I want to give this 5 stars, but there's a few things preventing that from happening. Mostly little
personal things, but that's what reviews are, personal.
First, the positives.
-
Looks amazing. If you liked what you saw in the trailer, then you won't be disappointed.
- Easy(ish). I'm no sleight of hand expert, and I was performing this 10 minutes after watching
the DVD
- Well taught. Roddy did a great job of going over practically everything.
- The gimmick. Extremely well made.
Now, the bad.
- DVD + Online
Instructions. I really don't get this. The DVD itself might not even be 10 minutes. Yet, the
instructions to set up the gimmick are through an online link that's included. My only guess is
they forgot to put it on the DVD.
Just a thought...
Although you get all of the information that you need to learn/perform the trick, you 'ding' someone a star because you don't like the way he delivers the teaching info and the video was only '10 minutes' long.
Really?
I know, 4 stars or 5...who really cares ;-)
This trick is, to be "cliche'ish", a winner.
It's called being objective and giving constructive criticism. The trick, is indeed a winner.
The minor critique should not prevent anyone from purchasing the effect.
@MagicYoda
It's very clear they forgot to put the information on the DVD you have to download, as it's referenced there, but missing. No problem for those who have broadband, but quite the problem for those who don't, as the combined size is 30 Mb, and there's plenty of room on the dvd for it. I think that's the (legitimate) criticism Jon has.
I agree w/M-Yoda...
Ummm, what did you call it? Oh yes, "...being objective and giving blah, blah, blah"
It's whiny!
M-Yoda's statement appears to be rhetorical.
@Jon's response...well...you genuinely felt the need to defend? Really? That shouts 'volumes'!
In regard to those that don't have broadband, c'mon!
Population of US = 324 mil. 84% have internet; .84x324 mil = 272.16 mil. 3% of these have dial up (broadband not available or can't afford); .03x272.16 mil = 8.17 mil. Nice of you not to give a sh*t about over 8 million people, just so long as you have broadband. (BTW, my father has dial up).
Really?
You quote some stats that you Googled, which are not correct by the way, and those are your conclusions?
The relevancy of the point that you are trying to make is absurd.
We're talking about this trick specifically. Not the general subject of who has broadband and who does not...for whatever reason(s).
So, 'unbunch your panties' and move on!
@juststuff2009
The stats are from reputable sources; they are correct, even though you'd like them not to be. The criticism Jon made, which you so blithely dismiss because, yeah, we know, YOU have broadband, was that obviously a mistake was made with the DVD, it was incomplete, forcing one to download the missing material. For any of the 8 million people with dial-up, downloading 30 MB of files FOR THIS TRICK is no small feat. Hopefully you can get past your ego to see how relevant that is. If not, I don't really give a sh*t; Jon does have a valid point despite your "absurd" need to marginalize it.
To My Fellow Magicians,
It sounds like it was a mistake, and I'm
surprised that Penguin, which has always
taken the high road, hasn't owned up to this
in the way I thought they would.
NOTE: They ALWAYS give you the option to return
their products if you're dissatisfied, NO
QUESTIONS ASKED FOR ANY REASON ... but
I DO completely understand Jon from FLA's
POV:
He paid for a COMPLETE DVD - NOT
A PARTIAL DVD.
It's like buying a book
at the bookstore, getting down to the last
chapters & then finding that the publisher forgot
to include them = = then asking the buyer
to go online and read the rest of the book
that way.
I say "FOUL." I realize it wasn't
intentional but when you mess up, I
was always told that you do the right
thing and TOTALLY own up to your mistake.
I personally suggest he call or better
yet, write Penguin an actual letter
(since
everyone emails these days -
letters actually
stand out),
explain his situation, and ask if he could
have a refund. I think he deserves
an apology AND A REFUND.
Rarely, yes, mistakes ARE made. But this
wasn't the creator's fault, it seems that
someone on Penguin's production team
somewhere in the assembly line, messed up.
and whoever was suppose to oversee the production
was asleep at the wheel that day. However, that
shouldn't be the buyer's concern.
Whoever's the current head of any company, even if
they don't (and obviously can't)
over-see every single department and division,
ultimately they take responsibility for those under them.
If the DVD pressing was farmed out to some
3rd party outside of Penguin, then hopefully Penguin won't
do business w. them again.
However, if it was under the
direction of a Penguin employee, then truthfully, I would
(either way)
write a
(polite)
letter to Acar himself.
I've read a few of his
posts on the Magiccafe thru the years
& I believe he tries his best to
make, present and keep
Penguin as a reputable company.
I mean, who else in the Industry
actually lets customers sound of
Pro or Con on their purchase &
actually prints even negative reviews?
NO ONE!!
I have to agree that it shouldn't be assumed that even
if the majority of the U.S. homes have speedy internet,
that's not the question or crux of the matter.
If someone
pays 100% of their hard earned $ for a DVD
(or anything for
that matter),
they deserve to have 100% of that DVD - - and
they shouldn't be forced to have to download some 30 mins!
Look, obviously, when you publish as many DVDs
annually as Penguin does, yes, I suppose 1 or 2 will slip
through the cracks. But simply giving someone a link and
say "Here, use this, it contains the rest of the info"
is I have to agree, a poor response
to rectifying the problem.
I realize yes, it's expedient to wait until all the current
copies are sold and THEN release the missing 30 minutes
in the NEXT pressing - but that's not ethical, and
I'm surprised that Penguin hasn't at least mentioned this
as an addendum or Asterisk * - on that page for the product.
Were I head of Penguin here's what I'd write:
"To Our Valued Customers: There was a
mistake made in production and the last 30 mins of
the DVD are missing. While the missing footage is available on line,
please note that those of you who don't have high-speed
dial-up, may have significant wait times to download
it.
We will correct this mistake in the next pressing.
We apologize for this error on your part and are offering
a no-questions asked return for those of you who were
inconvenienced. We are also offering a $2.00 credit for
your return postage costs which can be applied to your next
purchase as we value your long term business".
Look, any on-line magic E-seller can sell DVDs & products,
when things go smoothly, that's not super hard,
but it's when things go wrong is when we separate the
men from the boys.
I've had incredibly good results with Penguin.
In over 10 years of buying DOZENS of products
form them, I think I had
maybe 2 or 3 screw-ups max, and every single time they
immediately corrected the problem & were wonderful
to deal with.
I was always taught that if something was worth doing,
it's worth doing well. That's the difference between
pros & amateurs.
If this trick is as great as everyone
seems to indicate that it is, I think it would be to
Penguin's long term advantage to re-print the DVD w.
the original missing footage, and then offer the missing
footage version at a discount with the clearly printed
caveat that the viewer will have to have a high speed
connection to view the complete DVD.
If they purchase
the original, now discounted version, they're doing
so at the discounted price, at least knowing beforehand
that they will have to DL some 30 mins & they will
only be able to view it on their computer.
I think that would be, at this point, a fair compromise
and the right & ethical thing to do.
That and just give whoever was
the Line Producer on this project a strong talking to.
I can guarantee you they will never make this same mistake
again!
All the above is of course, IMHO.
"Flashhands".
Omg! Pretentious magicians. Tsk, tsk, tsk.
to fermunder re: "Omg! Pretentious magicians. Tsk, tsk, tsk". How & or why are ANY of the comments above "pretentious"? Contentious, sure, it's a free country and magicians are allowed to disagree, but "Pretentious"? Would you please explain? No one's putting on "airs' here, and that's what being "pretentious" essentially is.
Goodness. Everyone is getting into a debate over silly little things.
Here's the review, in a nutshell:
Is this a great trick? Yes! Get it!
'Nuff said. :-)
And as an owner of this trick, I second it. It is one of the most visual tricks I own and I absolutely love it.
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Almost Perfect (4.5 Stars)
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