Not afraid of exposing the secret or disrespecting Masuda either...

Why would you support a known rippoff company???

When I bought it I thought the guy asked Masuda for permission.

Also I respect Masuda more than any other magician, but I cannot afford to bring a $55 trick to school where about 800 people out of 1200 ripped up the Bibles we got on school assembly.

And now I realise it's a rip-off, but what can I do? The effect is the same.

Tim is right, it does work and I know by experience. even thought most of the t11 customers on the boards over are young and did not care about the digital dissolve issue, after enough raising cain things happened and now steve duechek is getting his dues for the thing. presistance is key

Nothing personal but if it's a rip-off and you respect Masuda, then the answer is easy. Toss it and consider this a lesson learned. If you're worried about your WOW getting damaged at school then do some coin or card effects instead that don't rely on gaffs.

tossing out somthing he already bought isn't going to help him or anyone else. maybe the best thing to do would to be to buy the real "wow" and use the crappy knock off at school.

Masuda should be compensated. I agree with Joshua, he should also purchase the real deal. The knock off doesn't have to go to waste, most knock offs make good kindling for fires...snap, crackle, pop, baby!

P.

I have the real WOW. Bought from MJM Magic for $55.

Their also excellent for lining the bottom of bird cages, wrapping fish, etc.

I bought the original WOW about 6 months ago, and when I was in China I bought the rip off version, the quality is exactly same.

CC

No way!

A buddy of mine just bought a "wow" gimmick from Trickmasters. I think they call it a "magic card sleeve" or something. I cannot speak to the quality b/c I have not handled it, but the look and mechanics are an exact rip-off. What cracks me up is that I saw the packaging, and Trickmasters actually had the nerve to put a copywrite on it! Ha! On something they stole. Unbelievable.

Incredible gall and contempt.

Tim
Thanks for the info on Mak Magic. I don't care if you slightly change the looks of a product, it doesn't give them the right to sell it as a new effect. I am the only authorized builder of Martin Lewis's Cardiographic and four other effects and I get real upset when people who wish they were well respected in our community, can't create their own effects, to cheap to buy from they orininator, end up doing the unethical thing. They are now taking liberties with Martins effect. There is a lot of work envolved in assembling the Cardios to make sure rhey are up to Martins standards. They must not have respect for the intellectual property of others. I would be glad to hear what their reasons are for being unethical. Steve, if I am saying to much and you feel the need to remove me, then so be it. This is what makes me angry. I also produce Martin's Big Switch Card and it has been knocked off and its an absolute piece of trash. Am I to sit here and do nothing when others are doing this to a good friend.
Best
Al Doty

You, or at least this attitude, is everything wrong with magic.

Amen, Ben.

Unfortunately there is a dealer somewhere in Asia that sells WOW under the name of WOW for ....

wait for it....

50 American cents! (wholesale price if you buy 100 units)

I would hate to see the quality of this - a photocopy of the instructions would cost more!

The same dealer is ripping off many items from well known magicians, however I am happy to report that after banding together all advertisement of this dealer to a major magic magazine has been suspended until some agreement has been reached. What this agreement will be I have no idea at present, but surely this is a step forward?

I have seen and used the knock off version. Thought I was getting the original effect for a great price and it turned out to be CRAP. Lesson learned!!

Here is a review of "The Amazing Card Sleeve," distributed by a popular wholesale distributor for $5.

The sleeve is much larger than a standard playing card, making it tricky to place the incorrectly found card into it. Most disturbing, however, is that the card the spectator sees is nowhere near any printed card I have ever seen distributed in the US. The suits are much larger and the indexes are unusually printed. Also, in what the manufacturer must feel is proper restitution to Masuda, the WOW! presentation is not given in the instructions, but a note that "many more possible effects" can be performed by the buyer. As if anyone who purchases this is not familiar with the original handling.

I will not perform this effect, even though some feel the result is identical to WOW!

I can see that most, if not all, of the responses here support Masuda's WOW and do not defend any other company's use of an almost identical gimmick. I would like to see a discussion of the ethics of this beyond things like "you, sir, are what is wrong with the magic world" or other ad hominem attacks.

1. Can an effect/gimmick be truly protected by Patent/trademark/copyright?

2. If so, why didn't Masuda do so, and why don't other magicians/manufacturers do so?

3. By not doing anything, aren't those who create an effect opening the market to those who wish to take their idea and market it? By example, the Invisible Deck is a fantastic gimmick that is made by a number of manufacturers.

4. When, if ever, does it become appropriate to back-door an effect into the marketplace? i.e. there are a multitude of magician's who create dvd's made up of other people's effects and ideas, and while they may give credit to the originators it is the person on the dvd who makes the money from the effect.

This is a difficult area for me, and one that I think requires real thought and investigation. If it is clear that the items shouldn't be sold, then how is it that the magic community is selling/buying them? (Recognizing, of course, that a purchaser may not be aware of WOW when presented with KnockOut. I'm really speaking in terms of dealers who presumably do know the existence of the original).

Is the IBM/SAM code of ethics sufficient? On this issue, those provide that members will:

"3) Recognize and respect for rights of the creators, inventors, authors, and owners of magic concepts, presentations, effects and literature, and their rights to have exclusive use of, or to grant permission for the use by others of such creations."

Is it the dealer's fault for selling, the originator's fault for failing to protect or choosing not to protect, or the purchaser's fault for buying.

I look forward to your responses.

EDIT: Let me add that, after doing a bit of looking, it is clear that attempts to patent an effect only result in revealing the secret, and I will take as given that patent law does not provide an adequate route for protection of an original magical idea. In light of that, I would add for additional consideration the question of whether the standard expectations, i.e. magician's oaths or ethics, are sufficient (seems to me obviously not) and whether the major magic organizations shouldn't be considering pushing some form of legislation to protect the rights of originators.