Jeff , I have been to your site many times, just that $85.00 is too much for me right now.

I'd still like a breakdown of what makes certain bags unique enough to get their own name and what the strong and/or weak points of each bag is.

I think the one I have is a Tarbell, but I'm not certain.

If you go to Jeff Hobson's site, he explains why his bag is better and he does compare features,and it all makes sense, until you see a solid black Melini type, for 8 bucks and a step up for as much as $28.00, then you see Jeff's at $85.00

Jeffs bag, from what I have heard, is the best. Many people, not only suring this thread, have told me this. THey say it handles perfectly, and does what it is designed to do. With his bag, again this is from what I have heard, all of the problems with the malini are taken care of. The fact is is that to look and be considered professional, you have to have professional props. Jeff's bag is the best and I am thrilled with the price drop. Your buying quality, and sometimes quality isn't cheap.

Eli

Dave, From your price comments, I really think you are living in 1970's. Malini Egg bags have been $40 as the cheapest current price I can find. They were $28.00 back in the early $1980's. If basic material cost and labor costs would not have increased, maybe they would have held at your price quotes.

If people in the world does not think something has value, then they do not respect it, cherish it, use it, value it, give it the attention it needs. I have given many valuable computers to people that say they really want one and be able to learn how to use one. I then find they have given away the computer for a CD player or thrown it in the trash. These computers cost me hundreds of dollars. I feel bad, but the person trading or throwing it away does not feel any lose at all. And why should they, they have no investment in it.

There are may cheap tricks that are great, but everyone wants the trick that cost hundreds of dollars. But not willing to pay the cost. That is good, as they will just discard it anyway, as I think this shows they are not interested in the performance of the item but the how it is done. Then you find it on EBay or the Café for sale.

Sorry to have gone off topic a bit, but the argument of price just does not stand in most cases. True their are a few crooks in the magic community, as in any community, but the highly respected ones are fair. Magic material is a little different then buying a Car or maybe it is the more alike.

A trick if actually used produces income and for some it is in the thousands of dollars and other it is in the hundred of thousands of dollars. A car will get to work on time to make a living. A good Egg Bag will help you make a living once you are at work. A car can cost as much as Twenty Thousand dollars and take up a good portion of that income, a trick will help you complete that work and give much more in many different area for you and the client.

So if a person does not think the magic trick has value, then just don't buy it, but please do not complain that it cost to much, it only cost to much in your eyes, not everyone.

The Ken Brooke Routine is an adoption of his Egg Bag routine he used all his life, even before the Malini Egg Bag hit the market. Due to his fantastic ability to adapt fantastic routines, he came up with brilliant method for the Mailini Egg Bag.

Jeff Hobson has definitely made changes to the basic bag. Although it is Jeff Hobson that make the Jeff Hobson Bag what it is to an audience. Can you sell yourself with an item? I venture to say, Jeff Hobson could pick up a regular Malini Egg Bag and still get the Standing Ovation he always gets, I am sure. He is a wonderful performer.

Lastly, once again I would like to mention, it is not so much the bag but the ROUTINE that is value of the Egg Bag effect. By routine, I mean the handling of the bag and spectators during the presentation. The routine can take this trick to a new level.

The trick is so basic, that many just pass it by and say big deal. You drop and egg in a cloth bag, it vanishes. Show the bag empty, then produce the egg. It stops right there for many in magic. If they only knew that with the proper handling and interaction with audience, it is so much more; as proven by Jeff Hobson.

Jeff Hobson is the man. A true performer. As mr wmhegbli said, the success of the effect does not lie in the bag, it is how you use it. That being said, a quality bag is easier and more appealing to use.



ELi

The 70s were great years, lot's of experimenting, I do get paid for my work, and as most of you know, the recession has caused many companies to cut back, one of the first cut backs, is entertainment, the food, the drinks and the performers, fortune 500 companies have gone from live bands to DJ's, smaller companies have downsized as well, so in effect, we are almost back to 1970's rates, with that being said, I use only top of the line products, when it makes sense to, I also , always buy 2 of every item I use in my show, it should be obvious why. My egg bag has worked perfectly, my original question was and is, is there another way, a better way, WM, you have been on the attack many times and I'm not sure why, I have had to explain to you and only you in more detail, why I do what I do, this is my job, it is not the same as every other trade show magician you may know, and I would bet, if you ask all of them who you claim to know any one question, you will get as many different answers , perhaps you know trade show magi's, but have never been one, certainly you have never worked for the companies I work for, I truly appreciate your help and any and all constructive criticism, but stop the low angle attack. And I am not sorry for changing the topic. Below is one of a ton of good quality egg bag's, this looks and feels like silk, it is not, but it does work very smooth, and I have been using it for quite a while, and using all the standard moves, slapping and twisting etc. and it has shown no signs of wear, Is the Hobson bag better, after viewing his web site, yes it is, is it worth $85.00 , to many , Yes. to me, yes, is it justifiable based on my current situation, that being, I can afford it, does that mean I should buy it, NO. And when the day comes that I may splurge, I'm sure I will be happy I did,


http://madhattermagicshop.com/magicshop/......s_id=210

Dave,
Sorry you feel you are being attacked by my comments. The only thing I was commenting toward you was the 1st paragraph. Please note that the second paragraph says, "If people", not Dave.

Many other members and non-members read these strings and the rest was meant for them. As you roam the Café, in many sections, you will read this thing on price and selection, come up again and again. It really gets tiring of all the complaints on price. As in the Matrix movies it is all about choice, but there is always someone complaining they cannot afford it or can afford it, but they want it for less. I guess wishful thinking counts as a post, but I did not make the rules of the Café.

So Sorry Again Dave if you feel I put you on the defencive or attack you in any way, that is not my intent. After all we do not know anything about each other, so how can that be.

I was thinking of getting that Egg Bag to see if it was made any good by Bazar de Magia. Great price, but cannot comment on the quality, I only comment on things that I have actually owned and handled personally.

WM, two things, first , I may have woken up on the wrong side of the bed, so I am sorry, second, I think we are now closer to each other than most here, and I am proud to be your friend, and if I may , a third, the egg bag and any routine, is an amazingly fun effect to perform and to watch, Hobson has by far the best, as his web site offers a free tutorial that explains everything, I feel he is not exposing anything either, it is up to the performer to bring life to a piece of cloth,

I just won a magic competition, using a Hobson Egg Bag. Sure, I could use a cheap bag, but I want to perform with something that has ease of use. It's one less thing to worry about. Sometimes, cheap equipment can cost you gigs.

I've recently bought a couple of egg bags

The one I fell in love with is provided by Colin John Magic in the UK

It's a good size, made of good ribbed fabric (red or blue outside) that provides the right stiffness and a hole in one corner that is egg shaped. Black inside. I couldn't think of a better bag for my needs. It appears to be similar to the hobson bag but at £11 I'm happy.

http://www.colinjohnmagic.co.uk/store/sh......gg%20bag

Sorry I forgot to mention that Colin John also provides a left handed bag - which I think is a first - in fact I was so please I rang him up to thank him for the bag - which surprised and pleased him. The only issue I have is the egg provided is too big!

All of the Bazar de Magia bags, that I've seen, are left-handed.

The Bazar bags are strange. I bought several of them years ago. They were all right handed bags and made of a much better material. The only issue I had with them is that the hole would occasionally be cut too narrow.

I looked at a couple of Bazar bags recently and they are not nearly as good as they used to be. I used to say they were the best beginner egg bag out there. Frankly, with the way they stink now, I would recommend saving up and buying a Fabric Manipulation bag.

Bob White's mother made some really nice egg bags many, many years ago. The material is great, but unfortunately no longer produced. I am lucky to have a few the egg bags that he had produced.

I make left-handed bags. All you have to do is let me know that's what you need. I can customize my bags however anyone needs them to be customized. I hand-make each bag, so all you have to do is let me know what you need and I can make it for you. I make custom sizes, color variations, lefty bags, etc. The price is normally the same, unless special fabric has to be ordered.

I've had a Bazar bag for a couple years now. The first one I got from Penguin began fraying at the seams but I will admit that I was prehaps a bit hard on the bag as I began constructing my routine. Penguin happily replaced the bag at no charge though and the new one has worked wonderfully.

I'm right-handed and the left-handed bag made little difference to me except when trying to mimic moves from the Bob White DVD. I decided against using Bob's routine so the left vs right bag made no difference to me. If fact, the "left-handed" bag seems to make more sense to me.

One minor compliant about the Bazar bag is the crease in the bag from being folded up into a little box. It took me quite a while to get the crease out. The wooden egg that comes with it is worthless and it smelt awful. It is far too heavy for the weight of the material.

I used blown eggs in the bag (medium size). I eventually crush them in my dove pan so they are a necessity. By the way, that pink spackling in a tube works great for sealing the holes made from the blowing process - dries to the perfect color.

The blown egg works perfect with the hole size. The only problem I have is this... I start with the bag empty and allow the volunteer to feel the bag. During a moment of misdirection, I steal an egg from a ball holder and palm it into the bag - going right into the phase of showing the inside of the bag. I turn the bag back outside in, fold the bag in half and slide the bag between my thumb and index finger. An egg magically appears at the top of the bag - very visual BUT the egg sometimes didn't make it out of the hole.

I switched to a medium size egg (they can be hard to find) and that almost eliminated the problem. However it did still happen on rare occasion. So I now take the bag on the middle of each side of the bag and give it a quick pull open and that frees the egg every time. Only with this one move. It NEVER sticks when a volunteer pulls the egg out.

I will be bying a Hobson bag at some point. He sold me on the finer details and his teaching is great (Jeff, thanks for videos!) Until then, the Bazar bag works just fine.

Tim

Thank you. Those videos are available to view, for free, on http://www.HobsonEggBag.com
There's over an hour of instruction. Even if you own other egg bags, you'll learn something
from these videos.

Enjoy!
Jeff

But give Jeff's egg special consideration! It's TUFF!

Bob Sanders
Magic By Sander

I agree with Pete, Ken Brookes routine is the best and is the one I use. I like it because there is no sucker bits.



Jeff is a great guy. He gave me that code a few years ago when it first came out. Who else in the business would do that? His bag looks great, the only problem is you can't do his routine. And that's because it is so tailor made for his personality. I believe that a good actor can do just about any routine, but this is one of those that fits Jeff so well.

Like I said, Brooke's is good because it can fit just about anyone. And if you are good with comedy, you can go the extra mile and make it funnier.

A good tip... buy Jeff's bag and do Brooke's routine.

Due to the material used in the construction of the egg bag, you cannot do the Ken Brooke and Friends Routine as outlined in the instructions. I am of course speaking of the handling of the bag per the instructions.

Ken's Routine was designed for limp material, thus much of the finesse is lost with a more rigid bag.

Of course the information within will give one a good insight for some of the effects possible with a Malini Style Bag.

With the Ken Brooke instruction and a softer Malini Egg Bag, one can study and learn the complete routine and if followed to the exact detail, will receive a awesome response from the audience. I know because I have done it many times.