I'm starting a thread about the Moonspinner and just the Moonspinner.

This is to discuss:

• The Elite vs the original Moonspinner.
  
• The presentation of the effect as per the Tenyo instructions.
  
• Routines with the Moonspinner props other than the printed instructions by Tenyo.
  

First of all...
I hope it's okay to say that the Elite Moonspinner comes with an ungimmicked paddle and a case that can be used to switch paddles. I'm not giving away any secrets by saying this because these items are mentioned on the comparison video viewable on the Tenyo Elite site.

Review

This is a review of the props, not the routine effect or possible effects with the Moonspinner.

Instruction Booklet

Like the Elite Fortune Sticks the Elite Moonspinner comes with an excellent instruction book. It is not a folded piece of paper; instead you will receive a well written, well photographed, multi-paged, stapled book printed on glossy paper. The included patter is pretty good and it turns the trick into a full routine with a story.

Case

As per the comparison video posted on the Tenyo Elite web site the Elite Moonspinner comes with a "handcrafted leather case" 01:08. I therefore assume that the case is leather as it does look and feel like leather. It is a nice case and it will hold two paddles and keep them scratch free. Also, the case will allow you to switch the gimmicked paddle for the non-gimmicked paddle. The case adds a touch of class to the presentation.

Construction

The paddle is constructed from anodized aluminum, the design is laser etched white into the black aluminum. It has a nice weight to it, the original plastic paddle looked like a toy, this does not.

The handle is constructed with a raised section in the middle. This gives the handle a bevel which aids the magician in the performance of the slight.
The hypnotic-pie design on the original padle was simple a sticker, on the Elite version it is laser etched into the metal. This is fantastic beacuse it means the design is durable which means you can wash (or scrub) the paddle with soap and water if needed.

Cost

The original plastic paddle is no longer made and they sell for big bucks on eBay. The last Moonspinner I saw on eBay sold for $60, so for $40 more you get the deluxe durable Moonspinner plus a case and an extra non-gimmicked paddle.

Overall Assessment

As to the construction of the props I can see no negatives. You receive a classy, durable, and washable version of the this classic Tenyo trick.

Presentation as a Paddle Trick

The Moonspinner is a paddle, but the Tenyo routine is not a classical, "paddle trick."

Here's the only video I could find on-line of a Moonspinner performance, the magician is performing a mixture of the Tenyo Moonspinner instructions and a, "paddle trick" presentation:
CLICK HERE

Thanks for the link Kevin, the only issue with filming the moonspinner is that the resolution on most cameras are not high enough to capture the actual optical illusion that the circular motions provide in real life. So the video doesn't portray what an actual person will really see in real life, the other problem he had is that he used a brown coin which is not correct. The paddle design creates a grey or silver image of a coin appearing, he really should have been using a silver coin with the prop.

P.

Yes, although this video fairly smooth it does not show the best presentation of the Moonspinner effect. It would be really cool to see a video of someone performing the Moonspinner in a live situation for a couple spectators.

Yeah, based on that video, this is NOT something I would be interested in purchasing.

Bsears,

That's because it was A) not performed properly or in the proper context in which the prop was intended for, and B) the camera CANNOT pick up the optical illusion it creates, and C) it was not done with a silver coin. I thought I explained that, but perhaps I wasn't clear.

It reminds me of story, when myself, Jason, and Steve were all jaming with Tenyo items, and I brought up moonspinner. Jason said, ah that's not a very good trick, I saw it demoed once in magic shop, and I couldn't see the illusion. I then pulled it out and performed it for him, and wowed him. He told me that the guy in the shop obviously didn't do it right(moving the paddle to create the illusion) because he never saw it before, but after I showed it to him in person, he jumped right on the ban wagon of the trick. Its really a very cool illusion when seen properly and in person. Again the camera cannot pick up the optical illusion, so with out being able to see that, it just doesn't look right, and you might aswell just be doing a paddle effect. But trust me in person, the illusion looks awesome.

Also, I personally do the optical illusion a few times, by doing the circular moves, making the coin start to appear, and then slow it down, still showing the paddle empty, and I repeat this once or twice, and then finally on the second or third time, the coin eventaully appears fully, and its killer. Those that actually own this will know what I am refering to.

P.

Thanks for the link Kevin. I'd not seen this performed before.

As Peter says this isn't an ideal video but, with some clarification from Peter you can see how good it would be.

I could also see that a Sh***le pass may be a more effective way of transferring the coin from the paddle to your hand than the method in the video.

But there is enough there to show that this is a decent trick.

Bsears:

I haven't seen the vid but I can tell you that this is actually a very cool trick.

I used to sell "Moonspinner" in the magic shop I managed back in the early '90s and it was always a popular item.

This was a trick I wouldn't offer to beginners because it takes some intermediate skills to sell the effect to one's audience. I'll tell you, the illusion of the coin materializing on the surface of the paddle is very cool, then the illusion becomes real, then you take the coin off the paddle and hand it out for examination. It's unusual and effective.

The downside is that the paddle is not "organic", as in "an everyday object", but the part of my presentation (which I might have gotten right from the instructions) is that it's a device which creates optical illusions. "Here, watch..."

I also did it exactly as Peter described: "Also, I personally do the optical illusion a few times, by doing the circular moves, making the coin start to appear, and then slow it down, still showing the paddle empty, and I repeat this once or twice, and then finally on the second or third time, the coin eventaully appears fully, and its killer."

And, since I had to do it effectively enough to get others interested in buying and performing it, I took the time to work in front of a mirror to get the final taking of the coin down perfectly. Hey, the illusion of taking the coin off the surface looked great to me..............and I WAS DOING THE TAKING!
;)

So I'll give this a thumbs-up. And I'll add that I agree with all the positive comments which have been made here.

Regards,

Steve Hook

That's odd...it was because of the video that I decided to purchase the Tenyo Elite Moonspinner.

By the way....
I end the trick by vanishing the paddle, then it reappears in my pocket and I can give it out for inspection.

Hello all:

I just wanted to say that, Kevin, I think that is a great idea to do with the Moonspinner paddle! It's a very unique way to hand it out for inspection, and the size is perfect to do this----I never thought of this idea before.

Steve, Peter and I have been (reluctantly! ) saying that as good as our routines and ideas are that we include with our Elite editions, BETTER ones will always seem come from our purchasers!

Please let us know if you have any questions. Thank you for your time.

Best regards,

Jason Palter
Paltergeist Unlimited / Tenyo Elite
(416) 410-5766

What to call the paddle?

I call it, "my little magic skillet", it looks like a tiny little cast iron skillet.
[img]http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:966skc5xD_KbvM:http://edrecipes.com/PS_Skillet.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.tenyoelite.com/images/moonspinner-thumb-sm.jpg[/img]

Why isn't there a video of a performance on the tenyo elite website? It seems the elitist approach goes so far as to restrict the target group to people only who already know the original tenyo item. I would love to see it in action before I buy it.

A video of the hypnotic Moonspinner illusion would be difficult to capture on camera, this is because the illusion is dependant on the the spectator's eyes inadvertently losing focus. The illusion actually takes place in the spectator's mind and not on the paddle it self.

However, it would be great to see a video of someone performing this for a spectator or two. The video could show the spectator's interaction with the magician and their reaction to the trick. It would also show the magician delivering the patter ect...

It's a great trick.

I finally watched that (Italian?) vid and now realize what a couple of the comments here were about.

What you're missing in the video is related to the first part of this demo, when the guy moves the paddle in a circular fashio. In the vid, you see a sort of shadow briefly in the center of the design.

What you see live is that shadow just about the size of a quarter, and it looks much more substantial. Also, there isn't as much of a difference visually between the shadow and the real coin on the surface.

It looks a lot better live!

- Steve H

I agree! And so does the Blue Crystal.

These are optical illusions and can only be appreciated when seen live. A picture/ video can never do true justice.

I just wanted to respond to this whole "optical illusion" item on our Elite (and even the original Tenyo) Moonspinner. To sort of quote Ed McMahon in response to Kevin, Steve's and Ustaad's comments: "You are COR-RECT, sirs...." lol

The optical illusion that will appear on the Moonspinner paddle is literally impossible to replicate on video. You of course can see the rest of the trick on camera, but just not the beginning optical illusion.

The best way to describe what happens is this: The circular movement of the paddle in the routine, causes your eyes to sort of "combine" the black and white parts on the hypnotic design to make gray/silver. Now because it is moving in a bit of a circular motion, that gray/silver ends up looking like a coin. So essentially what you see----as long as you keep up the movement----is a coin on the paddle. As soon as you stop moving the paddle, the illusion instantly disappears. It is incredible to see, and like most optical illusions, you're sort of left giggling to yourself at how the brain and the eyes miraculously work! So that is what you and your spectators will see when doing the trick. However.....

There is a problem. If you try to film this trick on video, the optical illusion does not work. That youtube video posted above is the best example of this dilemma. As you can see, the camera is incapable of picking up the illusion. When you watch the illusion in real life, your eyes do not flicker or see "frames" the way a video camera does. A video camera essentially breaks a moment in time down into various frames, but your eyes just see everything in "one" frame. That is why this part of the trick works when you watch it live; unfortunately video destroys the optical illusion.

We are in the process now of putting together some demo videos of the Fortune Sticks and Moonspinner, and hope to have them available to view very soon.

Please let us know if you have any questions or comments. These have been selling very well, and the feedback has just been amazing! Thank you for your time.

Best regards,

Jason Palter
Paltergeist Unlimited / Tenyo Elite
(416) 410-5766

I totally agree that you won't be able to capture the moonspinner illusion on web based videos.

I have the original moonspinner and on the package it encourages you to pick up the package to see the illusion for yourself.

When moonspinner is performed correctly the coin looks like its "morphed" out of the paddle.

Can one use any coin currency? If so what size?

First of all, I love the quality, instruction book, case, and everything else about the Elite Moonspinner. There IS a video on the web site showing most of the routine (although in the video the presentation revolves around using the Moonspinner to help stop smoking; whereas in the written instuctions the routine revolves around using the device to help quit gambling.

As to the coin size - a quarter is recommended, but there is no reason you could not use a gold dollar. I primarily perform Gospel magic and am using a roughly quarter sized Christian mediallian with a cross on one side and the word "Faith" on the other side. I carry a couple extras for the routine I do. Im am not entirely happy with this particular use of the Moonspinner and am still searching for a stronger routine and I will eventually discover it. In any case, you can use any coin or medallion about the size of a quarter.

These props, along with the Fortune Sticks, are indestructable (if cared for). So, if you keep the original box and instructions, they should remain "collectable" for years to come.

I am really anxious for new Elite products to hit the market.