Hey gang,

Just a heads-up that Peter, Jason and I are proud to announce that our latest Tenyo Eliteâ„¢ effect is finally here!

Space Towers was originally invented in 1988 by Shigeru Sugawara.

This little gem was recreated in a limited run and is made of beautiful Canadian Maple and Dark Walnut woods with a hand rubbed oil finish!

As with all of our Tenyo Eliteâ„¢ releases Space Towers is officially authorized by Tenyo of Japan! See the video here:



You can order from our Tenyo Eliteâ„¢ website by Clicking Here!

NOTE: Only 50 Units are being produced...You have been warned

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What are the thoughts on this?

This looks great! Of course it all depends upon the pricing.......

Not a magician fooler but this is not important. The effect will present very well for any lay audience including children as what is going on is easily understandable.

Rather than the pocket another possibility for the final transposition might be to use a good quality black velvet change bag of the appropriate size.That way you can turn the bag inside out immediately after the final transposition has taken place to show it to be empty. Proof that the vanish has indeed taken place! You might choose to keep your towers and dice in the bag and thus the bag will have a natural purpose as you take them out at the oft.

I also suspect that whatever the pricing this high quality item is going to sell out quickly!

I like Space Towers, but I already own the Tenyo Elite Ultratube (which I love). I really don't need two elite products associated with dice, especially at the Elite price point.

Please note that I am not complaining about the price; Steve, Jason, and Peter are more than justified in the price they charge for this limited run. I cannot imagine the challenges in creating mock ups, picking the right type of wood to build this (there are differences in wood of course), and getting the geniuses at Tenyo to approve the product to release.

Space Towers looks great, but I still wish that the brain trust at JPS got the approval from Tenyo for Prison Box, Crystal Cleaver, Invisible Zone, or one of the other Tenyo effects listed by many in this part of the Café.

Also, I hope this sells out quickly so JPS can continue creating awesome products. Ya'll (sorry, Texas accent) are awesome!

It appears that it has not yet sold out which is a big surprise to me.

It is a great old fashioned Tenyo set of props created by the brilliant Sugawara and not very easy to acquire in the original Tenyo form.

From the photo and demo, the tubes look great! The price is in the typical Tenyo Elite wood prop range.

What else can you reasonably ask for?

The Tenyo Elite team must be scratching their heads by now. They cannot win!

Anyway, I ordered it and am looking forward to receiving it. I hope that it is really well made and not a disappointment.

Part of the "problem" might be that, unless you're a dyed in the wool collector type, there's a very serviceable (albeit it unauthorized, I'm pretty sure) cheap plastic import set--definitely not Tenyo--being offered online for under ten dollars.

Methinks we need another tariff!

Julie

Julie,

People who go for knock-offs are not Tenyo Elite's target market. It is for the dye wool collectors like Magical Moments and the discriminating performer ( Magical Moments perhaps as well as others) that want to perform a Tenyo effect that doesn't look like a plastic toy for audiences. I have heard in the past magicians that love Tenyo but do not want to pull a Tenyo miracle for a client. I fell in the same camp, until I started playing with Tenyo. I would have no reservations performing Ultratube (Elite version) and have used a few Tenyo effects for walkaround before a kid show (Invisible Zone). I enjoy the construction and ingenuity of a number of Tenyo items.

I think JPS Studios are challenged also with selling Fortune Sticks when Tenyo released Mind Sticks for $15. As for Space Towers, it looks cool...

I just remembered that Tenyo Elite sold out two runs of Zig Zag Cig although the Tenyo version is still available and at a reasonable price as well as many copies which sell for less.

So, I must agree with the points that The Mysterious One makes.

I doubt that the availability of the inexpensive knockoff should be considered a feasible alternative to the Tenyo Elite version. Someone may settle for the knockoff if they cannot find the Tenyo version or for whatever reason, will not pay the high price for it.

It may be, too, that Space Towers is not an especially desirable trick in and of itself. It therefore does not merit the Tenyo Elite deluxe manufacturing treatment. The market has a unique way of making the obvious indisputable.

Of course, since this has not been very popular (at least at this price point), it may become super collectible in the future as a historic reference...

Julie

Either way, I'm looking forward to receiving mine

It would be very interesting to know how selections are made and what criteria Tenyo uses to approve a choice.

I am thinking that returning to the original less expensive props made of metal may be a good idea. The first two are $100 each and are really nice props. Problem may be that too many have to be produced to offer it at that price.

Everyone has their own opinions on what they want to see made as a Tenyo Elite next so perhaps the team cannot make their decision based on suggestions. Simply too many of them!

It is my feeling that the Tenyo Elite team and future success of the company may be helped if they were to be transparent about my mentioned concerns above and post responses here for those interested to read.

I think that the Tenyo Elite team are more than familiar with the effects that people want to see reproduced. For example if they were to create a quality wooden version of 'Eclipse' then I would imagine that it is going to sell out almost immediately. Same for the other usual suspects such as Stones of...Crystal.....and so on.

I might be wrong but my intuition tells me that their choice has more to do with the following three pragmatic factors.

1) How difficult it would be to make it. Does anyone have the crafting expertise? Is there a supplier for the materials (e.g. Magnetic strips).
2) Can they get the permission of Tenyo to produce it.
3) Simple to make effects may make most profit!

Perhaps I am being a little overly cynical.

Anyone who received their Space Towers have a review?

I am surprised that no one has come on here to share their thoughts about this latest Tenyo Elite release.

Any and all reflections would be appreciated!

Alrighty then! Maybe (hopefully) there will be more discussion about their next release.

I am curious to know how many of the Space Towers sets Tenyo Elite sold. If the number is small, they may not want to do another release period. Or...they will see if they can come up with a Tenyo approved selection which is more certain to be a popular one and sell out as a result. How to accomplish that is the big question.

Did this actually release? Just curious, have not heard of anyone obtaining one.

Hey John, did you ever get an answer on this? I'm curious too, as I'd like to flush out my collection.

Not really Greg... have not heard form anyone that actually owns one. There has been some suggestion that some were produced.

I actually got one John, do not know if the production was ultra-limited as no many people seem to have seen one, but I do have it, it came in the usual black box, and was probably the best-built effect of all (from the wooden ones).