Yo folks. I usually keep the good things to myself. But I think I should contribute something to this forum which seems to be pretty dead lately.

Fresh mint by cameron francis appeared to be a lame trick at first. Making a bill vanish and making it appear in a tic tac box is the plot in short. But after reading the booklet thoroughly, I realise that indeed, there's some beauty in this effect. I went on to construct the gimmick which took me less that 5minutes to make. I practice the moves overnight. The following afternoon, I test out the effect to my younger brother. Wow. He is stunned.

I then showed to my dad. He was equally shocked. Just a few minutes ago, I performed to my guests who came over to my house for hari raya visits. They were all stunned and I got to keep the 10dollar bill as "tips" for the good show. Haha.

This trick might sound normal but I feel it's that good and is worth of mentioning. A bill is shown. The audience take note of the serial number. The bill is made to vanish via your favourite method. There's a box on the table the entire time. The spectator open it up, to see a tic tac box with a bill inside it. You open up the tic tac box. You show the box and jerk out the contents onto the awaiting audience's palm. They see the bill come out from the tic tac box. It's that convincing. It really sells the effect. The serial number is the same!

Have fun!

Nice to see you post a review Shufi!

Mr. John Teo, President of IBM (Ring 115) also did a review on it last month. He's also one of Magic Boutique's magic advisors *grin* If you're a member of the club, you'd seen the review in the monthly newsletter, The Quantum Ring.

Anyways, check out the online copy of Mr. John Teo's review ^_^

Cheers,
Ning

Haha. Indeed, I've been a member of the club for 3years already now. But, I don't exactly read the review section. Why? Well.. I feel that the reviews don't exactly reflect much. I suppose he don't have the luxury to actually test the effect right? I would prefer it if the review is done after some trying and testing.

I know Mr John Teo is not a sleight of hand man. So, yarh... not easy for him. But nevertheless, if magicboutique have more resources, maybe can work towards that: a more reflective and detailed review. It help the buyers you know. Haha.. It's like so many things out there are rated 5/5. But I'm sure some of these deserve perhaps only 4.5/5... or some even, 10/5???

Is this possible for a card to tic tac box? Say, an ending for the ACR. Possible?

Thanks ^_^

:off: This is off topic, but Magic Boutique do give reviews on magic items and you will find that the reviews are very honest - some of them in fact advise you against buying the product simply because we only recommend items we sincerely think are good. Check out the link Ning put in her post, it brings you to the list of reviews that Magic Boutique has.

Back on topic, i think Fresh Mint is pretty neat. The gimmick is easy to construct and i think it will work for signed cards too. The only thing is Shufi, was it hard to make it look convincing when jerking the contents of the tic tac box out? I thought that was not all that convincing...

I know the review is honest. Just that, it would certainly help if it had been more detailed. Maybe a rating out of 10 scale is better. That's all I am trying to say. Cos in my opinion not all 5/5 rated stuffs are that good. Yarh. When I talk about details, I am talking about its relevance to let's say walkaround, tablehopping, reset time?

There's really alot of things that magicians would like to know and these details help us in making decision when buying stuffs. What works for one don't necessary work for another person.

About fresh mint, I told you that I've tested the effect and there was no problem with it. My audience are convinced. The moves do need practice to make it look as natural as possible. But the illusion is perfect. Go try it. You'll be amazed with the reaction you can get from this. It has been rated 4/5 in magicboutique. But I personally give it 5/5.

Cheers!

Thanks Shufi :)

LOL... By the way, if you really check out Magic Boutique's review section, you'll realise some products actually have a crummy 2/5 and even 0/5, etc. We're brutally honest because my stand - which still hasn't changed - is to let other magicians review products for other magicians. We are honest because we have integrity and take pride in everything that we do.

We call a lemon a lemon & a spade a spade ;)

While Mr. John Teo, President of IBM Ring 115, is not particularly known for crazy sleight of hand or funky flourishes, he was selected to be a Magic Boutique reviewer and magic advisor - like Uncle Bob, Enrico (VP of Ibm Ring 115), Lucian J. (very long time member of the club) & J C Sum - because of his/ their extensive knowledge in magic & the fact that he/ they have been in magic for a very long time.

I think it's fair to say not all newspaper reviewers can actually sing or play professionally, but yet they are able to identify critical touchpoints of respective performances they attend & they review it objectively. You get my drift ;) So while he rated it a 4/5 and you a 5/5, it is still somewhat similar - it is reflective of the positive qualities of the effect!

Everyone has a different writing style - some to the point, short and sweet, very detailed, rambly and unfocused, etc. but I always think it's quite impossible to please the whole world (not even Jesus or Buddha could!) so I just really try my BEST to take care of my customers & the other magicians who visit my site but do not necessarily purchase from Magic Boutique so they do not invest in a dud ^_^

How many dealers - here in Singapore or in South East Asia - even care to do this? Not to the extent that I have, I'm proud to say... we're constantly uploading useful magic resources and articles from our advisors & are still turning people away from 'more expensive stuff' after finding out their purposes do not actually require it! :lol:

I must apologise for this long post but it just completely irks me when people think I'm doing some sort of advertising with the posted magic reviews. I used to post reviews here on SMC but stopped for a bit - a personal decision, not because I was told to - simply because some wrongly saw this as a way Magic Boutique (then, The Little Magic Shop) was 'splashing out advertisements' *SIGH*

For TQR & the Magic Boutique's online review page: I offered products - the real physical things - to the various reviewers to play with for over a month at least so they can actually write their proper reviews after testing. It is not meant to be advertisement AT ALL, they do all these testing to educate people on what's good or bad. But it's really sad because sometimes people can be so misguided by what I try to do.

Thanks for reading.

Ning

Hope my posts so far did not offend you in anyway. Not my intention. Yupyup. I applaud magicboutique's effort. I know one can't please everyone. Agreed. Just thought that it would help if the reviews had been less decriptive. Just my personal opinion.