Price$139.95
Media TypeTrick
CategoryGeneral, Close Up
Date AddedSep 24, 2015
FLIGHT
Michael Afshin
Vortex Magic
(Based on 1 review)
The gimmick coins will turn you in to a coin expert and allow you to do some incredible visual magic. YOU can create miracles from productions, transpositions and vanishes. FLIGHT does it all with beautifully crafted coins that purchased alone would cost twice this amount.
ROUTINES taught:
FLIGHT - the complete coin act - coins appear, travel, and vanish. This is Afshin signature coins routine. Matrix - three coins clearly travel from one card to another then vanish.
Stand-Up 3 Fly - Live performances and tutorial of Afshin performing this miracle using the gimmick coin. Imagine using ONE coin to do the most incredible 3 Fly - also included is Afshin's 'shocking' stand-up 3 Fly where he apparently eats coins and makes them appear from his nose.
Ring to Coin and Coin to Ring - a finger ring visually turns in to a coin which turns in to three coins. Each coin vanishes until the last coin turns back in to a finger ring.
Afshin Turn-Over - an incredible vanish of a coin and playing card. This move has fooled even the most knowledgeable magicians. Long kept a secret by Afshin and released on here for the first time.
Coins to Pocket - Three coins placed inside your pocket reappear at your fingertips.
This diabolical routine by Afshin is supplied with a custom made coin which will enable you to easily perform many different routines. The only sleight needed, and taught, is a retention vanish.
One coin routine to RULE THEM ALL.
Reviews
(Top ▲)
Where to even begin with this one?
How about the trailer? I know that when a creator puts out a product, there may be some parts they have to cut out in order to protect the method, which is perfectly fine and perfectly justified, as long as it does not mislead people. The trailer for Flight is choppy (they are trying to be "artistic"), blurs in and out of frames (again with the artsy fartsy stuff) and does not show you anything except snippets from various effects and the "reactions" of a few people. To me, this trailer is very misleading as far as what they do show you because there is nothing to protect as far as methods are concerned. The biggest problem I have with it will be addressed in a moment.
Let us get to the real meat of this thing: the "Morgan Dollar coins". They are not even real Morgan Dollars (and if you expected that at this price range, shame on you), they are replicas. The gaff itself is not new and I could not even begin to tell you what kind of material they are made of. That really does not matter because they are crap, crap, crap, crappity crap.
The first thing that struck me was the nice box that it all came in. Then the nice drawstring bag. I heard the clinking inside the bag and I immediately thought the "coins" were some sort of custom tokens or something like that (think the Alan Wong Wishing Coins). No, I pull them out and they were Morgan replicas. The very first thing I noticed was the mold line along the middle of the edges of the coins. Yes they are "milled" but it is not a machine milling as far as I can tell, and further, you can literally see the mold line on it.
The heads and tails sides of the coins closely resemble real Morgans, but there are glaring differences. Also, nowhere on the coin does it say anything to identify them as replicas, even though anyone that knows anything about real silver morgans will know right away that they are replicas. The word 'LIBERTY' on her headband is a jumble of letters and the words "In God We Trust" is also a mishmash of words. These coins are also a bit smaller than real silver Morgans, which are 38.1 mm in diameter. This is not necessarily a problem, but it does come into play in using this set for other routines, another point which I will address in a moment.
Upon inspecting the gimmicks, I noticed a glaring (and I mean G.L.A.R.I.N.G.) issue: the edges of the coins and the two gimmicks do not match. Not even close. They are not even the same color. Not even the same texture or finish! I showed this set to a mentalist who knows nothing about coin magic and he saw them from about 6 feet away at first glance, and that was the first thing he noticed. For those of you that are wondering why this might be a problem, I will tell you: Not only does it make the coins look cheap, but because the gimmick is supposed to look like three identical coins and if you see two of them that look glaringly different from the other two, it is a dead giveaway. Further, the seashells are very flimsy (moreso than ones made from real coins) and if you drop these things on a hard surface or floor, you would be lucky if they did not dent.
For those of you that may be wondering, the gimmick consists of two of those things that you find on a beach (one expanded and one unexpanded), a reduced diameter coin that goes inside those two and two matching "normal" coins. Here is where I will address the issue with using this set for other routines: Because of the way the set is made, the expanded seashell will not even fit over the two normal coins in the set, which would have been nice and made this a versatile set had it been made better. It would have allowed for you to use it with other effects or routines, alas, it does not fit them and you are stuck using it for what you learn in the video, or other effects/routines similar to them.
You do not get a DVD with this product but you do get a link to a streaming video which you have the option to download if you want to. As such, there is no menu at all. The video itself is nicely shot in hi definition and there is no talking during the performances or explanations. Further, there is only one "live" performance of one of the effects and it is done in an area that looks like a dockside harbor. He does not talk during the "performance" and there is quite a bit of ambient noise, which if you were using these terrible replicas, you would need it to cover the horrific sound they make - especially the gimmicks if you are not careful). The moves are taught well as far as teaching the effects shown, and whether they are any good or not is for you do decide. Unfortunately, the trailer does not show much to give you the deciding edge as to whether or not you buy this.
Now, for the thing that I mentioned about the trailer that really bugged me: The coins that Michael uses throughout the video and on the trailer are NOT the coins you receive with this - they are REAL silver coins and coin gaffs! If you are going to peddle this pile of crap, at least have the decency to use it in the video and pretend that you are proud to use them! Another thing: In the trailer you hear the sound of coins being jostled around and/or tossed in the air and caught (NOTE: I said you hear it because you do not see it). As someone that uses silver coins (both dollar and half dollars) every day, they sound just like real silver coins. If you were to toss around the included replica coins like that without the gimmicks, they would sound nothing like that. To me, this is somewhat misleading because if you hear that beautiful sound and then see the real coins that he is using in the trailer, you would be led to expect that you will be getting those coins with the set. Not necessarily real silver coins at this price point, but real coins nonetheless.
Let me point this out: For another $40/USD you could get yourself the same type of gaff made with REAL Walking Liberty Half Dollars made by a master craftsman. Further, if you wanted to get the same gaff made with Morgans or Peace dollars, that would cost you more. But what about non-silver coins like post-1967 Kennedy halves or Eisenhower dollars? Those can be had for a mere $30/USD and $75/USD respectively and guess what? They would be made with REAL COINS.
So for $140 dollars of your hard earned cash you will receive a pouch of really crappy replica Morgan dollars with gaffs that do not even match each other and a video with decent production quality that will teach you how to use them by showing you how, with real coins.
I CANNOT recommend this set at all and if I could give it zero stars, I would. In fact that is what I give it; the 1/2 star rating is only there because that is the lowest the system will allow us to go.
Do yourself a favor and save your money until you can buy a Nest of 3 gimmick made with real coins, be it actual silver coins or cupro-nickel coins, and then buy the David Neighbors book (about $75/USD) to learn some excellent, excellent material using that and other gaffs. You could potentially get both of those items (the book and the gaffs made with REAL coins) for the same price as you would pay for this pile of crappity crap crap, depending on what kind of coins you buy. Please be aware that some makers of this gaff set may or may not include two matching normal coins with their sets, which you will need for the routines on this video.
How about the trailer? I know that when a creator puts out a product, there may be some parts they have to cut out in order to protect the method, which is perfectly fine and perfectly justified, as long as it does not mislead people. The trailer for Flight is choppy (they are trying to be "artistic"), blurs in and out of frames (again with the artsy fartsy stuff) and does not show you anything except snippets from various effects and the "reactions" of a few people. To me, this trailer is very misleading as far as what they do show you because there is nothing to protect as far as methods are concerned. The biggest problem I have with it will be addressed in a moment.
Let us get to the real meat of this thing: the "Morgan Dollar coins". They are not even real Morgan Dollars (and if you expected that at this price range, shame on you), they are replicas. The gaff itself is not new and I could not even begin to tell you what kind of material they are made of. That really does not matter because they are crap, crap, crap, crappity crap.
The first thing that struck me was the nice box that it all came in. Then the nice drawstring bag. I heard the clinking inside the bag and I immediately thought the "coins" were some sort of custom tokens or something like that (think the Alan Wong Wishing Coins). No, I pull them out and they were Morgan replicas. The very first thing I noticed was the mold line along the middle of the edges of the coins. Yes they are "milled" but it is not a machine milling as far as I can tell, and further, you can literally see the mold line on it.
The heads and tails sides of the coins closely resemble real Morgans, but there are glaring differences. Also, nowhere on the coin does it say anything to identify them as replicas, even though anyone that knows anything about real silver morgans will know right away that they are replicas. The word 'LIBERTY' on her headband is a jumble of letters and the words "In God We Trust" is also a mishmash of words. These coins are also a bit smaller than real silver Morgans, which are 38.1 mm in diameter. This is not necessarily a problem, but it does come into play in using this set for other routines, another point which I will address in a moment.
Upon inspecting the gimmicks, I noticed a glaring (and I mean G.L.A.R.I.N.G.) issue: the edges of the coins and the two gimmicks do not match. Not even close. They are not even the same color. Not even the same texture or finish! I showed this set to a mentalist who knows nothing about coin magic and he saw them from about 6 feet away at first glance, and that was the first thing he noticed. For those of you that are wondering why this might be a problem, I will tell you: Not only does it make the coins look cheap, but because the gimmick is supposed to look like three identical coins and if you see two of them that look glaringly different from the other two, it is a dead giveaway. Further, the seashells are very flimsy (moreso than ones made from real coins) and if you drop these things on a hard surface or floor, you would be lucky if they did not dent.
For those of you that may be wondering, the gimmick consists of two of those things that you find on a beach (one expanded and one unexpanded), a reduced diameter coin that goes inside those two and two matching "normal" coins. Here is where I will address the issue with using this set for other routines: Because of the way the set is made, the expanded seashell will not even fit over the two normal coins in the set, which would have been nice and made this a versatile set had it been made better. It would have allowed for you to use it with other effects or routines, alas, it does not fit them and you are stuck using it for what you learn in the video, or other effects/routines similar to them.
You do not get a DVD with this product but you do get a link to a streaming video which you have the option to download if you want to. As such, there is no menu at all. The video itself is nicely shot in hi definition and there is no talking during the performances or explanations. Further, there is only one "live" performance of one of the effects and it is done in an area that looks like a dockside harbor. He does not talk during the "performance" and there is quite a bit of ambient noise, which if you were using these terrible replicas, you would need it to cover the horrific sound they make - especially the gimmicks if you are not careful). The moves are taught well as far as teaching the effects shown, and whether they are any good or not is for you do decide. Unfortunately, the trailer does not show much to give you the deciding edge as to whether or not you buy this.
Now, for the thing that I mentioned about the trailer that really bugged me: The coins that Michael uses throughout the video and on the trailer are NOT the coins you receive with this - they are REAL silver coins and coin gaffs! If you are going to peddle this pile of crap, at least have the decency to use it in the video and pretend that you are proud to use them! Another thing: In the trailer you hear the sound of coins being jostled around and/or tossed in the air and caught (NOTE: I said you hear it because you do not see it). As someone that uses silver coins (both dollar and half dollars) every day, they sound just like real silver coins. If you were to toss around the included replica coins like that without the gimmicks, they would sound nothing like that. To me, this is somewhat misleading because if you hear that beautiful sound and then see the real coins that he is using in the trailer, you would be led to expect that you will be getting those coins with the set. Not necessarily real silver coins at this price point, but real coins nonetheless.
Let me point this out: For another $40/USD you could get yourself the same type of gaff made with REAL Walking Liberty Half Dollars made by a master craftsman. Further, if you wanted to get the same gaff made with Morgans or Peace dollars, that would cost you more. But what about non-silver coins like post-1967 Kennedy halves or Eisenhower dollars? Those can be had for a mere $30/USD and $75/USD respectively and guess what? They would be made with REAL COINS.
So for $140 dollars of your hard earned cash you will receive a pouch of really crappy replica Morgan dollars with gaffs that do not even match each other and a video with decent production quality that will teach you how to use them by showing you how, with real coins.
I CANNOT recommend this set at all and if I could give it zero stars, I would. In fact that is what I give it; the 1/2 star rating is only there because that is the lowest the system will allow us to go.
Do yourself a favor and save your money until you can buy a Nest of 3 gimmick made with real coins, be it actual silver coins or cupro-nickel coins, and then buy the David Neighbors book (about $75/USD) to learn some excellent, excellent material using that and other gaffs. You could potentially get both of those items (the book and the gaffs made with REAL coins) for the same price as you would pay for this pile of crappity crap crap, depending on what kind of coins you buy. Please be aware that some makers of this gaff set may or may not include two matching normal coins with their sets, which you will need for the routines on this video.