Magic Tricks

Received my DEX today. First, let me qualify myself with indexes and at the same time give you my bias. Well, that's entertaining right there.

I have been messing with indexes for longer than some of you have been alive. I created my own index for the purpose of one trick. That trick was to have somebody freely name a card and then within seconds pull that card from mid air. I still perform that regularly in my walk around gigs.


I can retrieve "any" card from my index within 3 to 5 seconds, remove it in palm, transfer to backpalm and voila - out of thin air - your chosen card.


That's my bias - I think I have the best index available. This is not a sales pitch, because I don't sell my index. In fact I posted it freely in the cafe last February to anyone who wanted to give it a go. I haven't fully shared all of my tweaks, but the ground work is all you need to understand there can't be a whole lot better out there. At least that's my opinion.


On to DEX. Upon opening you will discover a very underwhelming looking utility device. You know this from the start if you had a chance to view some of the video early that accompanies DEX. Lloyd and Javier both say that the end result does not justify the amount of effort they put into this project. I agree, they came at this thing hard, but at the end sacrificed beauty for workability.


I wanted to like this, I really did. I'm an index junkie, and have purchased most of them out there, and made dozens of my own variations. And with all the hype and delays on this thing, I expected gold!


The concept here is a good one, and the video they put out with it is top of the line stuff...but that's all I got!


The actual product doesn't look very healthy. From prototype to finish looks like a lot of wasted time, because they eventually just took some packet trick wallets (the cheap vinyl ones), and glued them all together.

People are already complaining about the thing coming apart in various places, and mostly at the bottom. I put 48 cards in it, and I was nervous. I honestly cannot imagine somebody using this on a regular basis , and not having it fall apart. In and out of your pocket, jamming your fingers in tight spots to pull cards from cheap vinyl - what do you think will happen?


Don't get me completely wrong here. I believe both Javier and Lloyd are two very great minds in our business. They both are kind, giving, smart, funny, and just plain good and solid for the world of magic.

But this one just ain't movin me, and I can't justify a $75 price tag on what you're getting here in product.

The video material here is worth way more than the physical index.

I also think they had to qualify just gluing vinyl wallets together, so to me it appears they are trying to make you think in the videos that the final stages of their intense work on this project was to measure pieces, line them up in precise places, then hand assemble them with the perfect "soft" glue to give us the perfect finished product.

Nahhhh... they took vinyl packet trick wallets and glued them together.

I gave it 2 stars because they do give you a lot of ideas and routines using an index.

But $75 for a half dozen vinyl packet wallets glued together in a Hoolywood tin package - nope!