QUALITY magic!! I am one magician who is thankful to know I can rely on Rick to always put out quality effects!!
Thanks Ricky!!