Speaking of Abbott's Magic referenced in the post below...I'm not sure where this post goes, so I'll put it here. Please move it if it should be located somewhere else. Have any of you ever received TOPS Magazine when it was in publication? If you did, what did you like about it. I'm trying to get some inside info to a story I heard. I can't wait to hear your replies.

I was subscriber for many years and was columnist for the last four years of its existence...have many back issues in our shop You can e-mail me privately at rileysshop@fabmagic.com .

I don't believe the question addressed anyone attempting to inquire about back dated issues. If you would like to solicit business I don't feel as though this is the place.

I just want to know what people liked or disliked about it. We all can get old copies from flea markets, ebay, etc. But I'm curious to hear from people who got the magazine and what they thought about it. Please no solicitations, but just comments.

It was a great magazine, especially when Neil Foster was editor...columnists included: Don Alan,Monk Watson,Sid Lorraine, Bob Nelson,George Johnstone, Bill Boley,George McAthy to name a few. It was a magazine that shared a lot of information and the Ed Marlo and Eddie Joseph contributions were worth the price of the magazine alone! I am NOT soliciting my magazines, only bringing up the fact that if you would like to read some Tops magazines I have plenty and some you may have for free. I have many duplicates and these would give you a glimpse at what this magazine used to be all about.

Well, in that case, I should mention that I have a total of 4 complete sets. Everyone is welcome to mine as well.

I subscribed for many years but my reasons were that Ed Marlo contributed to it regularly and I wanted those editions.

Of course, who knew that in later years, someone would publish M.I.N.T. Volumes 1 and 2 and maybe 3 someday.

Besides some great magic, it had a personal "folksy" quality unlike other magic magazines. Since I had been to many of the Abbott's get-togethers I had met many of the writers and when they wrote for the magazine it made it more personal, further, their style was much more like a great letter than a slick article (especially before the '80s). I still enjoy re-reading these old magazines. The personalities still live the pages unlike any of my other magazines.

I remember in the later years the "SUBJECT:ILLUSIONS" column written by David Seebach. Always full of great tricks of the trade and worthwhile thoughts on what props to purchase.

I LOVED getting TOPS in the sixties! All the writers that Rick mentioned were so fun to read. Also Senator Crandall was a gas! Cranky, illuminating, and funny as heck! Dorny, Frances Marshall, Nick Trost, Gene the Silk King and others also wrote. I learned so much about the art and business and history of magic, from "the horses' mouth" as it were. And learned lots of magic too!

As I mentioned on my post about Sid Lorraine, I wrote to many of the columnists and they always responded, and I had a running correspondence with George Johnstone (who I would see at get togethers in Chicago) and others. Readers of the magazine often sent me memorabilia. It was a nice family, and I got to meet many at the Abbott Conventions. Do current magicians treat kids so nicely?

I kept in touch with the writers of the Teen Magicians' column, we all networked via snail mail, one of them being Harry George,a member of my local magic club in Evanston. I did a search for his name on this forum, anyone know of him? Ireland's published a book of his comedy magic called 'Harry George versus Magic' that was great. Another friend who wrote for the column was Ed Fernandez, now a Comedy Hypnotist in Canada.

The other magazines I received were Linking Ring and Genii. Genii was great because I learned about the California scene and they had lots of articles with history of magic. And I loved Charlie Miller's slight of hand articles in every center section.

But TOPs was my favorite for that 'family' feeling.

marc

Sorta did.
I have the entire 30+ years of it.

I loved TOPS.

It was intimate yet personal.

It was vintage.

Everyone was accessible and friendly.

It was local and yet it wasn't.

I sometimes return to old issues
for comfort. Remember a time when
everyone was still alive.

I grew up knowing many of the writers
in the magazine...now much of them are dead.

You might not have seen the last of Tops magazine. In the fifties it took a few years off when television came to center stage, then came back in 61 as New Tops.

I am uploading a picture of a 1961 Tops magazine cover, but it is difficult to see because of size restraints. If you are interested in revisiting the past history of Tops, check out http://www.magicgettogether.com/tops/index.html

Click here to view attached image.