talkmagic.co.uk

What they say
A great close-up miracle, ready to perform any time, anywhere.
Display a small walnut box with a die sealed within. The die can be seen through the clear acrylic top.
Begin to relate a wonderful and colorful story about Badlands Bob. Sadly, he lost his life on the roll of this very die!
A spectator is asked to try and change the uppermost number on the die by shaking the box, which he soon finds is impossible. The performer then asks the spectator to choose a number between 1 and 6. "If you were Badland's Bob, which number would you have chosen?"
The box is simply pushed toward the spectator and lo and behold, the uppermost number now matches the spectator's selected number!
No switches; there is a hidden gimmick, but easily concealed. Any number between 1 and 6 may be used as there is no force. Instantly resets and therefore is a great walk-around effect. Can be examined before and after. No awkward moves; done right under their noses.
Finest quality and a joy to perform. Exactly what you would expect from Viking Magic! Comes complete with die, secret and instructions. You'll do this 10 minutes after receiving it and you'll perform this often. It's that good!
1-5/16" square; 1/4" solid walnut sides.
Note: This is a non-discountable item

Cost
Bought from http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=10756 for $45.00 so about £28


Difficulty
(1=easy to do, 2=No sleights, but not so easy, 3=Some sleights used,
4=Advanced sleights used, 5=Suitable for experienced magicians only)
I’d say 2, it’s not self working, some thought is required to perform and definitely some practice and you’ll need a legitimate reason for the prop.

Review.
A very nicely manufactured magical prop that I can see will last for years, the gimmick is a little cheap but that for me is a more a proof of concept than the gimmick I’ll be using when I perform it. It works as per the ad-copy, the spec can name any number and the die can be presented as showing that number almost instantly. It’s all fully examinable before and after and you can even get the spec to attempt to replicate the feat (unsuccessfully of course).
I’d suggest forgetting the weak premise and patter that comes with it and think up a reason why you have a die in a box, personally this fits into a routine that revolves around a 17th century local nobleman and justice of the peace, libertine, gambler, sadist and dabbler in the black arts who learned how to imbue a physical object with a spirit that can be influenced, in this case a die (in order to win back his lost fortune). The prop in my hand was my attempt to replicate the experiment which was too successful as the die will move by itself, disappearing from the bag it is held in, forcing me to enclose it in a box.

Overall
Seemingly pricy for what it is (basically a die in a wooden box) it’s one of those props that is so easy to perform and so clean at the end that’ll for once I’ll agree with the ad-copy, it’s one I’ll be performing for years.
8/10 (loses a point because of the price)

N.B. There are apparently cheap knock offs doing the rounds, not seen one so can't report on the difference in quality, but from an ethical point of view I wouldn't buy a knock off.