(Content of this post has been approved by Yigal Mesika, creator of Tarantula.)

Hi all,

This post is about my story of purchasing a fake Tarantula and its purpose is to serve as a warning to those who are about to purchase, as well as a helpline for those who have purchased malfunctional Tarantulas.

I purchased Tarantula from TMH and have since experienced many problems with it, including getting the basic function of the gimmick to even work properly. Many specifications were not met and the DVD casing had no manual in it. I tried testing the other Tarantula that the shop sold but both had the exact same faults.

I was growing worried so I asked a few friends both local and overseas who got their Tarantula from various other sources to compare and see if they had the same problems and I discovered that it is only mine that has those problems. Also, there is a stark difference in the packaging that is used and the construction of the gimmick. I have since confrimed with Yigal Mesika that the Tarantula I have is a fake.

Without revealing too much, I provide 2 images and the rest will be descriptions.


Firstly, compare the outer packaging. The one on the left is the one i bought from the shop and the one on the right is an original purchased directly from Ellusionist. In the one that I had, the box was significantly smaller in terms of height and the Tarantula on it was smaller as well. There was tape on the one I bought but not on the original.


See the next comparison - the paper used to wrap the Tarantula and the paper. In the one I bought, the paper was folded with text facing outside while in the rest of the 5 Tarantulas my friends have shown me, the paper was folded with text facing inside. The paper used to wrap the Tarantula is also different from all the others which I have seen. According to a friend of mine, it's of cheaper, worse quality and is usually used to wrap fireworks in China.

As for the construction of the gimmick itself - you should notice these features (or rather, deficiencies) if your Tarantula is fake -

1. Motherboard color (PCB where the battery is sitting)- Real Tarantula's should be black, fake's green.
2. Motor's right wire color - Real Tarantula's should be black, fake's blue.
3. Switch colour - Real Tarantula's should be silver with a yellow cover for the switch's protection. The fake's silver with no protection for the switch.
4. The stick switch - Real Tarantula's can be removed, fake's cannot be removed and so you won't be able to make your Tarantula shorter easily.
5. Invisible thread - Real Tarantula's invisible thread is 25ft long, much thinner and stronger. The fake's invisible thread is much shorter, slightly thicker but breaks very easily.

If you are a victim of purchasing a fake Tarantula, Yigal Mesika would be most appreciative if you would contact him at support@mesikamagic.com

Hey there, great info. TMH again... So is Yigal Mesika going to take action against TMH?


***TMH - The Mental Hospital

Hi, may i know what does TMH stands for?

Look like piracy has gone up another level. For those that got the "fake" ones, I wish you all the best in getting your cash worth back. Though its not easy unless you got proof of purchase and such.

In my best of knowledge, the Real Ones will come with a DVD and the product itself. And also, if you watched the DVD, (If they ever provide you) Yigal will mention on how to do alternations to the gimmick to suit you, so if your product is not the same as he said in the video, then good luck to you.

In my opinion, they have went too far to take off so much from the young magicians that wanted to learn something from them. I wish they own it up and undo their wrongs.

Currently, he's trying to take legal action against the source of production of the Tarantulas. I did provide him with TMH's contact information in case he wants to send any lawyer's letter for cease-of-sale of the fake Tarantulas, or to ask for more information about their supplier. The individual he's chasing, however, is from China... So personally, I think it's pretty much chasing the wind. Sending lawyer letters and threatening with the FBI won't get him anywhere. :ph43r:

The fake one comes with a DVD too. There wasn't any extra manual inside the DVD casing, though. Just the DVD.

Exactly what happened to me. I heard "pull the stick out", replayed the scene a couple of times, tried to do the same on my own Tarantula and didn't manage to do so. <_<


(By the way... I was expecting some people to flame me for posting details about the gimmick itself. :mellow: But actually, I did contact Yigal with the drafts of what I wanted to post (without some of the more explicit / revealing terms in the first post, invisible thread et al) and he expressed his wish to include them, so I did.)

No one will understand what we are talking about until they got the gimmick themselves. So I guess its pretty safe and clear cut about it.

Pray hard this will stop, its killing the real deal of magic and the fakes are just not as good. Same goes to other product like the floating table, zombie balls, etc. So many things..

Its saddening to see piracy has also invaded magic, in fact for quite a long time.

Worse, some even made it so cheap that any person on street could afford. Imagine a fake wow for less than SGD15? IMAGINE that.. Lol
It not only hurt amgic but make magic too commonly available to everyone in the public.. I don't think its a good thing

Thanks for your alert about this issue, and hope more who was victim of piracy, knowingly or unknowingly. will share their experience too.

OT abit,
1 of my experience was actually a guy brought a magician's dvd to his lecture, without knowing its pirated ( bought in a shop in neighbouring country), asking for signature, and get caught by the magician. I don't have to continue the story. So hurtful for the creator and a disgrace for the pirates.

It is indeed saddening to hear this kind of news. And today, it is sometimes pretty hard to know if you got a fake or real if you don't have an original to compare it with. Somemore, the level of copying in China has now gone to very high standards, some of the factories there even have high QC standards the pirated stuffs are nearly 99% identical.

I used to have a friend when I was living overseas that sells fake stuffs like hand bags and etc from China, and on a few occasions we did real and fake comparison side by side and almost nearly cannot find any difference in them! The more expensive the original stuffs is, the more higher standard of the copied material is.

Amazing but scary huh!

I really really hate piracy !! TMH has really gone too far :angry:

Tarantula is a good trick, please support original and not some greedy business people who wants to make ONLY money from the magic industry.

Anyway, thanks for letting us know the difference between fake and original