This post is directed at no one in particular, this is literally just me venting some anger over this one.
I'm sorry but adding a fricking reel to a hook up is not novelty in my view. The hook up is why the effect works at all (and by hook up, purely for the sake of distinction, I'm saying the mechanics of how and where it goes), and if you're going to build an effect of any kind using anything as a foundation you -must- seek permission and at -least- credit. The clip shift is a prime example of that, and Chad Nelson and DB Squared his publishers did the -right- thing. They credited where it was due, and the aspects of the clip shift that use other magicians concepts is fricking TINY compared to using someone's entire hook up.
Reels have been used with 'IT' for a long time. If you think the concept of a small electric reel is new then I despair. The Hookup is what makes the levitation routine, and it is absolutely fundamental to it.
The 'Tarantula' without a good hook up is absolutely useless. It's just an invisible thread fishing line. The hook up -is- the effect. Adding a motorized gimmick does not in my view make this in any way forgivable. Without the hook up that motorized gimmick is a 70 dollar waste of money, and the 'knowledge' that you're paying for from everything I've read and heard is Fearsons (Except perhaps electrified motor maintenance and hiding techniques) and its this kind of nonsense that just irritates the heck out of me. Basically in my opinion you're getting -no- knowledge that you wouldn't get from Fearson, and you're paying 70 bucks for a motorized spool, lol. If you like spending 70 bucks on crap like that then go for it.
The fact is, this artist, who I shall now call Captain Tarantula, didn't seem to invent the idea of using a motorized reel with it, and he didn't seem to invent the hook up that he used, thus he seemingly hasn't invented anything new and yet he's charging people 70 bucks for it. If that seems equitable to you, then go right ahead and stump up your credit card. All you do is send a message to the magic community that this kind of BS is acceptable in any way.
Go ahead and blow 70 bucks on a reel if it makes you feel special, but know this. You're robbing the original creator and you're wasting a huge amount of money. The onus of proof is -not- on Steve Fearson, but on the clown that's marketing and 'created' tarantula.
Believe it or not, you can replicate the effect with a thread spool in your pocket, or suitably palmed operated by hand.....man maybe I should have published that one and called it my own because I introduced a spool, and I used it when I was 18 (8 years ago, and even then the spool concept was OLD, motorized or otherwise.) Of course I could take credit for the basic hook up I was using too, because I added the spool right? Please. This is a joke, and buying Tarantula is akin to robbery in my opinion, and worse than that you're throwing money at the worst kind of magician.