AA, to be honest cannot remember where I heard that from, but likey from a seller as well. I purchased an Alpha Tunnel in that format (probably from Maxello) but was able to confirm it was 100% legit by comparing it to a known Tenyo version.

John

I have sent a letter to one of the guys at Tenyo regarding the composition of the props in Illusion Scale, i.e., plastic or cardboard. When he responds (it usually takes a day or two), I'll post a note here.

Thanks Richard, I can't wait to hear his input on this. Can you ask him about the Four Nightmare DX item?

The Illusion Scale sold by Maxello though is still a knock off of Tenyo's no matter what the authentic ones are made of.

"First Magic" is/was the company making them, not Tenyo. I can't say what the deal is with Maxello's DX rope however. The booklet's lettering seems off and the quality of the ropes appear to not be up to par with Tenyo quality.

This is what I have been told too, a pretty reliable source. What's more is that I have found a few genuine Tenyo items sold under another name in Europe. I believe some companies bought a large number of original Tenyo in bulk and sold them under their own name, often with a copy of the original Tenyo instructions. Last week I bought a Magic Tube, just to have a spare one because I only have the Tenyo version but I like the trick. I got it a few days ago, opened it and there was a German manual. The magic tube itself resembled a lot like the Tenyo one - I looked at it carefully and on the bottom of the tube there was the Tenyo logo/rabbit engraved ... it was/is the original Tenyo Magic Tube (no John, not with a cork, with the red plastic cap ). I compared it to be sure with my original Tenyo Magic Cube and the they are 100 % the same.

So yes, I do believe Tenyo has sold items in bulk to Europe in the past.

One more thing - there are Four Nigthmare DX's sold in shops that are also the knock-off versions, so it isn't only the shop we have refered to. The shop we refered to doesn't discribe it anymore as Tenyo by the way. As far as I know there are two sellers that have the genuine Tenyo version (I could be wrong and there could be more, but these are the two I know of): Seomagic and Magico Japan.

Interesting. I have seen some other items that looked exactly like Tenyo's under different names but I have always assumed they were knock offs. I guess I will now take a closer look.
By the way can I see a picture of what the packaging looks like for your new Magic Tube? I don't have that one yet so it would be nice to know of another option.

My friend at Tenyo responded: "We have never manufactured Sakkaku Illusion scale in cardboard.
If you see it, it is not our product."

If you want I can take a picture, but it's just a small ziplock bag, no logo, no nothing.

Just as everyone thought. Thanks Richard .

Anything about the Four Nightmare DX?

I didn't ask about "Four Nightmare DX" because I don't own one and wouldn't know exactly what to ask.

Could you ask him if has a photo of the original Tenyo packaging and ropes? If not that's cool, ,.

Again, thanks for the IS input.

Can anyone post close up pics of their authentic recently purchased Tenyo DX Rope?

Where they are attatched close up and from a bit away as well as the tip ends?

Thanks

I'll be in Japan in the near future, and have the opportunity to purchase a DX Rope. Once I get it back I can discuss its quality.

My version will arrive next week that'scool, I'll post a picture of it on my website and let you know.

Ok, I received my authentic Tenyo Four Nightmare DX today from Seo and I am a happy camper. It was $75 and even though it was almost twice the price of the shoddy, FAKE ONES Maxello had sold, it was worth it.

I paid $75, which included an English speaking dvd on how to perform all of the routines for the illusion. Without the dvd the price is $70.

The quality is much, much better as it is authentic Tenyo. It is very hard to see the seams as the pieces fit very nicely together and are not discolored. I took some quick pics to show everyone.

I have buy my Tenyo T-191 The Cutting Edge on maxello website 2 years ago.
So I put it on blog and for Quality and finish of props I writte "Very bad". Now I ask myself whether I received a true copy, and if the atrocious quality is actually the work of Tenyo or counterfeit item.
For people who have the real magic trick. How do you rate the quality ?

As I mentioned above, the quality of the authentic Tenyo Four Nightmare DX is much better than the obviously fake Maxello one.

If I were to rate it, the real Tenyo I just received is close to a 9 out of 10.

Unfortunately, the DVD I bought with it will not play at all (it has a few nasty scratches on it, so maybe that is showing it as unreadable. Not sure) The person at SEO was nice and said to mail it back for them to check. Then hopefully they will send me one that plays.

Daisuke from Seo Magic USA is a great guy and will offer excellent customer service.

stereo: Sounds like your "Cutting Edge" is a Chinese knock-off. The Tenyo original is made with the same quality as all of their products.

Stereo,

I looked at your pictures and the Cutting Edge looks right to me.

There have been knockoffs but only one that went to the extreme of copying everything down to the packaging, instructions and name. As far as I know Four Nightmare DX is the first that tried to portray itself as an actual Tenyo item. All other knock-offs that I know of have been packaged and named differently than Tenyo and not representing that they were made by Tenyo.

AA

I have spoken with his wife and she is very nice. I told her I mentioned that I was pleased with the quality of the DX so she may get some orders . The shipping from Seo was very fast too, .

Haha, as I mentioned in an earler post, I thought I received 1 rope short when I first got it Yes, quality is good, but as I have warned, repeated usage and handling will cause the sections to darken.