I've had this a while and am finally getting around to posting a review. Eye of Odin doesn't really fit my style so I was happy to see a smaller version. Reading the reviews of Odin, I was intrigued by the metal writing method but honestly had no idea what to expect. I ordered the Poker Chip directly from metalwriting.com and saved a TON of money over what Hocus is charging. With the exchange rate as it is, you absolutely MUST buy direct from the guys at Metal Writing. Thank me later. Even with overseas shipping and 200 refills, I still saved a bunch of money. Amazing.

In any event, shipping was fast and the packaging was top notch. When I opened the box - again I had no idea what to expect - I was initially blown away by the contents. The props involved in the metal writing concept look more like medieval torture devices than the high-tech James Bond gizmos I was expecting. That was surprise 1. I also ordered the 200 refill kit and fully expected to see 200 little metal disks. Boy was I wrong. Surprise 2. So I had to pop in the two included dvds to figure out what I was looking at. When I saw the method in action I was even more blown away. Very creative and something I didn't even know was possible.

The props themselves are all high quality. The poker chip is nice and the included bag has some nice secrets built in that I wasn't expecting. Unlike Odin, the "work" here is accomplished using a post-it note pad instead of a chalk board. The post-it note pad is cleverly designed to be self contained. How they've incorporated a normal Sharpie marker as the writing instrument is simply genius. My only complaint with the pad is that there is a bit of a noise issue if you are not careful. However, it is quite easy to add a little padding to deaden the noise. Also a consideration with the smaller post-it note pad is the fact that the smaller size means you have less cover. There is no fumbling. You just have to be aware of where people are standing so they don't catch a flash of anything. As mentioned above, once the dirty work is done, the clever bag gets you the rest of the way home. It's gimmicked in three ways and they all work together to make for quite a deceiving convincer, load, reveal sequence.

The kit allows you to reload a few times on the fly. After that, you will need some time to reset. The longer reset needs to be done at home and can't be done at the venue. So this would be more of a formal or special occasion piece. To be honest, the reset is as interesting as the effect itself.

Bottom line, I'm not sure if this will ever see the light of day for me as a performance piece but it sure is amazing to play with. The method is worthy of the praise MetalWriting has been receiving. All the props are top notch as is the instruction. I like it so much that I might pick up the gun for a more formal stage piece. Well done to the boys as MetalWriting. Keep the creativity coming.

Eric

Thanks for the great review. I have been following MetalWriting since they introduced these releases and your words have been very helpful.

Thanks for the awesome review! Made our day!

/Ark

Is this easy enough for a hobbyist not doing sleights?

Tough to answer. There is nothing technically demanding or knuckle busting but you do need presentation skills and the ability to look natural while you are doing the dirty work. There is a point in the routine where you have to secretly transport the poker chip to the bag. That's really the only "move" in the routine. The bag is gimmicked to make the actual loading of the bag dead easy but you still need to do a quasi palm to get the chip to the bag. Don't want to reveal anything so I need to be vague.

As one of the creators of the actual handling - I can't add anything of importance. That is a really good description of the difficulty. I especially like the wording:



/Ark

Hello!
This december we will have a special deal at our webpage. Nice deals and no shipping. This will be the best MetalWriting deal ever. It only last during December or as long as I have products in stock.
Best
Andreas Sebring

http://www.metalwriting.com/

I have treated myself to this, ordered yesterday...looking forward to it.