It MAY be that Tenyo only made those two available as an affordable option for this new company to try...

Julie

Can be effectively, if that's so we can all blame Tenyo who have insidiously caused the failure of this first Elite line

I would have liked to find correct pictures of the Elite version "Fortune sticks" to highlight it on my blog. If you have photo when we can clearly see the bright side metal please send me a pm.
My blog is new And I have every day more and more visitors from around the world and really all the continents and country. This could be a good opportunity to let you know if I made a specific article and a review of your production.

Click here to view attached image.

I HOPE this (failure) does not come to pass, but in a strange way it would make these two pieces become very collectible and a good inve$tment.

Julie

Sorry google traduction is not very good. I don't speak english very weel, maybe the translation is confusing compared to what I really meant.
Yes what you say it's true but I hope it will not happen !

I think it would be a real shame if this project cannot move forward. I own both pieces put out so far and am thrilled to have them in my Tenyo collection. This is a very unique project in Tenyo's history and I know I would kick myself down the road if I did not aquire them when I had the chance... versus paying inflated ebay prices doen the road.

Jason's very honest update on the current economic stituation, etc. hindering sales is a reality. As a Marketing Director for a large chain I can assure you many projects have been put on hold in the real world... I can only imagine the chalenges of marketing a higher end magic trick in a small niche market.

I hope more Tenyo lovers will support this effort and help ensure we will see more releases from Tenyo Elite. For the team at Tenyo Elite I am sure this is more of a labor of love versus a big money making venture. Some of the negative feedback from Tenyo enthusiasts and collectors must be discouraging. I hope a few more will step up and support this effort and help ensure we see more releases. As a collector with 190+ tricks I have spent more for one plastic trick on many occasions than the cost of one of these finely crafted metal versions.

I am writing this as a collector and Tenyo enthusiast and have no connection to the folks at Teny Elite.

Cheers,

John

Aaah ... Thanks to John I couldn't resist to buy Furtune Sticks Elite haha I really hope it is an improvement (secret more easy to see) compared to the original one. 120 USD better be worth it (including shipping) - I'll review it once I get it

Hello all:

Thank you for your responses and for your support.

JM Talbot, we really appreciate your kind words and understanding!

Killertweety, please let us all know what you think of your Tenyo Elite edition of "Fortune Sticks"; we think you'll love them!

And Stereo, if you send one of us a PM with your email address, then we can get you whatever information/photos you need.

Thank you for your time.

Best regards,

Jason Palter
Paltergeist Unlimited / Tenyo Elite
(416) 410-5766

Stereo - FANTASTIC BLOG MATE!

The releases from the 70's certainly bring back some happy memories!

Thank you it is a pleasure to see that my blog will recall you happy memories ;o)

Stereo, that was a great website (and I'm very jealous of your collection). I really enjoy most of my tenyo items. I have to agree with a lot of the sediment above. I love fortune sticks and find the original tenyo item satisfactory. Coming out in a much higher quality piece/metal, doesn't had that much for this effect other than purely as a collectible on a shelf. I am much more likely to purchase an elite item if it is an improvement in the overall workings or makes the piece better capable of being taken off the collector's shelf and put into a working routine (like crystal cleaver as an example).

I must respectfully take issue with Jason Palter's remark regarding the critics of the current Tenyo Elite releases. The issue is not at all that "You simply can't please everyone----someone always wants something different". The fact is that were Tenyo fans asked to list in order of preference the Tenyo effects they'd like to see as Elites, the effects that were released would be nowhere near the top of that list. The French guy is right. Poor choices were made. Someone wrote, correctly in my view, that the choices reflected financial considerations: keep costs low while we see whether this flies. But why choose to release what anyone should know are effects that are far from Tenyo-fan favorites? It's a no-brainer: this was a paradigm case of inexcusably poor judgement.

Alan

Wow, it amazes me how many "marketing experts" appear on these forms. I am in marketing in my real job and have sold a few tricks over the years (one very successfully and a couple not so much). It is not easy to market magic tricks in a flooded market in a tight economy. Alan, how do you know how many fortune sticks and moonspinners that Tenyo have sold over the years? If you have inside knowledge please share. I am guessing that Tenyo Elite were privy to some sales numbers on these units as they made their initial decisions. And if they decided to pick a couple of initial items that had decent sales and were lower cost to produce than that my friends would be considered a wise business move in the real world.

We can continue to be negative and insinuate that they don't understand how to market magic. The end result will be that the project will fold and no more releases. I am also pretty sure that Tenyo would be reluctant to back another venture in the short term. I do not know the people at Tenyo Elite, but am pretty sure they have invested considerable dolars into this with minimal return. Wether you like the initial relases or not they have done a fantatsic job on the products, packaging and instructions. They clearly have the chops to make this a great line.

Let's try to be a little positive and supportive. They obviously love Tenyo as much or more as we do and had the "b@$ls" to fund this. If you don't like the effects don't buy them. But you don't have to be negative and call into question their business knowledge etc. As a Tenyo lover and collector I am keeping my fingers crossed that they can continue with more releases. Yes I have my own favorites I would like to see, but am glad to have these ones in the collection.

John

I just would like them to explain why they chose these two models to start !

J M Talbot is unhappy with what I took to be uncontroversial remarks. He's a collector and Tenyo enthusiast, so his bias is understandable. I too regard a number of Tenyo products as very good, and underused because they tend to look like toys. But one needn't be a "marketing expert" to conclude that Fortune Sticks and Moonspinner are not Tenyo effects that are typically referred to positively in discussions of Tenyo's output. Over the years many reading this post have read countless comments about Tenyo products. Crystal Cleaver is frequently one of the effects magicians consistently speak especially highly of. The two Elite effects are not. I'm simply reporting an educated observation. And I'm adding that it's fairly obvious why one does not find enthusiastic references to these effects: it's because they are, as one post put it, "boring". I took it to be obvious to anyone familiar with Tenyo's range of products that the two Elite releases are among the least remarkable. I admit that it's not obvious to everyone. But I remain convinced that most magicians familiar with the Tenyo line over the years would agree with me. But maybe they wouldn't...

Talbot thinks we should not be "negative"; rather, we should be "supportive". Otherwise the producers might become discouraged and withhold output. And we shouldn't discourage the production of more Elite products. This argument urges an encouraging attitude in principle, irrespective of what we think of the product. If one happens to think that the business decisions in questions were howlers on stilts, then maybe the producers should be discouraged - for their own good!... I always disable smilies on my posts.

I don't think that a product's having had "decent sales" (and being relatively cheap to produce) justifies a decision to produce in the context of a very severe and prolonged economic downturn. One of the three Elite team members remarked in a post that he assumes that the economic hard times will be over soon enough and that the current Elite sales flop will have proven to be a fluke. I don't think so. (That's a long story, which I won't expand upon here. I am a political economist by profession, and, if you'll forgive me, my track record has been nothing to sneeze at. What the business press now routinely calls the "new normal" will not at all be pretty: a general lowering of wages and living standards and chronically high unemployment. Most of the lost and/or outsourced well-paying jobs will not return. Ever. It's a new ball game. Very sad to say, those of us who market magic will be in for an indefinite extension of the hard times we are experiencing now. For details, if you are interested -and please forgive me again- do Google any of my articles on the condition of and prospects for the US economy.)

Best,
Alan

While I also think Moonspinner is boring, I have seen two different performers use it in their close-up routines as a way to introduce coins. I think ease-of-use trumps interest when used this way.

Like most mentalism, Fortune Sticks requires some showmanship. One must add sufficient hogwash to shine up the presentation. Those to whom I have shown it did not seem bored. (I do not take my mentalism seriously.)

Alan:

It is when I see statements such as the one below that causes me to react and chuckle. Possibly I can such a remark in relation to the BP oil situation, but marketing a magic trick... really?

"It's a no-brainer: this was a paradigm case of inexcusably poor judgement."

You are correct I am a Tenyo enthusiast and collector,and I mistakenly assumed that most on this niche fourm were as well.

Yes I sincerely hope that Tenyo Elite continues and will gladly continue to encourage that. Also as a side note I would rank Fortune Sticks in the top two mentalism effects that Tenyo has produced... the other one would be Bird Watcher. Both use clever subtle methods that I love.

Alan it comes down to a difference in approach. I get it, you don't like the effects and you think they are idoits for making them. I prefer... not my favorite effects but they have done a great job with them and I look forwrd to future releases.

By the way I agree with you thoughts on the continued economic impacts we face.

Cheers,

John

John,

Thanks for your very civilized and tolerant -of my rather in-your-face tone- response. I'm glad you liked these effects and have maybe used them to good effect. In this case you are right that we have an unbridgeable difference of assessment of the products in question. I do think though that those who share my analysis of the prospects for the economy should discourage further investments in the production of new magical widgets.
Best,
Alan