'Not so Tenyo Tuesday!' I do actually have things that AREN'T Tenyo (but pretty close to it). Maybe after I get my children's hospital show and close-up set together, I'll actually get some other tricks (I'm really interested in the 'Hot Rod' variant: 'Rubik's Rod'). But for the time being, I'm just reviewing the tricks that my daughter and I have in our inventories!
I actually had written this a while ago, hoping to post this on April Fool's Day. However, April Fool's Day is on a Friday, and no matter how you slice it, it'll either be too early or too late to post this remotely close before or after April Fool's Day. So here we are!
Aside from that, I'm looking to get a few new Tenyo by either the end of the week or early next week: 'Illusion Truck', 'Magician's Matchbox', and 'Shrinking Pen'. 'Truck & 'Pen are going to be going into my children's hospital inventory, and 'Matchbox has some items that'll make the 'Illusion Truck' routine A LOT stronger and provide A LOT more audience involvement.
Anyway. We're going to go over a piece that I've wanted since my childhood, but never acquired because I hit sort of a burnout. But when I got heavily involved in magic AND I had paychecks coming in, I acquired it. So here we go! 'Eye of the Pharaoh' it is!
EYE OF THE PHARAOH
Inventor: Mark Sudecatti
Year: 1994
Cost: $15-$25
Type of Effect: Prediction
Skill Level: Supposed to be beginner
CONTENTS:
- 1 Pyramid Base
- 1 Pyramid Top/Lid
- Instructions…why not? I’ll include them here!
EFFECT #1: You the magician present the pyramid to the audience. You remove the top and explain that magicians have the power to communicate with ancient Egyptians from long ago and that some of the Egyptians could see the future. King Mattetaten was one of these Pharaohs and lost an eye due to an unfortunate accident, as you can see at the floor of inside the ancient pyramid. The Gods felt sorry and gave him a magic eye (the inside of the top of the pyramid). You then have your audience member to select one of the 6 colors of the eye (without you looking) and hand it back to you. You assemble the pyramid back together and are then able to accurately predict the exact color that the audience member has chosen!
REVIEW:
HA! Hardy har har har! I DO have things that aren’t Tenyo…sort of. The thing here is that ‘Eye of the Pharaoh’ was made by Milton Bradley as a part of their ‘Magic Works’ line: a legal (and American) line of rebranded Tenyo Magic items. However, the remaining series’ 2-4 had some Milton Bradley original magic tricks that weren’t bad and COULD be confused for Tenyo Magic original tricks. ‘Eye of the Pharaoh’ being one of them. I wanted this one when I lived in Utah when I was around 10-11 at the time. My friend (who was also into Magic Works) told me that a friend of his at church had it and told me what the gimmick actually WAS, but didn't give me the specifics on how it worked or how it all came together. However, I burned out a bit on Magic Works because of a mail-in trick that turned out to be a packet trick that I wasn’t exactly so sure about. If only I held out a bit longer, I would have enjoyed Magic Works series 2-4 instead of burning out because nothing in my mind could have beat the ingenuity of ‘Crystal Cleaver’. DAMN YOU! CRYSTAL CLEAVER!
For some reason, even after knowing the gimmick to 'Eye of the Pharaoh' this festered in my brain for 20 years and flared back up when I got into magic in the summer of 2014.
Anyway. We are going over a Milton Bradley (now absorbed by Hasbro) original trick, ‘Eye of the Pharaoh’. Is it any good? Let’s go over it!
First of all, the props are rather minimal. We have a base of the pyramid, which is basically 2/3 of an actual pyramid, and the lid: the remaining 1/3. Or remaining 0.34 of the pyramid if we are going to play semantics: my favorite board game!
The goal here is to have a spectator pick out a color from a 6-sided die underneath the pyramid ‘top’ that is held in place that kind of looks like an eye. After they hand you back the pyramid top, you put it back on top and tell them which color they chose. I basically went over the effect twice, deal with it.
The script/patter that it calls for is a story about how a Pharaoh had his eye plucked out (which I provided most of in describing the effect). Keep in mind that this was written for a much younger audience. I know most of you are in your mid-teens, twenties, and so on. Think of it as sort of a 'baseline' of where the whole storytelling theme could go.
It’s a neat mental magic trick, something the rest of the Magic Works series doesn’t have a lot of. The only other one I can think of is Series 4: ‘Ghost Card’ (which I think does the job better).
Personally, I think the trick is rather…clumsy. The method in which you are able to find the color is nothing new or innovative in the realm of magic. In fact, the way you do it, while neat to find out how you do it, it gives itself away. Even then, the color selection isn’t the best in the world. In fact, it is EASY to CONFUSE it for another color—even if you do memorize the selections!
I blame part of this on TIME. Maybe the colors are actually faded and time really hasn’t been kind to it. I can't tell at this point in 2016. But finding some of the colors is not something I can get 100% of the time. Because of this, I think you would have to practice more with it just to get familiar with the color selection. I will say this, one of the ‘eye’ colors is black. I can nail that one every time, but my daughter selects pink, and my son selects orange. I don’t know if it’s just me, but I think those colors are easy to mix up.
My only other complaint is the SIZE. The pyramid base is rather large and its shape makes it really bulky and not very travel friendly for packing a lot of tricks in a small case. And the pyramid top won’t stay on the pyramid base for travel. It doesn’t ‘click’ or snap on or anything. Not that I’d expect it to, it’s a rather neat looking replica of a pyramid and having snaps or something on it would take away from it. But it’s a hard one to keep together.
In all honestly, it was neat to get some nostalgia—especially of something that I wanted for a long, long time. I don’t think it was worth it in the long run. But it did sway off the obsessive thoughts of acquiring it. It’s constructed in a way to be utilized for a small close-up show. But even then, I’d fear that I’d either get called out for the method or not getting the color right. I’d only get this if you’re REALLY jonesing for one. OR, you're interested in the Milton Bradley: Magic Works line. Even then, I wouldn't blame you, it's a neat set of magic trick to go after--especially the originals. Otherwise, if none of the above apply to YOU, I have a LOT of other recommendations (Tenyo and Magic Works) that are well worth your time.
All right folks! It's that time of the year! REQUEST TIME!
I have several Tenyo that are in my inventory that need reviews, and some that I'm coming close to acquiring that WILL be reviewed in the future. If you want any of the following reviewed sooner than how they are picked by my 'business model' (slips of paper attached to a dartboard. A hit by the dart becomes the 'Tenyo of the week'), then speak up or forever hold your peace! In no specific order:
Soft Coins
Mystic Scope
Disney 'Frozen' Pendant
Disney Magical Coins (Dynamic Coins)
Zone Infinity
Magical Sneakers
Illusion Truck
Crystal Cleaver
Shrinking Pen
Magician's Matchbox
Telepathy Box
Ghost Camera
Mysterious Doghouse
Magic Painting
Money Splash
What's Next?
Coin Through Match
Until then: Luck, Love, and Lollipops!
I actually had written this a while ago, hoping to post this on April Fool's Day. However, April Fool's Day is on a Friday, and no matter how you slice it, it'll either be too early or too late to post this remotely close before or after April Fool's Day. So here we are!
Aside from that, I'm looking to get a few new Tenyo by either the end of the week or early next week: 'Illusion Truck', 'Magician's Matchbox', and 'Shrinking Pen'. 'Truck & 'Pen are going to be going into my children's hospital inventory, and 'Matchbox has some items that'll make the 'Illusion Truck' routine A LOT stronger and provide A LOT more audience involvement.
Anyway. We're going to go over a piece that I've wanted since my childhood, but never acquired because I hit sort of a burnout. But when I got heavily involved in magic AND I had paychecks coming in, I acquired it. So here we go! 'Eye of the Pharaoh' it is!
EYE OF THE PHARAOH
Inventor: Mark Sudecatti
Year: 1994
Cost: $15-$25
Type of Effect: Prediction
Skill Level: Supposed to be beginner
CONTENTS:
- 1 Pyramid Base
- 1 Pyramid Top/Lid
- Instructions…why not? I’ll include them here!
EFFECT #1: You the magician present the pyramid to the audience. You remove the top and explain that magicians have the power to communicate with ancient Egyptians from long ago and that some of the Egyptians could see the future. King Mattetaten was one of these Pharaohs and lost an eye due to an unfortunate accident, as you can see at the floor of inside the ancient pyramid. The Gods felt sorry and gave him a magic eye (the inside of the top of the pyramid). You then have your audience member to select one of the 6 colors of the eye (without you looking) and hand it back to you. You assemble the pyramid back together and are then able to accurately predict the exact color that the audience member has chosen!
REVIEW:
HA! Hardy har har har! I DO have things that aren’t Tenyo…sort of. The thing here is that ‘Eye of the Pharaoh’ was made by Milton Bradley as a part of their ‘Magic Works’ line: a legal (and American) line of rebranded Tenyo Magic items. However, the remaining series’ 2-4 had some Milton Bradley original magic tricks that weren’t bad and COULD be confused for Tenyo Magic original tricks. ‘Eye of the Pharaoh’ being one of them. I wanted this one when I lived in Utah when I was around 10-11 at the time. My friend (who was also into Magic Works) told me that a friend of his at church had it and told me what the gimmick actually WAS, but didn't give me the specifics on how it worked or how it all came together. However, I burned out a bit on Magic Works because of a mail-in trick that turned out to be a packet trick that I wasn’t exactly so sure about. If only I held out a bit longer, I would have enjoyed Magic Works series 2-4 instead of burning out because nothing in my mind could have beat the ingenuity of ‘Crystal Cleaver’. DAMN YOU! CRYSTAL CLEAVER!
For some reason, even after knowing the gimmick to 'Eye of the Pharaoh' this festered in my brain for 20 years and flared back up when I got into magic in the summer of 2014.
Anyway. We are going over a Milton Bradley (now absorbed by Hasbro) original trick, ‘Eye of the Pharaoh’. Is it any good? Let’s go over it!
First of all, the props are rather minimal. We have a base of the pyramid, which is basically 2/3 of an actual pyramid, and the lid: the remaining 1/3. Or remaining 0.34 of the pyramid if we are going to play semantics: my favorite board game!
The goal here is to have a spectator pick out a color from a 6-sided die underneath the pyramid ‘top’ that is held in place that kind of looks like an eye. After they hand you back the pyramid top, you put it back on top and tell them which color they chose. I basically went over the effect twice, deal with it.
The script/patter that it calls for is a story about how a Pharaoh had his eye plucked out (which I provided most of in describing the effect). Keep in mind that this was written for a much younger audience. I know most of you are in your mid-teens, twenties, and so on. Think of it as sort of a 'baseline' of where the whole storytelling theme could go.
It’s a neat mental magic trick, something the rest of the Magic Works series doesn’t have a lot of. The only other one I can think of is Series 4: ‘Ghost Card’ (which I think does the job better).
Personally, I think the trick is rather…clumsy. The method in which you are able to find the color is nothing new or innovative in the realm of magic. In fact, the way you do it, while neat to find out how you do it, it gives itself away. Even then, the color selection isn’t the best in the world. In fact, it is EASY to CONFUSE it for another color—even if you do memorize the selections!
I blame part of this on TIME. Maybe the colors are actually faded and time really hasn’t been kind to it. I can't tell at this point in 2016. But finding some of the colors is not something I can get 100% of the time. Because of this, I think you would have to practice more with it just to get familiar with the color selection. I will say this, one of the ‘eye’ colors is black. I can nail that one every time, but my daughter selects pink, and my son selects orange. I don’t know if it’s just me, but I think those colors are easy to mix up.
My only other complaint is the SIZE. The pyramid base is rather large and its shape makes it really bulky and not very travel friendly for packing a lot of tricks in a small case. And the pyramid top won’t stay on the pyramid base for travel. It doesn’t ‘click’ or snap on or anything. Not that I’d expect it to, it’s a rather neat looking replica of a pyramid and having snaps or something on it would take away from it. But it’s a hard one to keep together.
In all honestly, it was neat to get some nostalgia—especially of something that I wanted for a long, long time. I don’t think it was worth it in the long run. But it did sway off the obsessive thoughts of acquiring it. It’s constructed in a way to be utilized for a small close-up show. But even then, I’d fear that I’d either get called out for the method or not getting the color right. I’d only get this if you’re REALLY jonesing for one. OR, you're interested in the Milton Bradley: Magic Works line. Even then, I wouldn't blame you, it's a neat set of magic trick to go after--especially the originals. Otherwise, if none of the above apply to YOU, I have a LOT of other recommendations (Tenyo and Magic Works) that are well worth your time.
All right folks! It's that time of the year! REQUEST TIME!
I have several Tenyo that are in my inventory that need reviews, and some that I'm coming close to acquiring that WILL be reviewed in the future. If you want any of the following reviewed sooner than how they are picked by my 'business model' (slips of paper attached to a dartboard. A hit by the dart becomes the 'Tenyo of the week'), then speak up or forever hold your peace! In no specific order:
Soft Coins
Mystic Scope
Disney 'Frozen' Pendant
Disney Magical Coins (Dynamic Coins)
Zone Infinity
Magical Sneakers
Illusion Truck
Crystal Cleaver
Shrinking Pen
Magician's Matchbox
Telepathy Box
Ghost Camera
Mysterious Doghouse
Magic Painting
Money Splash
What's Next?
Coin Through Match
Until then: Luck, Love, and Lollipops!
