Always wondered how 'Crossroads' worked. Never owned it. Considered scarce. Well, now none of us need to wonder any longer. Scope out Ebay.

Whoa! Well that was nice he has the secret showing not covered up too much.

While looking at the gimmick makes it clear to us how it works, it doesn't necessarily mean that the method is clear to a lay person.
At least by showing the gimmick, the bidders know they're getting the real deal and not those half pencils that are meaningless.

I wrote the seller about the exposure and he wrote back he tried to change the picture but the eBay server wouldn't let him. However, a while ago someone selling a Bare Bones posted a picture showing the "hidden secret" and they kindly removed that picture, so I'm not sure what to believe.

You can change your ebay picture all you want I do it all the time.
You can take every picture off you have listed they don't care.

I don't think you can change the 1st picture after the item has been bid on which it has.

Oh ya if it has a bid then no you can only add to the description which will appear at the bottom of the listing. I host all my own pictures and do all my listings completely in html code. I can change any picture in my html listing even after bids by naming the new picture on my ftp server the same as the one in my html they can't stop that.

I really don't see much of a problem with someone putting the instructions on if that is what they want to do. Policing ebay telling someone how to sell their stuff is something I wouldn't do. It is their item they can do what they want with it. I wouldn't put the instructions on my ad unless it was important to the sale of the item.

I forgot to add if you don't put on a controversial picture you might want to change later as the one you upload to them and do html listing you have some control over the evil empire.

If you have made a major change you should add to the description you have changed the pictures and if anyone that has bid would like to cancel please message me.

I see no problem with posting a picture of the instructions if it doesn't expose the the mechanics; that just shows you have the instructions to include with the trick.

However, when you purchase a trick, you purchase the right to learn and perform the trick, but NOT the right to disclose how it's done, because that ruins it for others who also bought and perform the trick, as well as undermining the value for the manufacturer. First rule of Magic Club: Never talk about Magic Club. Second rule of Magic Club: Never show how it is done.

I agree it is not ethical to show the secret and I think it would diminish the interest for many to buy it from the seller if they are showing how it is done for free. I have not seen that many listing full instructions so it not an epidemic.

I wouldn't worry about the few that get shown, it is for a very short time. Odds are for a lay person that seen that same RARE collectable Tenyo trick performed just happen to search the auction site at the right time to view it before it is gone would be a slim chance at best.

When I had the effect I never tried it on anyone. The shell was thick and so loose on the pencil piece there was an obvious gap between them. I did not see how this could escape anyone's notice. I was young then and everyone had good eyesight.

Actually Dragonash mine fits nearly perfectly over the supplied blue pencil, no gaps. It's also very thin which makes it very fragile. I wouldn't perform this extreme close up, but from a few feet away and with proper handling this is a wonderfull penetration effect. If you palm of the gimmick it can be inspected. You can even palm the gimmick before the effect and let everything be examined, but this would make it more difficult to perform and you will need some misdirection when you put the pencil inside of the gimmick. This is a routine I came up with recently based on another recent magic trick I acquired that can be used for Crossroads.

Routine
- First: do NOT tell what you are going to do. Just have two pencils in front of you.
- The crossroad tube is in your right pocket. Hold gimmick between middle finger and palm of left hand. Hold your hand in a natural, slightly 'cupped' way - it does look natural, don't worry.
- Let spectators inspect both pencils. Emphasize that the pencils are perfectly normal.
- Take back the blue pencil. Now take back the other pencil and in the meanwhile/at the same time 'bring in' the the crossroad-tube with the right hand for inspection. Tell your spectators the crossroad tube isn't 'normal', it is magical ... gimmicked in such a clever way no one will ever notice it (this is fun, I promise ). People will look at the crossroad tube while you have some time to put the pencil in the s**** if you haven't done already. TALK while doing this, distract the audience!
- Perform the routine discribed in Tenyo's manual.
- At the end you can palm of the gimmick.

Story
Do some research on quantummechanics. Basically extremely small particles act like waves. An electron that is shot through a tiny hole can change direction AFTER it has gone through the hole. Therefore what we consider to be 'matter' and 'mass' isn't what is really happening ... they still haven't found out how everything exactly works. Is 'mass' for real? Or just an illusion? The Crossroad Tube has the ability to prove mass is 'relative' ... .

Add.: Keep s**** in your shirt pocket, not in your trowsers or it can bend! An option is to have the s**** in your shirt pocket and when you take back the blue pencil put it in the s**** in your shirt pocket casually. Then take it out a minute later. This can arouse suspision however ... but it's a lot easier then having to palm the s****.

I feel like I'm exposing the secret a bit and I'm sorry if this bothers someone, but I believe everyone in this thread knows how it works after seeing the Ebay auction.

Yes the most astounding experiment of quantum physics in recent scientific discovery is probably the double-slit experiment. Testing has been consistent that electrons when observed act as a particle and when it is not being observed it acts like a wave. When observed an electron shot will go through one slit and when not observed it acts like a wave and goes through both at the same time. When consciousness is placed upon it is the only time it is a particle. Consciousness collapses the wave function into actual particles that exist in space and time. Consciousness experiences energy as matter.

"let's continue on with this carnival-like atmosphere"

I'm glad to hear my problem is not universal. Things were assembled by hand back then. Perhaps I had a special "Friday afternoon" edition.

Ow, this is making my head hurt, OR, maybe the probability wave function of my head is collapsing! STOP LOOKING AT ME!!

The existence of the rainbow depends on the conical photoreceptors in your eyes; to animals without cones, the rainbow does not exist. So you don’t just look at a rainbow, you create it.

(Cue sitar music): Cool man...you're blowing my mind...wait...actually, you're not creating the rainbow, you're just seeing the existing wavelengths that animals can't see... bummer.

That is correct, nobody every actually sees anything only the reflection of light back to the eye.

Tell them Dorothy "Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."......Toto quit humping my leg...get....get....

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