I wanted to do something special for my 2,000th post here on theory11! Since I do a lot of reviews that have been well received, I wanted to go ahead and put my personal template that I use out there for you to consider when you're doing your reviews. This is the template I designed after reading a lot of reviews in magic trade magazines, and looking at a lot of reviews on websites like this one. I'm not saying you have to use it. I'd rather there not be a bunch of my clones running around the place, but for those who have never written a review before, and want to try, here's something to guide you along the way. Feel free to use some, part, none, or all of it at your discretion. I wouldn't mind being credited for this format, but if I didn't want others to use it I wouldn't put it out there.
Without any further adue, here's my template that I use.
Effect Name: What's it called
Effect Author: Who created it
(optional if differs from Author) Effect Teacher: If the creator isn't teaching it, who is
Producers: Who makes it
Website Product Link: Where can I buy it
Cost: How much will it cost me? I'm careful to note USD for American currency, or what ever the native currency is.
Difficulty: (Easy, Intermediate, Advanced, Hard/Expert) How hard is it to learn
Notes: Anything special I want to say in short recap. Usually like this is for 18 years or older, or you need to also purchase X thing(s) to make this work, requires flash paper, etc.
For DVD's: I list the Features/ Chapters found on the disk or I also list any extra things you get along side the DVD such as a gimmick, extra cards, refills, etc.
For Stand Alone Tricks: I mention what all is included in the purchase, instructions, props, and all.
Books: I usually just mention the chapters by name, and how many pages the book has.
Decks of Cards: A deck of cards is the only thing that doesn't follow any of the above pattern. When you get a deck, you get just that. A deck.
Effect Advert-Blurb: I give a quick summery using as much if not all of the effect's promotional advertisement lingo as possible. This is usually more of what the company says about their product, than what I think about it.
My Intro: I give a brief summery of the product and how I personally feel about it. I usually will use this space to also give my own opinion of the product when compared to what the company says about it.
Body of the Review: I discuss any highlights or negatives of the product as a whole. If there is multiple DVD's or chapters to a DVD then I try to find something notable to say about most of the chapters even if it's highlighting a minor point, or grievance.
In the body I also try to address the following key points:
Teaching: I try to give a little feedback to how well I thought the material is taught. If the trick is a stand alone product, no DVD, I usually talk about the quality of the instructions, and how well they are written, or understood here.
Price: I do try to touch on the price of the product at some point in the review, and give my insight on whether I felt the price was worth the product received or not.
Gimmick: I try to give some feedback to the gimmick, if there is one, it's construction, and how well it works.
Practicality: I try to give some feedback to how practical the effect is in performance. What kind of venues or styles this effect best suits, etc.
Over all Impression: I recap everything I've said in the review and bring it to close in a final thought. I usually give my personal impression of the product, and some indication whether or not I would recommend it to someone else.
For Cards Specifically: Card reviews are there own beast, and should be treated as such. Therefore when, and if, I do a deck review these are the things I generally look for.
Handling: How well does the deck handle, fan, cut, and shuffle.
Flourishing: I don't do a lot of XCM stuff, but I'll run a deck through a few flourishes I know and judge how it feels. Do they stick, are they slick, do they feel good, etc?
Box Construction: How well is the box constructed? Is it crap that falls apart, is it thick? Does it hold up well?
Card Stock: How thick/ Thin are the cards?
Use/Abuse: How well does the deck hold up against harsh use and abuse over the course of one week.
Look: How does the deck look from an artistic viewpoint? Is the artwork good, does it fit a theme, does it give any kind of specific impressions when I just look at the deck for the first time?
Extras: Does the deck have any gaffs or extra cards?
Side by Side: When all the above is compared against a normal deck of rider back blue or red bikes, how what is the similarities, differences?
Price: How much does a deck cost? Is there price breaks for ordering in bulk?
Over all opinion: What do I think of the product overall.
I don't know if you want to incorporate a grading system or not, but the one I use is a system that judges on a scale of 1 to 10, with a score of 5 being the bare minimum for a passing grade. Anything less than a five, usually means I've got a serious issue with the product, anything higher than a five usually means I liked it. I usually break it up over four categories. Product Quality (that includes it's price), Video/Sound Quality(or how a deck handles for cards, or how well it was written for a book.) Teaching Quality, and Over All Score. The over all score is the average of the other three scores, +/- up to 2 points for personal reasons. As a personal preference I very rarely ever give scores of ones or tens. Nothing usually can be that good, or that bad. Unless it's Alpha Cards by Jesse Feinburg. God I hate those.
Overall I try to remain as open minded and unbiased about a product. I try to find the good in it, if at all possible, and highlight that. I don't do reviews, generally, with the intent of ripping a product apart or finding the bad things in it, but I will tell it like it is.
Exposure: I don't support the idea of exposing a trick in the review. I try my hardest to write the reviews in such a way that I give as much important information critical to the consumer as I can without giving away the tricks secrets. I never intentionally try and expose a trick, and neither should you.
Hope that helps you! Happy reviewing!
Without any further adue, here's my template that I use.
Effect Name: What's it called
Effect Author: Who created it
(optional if differs from Author) Effect Teacher: If the creator isn't teaching it, who is
Producers: Who makes it
Website Product Link: Where can I buy it
Cost: How much will it cost me? I'm careful to note USD for American currency, or what ever the native currency is.
Difficulty: (Easy, Intermediate, Advanced, Hard/Expert) How hard is it to learn
Notes: Anything special I want to say in short recap. Usually like this is for 18 years or older, or you need to also purchase X thing(s) to make this work, requires flash paper, etc.
For DVD's: I list the Features/ Chapters found on the disk or I also list any extra things you get along side the DVD such as a gimmick, extra cards, refills, etc.
For Stand Alone Tricks: I mention what all is included in the purchase, instructions, props, and all.
Books: I usually just mention the chapters by name, and how many pages the book has.
Decks of Cards: A deck of cards is the only thing that doesn't follow any of the above pattern. When you get a deck, you get just that. A deck.
Effect Advert-Blurb: I give a quick summery using as much if not all of the effect's promotional advertisement lingo as possible. This is usually more of what the company says about their product, than what I think about it.
My Intro: I give a brief summery of the product and how I personally feel about it. I usually will use this space to also give my own opinion of the product when compared to what the company says about it.
Body of the Review: I discuss any highlights or negatives of the product as a whole. If there is multiple DVD's or chapters to a DVD then I try to find something notable to say about most of the chapters even if it's highlighting a minor point, or grievance.
In the body I also try to address the following key points:
Teaching: I try to give a little feedback to how well I thought the material is taught. If the trick is a stand alone product, no DVD, I usually talk about the quality of the instructions, and how well they are written, or understood here.
Price: I do try to touch on the price of the product at some point in the review, and give my insight on whether I felt the price was worth the product received or not.
Gimmick: I try to give some feedback to the gimmick, if there is one, it's construction, and how well it works.
Practicality: I try to give some feedback to how practical the effect is in performance. What kind of venues or styles this effect best suits, etc.
Over all Impression: I recap everything I've said in the review and bring it to close in a final thought. I usually give my personal impression of the product, and some indication whether or not I would recommend it to someone else.
For Cards Specifically: Card reviews are there own beast, and should be treated as such. Therefore when, and if, I do a deck review these are the things I generally look for.
Handling: How well does the deck handle, fan, cut, and shuffle.
Flourishing: I don't do a lot of XCM stuff, but I'll run a deck through a few flourishes I know and judge how it feels. Do they stick, are they slick, do they feel good, etc?
Box Construction: How well is the box constructed? Is it crap that falls apart, is it thick? Does it hold up well?
Card Stock: How thick/ Thin are the cards?
Use/Abuse: How well does the deck hold up against harsh use and abuse over the course of one week.
Look: How does the deck look from an artistic viewpoint? Is the artwork good, does it fit a theme, does it give any kind of specific impressions when I just look at the deck for the first time?
Extras: Does the deck have any gaffs or extra cards?
Side by Side: When all the above is compared against a normal deck of rider back blue or red bikes, how what is the similarities, differences?
Price: How much does a deck cost? Is there price breaks for ordering in bulk?
Over all opinion: What do I think of the product overall.
I don't know if you want to incorporate a grading system or not, but the one I use is a system that judges on a scale of 1 to 10, with a score of 5 being the bare minimum for a passing grade. Anything less than a five, usually means I've got a serious issue with the product, anything higher than a five usually means I liked it. I usually break it up over four categories. Product Quality (that includes it's price), Video/Sound Quality(or how a deck handles for cards, or how well it was written for a book.) Teaching Quality, and Over All Score. The over all score is the average of the other three scores, +/- up to 2 points for personal reasons. As a personal preference I very rarely ever give scores of ones or tens. Nothing usually can be that good, or that bad. Unless it's Alpha Cards by Jesse Feinburg. God I hate those.
Overall I try to remain as open minded and unbiased about a product. I try to find the good in it, if at all possible, and highlight that. I don't do reviews, generally, with the intent of ripping a product apart or finding the bad things in it, but I will tell it like it is.
Exposure: I don't support the idea of exposing a trick in the review. I try my hardest to write the reviews in such a way that I give as much important information critical to the consumer as I can without giving away the tricks secrets. I never intentionally try and expose a trick, and neither should you.
Hope that helps you! Happy reviewing!
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