I ordered on 12/30, and my order was shipped on Monday. I am hoping it will be here today, but if not then Monday. No worries, but I sure wish I had sprung for the extra shipping.

I may be the only guy who is glad he didn't pay the extra for express shipping. I've had work, gigs, a paper and then grad school all this weekend taking up my time. I hope TA doesn't arrive until Monday, otherwise I'll have zero chance of getting everything completed.

Mario

I am in the same boat. What was I thinking?

I feel your pain guys. I ordered mine on Dec. 11th and did Parcel. I'm hoping someone will bring some good news to my door today.

UPS tracking says it is on the truck to be delivered today. I should get it just before I have to leave to leave town for the weekend

I ordered on 1/29/09, shipping to GA (2-3 day shipping). Crossing my fingers on it arriving today.

I ordered on the 13th dec express shipping ...still waiting.
Fingers crossed it will arrive 2morow for collection at my local depot .

Just watched all of the dvds and I'm blown away, every effect is a worker that can be done in the real world and are 100 % practical. This is the best magic I have ever seen released to the magic comunity.

But even if the effects are extreamly strong, this set is so much more then just effects. This set will make you see what magic is really about and to re-think what you are doing. Allot of magicians today are focused on learning rare sleights that will fool everyone and even impress most magicians, and looking for routines that will fool everyone and even your magician friends too, but are they really entertaining? Every effect on the set here is rather simple, but its not a trick designed to fool anyone, every effect is a piec of theather and entertainment that will give people an experience that they never will forget, when its all over they wont even think about any other method then magic.

Did you find and watch all of the hidden content as well?

Hey guys. Here are my thoughts on disc 6,7 & 8. Sorry I'm a little late with them... while watching disc 7 last night some punks shot my house and cars full of paint balls Shattered shutters, broke windows, dented siding, etc... what a mess. I remember when vandalism was punching a stop sign or something... sheesh. So... I have been cleaning paint up for hours and hours...

I should mention again that the production quality is amazing, the music is perfect and the attention to detail is obvious throughout the entire set.

Watch for the cookies guys, these easter eggs are amazing!

Disc 6 -

Smoking I -
Spectator thinks of someone important to them, then writes that persons initials on both sides of a match. The match is then lit and allowed to burn down while they watch their writing burn up. The match returns moments later.

I love this little piece. Talk about packing small but playing big. Easy to set up and do, so powerful, dealing with memories and names again... personal to the spectator, emotional hooks, etc... it's all here in this one. The best part is the automatic evidence removal that is built in to the routine.

The Weirdling -
This is Michael Weber's inside out coffee card, performed and taught by Robert Smith. This will be a lot of fun! Robert does an amazing job of performing and teaching this one and has some great little tips. This truly looks impossible. Easy to do, easy to make up your own cards if you don't want to do it with the cards that come with the set. Watch the Phootnotes, Paul explains why he feels a coffee card is better than a business card for this effect and I think he is absolutely correct. Doesn't need to be a coffee card... could be a VIP card or anything really... but a business card has a slight weakness to it in a spectators mind...
In any event, this one is a keeper for sure and leaves them with an impossible keepsake (and you with a gift as well!)

Ripped and Fryed-
I watched Charlie Frye perform this and my jaw hit the floor. I picked it up but there was no feeling left in it, so it hit the floor again. I watched the explanation and my jaw hit the floor again. Then I watched the performance again and my jaw hit the floor yet again.
This is a WICKED torn and restored (signed) card. I was completely happy with my T&R card that I have been doing for years... until I saw this. This thing is a work of sheer beauty! I highly suggest watching the performance 250 times before watching the explanation...
Even once you know, it's still mind blowing, but the first time you see this you will get a little glimpse of how your spectators will feel when they see you perform this. Wayne Houchin does the teaching part in his amazing way and he has a slightly different version of the restore as well. This thing is HOT!!

Cellmates-
Jason was right, this one is FUN! What a great idea! The moment of realization for the spectator is about as perfect as you could ever imagine. It uses an old principle combines with new technology and comes out a winner. Love it!!

Disc 7 -

Water Trap -
This is another one that is worth the price of the set for me. Bro came up with an amazing principle that makes the effect truly impossible in the spectators mind. This is fun, theatrical and impossible! Wanna show them something that will blow them away and they will never forget? The kind of thing they will tell their grandchildren or great grand children 30... 40 years from now? Show them Water Trap!

Dunn's Deal -
Awesome! This one takes OOTW and gives you a set up that is done right in front of them, under their noses, while they stare at the deck, immediately after they shuffle it! Then it introduces an emotional hook and rehook and then re-rehook

At the end of the routine, they are left with a miracle that THEY did. They'll never be able to reverse engineer it (nor would they even want to, they'd be undoing their own mircale at that point)... I mean, they JUST shuffled the card a second before beginning. What YOU did with the cards is so inconsequential...

DD eliminates the part that we normally don't like from ootw routines and gives a perfectly reasonable (and powerful) motivation for what I originally thought was going to be a problem, but ended up being a piece of strong psychology!

Invisible Palm -
You've probably seen Wayne Houchin do his version of the PH Invisible Palm. What more is there to say? I mean, Wayne does this in such an amazing way that people are left completely floored. Watch the reactions on this one... they are real and they are blown away through the entire routine. The pacing is perfect, the moves are invisible (no pun intended) and the routine is real magic. Wayne is an incredible teacher and it shows once again on this one. The mechanics are easy, the presentation will need work, the result is a miracle of magic.

Truly Screwed -

Screwed Deck Improv!! NICE!
Do it on an off beat and you will transcend from this guy who was just performing some magic, into some Alice in Wonderland type of character who just lives in their own little world where the most impossible things happen all around you.

Disc 8 -

Belly Button -
Why the heck didn't I think of this?????
This is killer! Card through window only it's a button pin and thr spectators shirt! Genius!

Son of Stunner -
I am a huge fan of Color Stunner which led me to David Williamson's version, Funner Color Stunner. Well, this one, S.O.S., is streamlined to the point where it's simplified in the spectators mind, and that is always a good thing! I will now do SOS 90% of the time, and DW's FCS for special occasions.

Muscle Bend -
When Jason said this used an organic gimmick, my brain went somewhere that wasn't even close! lol
This is a great coin bend! And easy to do! I currently don't do a coin bend, so this is it for me. Your hands are shown completely empty... you borrow a coin and you bend it in a crazy way. I love it!

Unstable Label -
Andrew Gerard is a genius. Have I said that before? This set is full of geniuses.
A minute or two of prep and you can walk up, grab a bottle and magically make the label melt right through the glass so it is inside the bottle. You prove it's the same label they "saw" a second before, and then you leave them stewing in their own uncertainty of the reality that they once thought they knew.

Ok, I already gave my thoughts on all of the rest a few pages back... so that's it! I am off to watch these all again now!

In closing... The hidden easter eggs are amazing and could have been a project all their own. There's so much insight in these things that it's crazy this set wasn't triple or quadruple the price.

Paul is amazing, as usual. The PHootnotes are magical. Paul is so genuine and relaxed... little things like the phone call with Andrew Gerard during the explanation of Stapled Warp, I am so glad they left this in, it is a great reminder that what they (and we) remember isn't always what they saw.

Overall these effects are the best of the best in my opinion and this set is so easily worth the asking price and far beyond. Now, consider that the effects are only a minor portion of this incredible set. One could spends days writing reviews of each routine and the phootnotes and easter eggs, and the explanations and the box and the props and the people involved.

I can honestly say that there is not one single thing on this set that I felt didn't live up to it's hype. And a LOT of the stuff here was wayyyy underhyped and some of the best stuff wasn't even mentioned at all.

Everything about this set is magical.

Paul, Bro, Jason, Wayne, Andrew, Steve, Matt, Charlie, Cheng, Tomoyuki, Patrick, Caleb, Michael, Shaun, Tim and everybody else involved with this, I salute you and thank you from the bottom of my heart... I am a changed man in so many ways because of this set, and all for the better. My hat is off to each and every one of you!!

All I can say is "WOW", want to say a big thank you to everyone involved with this project. The production and teachings on these DVD's are fantastic, love the music too, and the insight that Paul has on the effects. Thanks again !!


Joe

My set still didn't arrive today. This is going to be a horribly depressing weekend.

Glad you could finally got your set Nathan. My set number is 108 and I ordered a day after you, on Dec. 11th. Now I am kicking myself for not ordering sooner and getting one of the much prized two digit sets. Oh well, at least I still have the best set of magic DVDs ever made. Plus I can always remove the "8" and make mine look like #10! (just kidding)

And Nathan what did your boss say is the best way to care for these boxes?

Jay, you really gotta get out of Jersey. Sorry 'bout your house man, that sucks.

As I'm not going to be receiving my set this weekend, I was wondering if anyone had any valuable ideas for ways I could get my TA fix? I've already re-watched all my old PH tapes...

I would sleep as much as possible, because once you get the set... sleep seems to be a thing of the past



Thanks
Paint washes off and glass can be replaced
It could definitely be worse.

I have TA... all is well in the world

Question for those of you who have this already...

(1) There are things in the sack that aren't explained on the dvd - some of the playing cards and also those 'total access' dvd training series poker hand cards. What are these all for - have I missed something?

(2) On the trailer there was a mad move where some guy had a card fly back from his hand to the top of the deck - it looked like a special effect. No sign of this anywhere either...

Any clues?!

Cheers,

Jamie.

Posted: Feb 6, 2009 2:34pm
Ah never mind... just found the answer to (2) - AWESOME.

Any clues on (1) ?!

Jamie.

Posted: Feb 6, 2009 2:38pm
Blah... found it all!

Just being impatient!

Jamie.

Just posted reviews for Tubular and Cheng's Riser in the Disc 2 section on my website.

Check 'em out: http://www.trueastonishments.webs.com

I like the attitude Jay.

It was probably some disgruntled goth 'Mind Fake' youth, that was jealous that you already had TA, and they either hadn't shoveled enough driveways to buy it or made the mistake of getting it shipped Parcel Post.

Oh man. The parcel post comment hurt me. I am still hopeful that mine will be here today....