I hope you don't take this personally, but the price is outrageous! That link shows it at £29.99, but even £20 is way over. If you are happy, then fair play to you, and if you are out there working, then you'll get that money back (and more) in one show.
But the mark up is through the roof. Total cost for this = three caps, a small area of Er hum, and erhum erhum, 1 bag, packaging, a 10 pence piece and the packaging/instructions and a tiny bag to keep it in.. Eeeep!
Total cost must be 50 pence.
Can anyone tell me when this product was first marketed, as I'm sure that I saw this on E-Bay a LONG time ago for a radically reduced price. I recall seeing it and (first reaction) thinking, what great piece of engineering, then I saw the price and thought, hang on?
It's only when I saw it performed that it became instantly apparent. I'm not saying that to put anyone down (I know I'm new around here, but I assure you that, that's not my nature), but it just was. Now I know I'm looking at it with different eyes, but I just think for what it is, it is way overpriced.
I'm looking at the School For Scoundrels "An Introduction To The Shell Game," on my shelf, right now. I'm sure I picked that up for £30 (at a guess), and that's got everything you need to know. I mean you can get something that's been engineered in brass for only a bit more.
Machined quality brass (hands in weighing up position) to three bits of plastic. There's a lot of weight on one side of that argument.
I hope you don't take this post as being overly aggressive, or knocking you. I myself recently was reading a book and pulled out an old receipt for magic. Over 5 years ago I'd spent over £100 on guff. I think only one of those items I've still got. The rest was utter tosh, and never used,.... or worked. I ended up ooffin it off on other people. Amazingly, one item (they all went for a small price comparitively to what I initially paid) I actually told the guy that it was utter rubbish and didn't work.
He still bought it?
Go figure.
It's your money, and if you are happy, fair play to you. But I just feel there's more inherant value in a piece of engineering or say a gaffed coin.
Just seen this:
http://www.talkmagic.co.uk/ftopic14313.php
I've got these as well, I can't remember how much I paid for them, but there's a difference between even these two items. I see these turtle shells as more value (even though at the end of the day it's just three pieces of plastic) but they've been designed and moulded. There's a bit of cost involved there, and a larger comparitive outlay.