talkmagic.co.uk

Brian Tudor's - Heckler. Dear lord did i really spend that amount of money on that. granted there's one or 2 nice moves in there, but nothing i haven't seen somewhere else.
Another bad one was a set of linking rings, which i practised with for about an hour, broke one, then got angry with and now i have no idea where they are so can't get them repaired and sell on (a lot of money down the drain there).
I'll also include VDP, while it is a very nice trick (i watched mr VDP perform it 3 times in awe then bought it) it's just too much bloody effort for me to ever include in the non-profit-making magic i do these days. one day if i get more serious and try and make a living i will be including this trick; but for now it's 50:50 between "money maker" and "pointless purchase"

Gloves to Bouquet by Uday. But, it was only 8$US so I gues you get what you pay for.

It has to be "The Enchanted Card" for me. It's from Wizmo Magic. Incredulously i was fooled by the demo, but it was bought when I was very new and naive to magic and adopted a frame of mind where I presumed there was some amazing "magical" secret, and that there really was an elusive something in the effect that would be the panacea to my endless questions. I guess it was an early form of CUPS. A lot of the time I assess whether to purchase something on the basis of a guesswork of its method: as I've had experience of buying magic the "ah, so THAT'S how it works" becomes a rarer revelation as a savvy understanding of magic begins to formulate. When purchasing items, as well as the joy of performing them, I guess part of the buzz (in addition to having jiffy bag in hand) is learning the secret. Obviously if this is an anti climax then you will be disappointed; disappointment can, however, be alleviated if you are buying not just the secret but a prop or gimmick that you are unable to produce yourself, which I suppose acts as consolation. Postage costs can also be useful in forming an understanding about a product!

I suppose it's all personal really. I have bought a lot of rubbish, particulalry a few years ago when I didn't know better. I think we all do that until we realise that the normal laws about misleading the customer don't seem to apply to magic tricks.

Anyway, one recent purchase that makes me smile is Refraction. Now don't get me wrong, I'm sure it's a powerful effect when done correctly, and I can even see myself using it someday - it would after all fit right in with my wedding/corporate repertoire. However the mental picture of me huddled down by the side of my car outside a venue setting fire to myself is I think my common sense's way of saying "don't even think about it".