I was seriously considering purchasing The Raven. I know there are a couple versions out there, one of which I hear can be done with short sleeves. I was hoping to get some opinions from people who actually own one.

How long does it take to be reset?
Can it be reset in plain view (in a crowd?)
is it worth the money?

Yes I own one, and....

about 3 seconds if you use a 'brake'

Not really....unless you pretend to be scratching your arm or something

Depends. I've seen it advertised as high as $25 online, and it retails for $45 in some shops! IMHO, it's worth is around $7-$10.

Basicly, the raven is an okay 'beginner' coin gaff. It's pretty limited as to the things which you can vanish (you need special coins). You CAN use it with short-sleeves, but it becomes VERY angle-dependent if you do. If you're just starting out into coin magic, this might be an okay gimmick to use, but if you're serious, then save up to buy a good holdout apparatus. The best ones out there today are the "Trabucco" holdout ($125....$160 with all the accesories) and the "Fitch-Kholer" holdout (a wallet-shredding $1800!). There ARE cheaper holdouts ($60 or less) but you get what you pay for....the cheap ones are lousy and limited.

Ugh! $1800 smackeroos! Holly canole. Yeah, I know that many people perform it, but I don't really like the idea of using special coins. Do you know of a place where I can view demos of the holdouts you mentioned?

Errr... I just did a search on the Fitch-Kohler and it is not for sale, but for lease. With confidentiality agreements and the works, which makes me want to try before I buy even more... LOL

I wonder if it is worth the money

Most of the reviews on the FKHO have been five-star raves. But then, so have most of the reviews on the Trabucco, which is less than 1/10 the price. with the THO you need a bunch of special coins & accessories which will total about $30-50, but that still makes it a steal compared to the FKHO. Read the 'lease agreement' again more closely. It's a no-limit lease...basicly you ARE buying it, but if you violate the confudentiality agreement, youre obligated to return it. (I wonder just how exactly they plan on 'reposessing' those things if it comes to that?) As for the price (and this is a trend with a lot of the more powerfull effects at Hocus Pocus) they're not EXACTLY saying that this device is worth $1800....the price is to gaurd it's exclusitivity, and keep it out of the hands of the simply curious. This may seem grossly unfair to genuine magicians who really want to use this device to entertain with the art of magic, but are financialy unable to meet it's demands....but there's no point whatsoever in blaming the folks at HP for that. The blame for these abortive prices rests squarely with all the 'magic-hacks' out there who go around buying up effects, yaking the secrets to everyone, and making cheap imitations.

My advice....get the Trabucco holdout, and see what fun you can have with it. If you really like the system, and decide you'd like to take it to the next level....get the FKHO, and COMBINE the two. I've never been able to try that myself as I don't own a FKHO, but I hear from evryone who has....it's pure magic!