Coin Unique

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Coin Unique

Postby darrenthomson » Oct 3rd, '06, 12:37



Hi gang,

This is my first post, I've been learning Street/Close-Up magic for a few months now and I just wanted to share my experience with an effect named, "Coin Unique". I am not sure if this effect has been discussed here before (I had a look through prior posts and could not see it).

The blurb goes..

Effect: Whilst holding a pound coin and one penny piece in your hand, you immediately make the penny disappear in front of a spectators eyes!

Description: Numerous effects can be performed with this. Eddie Gibson has a reputation as one of top coin magic manufacturers in the world and looking at this you can see why. Coin Unique also comes with instructions on how to perform many other tricks.

Difficulty Level: 2
1 (Easy/Self-Working) - 5 (Advanced)

Now, I know that, for many of the very accomplished magicians here that this effect may been seen as slightly simplistic (you are basically just making two coins turn into one) but I wanted to say that, of all the effects (some great some terrible) that I have invested in during my short tme in close-up, this is by far the best investment I have made.

The quality involved here is stunning, the trick represents a great way of building some confidence in coin magic and (in 6 months and probably 50 demonstrations of this effect) NOBODY has sussed it !! I have even been handing the remaining coin out for examination and the quality is SO good that people still do not understand the trick having examined the coin !

I cannot praise this effect enough and I have a feeling that, even years down the line (when I am a far better magician) this little baby will still be travelling in my pocket. :D

Take care..

Darren

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Coin Unique (Re-Post)

Postby darrenthomson » Oct 3rd, '06, 16:16

Hello again,

Having just posted my first product review I was slightly embarrassed when I noticed that you guys are posting far more comprehensive formats than my original post.. So, here's a more comprehensive review of "Coin Unique" (based on Tom's review format, which I really liked - thks Tom) :

Coin Unique

Available from http://www.magictricks.co.uk/, also available from lots of other outlets, just pump the trick name into google..

Price: £29.99 (if you cannot bring yourself to part with the cash, go to ebay)

Category: Close up magic/Coin Effects and Utility

Difficulty: 1 out of 5

They say:

Effect: Whilst holding a pound coin and one penny piece in your hand, you immediately make the penny disappear in front of a spectators eyes!

Description: Numerous effects can be performed with this. Eddie Gibson has a reputation as one of top coin magic manufacturers in the world and looking at this you can see why. Coin Unique also comes with instructions on how to perform many other tricks.



I say:

Now, I know that, for many of the very accomplished magicians here that this effect may been seen as slightly simplistic (you are basically just making two coins turn into one) but I wanted to say that, of all the effects (some great, some terrible) that I have invested in during my short tme in close-up, this is by far the best investment I have made.

This little utility allows you to show two coins (one UK pound, one UK penny) clearly in your hand and then, with a quick closing and opening of your hand, a complete vanish of the penny. The method is very simple and the beauty of the trick is really in the quality of the item, this thing looks just like a real £1 coin once the trick is complete.

Some downsides :

The main downside is really the limited scope for the effect (although I have found some great ways of "spicing it up" - I now show the effect whilst the coins are in the spectators hand !). In my view, though, this is a perfect effect for beginners who would like to get into close-up, coin magic. The device really protects you against discovery and is great for building the confidence to move on to move complicated effects. I presented the effect at a BBQ recently and had people offering decent money to reveal the effect to them...a great feeling for a novice magician.

Another slight downside is that the reset on the trick needs a little privacy (I tend to either just slip the coin into my pocket and move on after the effect or continue to just use it as a normal £1 coin for another routine).

The only other slight negative for me is the price. At close to £30 this is fairly expensive. My view on this, though, is that you will get lots and lots of action from this effect and its quality is so good that you should never need to replace it. Frankly, I would rather buy a quality item like this for £30 than three substandard tricks for a tenner each (of which I have purchased many...).

One other downside..Don't put it with your spare change...You will spend it !

Overall: 8.5/10

I cannot praise this effect enough and I have a feeling that, even years down the line (when I am a far better magician), this little baby will still be travelling in my pocket. I have scored it down to 8.5 because of price and limited scope only. This trick represents a great way of building some confidence in coin magic and (in 6 months and probably 50 demonstrations of this effect) NOBODY has sussed it !! I have even been handing the remaining coin out for examination and the quality is SO good that people still do not understand the trick even once they have having the coin !

Highly recommended for beginners to close-up..

Take care, Darren

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Postby Yorkshire Pudding » Oct 3rd, '06, 16:30

Very nicely written review, Darren. It's refreshing to see someone putting a good deal of thought and effort into it.

My only teensy reservation is that Coin Unique has been reviewed a number of times before (I found three on a quick search)... but what the heck, a great product like this deserves more attention! :)

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Postby Stephen Ward » Oct 3rd, '06, 16:39

I love Eddie's coins! never leave home without them :lol:

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Postby dat8962 » Oct 3rd, '06, 19:50

Agreed - there's something about owning an Eddie coin as opposed to the others, despite the competition also being well engineered.

I'm sure that the EG's will become collectors items one day so keep the instructions and coin together when not using it.

A sound investment!

Member of the Magic Circle & The 2009 British Isles Close-Up Magician of the Year
It's not really an optical illusion - it just looks like one!
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Postby Stephen Ward » Oct 3rd, '06, 19:55

and a small tip, never get your coins mixed up, i once put one in a vending machine :oops:

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Postby cbyron2003 » Oct 4th, '06, 23:01

i just lost mine at the weekend. have a feeling i gave it to the taxi driver when i got out early hours of sunday morning.
if anyone has a used one for sale pm me

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Postby leviticus » Oct 5th, '06, 13:49

Yeah always go for the EG type. A few years back I spent mine
and bought a good deal off some website and was very dissapointed
with the set.

Darren have you tried the table top set up
i.e both coins in position and place a pint glass over the top of them
even get your spec to put his hand on yours so you cannot lift the glass
a quick circular motion starting from the right direction makes the penny dissappear before their eyes if you do it fast enough
no shouts of palming ,sleeving, dropping just a bloody miracle

Andy

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Postby darrenthomson » Oct 5th, '06, 13:59

Yeah, I do the table top routine, its really strong. I get audiences involved by forming a "ring of hands" around the glass to ensure that the coin is not shooting off the table etc.. You get great participation and involvement. Glass tables are good, you can give people the opportunity to look underneath as you do the trick and it makes no difference to you.

The other working that I use is to do the standard "in hand" routine but build it up by gathering some people around me to create a "hand bucket" under my hand to ensure that I don't drop it. This keeps spectators hands nice and busy (stops "grabbing") and it actually put their eyes very close to my hand which makes the vanish seem all the more amazing. I also have a duplicate penny in my shirt pocket to make the whole effect look like real slight of hand..

Does anybody have any other coin gimmicks that are as strong of this (other the "Scotch and Soda", "Coin Bite" and "Punctured") ?

D.

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Postby Farlsborough » Oct 5th, '06, 14:05

This is indeed a fantastic gimmick - pretty close to real magic, really! I'm sure the EG ones are great, however I have nothing but praise for mine from Merlin's of Wakefield. To be fair it was almost as expensive! But as I recall the 2p/10p EG ones are harder to find than hen's teeth, and this is most definitely my preferred format.

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Postby Lord Freddie » Oct 8th, '06, 16:22

I have been using Coin Unique for years now (on my second one as I stupidly put my first one with the change in my pocket - not the first person to do this, I imagine) and it truly baffles people every time.
I usually hand it out fotr inspection afterwards, though if the coin has been used a lot, the insert bit can be made to move around which can give the game away slightly (unless you are quick with a bluff, I say that the quality of the Royal Mint's metal has detoriated and go on to demonstrate further with a bitten coin trick).

I have never owned Scotch and Soda. How different is this to coin unique?
Same effect and principle?

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Postby darrenthomson » Oct 8th, '06, 19:55

Same basic principal. The version that I own involves an american half dollar (lovely sized coin for palming) and a bronze mexican coin.

Although the principal is the same the outcome leaves you with a different second coin at the end. So, my basic routine starts by me moaning about all of the amercian change that I end up with in my pockets (i happen to be in the states quite a bit). Then I pass the gimmick to the spectator and ask them to put the "two" coins behind their back and put one in each hand. I act like I am just going to guess which coin is in each hand and when they reveal them they find that the mexican coin is actually now an English 50p. I say, "Wow! thanks for that" and let them have a good look the the two remaining coins.

Scotch & soda does not suffer from the "coin spin" that you mention so the inspection of the coins always goes off without a hitch. Nice effect..

D.

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Postby Lord Freddie » Oct 8th, '06, 20:14

Thanks. I think it may be worth investing in Scotch & Soda as well.

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Postby Johnny Wizz » Oct 9th, '06, 08:53

I have the Eddie Gibson version but am haing a problem with it.

I am having real difficulty getting it to come apart. Can't say any more obviously but if anyone has had a similar experience I would be interested to hear what they did about it.

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Postby darrenthomson » Oct 9th, '06, 09:30

Yeah, the little sucker can be hard to "reset" when its new. The process of getting it done really is a knack which takes some practice. There is a fairly good description of the technique in the instructions but, again, it takes practice.

There is another way...BUY A MAGNET. Keep it in your pocket and you can reset this trick very easily. If you have a Raven or something similar, this will work..

D.

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