I got $50 from my mother-in-law as part of my Christmas present and I'm trying to decide what to do with it.

I'm thinking either Frank's $45 malini style egg bag from the Ambitious Card, which I can get a free Eggs-actly Egg with. (I already own the Ken Brooke & Friends routine, but don't have a bag.)

Or, there's a set of seamless 12" stainless linking rings at Magictricks.com for $69.95, which I'd have to kick in a bit of my own money for.

So, should I go for the bag or the rings.

Or is there another suggestion. I'm interested in basic old-fashioned magic for a short historical period show. I've got cups & balls and Whit's Pop Knot routine. I want to put this money toward equipment and not DVDs or books.

Chris

Ken Scott has the Malini Egg Bag for $20. which leaves you $30 left.
http://www.kenscottproducts.com/MaliniEggBag.html
You can pick up a Utensil/Utility Can from Target for $10 and do the miser's dream.

The linking rings will take time to learn.

Chris,

Tell us how to get a mother-in-law like that one!

Go with the egg bag but end by vanishing the egg and coming back with an 18" silk. Then go from there to the Silk to Egg. So the real egg reappears! It's a piece of cake that packs small and plays big.

If you need help doing that please PM me.

Merry Christmas!

Bob Sanders
Magic By Sander

Chris,

As I'm sure you know, there is a big difference between a $45 egg bag and a $20 egg bag. I would highly recommend Frank's bag. Everything Frank Makes is top shelf, best quality. Eggactly eggs are a much better choice for a Malini style egg bag than a wooden egg.

The rings on the site are they the solid steel seamless 12"? If so I think the money would be better spent on the egg bag. Nothing wrong with 12" steel rings, I'd just hold out for something better (and maybe a little lighter).

I am also going to take a wild guess after reading some of your posts that you probably have some work on the egg bag and the rings so I'm not going to suggest anything to you as if you were a rookie.

Frank's stuff can't be beat and the price is right.

Best,

Dan-

Thanks for the great idea, Bob.

Dan, via a PM Frank knows how I feel about his bag vs. other ones.

The thing about the rings is that when I've had time during the last couple of weeks, I've been in the workshop filing the weld bumps off an old set of (probably Adams) 5" rings that I've had for a million years. After filing away at three rings I decided that I should just buy a set of real rings.

Now Whit Haydn was GIVEN his set of 15" Owen rings by Jon Stetson, who lives just two blocks from when I'm typing this message, but I don't foresee Jon giving me any rings anytime soon (and I'm not even a mentalist). In fact I haven't seen Jon at all since one day last spring when he was out walking his dog.

I'm leaning toward the egg bag at the moment.

Hello:

I say you should go for Frank's bag and egg. You know you're getting quality with Frank, but $70.00 for a set of 12 inch rings suggests poor to mediocre quality.

You want absolute seamless rings, regardless of the size. If an audience can see the welds, they will think they've discovered the secret, even though they're wrong. You definitely want to get a good set.

Ron

Ron

The exception to your statement is Ed Marlo's handling of the "slum Magic" rings with welds--he took advantage of the obvious to create a great routine.

Julie

Hi Chris,

On the 5" rings. I believe the Ninja ring set they sell is seamless. The Owen's rings are gorgeous! My buddy David uses them and he just loves them. He also makes the things look like real magic.

If you live near Jon you should swing by The Mystery Lounge some Tuesday night and say hi! http://www.mysterylounge.com Cambridge isn't that far away.

Best,

Dan-

Dan,

I might be up to see you sometime.

By the way, Jon, who was our town's "official" magician since back when we were kids, is one of the reasons why I didn't pursue magic during the last 30 years. He put his heart and soul into magic and nobody else around here dared to compete.

Chris

PS: It looks as though Frank's going to be getting an order soon.

Hey Chris,

Why not take advantage of the discount on Lynetta's webpage http://www.fabricmanipulation.com and order you an Egg Bag? You'll have to spend a little out of your own pocket, but hey, it's well worth the price.

allen

Lynetta's work is beautiful. But I personally see it as not fitting the particular character and time period I'm portraying.

Chris

Frank's bag is the best. I use it in every show.

I ordered Frank's bag tonight and another member has offered me a nice deal on some used rings!

Thanks to all who posted.

Chris

Chris,

You have done EGGzactly the right thing.

I got a check for $7,000 from my in-laws (seriously!)

I was thinking of trading up to a bigger Harley, but ...

... given that money would not be a problem (let's be reasonable, of course) what's the FUNNIEST, most REACTION-PROVOKING prop or trick you'd get? I don't really care about "mysterious magic" as much as belly-hurtin' gut-bustin' fun (and Hobson's the only one I've ever seen get that reaction withan egg bag. I'm sure others have, but he's the only one I've actually seen with a strong, unique presentation.)

Seems I married into the wrong family. . .

Buy a good book

But this forum is "Boxes, tubes & bags." Books are in another area.

As for marrying into the wrong family, I certainly considered the girl and not the bank account!And not to rub salt into the wound, but my 10-year-old daughter got one, too.

So, what's the verdict? I'm thinking something from Chance has got to top the list.

Actually get a nice bag and put some stuff from Frank, and a Dark museum from Doug Higley in it...

I probably could give you a bunch of ideas.