Magic Tricks

I want to like this so badly, but mine isn’t very well made. The edge where the gimmick meets the Sharpie is cut unevenly, so it looks a little suspicious — maybe not enough to be noticed, but for an almost $50 gimmick, it’s unfortunate. The gimmick also feels quite flimsy, but I get it. The plastic has to be very thin to accomplish the objective. In the instructions, it states that there was a change of plans, and the gimmick was not manufactured in a factory as originally intended. Parts appear 3D printed, and overall it just looks and feels a bit homemade. A lot of the routines are cool, but some of them feel like a stretch to pad the marketing copy. For me, the main utility here is the write/no-write principal. I own a Mind Marker by Max Vellucci, and I was exited to have similar features in a Shapie (Mind Marker works with fat Staedtler pens). But unfortunately, this gimmick isn’t as good as Mind Marker. It isn’t as well made, and it isn’t as easy to toggle between write and no-write modes. However, because of the differences in design, it can do way way more effects than Mind Marker or Mental Pen by Joao Miranda. But I think the effects that capitalize on the gimmick’s unique placement look a little too obvious for my taste. I think others might like this, and it might grow on me as I play with it, but my first impressions are disappointment.