PROS

The effect is true to the ad copy. It really looks exactly as it does in the trailer. If you liked the trailer, you should enjoy the effect. In the trailer they say the box is examinable. Yes, it is. However, you will need to do some not so difficult sleight of hand.

The instruction comes in a downloadable video. The instruction is very good, simple, and to the point.
They cover all the handling for the effect, including using different items to penetrate the box, such as a business card or credit card. They also have a bonus effect where you appear to tear off the box top and then restore it.

The method is good and really very angle proof. You could do this completely surrounded. However, I think it looks best when viewed from the front because you can’t really tell exactly what part of the box is being penetrated. When viewed from the rear, it still looks magical, but it is clear that it is penetrating the top of the box, perhaps just a bit less magical. I think that for best effect, your audience can be at any angle as long as they are in front of you.

The gimmicks come ready to go and are pretty good quality. While they don’t explain how to re-make the gimmick should it wear out, I think that you could likely easily rebuild the gimmicks with one additional purchase and reusing certain parts of the gimmicks. Also, if, for example, you get a red bicycle gimmick and later decide you would rather use the gimmick with a different box, you could pretty easily take the gimmick apart and make a new one with just one simple purchase from your hardware store or office supply store.

CONS

In the video, they don’t cover a routine, just the effect itself and variations, such as penetrating the box with a business card, credit card, etc. They also cover a bonus effect with a torn and restored box lid. I think that for this to be really effective, it should be better motivated, perhaps done in conjunction with a card routine. See the suggestions section for an idea.

You should know that having the box examined does involve some sleight of hand. Also, there is a gimmick inside the box as well as a gimmick outside the box. So, handing out the box and cards for examination is not going to be something you do immediately after doing the effect. However, the instruction is very good on how to do the handling for the examination. In addition, I think that if you do the sleights motivated by a card effect, such as described in the suggestions section, the effect can be very fooling.

VERDICT

A very nice card through box penetration. Good quality gimmicks and good instruction.

Suggestions

Probably the most challenging piece of this effect is handing out the box and cards for examination. However, if you do this effect in conjunction with a routine, say where their selected card appears turned over in the middle of the deck of cards inside the box, it gives you more justification, motivation, and cover for the sleights that are required to hand out the box for examination. You could do the sleights as they describe in the video, drop the box on the table without saying anything about examining it, and then hand out the deck of cards for them to spread to find their selected card.