talkmagic.co.uk

Hi;

I want to buy some sponge balls of 2'' and 1''. The e-shops I found so far would charge me, excluding posting, GBP5 for the 2" and GBP4 for the 1", qty 4 each.

Seems like a lot of money for 8 little bits of foam...

Can these things be bought in bulk, at a more realistic price? Where do you get yours from?

Thanks
LP

Have a look at cards4magic, I'm sure that I paid about 50p each for the 1" ones last time I bought some.

Sponge balls are one of those things that do seem like quite a lot of money for what they are... thing is, they last a fair amount of time if you treat them well, and believe me - £5 for four 2" sponge balls is one of the best magical investments you will make

P.S. It's worth buying Goshman rather than the cheaper ones, which often seem to have a course texture and do not spring back up as readily as Goshmans.

P.P.S. Go for a nice odd colour - orange or green - red ones can remind people of the little red balls in the magic sets they got as children.

Farlsborough is right. Goshman makes the best - softest, most usable sponge props - the balls being the most popular in the world. You can get Goshman sponge balls in bulk, in whatever size or color you would like. He also has a whole catalogue of novelty sponge props that kind provide a good finale - including all sorts of rabbits, frogs, hearts, sausages, etc.

Workers always have several sets. They become gradually dirty, but are easily washed. I would suggest rinsing them to begin with using hot water - they are even softer and puff up a bit.

You can get less expensive sponges, but they will not be quite the quality, and that is most of what you pay for.

Thank you for the tips

I sent a mail to cards4magic, you are right they are cheaper, thanks. It looks like they don't ship to CZ, hopefuly they'll find a way. Funny their shipping software would include the Falklands (sheeps aren't that into magic as far as I know ) but would give Prague a miss

I like the idea of green sponge balls, in the end you could switch them for dried peas and give these out

Funny you should mention that colour actually , because the routine I want to learn is from "In the trenches" by Paul Green. If you haven't seen it, have a look. I like it because when you ask if the spec holds 1 or 2 balls, he could always get it right by guessing. In Paul Green's method, they get one and a half, which I think no one would ever think about even if they tried to mess you up

Hi Shufton;

I had heard about Goshman, but I can't find his website, do you have a link?

Thanks
LP

Good advice from Steve about soaking them first - however! Do be careful! I got some 3" bright green goshman sponges, soaked them in hot soapy water as I wanted them really soft, and a fair amount of the dye came out. They're still nice and green but I was a bit gutted at the time.

If you decide to soak them over night, make sure the bowl of water is deep enough that they are totally covered, rather than poking out. The dye seems to "re-set" slightly, so mine have a small circle of paler sponge on them because the top was poking out of the water as it cooled off!

I don't think Goshman has his own site. You can get his product at almost ANY magic shop. Here in the states, a set is less than 5 dollars (3 BPS).

Farl- Haven't soaked them overnight - might be a little over-kill!

Have fun!

your looking for "magic by gosh" rather than goshman.

Dear old Albert passed away many years ago..Indeed, i dont think the internet was about then.

the ideal grade is "supersoft".

a google search will bring up loads of sites.this one, gives an over view of the kind of things available...

http://www.magiclegends.com/magicbygosh.html

Those supersoft balls are perfect for concealing between your index finger and thumb; allows for a lovely, visual production where you pick a sponge ball from thin air.

4x supersoft sponge balls by Gosh in red for £4, free postage...

http://www.freepostmagic.co.uk/epages/e ... oducts/i10

Also, Wizmomagic does a good deal at 40p for the 1.5" super soft ones. Having bought the super soft Gosh ones before i can confirm these look and feel the same. OK, you don't get instructions or a box with them but if you know what you're doing then it's a sponge ball steal(!). Get a load.

http://www.wizmomagic.co.uk/sponge-ball-magic-c-39.html