Japanese Transpo Coin Set by Ton Onosaka

[jprace]

Japanese Transpo Coin Set
http://www.stevensmagic.com/shopping/shopexd.asp?id=5094
http://www.stevensmagic.com/shopping/shopexd.asp?id=9420

The Official Spam:

FINALLY AVAILABLE - IN LIMITED SUPPLY. Ton's Japanese Coins with expanded shell (half dollar size). Everyone knows the name Ton Onasaka when it comes to quality magic. We are fortunate to have gotten a small supply of these coveted coin sets. What makes them so in demand is the features. Beautiful black and gold design, which as the photo proves, provides excellent contrast. But this is the thinking mans set, because Ton has rounded the edges of the inside squares to form circles - and this features allows you to be able to put the expanded shell anywhere on the coin for a natural and perfect fit. If you remember other sets require exact placement of the expanded shell on the coin. You get one shell and FOUR coins. BONUS: While supplies last you will also get a FREE DVD that features Magic Icon J.B. BOBO teaching a matrix effect that you can perform using these coins! This is a phenomenal value - four of the best Japanese Wave Coins, one expanded shell and one DVD. "Thanks for making available the Japanese Wave cash so wisely selected by Ton Onosaka. Too often in magic we see bogus Chinese coins for use in close-up magic. This is the first set wisely chosen for its cultural value that reflects favorably upon the good taste of the performer using them" ~ Tom Gsell

What you Receive:

Whatever people decide to call this, this is basically an Expanded Shell Set using Chinese coins. The set includes a Chinese coin Expanded Shell, and four matching Chinese coins. You also get a DVD featuring J.B. Bobo, teaching routines that can be used with this set of coins.

The Look:

These Chinese coins, or Japanese as they are named, look phenomenal. I personally never really liked the dragon design on the back of many Chinese coins. These coins have a very modern, attractive back side. They are just a few simple lines, but look great. I am very happy with the look.

The Quality:

The quality of the Chinese coin Expanded Shell is pretty good. You can see the distortion, especially on the gold border. Although this is noticeable to magicians, it will fly by lay people. My Expanded Shell fits every coin perfectly, but there is an issue. When you put the Expanded Shell on the back side of a coin, it gets stuck. It needs a little bang to get out. But when you put the Expanded Shell on the front side of the coin, it's a perfect fit. I, and others, thought this was a little odd. The quality of the Chinese coins themselves are okay. They are painted coins, which means that the paint can chip off. And it does chip off, very easily. A good solution to this problem is to use an Ultra-Fine Tip Sharpie Marker to color in the gold chips. It makes the coins look good as new. So while the quality is not awful, it could have been much better.

The DVD:

I picked the coin set up at John Luka's Motor City Convention from a dealer. The price was per coin and the Expanded Shell was sold separately. The DVD was not included, nor did I see it for sale. I am not at liberty to make any statements about the DVD.

Expanded Shell Learning Material:

~Shellraiser
~World's Greatest Magic
~CoinOne
~CoinTwo
~Total Destruction DVD Set

AND MUCH, MUCH MORE

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Overall:

This is a very nice set of coins, but the quality could have been better. It's a huge plus that all of the kinks can be avoided. I rate these coins an 8/10. They look nice, the results of the bad quality can be avoided, but the fact they are bad quality in the first place... well... that drops the rating.

I highly recommend picking up these and a jumbo Chinese coin that matches this set. They are available HERE. I also picked up a Ton Onosaka coin purse, which is also beautiful. It's available HERE.

 

[CaseyC]

Great, honest review. Sounds like a decent set for the money besides the few kinks. I could see running into a few problems with the shell fit problem, unless you are just doing a coin matrix. And i would have liked to hear about the DVD which i know you didn't receive. Nice review to read though. Thanks.

 

[jprace]

Thanks!

If the DVD features J.B. Bobo, chances are it's good.

Also, the fitting problem with the Expanded Shell can help. It will influence you to always put the coin in the correct way. This allows you to turn the coins over without having two of the same side showing.

 

[CaseyC]

Thanks!

If the DVD features J.B. Bobo, chances are it's good.

Also, the fitting problem with the Expanded Shell can help. It will influence you to always put the coin in the correct way. This allows you to turn the coins over without having two of the same side showing.

Oh cool. The "problem" actually helps!

 

[jprace]

In a way, yes. But it still would've been nice to have an Expanded Shell that fit on both sides of the coin, for other routines that showing both sides is not necessary.