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The Baldini Inner circle I some how pounded in 2445 Posts |
We have some great coins available to us. Many of you have purchased from several dealers. Please share , who has the best quality and more. Is it Schoolcraft, Tango, Johnson, Lassen, Roy Kueppers. Who did I miss and not list? Please, post more than a name, as many who will read this are new to coin magic.
1904 Click here to view attached image. |
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Tally_NSA Loyal user Essex, UK 222 Posts |
Without a hesitation - Todd Lassen. But, for the price, you expect nothing but the very best.
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bigfoot Special user 502 Posts |
You know it's kind of humerous to me that this trend of high end coin magic is so big.
I have an old set of Paul Diamond's Copper, silver, and Brass, amongst others, that I have used for years and I am just tickled with them. Maybe it's the time I have went through but I guess I am just old fashioned. I just hope no one ever has a spectator forget you but remember your fancy coins _ |
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inigmntoya Inner circle DC area native, now in Atlanta 2350 Posts |
This has been covered time and time again usually ending in a my guy is better than your guy squabble.
I have or have had sets from everyone you listed plus Bob Swadling (sold through Mark Mason). Lassen is #1. Gorgeous coins and micro precision work. Many coin/shell sets have a near vacuum fit. Many unique innovations / contributions such as the gravity flipper, triple threat, MO Faux, etc. Down side is unless you snag something direct off his blog when it pops up, you're going to have to wait for your product. Sometimes many months. Excellent communication if you pick up the phone and just call him. Email response can lag. So why bother? Just call. I once had a problem with an item (he's good, but human like all of us) and he flat out admitted there was a mistake and made sure it was corrected. Schoolcraft is good but many of his designs are attempts to produce what Lassen conceived and he falls short of Lassen in execution. Lassen doesn't like him as he feels he's ripping off his work, and at times has deliberately priced himself below Schoolcraft so there's not even a cost savings here. If you need it now, and Todd doesn't have it, Jamie might. It will be very good but not "Lassen good". He's also usually close by the phone. Roy Kueppers is a mixed bag. I've seen some very nice stuff and some not so great stuff from him. The not so great stuff was something made for someone's commercial effect so it's possible the quality was the result of a price point his customer wanted to target. If you get the good stuff it's *good*, but have seen more than one dissatisfied customer remain dissatisfied with both his responsiveness and product quality. With most everyone else, issues seem to get resolved. Never dealt with him personally other than to get a rough quote once by email. Bob Swadling / Mark Mason - Good stuff, and some innovative designs like the NGF flipper and deep dish shell. Mainly commercial stuff but may be open to custom work? There are some technical differences in some of his gaffs (mainly flippers) that some may prefer more or prefer less than other designs. Something to at least know and compare. Tango - their early days weren't so great but much better of late. Also with some innovative stuff like the TUC. Generally good "commercial grade". Johnson Precision Magic - All around best value. Not as micro precise as Lassen but without the price that comes with custom made gear. Mainly clad coins but they have some items in silver and I hear they also do custom work. |
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videoman Inner circle 6732 Posts |
Inigmntoya covered it very well and I would agree with everything he wrote.
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The Baldini Inner circle I some how pounded in 2445 Posts |
Unfortunately, I do not think I can buy from Lassen, as Inigmntoya mentioned. " Email response can lag " Having not known this. I sent a couple of emails and when there was no reply, I sent another scathing email. Which of course this one he replied, and his reply he said, "I should have called" his email also went on much like my last one, not pleasant. In todays world we expect instant replies, perhaps Mr. Lassen and I need to shake hands and have a drink together.
Moving on, I did purchase a second hand set of coins made by Schoolcraft, and they are simply amazing and the customer service was outstanding. As I needed some help so I emailed them and they answered all my questions and gave brilliant advice too. Mr. Lassen, if you are out there, my sincere apologies. I hope one day to call you. |
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Kyoki_Sanitys_Eclipse Inner circle 1513 Posts |
I've had both Lassen and Schoolcraft, don't tell Lassen. However, the only ones I kept were Lassens. I bought an OxF from Jamie and he domed the shell to make it cover the flipper more. He was more than gracious I. Taking it back. Lassen didn't need to do this and I have spent thousands with him. You will defiantly have to sit down with him for a drink if you did that, but it would be well worth it. Never email him only call
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bowers Inner circle Oakboro N.C. 7024 Posts |
Quote:
On Jun 11, 2016, videoman wrote: I second that also. |
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inigmntoya Inner circle DC area native, now in Atlanta 2350 Posts |
One item I was remiss on... In terms of invention I believe it was Bob Swadling that came up with the original, non-gravity flipper.
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countrymaven Inner circle 1426 Posts |
I think "the best quality" is a good goal to have. But maybe too little attention has been paid to,
what are the best use of certain gimmicked coins for certain tricks and even some desired effects. Also, what I recently experienced shocked me. I have had most types of special coins, very well made. Shells, sets of all kinds, etc.. But I had never played around with the split coin. I gave it a go, and started putting it in spectator's hands, in certain ways. I was shocked to see that certain freedoms you have in handling the split coin, for instance, make it a regular coin in the spectator's mind. I have never been caught or even had a spectator suspect any trickery with this coin. So what I learned, is that learning what gimmicks are available, and how to handle certain gimmicks, might be more important for our magic than necessarily what quality is the greatest quality "under magnification." Has anyone else discovered something unexpected like this, after a long whirl in magic? |
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David Neighbors V.I.P. 4910 Posts |
Yea the old masters used to say. " it's not what you do it's how you do it!!! " and I have worked for the Last 45 years on how to handle a gimmick without it looking like a gimmick! and finding out it's not just about HOW but WHEN you use a gaff ! This is What Most Of My books are about!
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countrymaven Inner circle 1426 Posts |
Yes, David. I was humbled because I thought I knew a lot about special coins. But after finding some uses for the split coins, I realized how little I knew
because I had avoided learning about this relatively new and underutilized gimmick. So I felt humbled and realized, there is still much more for us to learn. |
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tbaer Inner circle Pennsylvania 2003 Posts |
Quote:
On Jun 11, 2016, The Baldini wrote: Many, many years back I emailed Lassen as well because I was interested in his gravity flipper everyone was raving about. He never replied and I thought this was very rude of him and poor customer service. So I emailed him again and got no reply. Then I read a post on the Café of people having similar scenarios, and someone mentioned he usually doesn't respond to emails and that you have to call him via phone. So I called him by phone and he answered right away and we must have talked for 15 minutes. Many, many weeks later I received my gravity flipper and it was a gem. I called him again because I wanted him to make me another coin gaff and his wife answered. She took my name and number and said Todd wasn't home at the moment, but he will call you back. About an hour late Todd calls me back and we discuss the coin gaff I was interested in. Since then I have called him many times and spent hundreds of dollars on Lassen gaffed coins and they are all gems. So I can understand your frustration when you emailed him and he didn't reply back right away. In today's world you would think everyone does everything by email, but not Todd. He is old school when it comes to this. But call him on the phone and it's a different story. |
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countrymaven Inner circle 1426 Posts |
Thanks
it is comforting to know someone still wants to talk and communicate with their customers. It seems he not only wants to build coins, but friends and relationships, great. hats off to Lassen! |
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The Baldini Inner circle I some how pounded in 2445 Posts |
I wonder if he would call me back at this point, we both escalated the email conversation to an ugly embarrassing point, admit-ably initially all my fault, which is really not me at all. Just one of those full moon days, I'd like to think we all have.
Dave |
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Artie Fufkin Special user 853 Posts |
Todd is a "phone guy", it's been repeated here dozens of times.
To email him and then complain on the Café a few days (or weeks) later that he "didn't get back to me" is just a waste of bandwidth. Todd himself repeatedly posts self-depreciating comments about his terrible emailing habits ... but in 2016 it shouldn't come as a surprise to anybody such that they have to post here complaining about it. Deal with it like an adult. Baldini, Todd is an artist, probably the best ever to chuck up a coin in a lathe. He has an artists temperament, as one might expect a true artist would. He's also not one to forgive past transgressions just for the token act of phoning or emailing with a quick apology, with the hope that the person doing the apologizing could convince Todd to sell them one of his masterpieces. But ... you never know until you try. Phone Todd up and tell him your story. He's a "real guy", and is super-easy to have a conversation with (if you're not !@#$%ing about something). He's also generous to a fault if you're one of his customers, and his quality never drops as he does all the critical work himself, in his own shop, and with his own hands. Todd is not only the best coin gaffer around, he's also the finest coin gaff creator currently active. He also creates some of the finest underground gambling/cheating historical items as well, every bit the equal of the legendary Dr. X ... and far beyond in some regards. For those who understand quality, originality, crediting and ethics as they relate to coin magic or machined magic props ... Todd is a legend. |
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countrymaven Inner circle 1426 Posts |
As a former custom manufacturer (not of coins), I second what Artie says. You have to realize that Todd is an artist and allow him
to have some of the temperament that goes along with it. To do high quality work, it takes passion, risk taking and lots of time and patience. He is not just stamping these things out. So let's give Todd and other customer coin makers a little bit of slack so they can produce their artwork for us. |
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The Baldini Inner circle I some how pounded in 2445 Posts |
Artie,
after reading your post, (Thank you) I did call and leave a message, after a few hours, I tried again, no message this time. I still have not spoken with him. But perhaps he is just like all of us, very busy. |
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Artie Fufkin Special user 853 Posts |
Baldini, I wouldn't worry about it ... Todd posted yesterday that he would literally be "goin' fishin' for the rest of the week.
In other words, nobody home to answer the phone, or return your message. |
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BanzaiMagic Inner circle 1339 Posts |
Quote:
On Jun 22, 2016, The Baldini wrote: Todd is every bit as easy to deal with as everyone above has said with one exception and that is if he has had difficulty with that person in the past. He has the memory of an elephant and computer files to match. My advice: if you speak with him, be absolutely straight up with him, no shading, no equivocation, no excuses (at least no excuses that involve Todd's actions or inactions). Good luck |
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