I think it very unlikely to receive a dent other than to the corners if anyone accidentally drops it. Of course you will have to look after this, but no more than any other prop.

Looks like some similar concepts and manufacturing techniques may have been borrowed from another recent wooden product of Hanson's called Omamori.
Of course this is pure speculation on my part.

Less than 30 sets left on first batch. He only made 100 initially

"Those who are about to buy salute you!" (channeling my inner gladiator)

And if those sell out he’ll make a hundred more. 😃

“At my signal, unleash Hell”

My favourite line. Lol.

https://youtu.be/8IPzpaD4UOE

Not enough likes available for this.

Looks average

From the demo it makes it look like you can show the playing cards in the box. Then immediately put the card through the box. Then when you open box it transforms to brown stained wood. The spectator even says the colors changed and he clearly shows cards in the box. I’m wondering if that’s just clever editing or is there more to the box?

Must be a deck s@&$ch because in description it says it comes with two boxes.


https://youtu.be/-rc1BKUOEsc

I would think it would more likely be the paul harris vanishing deck gimmick, maybe implemented like in Envylope.

If you watch the official trailer he does magic WITHOUT the deck box. At 2:30 on the counter he with what looks like a deck of cards in his hand. Then he passes his hands over the cards then they become a block of wood. Then another hand pass and they become a deck of cards.

At 2:07 he shows an empty card box with slits cut out. He takes a joker and pushes it through the card box. Then it appears that the block of wood is taken out of the once empty card box.

I’m still not sure if this is just clever editing or something more.
It seems to be more than the matchbox trick or industrial revelation

https://youtu.be/ByoSRwSrkh0

Looks like there’s a Paul Harris vanishing deck gimmick on the second joker he pulls out and then puts it away before going back to first joker and having spec push it through. I like that handling, that’s a nice touch.
I wonder if that gimmick is included or they just tell you how to make it.

Any prior use of an actual deck, if so desired, would necessitate a deck switch.

This looks great, waited too long on Industrial Revelation and missed out. Ordered this one.

No Brainer, order in, love IR and all the others but really like the idea of the weight difference of this.

NM

I hope this is anywhere as good as IR, I ordered one. I'd hate to miss out if they don't make too many of these in the future AND it works well.

Love the oroginal matchbox and IR also Plasma, I find penetration effects so magical . What really fascinates me with Holy Wood is the premise of cards returning to their original state, what a great idea ! Ordering was a no brainer.

This looks so good.
Being a carpenter the engineering of this fascinates me.
Was holding out for Punct by Paul Carnazzo, still out of stock,but I love that the specs can hold this before the reveal, believing its a deck of cards.
With the metal versions it's only when the block is revealed at the end.
Footnote:
Ordered 2 by mistake!!
Long story but sorted now and just the one on the way.

I’m not giving a full review on Holy Wood because I’m still waiting for the physical product but I have watched the full video instructions.

Hansen Chien has really thought this out really well. He has given a very complete list of credits to where some of good ideas have come from in the creation of Holy Wood.


Vanishing Deck by Paul Harris (1973)
Matchbox Penetration by Jose Llacer (1995)
A Case of Penetration by Bob Solari  (1995)
Deck illusion by Shigeru Sugawara (2011)
Industrial Revelation by Jamie Grant  (2011)
Metal Phone by Calen Morelli & João Miranda (2020)
Punct by Paul Carnazzo (2021)
Plasma by Nicholas Lawrence (2021)

I think the main thing that Hansen brings new to the table is he has turned a surprise ending type trick into a really nice routine with a logical purpose. It makes sense to turn a deck of cards into wood plus it’s going to make it much easier to carry around than a heavy block of metal. I like how he incorporates the PH vanishing deck to give the magic credibility. You can easily add this to your ambitious card routines.

There is a small amount of arts and crafts since deck boxes are shipped flat and a construction of the playing card gimmick.

He does address the fact it’s wood and the ways you’ll need to take care of it so it lasts a long time. Cool dry place, away from water and storage ideas.

Everything on the trailer is covered in the video including the empty card box that has a block of wood in it at the end. The only section from the trailer that is not fully explained is the part where he uses sight of hand to transform the deck of cards without a deck box to a wooden block then back to a deck of cards.

On official trailer it’s 2:32-2:37. This is clearly slight of hand that doesn’t have a breakdown explanation but if you already a card expert you could figure it out. Other than that everything is explained in detail. The video is professionally produced. It’s a 45 minute explanation video

The entire video is Chinese so you will need to turn on subtitles but he explains how to do that. Reading the subtitles doesn’t interfere with the learning process. Everything was explained and was easy to understand.

Overall I’m very happy I purchased Holy Wood. I think $99.99 is a fair price considering the precision the gimmick is made. I’m looking forward to use it in my walk around and zoom shows.

Funnyclown how did you see the workings ? Did you receive a download? I also purchased this and it’s on its way but I don’t see any downloads? But sounds like all be happy.

Yes, I purchased this on day one then I sent an email to Hansen Chien requesting the video link and he sent me the download link.

The product has shipped and on its way.

He explains the inner workings and how to separate it. It seems to be very examinable because the secret to separate the gimmick has very specific way to hold it. Almost like a puzzle box which makes it a work of art. Although it must be used with care. It cannot be opened too wide or you will damage the gimmick.