Reading this thread. I'd pleased people are enjoying White Star as much as I am.

Its a good point about the images not being 'old'. I personally find that products that provide props that are supposed to be old, never really pull it off 100%. The props look fake no matter how well they are made, they just end up looking like reproductions and in some cases a bit 'tacky'. We decided not to go in that direction, and as the Titanic was a popular historical event, we felt it was better to design the image cards to look more like 'reference material' rather than something that they are not.


Within the routine/presentation Jim suggests, the cards are not supposed to be old. That's why you have the other props like an old coin or a pen. Those items are used to give that emotion of 'holding something from the past' and in doing so, being linked with it. Unlike the props, the cards are presented as modern bio's of the passangers.

It would also be odd if the cards were 'old', as they give the death dates each passanger including the survivors.

It was a personal decision, but I'm happy we went that way.

Best wishes

Dominic Reyes

Hi there!
Mine just arrived this morning. I had a quick look and prefer to wait a little before giving a little review (a lot has already been said).

First impressions though: quality quite good (photos a bit too thick for me though - compeltely subjective point of view here); one method seems to be VERY similar to Cosmos, but if the method of Cosmos seems to be more fair, you cannot fail with WS as you could with Cosmos...

I'll give more precise thoughts later on!

I just read the thread after Caigy's post I quoted and I quite agree with what Lumas and Silverking said concerning the quality of the photographs. We have so much been told that the high price was also to justify the quality of the photographs, so I was expecting nice real-looking photos... well imo it's not the case. My photos are also badly cut and I find them too thick. But they look quite ok when you only consider the picture.

It's a pity though to pay $70 for an effect which is supposed to have top quality props when I know will try to purchase real-looking photos (thinner and well-cut) and write myself the script at the back...

As for the method I haven't read through all the booklet, but again, one method is VERY close to Cosmos (in fact the global method is the same, but you don't get the info you need the same way: again Cosmos looks more fair - and you can be surrounded - but you might make mistakes with Cosmos; with WS you cannot go wrong, but you canno be surrounded).

As promised the support forum for White Star has now been created.

http://www.streetsleights.co.uk

To access the White Star forum you will need some information from the cards.

We have started it off by adding some extras to download, that can go with your White Star Set, plus some ideas and tips from Jim and Karl Bartoni. More to follow in the forum shortly.

Hope this helps

Dominic Reyes

I want to add the Dominic and his staff over at magicshop have contacted me and are going to replace the pictures I had problems with. I can honestly say that I am a little happier now that for $70 my photos are all cut the same and have no white borders.

I still think the effect should have been priced a little bit less, but I will use this effect as is and enjoy it.

Hi Folks, Rob has raised an important point here and I'm REALLY pleased he has brought it to my attention.

It looks like approx 24 units of White Star have dispatched with a few cards that are mis cut and have a sleight white edge on one side. The cards are from a test sheets from the lamination company, that instead of being thrown out, were put back in with the proper sheets.

This has now been corrected, but should you hae recieved any miscut cards, please pop them back to us and we will replace them right away. We will also refund your return postage costs and include one of our free magic DVDs with the return as a goodwill gesture for the hassle.

I should point out that this will effect only 24 customers worldwide who have already purchased their set. All current stock is quality assured.

Best wishes

Dominic

Goldeneye, you will be pleasantly surprised when you get to the 'White Star Revisited' section of your booklet, that you can perform it completely surrounded and never need touch the photo-cards should you not wish to.


Paul Mc.

Very interesting thread. I received White Star the other day; yes, it was not cheap, but I am happy that the contents of the package justify the price I paid. At the end of the day, you cannot please everyone and judging by the responses on this thread there are happy customers out there as well as not so happy customers. This is to be expected of just about any effect on the market you care to mention.

Like Lumas, a couple of my cards also have fine, white borders where the cutting has perhaps not been as accurate as it could have been. But in all honesty, I only noticed this upon close inspection and only after reading this thread. The white border only appears on two cards and are very fine (about half a millimetre in width); I do not see this as a problem at all and it does not bother me in the slightest. I certainly don't expect spectators to notice it, much less mention it. Additionally, my photos are not of exactly the same dimensions; they vary very slightly in size but, again, not enough of a difference to make it a problem for me and certainly not enough to have any adverse handling issues.

Overall, I am very pleased with the quality of the props, the method and its variations. As I've already mentioned, I am also happy with the price I paid for the package, which is more than I can say for many cheaper effects I have purchased over the years.

My photos are perfectly cut and centered. I think they look great. They have a very thin laminate, and handle nicely.

My only gripe about the trick is the Titantic theme. Maybe because the movie was so popular and I still can't get that song out of my head. ;-)

Seriously, I think this is a beautifully produced trick, and I'm sure it's a real crowd pleaser.

Robert

I performed White star together with about 7 other tricks last week. White star was the most talked about and the effect people liked the most. I used an old english coin from 1898 and a very old key which I said was a cabinet key that one of the survivors had.

Ezzet

White Star VS From Hell?.........

White Star VS From Hell?.........

White Star VS From Hell?.........

Aaaarrrggggggghhhh........soo Confusing!

All those who like Jims White Star effect should keep their eyes peeled for his future releases,let me tell you this guy thinks outside the box for sure,he has some incredible ideas,we were discussing this effect today,its evolution etc and I can remember seeing many sessions with Jim and others where ideas were bandied about and honed...........
Hes a nice guy also,and is pleased his effect has made a few ripples..........

Just a line - for those who may want to know - to say that I just checked and WS is not exactly the same as Cosmos in fact... It's quite similar but at the end there is no discard pile in Cosmos and each specatator has divided "his" pile into reds and blacks...

More from me later.

Does anyone know if the From Hell (version 3) photos can be used with the White Star method?

They can be

[quote]On 2008-07-19 06:08, goldeneye007 wrote:


From what I recall at least one presentation of Cosmos required a blatant switch of packets: so I hope it's not like that since no switch at anytime is advertised in White star.

rather my question is anyone who is familiar with Planet Earth from Paolo Cavalli [that can be TRULY performed without a single switch and with any pack of playing cards [or any kind of cards you want] if there is a similarity with that.

I ask because it seem to me the same method but if someone WHO OWN BOTH tell me its even better than that of Cavalli [which to me is the best method I know of up to now] I am sold and will buy this immediately

Anyone ??

c'mon I want to know if I can order this expecting it to be different than Planet Earth method:

please !!

Hi PsiDroid

PM me with a description of 'The Planet Earth' method (we don't stock that item) and I will be happy to PM you back with a full answer.

Hope this helps

Dominic

Yes, true PsiDroid, I forgot to mention this (bad mistake from me, sorry about that), but there is indeed a switch in Cosmos and there is none in WS.

I performed WS this week-end quite a few times, and... well... surprisingly it works very good!! I say "surprisingly" because I cannot understand why a 6-year old kid doesn't understand the normal version... Don't misunderstand me, it plays extraordinary well!! Like I said it's a bit like Cosmos, but with a discard pile. At first I told myself: "bah, a discard pile...", but in fact it adds a lot to the effect!!!

I tried it on my girlfriend who knows quite a few things and she was literally fried!

You could even do it a second time in a row using the advanced method (which doesn't mean it's more difficult), and then the smart 6-year old kid who might have understood, won't understand tanything the second time (I hope... ).

I was a little disappointed at first because I thought there was something VERY intelligent in the effect before receiving it... well I wouldn't say that now. In fact I can't understand that nobody ever thought about this before. But the very strong point of the effect is really the presentation. And I don't only mean the idea of the Titanic. Ok, it's already a good idea, but it's the whole thing that makes it work extremely well. Every magician knows that it's better for him (in most cases), when the audience doesn't know what is going to happen (yes I know I'm not saying anything new here...). And everything is built quite well here when you read between the lines.

All in all I quite agree with silverking's post on page 4. It sure is one of several methods you can use, maybe it's not the best, but it sure isn't the worst, far from it.

Am I satisfied? Considering the effect alone, quite. Is it really new? Well... Yes and no. If I had seen the effet performed live, I really think I would have guessed the workings of it without difficulty, like most of you. So I would have bought old photographs and the effect would probably have cost me less than $40 including an old pen an a coin. BUT, you have several methods explained in the booklet, so I would only have seen one (ok they ARE quite similar, but they're worth reading). Will I perform it? Sure! Is it too expensive? Well... you really pay for the idea here, and of course creators have to get paid so that we have things to perform.

All the same I wouldn't have priced the effect over $50. It IS a good effect, but the quality we have been so much talked about was not in my package: my photographs are not square cut and are not centered (apparently this problem has been solved). But I don't know if I'll bother selecting the photos (probably one third to one half of them, maybe more), putting them in an appropriate package, going to the post-office, send them back and wait another ten to fifteen days before receiving the new ones. I'll think about it.

Cheers!

Hi PsiDroid,

I own both. I have used Paolo's (or, perhaps more accurately, Ted K.'s) clever methodology very successfully for several years. It is truly ingenious and very practical.

It is also completely different to the various progressive methods offered in White Star.

I have been using White Star continuously since it was released and can confirm that it leaves nothing to be desired in terms of audience reaction.

Regarding other points made in this thread:

The photos are what they are - modern professional prints of some old photos, with some info printed on the back. Are they works of art? No, but they would have looked out of place if they were. They are meant to be photos and that is exactly what they are.

A note regarding price: £30 is perfectly acceptable for White Star. When buying a magic trick, you are buying an EFFECT, so trying to work out how much the photos cost, comparing them to photos from another trick that costs less, wondering how much the booklets cost to print etc. is all irrelevant. There are MANY other factors at play in the pricing of a trick (not that it is anyone's business, but things like how much did the company pay the creator? how much are they investing in marketing?) that all have a direct bearing on the price.

Also, of course, Dominic is running a business to make a profit, so is free to charge what he thinks the market will bear. As I have written in another thread regarding one of my own tricks, if you think that the price of a trick is too high, then you are free to vote with your wallet...

Finally, something for potential US purchasers to bear in mind: it’s not so long ago that the US dollar was worth $1.50 against the GB pound. Now that it is worth around $2.00 all the tricks, books and DVDs you buy from UK dealers are costing you considerably more. This isn’t the fault of the dealers, but your economy.

You’ll be pleased to know, however, that all the UK magicians who for years have paid too much for US-released tricks and books are very happy to see this current redress

Cheers,

Mark Elsdon