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anyone got them?

are they:
a bit poo
have red bike backs?

thanks awfully..

abraxus wrote:anyone got them?

are they:
a bit poo
have red bike backs?

thanks awfully..

OK...

1. Yes, I have 10 sets... waiting for photography to put on NUMS
2. Poo? Well, not quite. They're actually really good, if used properly
3. Yes... they have red bike backs, although the quality of the cards are smooth, not 'textured'

Basically, I got a set of these in as a sample and thought they were bloomin good. So I got stock.

The effects possible are quite literally endless. However, I will qualify to mathematicians that they are endless, but with limitation

For you, Mr Abraxus, imagine using these cards with a Kenton 'X' pen...

Yes... the surface is smooth enough

The only thing I'd mention is that the black is NEVER entirely clear... but that's good enough for reasonable close-up.

2 cards plus routines supplied with each 'kit'.

If anyone's interested in pre-orders, let me know as they are going to go like hotcakes. They're going onto NUMS for £10 each at the end of the week.

I was going to try to post a review of these but I'm new and couldn't do it for whatever reason. i got these recently and i disagree, i was pretty heavily disappointed. they have two strong suits - firstly, they have red bicycle backs and secondly, they do change colour quickly and easily. however, on to the negative side. the promotional video is really misleading and watching it again now it looks like a joke. in the video the stalks to the spades are very very nearly invisible, in reality they are very obvious. anything longer than a flash of the card and it's pretty clear you haven't got a regular 4 of hearts. you also recieve two 4's. i don't really see why some different numbers couldn't have been made in addition to the 4. i very much doubt that the 'instant reset' the cards offer will therefore be of much good, as not many spectators will want to see it repeated with the same, already highly fishy card. the printing is also poorly aligned, though to be fair it is a darn sight better than the awful one in the promo. they are smooth rather than textured, which i can forgive, though the pips themselves feel stuck on when you rub your finger over them. the card stock is also a great deal darker than regular bikes, and is pretty suspect. the card is also over a millimetre wider and longer than bikes, so it sticks out from the deck and barely fits into the card box. the last criticism i have is pretty ridiculous really, and again regards nigh on false advertising in the promo video, in which the 4 of spades is magically turned into a 4 of hearts under the cover of flash paper. upon opening the amateurish packaging and reading through the tips i came to this beauty: 'WARNING! Flashpaper will destroy Alpha Cards!' they still advocate the use of flash paper though, claiming that it's 'really fun to experiment' and that i should 'stock up' on the cards. at over £10 a pop, i didn't much fancy it. i knew i was taking a risk buying this, it looked and sounded too good to be true, and curiosity got the better of me. it's such a shame because some of the faults could be dealt with easily - make them the right size, make them white, print them well, make something that isn't a 4. i admit that removing the visible stalk must be pretty tricky, but if it is, don't try to hide the bloody thing with a poorly focused camera shot and conveniently timed editing in the promotional video. the concept is great though, and maybe alpha cards 2 will be incredible.

Dodgy Promo:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msgQRTCiGmM

Well, Phylmo... that's why reviews and opinions work so well.

I must say, I agree with you on *some* aspects, but overall, the cards just 'work', and as I said, they're fine if not used right under the nose of a spectator.

Flash paper will obviously kill them, of course. But they are very effective if used creatively.

I saw them herehttp://www.worldmagicshop.co.uk/alpha-cards-jesse-feinberg-p-4615.html and was intrigued but after reading the above am less likely to buy them before I hear some other views.
NUMS appears to be the cheapest. I was really hoping these were as good as they sounded.

to be fair seige has a point. if done smoothly, and with a some cheeky movement, the morph transposition routine can be an effective and pretty mind blowing trick, however, for me at least, the very visible stalks detract from the limitless possibilities, as too many will look very suspect. i should have mentioned that from distance these will be more effective, but since i only really do close up stuff i was disappointed. just to be on the safe side, seige did you find that the stalks on yours were very different from those in the promo? i just want to make sure it wasn't an error in mine or something, cos mine are pretty dark, even when i rub them against a kettle lol.

Thanks chaps, this is exactly the sort of thing we love to see here on TM. Individual and personal differing opinion, honestly held and courteously presented, free of hype and sneaky underhanded attempts at promotion from 'interested' parties ( ). More please!

(In fact, this really ought to be moved over to Reviews at some point.)

i'll sort a review over the weekend if you want, i should get mine tomorrow fingers crossed...

Looking forward to it. They sound rather good but maybe too good to be true. Phlymo's post answered a lot of my suspicions.

didnt come today..swines...

early next week then...if they're usuable from around 3 or 4 foot away i'll be happy..

abraxus wrote:didnt come today..swines...

early next week then...if they're usuable from around 3 or 4 foot away I'll be happy..

Keep em' moving. They dont' need to come under close scrutiny.

In fact, the 'transition' doesn't have to happen in plain sight. If this is the case, then the colour difference on the stems isn't even noticable.

I took these out to the pub earlier, and in the 'warm yellow dim light' of our local, they blended in nicely.

Oh, and they're Guinness-proof too

(Unlike me, Hic HIc)

ok so i've really been trying to make these worthwhile, and while i've been trying to mess about with them as much as possible i've had mixed results. the visible change must be done with a shake so it's obscured somewhat. i made the mistake of showing a friend by slowly watching it change and he immediately figured it out. i also tried a variation on a 3 card monte with a real 4 of spades and the 2 alpha's suggesting that if he can avoid the spade, he wins, if not i win. it was a pretty simple application but i thought it might be effective, however, i showed the 'hearts' first, followed by the spade, laying each face down. i've shown this guy a few tricks so he's fairly observant and after i'd laid the spade he claimed that something wasn't right with the first heart, asking me to show it again, by which point it was mid change and i was buggered. fairly dim room too. i think these may be effective to people who don't deliberately scrutinise everything, but to more difficult spectators they could prove to be troublesome. i somewhat retract my previous comment about how disappointed i was with them. they certainly have some potential, and I'm having fun messing about with them,but they are risky, and i still maintain all my earlier criticisms. hope this helps in some way. seriously though, alpha cards 2 could be so good.

so is somebody going to post there own utube demo so we can have a comparason to the heavily edited one, possibly.
based on the demo i can see some of the points but my friendly spectator didn't notice any problems.

a presentation idea could be to show the back of a card in your shirt pocket and force a spade then do the is this your card... no... well just watch, I'm no cardy but are they realy that bad, only an unbiased demo will show.

Sorry, I haven't been on this forum in a long time... I found the Alpha Cards topic while searching the web!

Lets go over a few basic points:

The ink can only go 90% clear, thats the nature of the technology.

You need to have really warm hands to use just your hands.

Flashpaper will ruin the card, so I recommend using a lighter's flame right up on the card and keeping the flame in motion. I explain all of this in my instructions.

I recommend purchasing some hand/glove warmers, the type they sell at ski shops. You can find them anywhere these days, Costco, Walmart, CVS, etc... You can hide these small/flat heat packs in your card case or under a closeup pad. When you throw an Alpha Card on top, it changes into hearts REALLY well! They even make reusable heat packs, they are a larger size, so you'd have to hide it in an empty card box on the table. They even make cold reusable packs, for people that live/work in a really hot environment.

Alpha Cards should be used in 85F temperature or under. Not too under, or you will have a hard time heating up the card. It is important that you are heating both the card stock and the spades evenly.

Try your Alpha Cards over a cup of coffee!

Always incorporate a T*p C***ge or favorite sw**ch after you have heated up the Alpha Card. You can then give it one more shake to "complete the transition". This does not replace sleight of hand, it just enhances it The tail should not be an issue, its more a sign that the spade is fading away. If it were real magic, it would probably leave a mark right? haha

Please email me if you have any questions, or wanna jam on some ideas! Thanks again for all the support guys, and visit my new website sometime! Lots of more things planned with the Alpha Cards idea too... I'll let you know more soon!

well, they came today....

i must give off a huge amount of body heat, must be my body hair..as i can easily make them change colour just by rubbing lightly with my thumb and index finger...

im impressed by the quality to be honest, though the stem of the spade turns slightly golden on mine...but that doesnt bother me, these are rather good...

i giggled like a child when i worked them, 6 seconds in the fridge, or 15 seconds next to a chillled pint glass (of water with ice cubes) and they're back to "normal"...

i can see quite a few good oddities to perform with these...if you're going to buy them just for a simple colour change, youre buying them for the wrong reasons....use your imagination...

personally, i would say just give the instructions a brief once over, and come up with yer own stuff...

you can keep yer flash paper...

7.88894356 out of 10...