I recently purchased the tarantula from MagicWhiz.com. 40 bucks and I got it new in the box with a DVD. The DVD wasn't shrink-wrapped, by everything seemed legit. However, the motor made a bad clicking noise unless I used it backwards - not desirable. I contacted Yigal Mesika and sent it to him.

It's a fake!!

Don't get scammed like me. Beware. I can't comment on the use of Mesika's genuine tarantla because I haven't gotten it yet. But I will soon!

That is probably the crappy chinese-made "Tarantura". Sorry to hear that, but so glad that Mesika has an unparalleled customer service.

HAHAHAHA!!!!!!

Matt,

I also recently became victim to the fake tarantula scam that's going around now among the magic dealers. I didn't even know I got a fake until I started checking online as to why my unit seemed a bit defective. After quite a bit of research, I have become somewhat of an expert as to how to tell the difference between a real and fake unit. Here's what to look for:

1. My fake came in a soft cardboard box with slightly faded graphics. The original comes in a hard, sturdy box with clear graphics. (The designs on both are identical)

2. The printed circuit board that has the motor is green on the fake. The original has a black board.

3. The stick switch cannot be detached on the fake. The original stick switch can be detached.

4. The original's motor is totally silent. The fake's motor has a humming sound and other noises if the quality is worse.

5. The original has strong thread that doesn't break easily and pulls smoothly from the reel. The fake ones have thread that sometimes jam up in the unit and breaks easily. (My fake unit's thread broke on the first use).

I'm pleased to say that I have since got an original unit and the quality is top-notch. Buy an original and save yourself a lot of heart-ache further down the road.

Regards,
Alex

EXCELLENT review Alex!! Mine is DEFINITELY a fake because it had ALL of these qualities from flimsy cardboard to loud motor, green board - the works. Everyone interested in Tarantula should take note of this thread and AVOID MAGICWHIZ!!!!

Guys - what an odd series of events...

1. I bought a fake tarantula from MagicWhiz.com
2. It didn't work right so I sent it to Yigal Mesika
3. Yigal's people (some guy named Danny) said it was a fake and told me "buy one from my favorite online dealer and we'll give you a 1 year warranty" - I told him "that's what I did so you are replacing mine right?"
4. Yigal contacted me himself and said "Keep quiet about this. We are working the issue and if you help us, we'll send you a new one soon."

Now...that's cool. They at LEAST should send me my fake one back...but to send me a real one is pretty nice. However...

5. DAYS go by and nothing happens. I contact Mesika again...
6. Danny replies, "We ask that you post on all your favorite magic forums about how displeased you were finding out that you purchased a fake from MagicWhiz. Also, explain how the quality on the fake device was utterly poor. Please email these post to us, and once we see them, we may proceed."

Really? This is weird...they won't even tell me WHY mine was a fake at this point. I finally figure that out on the forums and so in keeping with my original dealings (keeping quiet and not contacting MagicWhiz) I went ahead and warned everyone about the fakes.

7. I post bad reviews for MagicWhiz and forward the links to Mesika
8. No response for days
9. I (to my shame) FINALLY email MagicWhiz the following message:

I recently purchased a Tarantula from your online company and received a model with an opened DVD. I wasn't sure why the case was opened, but everything seemed ok. However, the motor was loud at times so I sent it directly to Yigal Mesika and they informed me my unit was a FAKE. After doing more researched, I also agree (proved it to myself) that my unit WAS FAKE. They have now confiscated this unit.

I want MagicWhiz to take responsibility for selling me a FAKE item. If you are selling FAKE tarantulas, I cannot imagine what else you are selling that is not legitimate. If you cannot take responsibility for this, I will be reporting you to BBB and all online magic websites that I'm a member of (and there are quite a few). I don't know if you are willingly selling fakes, but if you are not you need to pull your stock immediately. If you are, consider our business permanently concluded as well as many of my friends. Once you start getting bad reviews on the forums, even you know that you are done for.

Please let me know how you plan to rectify this. Thank you.

__________

Here's their response:

Matt,

We apologize for the issue. We will definitely look into this as soon as possible. It is not our intention to sell anything that is Fake! This is the first time we have ever heard about this. We have been purchasing our tarantulas from a new company that we have found. Again we apologize for any inconvenience this matter may have caused. We will stop all stock immediately. We will purchase a tarantula from MurphysMagic.com and replace the one that was confiscated to you right away. Thank you for informing us.

Best Regards, Magic Whiz Customer Service

WOW - now THAT is customer service! While I understand it's not Mesika's obligation to solve a problem of a fake tarantula, his people were not very easy to deal with AND apparently they never even TALKED to MagicWhiz about the issue. Not very happy about the mix-up...but pretty happy that somebody is finally sending me a real tarantula. After my recent dealings with Mesika, however, I'm not sure my one-year warranty will be worth anything. With any luck I won't need it. Haha

Thank you, Magic Whiz!!!

So, more has developed since this morning!

I'm eating lunch at a local Café in Colorado Springs before my flight to Vegas to see Criss Angel tonight. Guess who calls my cell phone? That's right, kiddies...Yigal Mesika! Pretty cool. I had sent him an email mildly complaining about the length of time it was taking his company to resolve this matter. He worked things out on the phone VERY professionally with me. We were able to determine the source of the bad tarantulas with the help of MagicWhiz staff who also responded VERY professionally when they found out their Tarantula batch was a fake. They had purchased a cheap batch of only 20 and had sent out even fewer than that to customers. I just happened to be one of the "lucky" ones. Haha. Anyway, both Yigal and MagicWhiz offered to take care of the fake tarantula, but since the blame started with MagicWhiz, I let them replace the unit. Yigal was a perfect gentleman in his conversation and I'm very pleased to have the matter totally resolved with my promise of a Tarantula on the way from MagicWhiz. By the way, the "hang up" by Mesika's team was due to the fact they didn't deal with email. They were snail-mailing correspondence and I wasn't aware of it. They are now working on sorting out the issue with the obvious culprit here - the original supplier. Go get 'em Yigal!!

This os so nie to hear. Yigal indeed has a top customer service.

Interesting. Sounds like mine is a fake as well.

John

Mine too, they said the 40% was because a shop had to shut down and sold the whole stock.

Contacted Yigal's team but they didn't want to send replacement. And I can't find the seller because it was a short-time stall at the market complex.

If your fake isn't noisy, then you might want to keep it. It seems my fake could lift heavier items. This difference was slight, but enough to notice for me. Yigal's is superior in every other way, however.

The problem is, it's not functioning at all. I don't know what's wrong with it, but it's sitting in my box for nothing. So much for an discounted item.

I´ve had a fake, too. I contacted Yigal Mesika to make it sure. He could confirm the checklist Alex has posted above (thank you Alex!). The vendor was shocked, he got it from an Italian wholesaler (I live in Germany) - he contacted Yigal immediately, but I don´t know the result of their communication.

***, I have a fakey too...we should have a convention.
Fake Tarantulas Anonymous

I was going to say it's a shame that creative thinkers ideas are copied ... but I'll change that ... it's a crime.
And those responsible should be tracked down and suffer the consequences.

No wonder we haven't seen a new version of the Tarantula.
It destroys any incentive the creator has.

The 1st thing you should have done was file for a refund from PayPal, if it was purchased using PayPal, "or" File with your bank that issued the credit card for a refund, if that was the way you made your purchase. It would have been resolved much faster and you would not be out of any money in the end.

So sorry this is still happening, magic is usually never discounted on popular, so as they say, Buyer Beware!

Hope everyone gets their issue resolved. Good Luck to you all.