Danny's version is exactly the one I have and it's definetly the best one around. Sorry to see half of these are no good. I think someone should be checking these befor they go out. Nothing worse than waiting for a magic trick, getting it and its crap.

Dave: You don't have to pay anything or ship it back. I'll send you a new one today! Email me at acar@penguinmagic.com

That goes for anyone else. I said I personally guarantee these, that's a promise I don't take lightly.

Quality guaranteed. There it is in print. You can't do better than that.

Outstanding job Acar! And welcome back.






F

Outstanding. Penguin, Hoo Rah!

Thank you penguin customer service.

Wow what pleasure to see such great customer service from Penguin!

How they manage so many customer service issues is beyond me. It seems like one after another after another. Always with a smile. And that's just on the Café! Imagine how many we don't hear about. Us magicians can be such whiners!

I remember years ago wandering into a magic shop and asking the dealer (who shall remain nameless) a question about a $5 item.

He said, "For $5 buy it and find out."

We've come a long way haven't we? Today we can have that experience without leaving the house.





F

My new unit arrived yesterday, and is perfect. Thanks again for amazing service .

Would it be inappropriate to ask someone who has purchased this to show a good shot of it with a pic or on youtube in the state that you would show it to a spectator (not in it's gimmicked state). The demo on Penguin seemed to flash something I didn't want to see, which is the reason I didn't buy it. But the demo was so quick, I may have just seen what I was afraid to see, if that makes sense.

In other words, I would like to see the block in the state it would be in when you hand it to a spectator to look at. I would buy this if I thought it would pass the "wife test" for a few seconds. That is, in the wrong light, would the gimmick show?

(again, just for clarification, I am not asking to see the gimmick...Actually the opposite...I am hoping I don't see it).

On the contrary, for me there was no response from Acar to my email
Pitty

Agree, very different customer service experiences from everything I'm reading and experiences.

I bought it and my gimmick was not up to par. When I emailed them, I even referenced this thread and the numerous reported issues, yet the tone of the response was as if mine was an isolated incident.

Then I send it back to return it and have to pay for shipping... 2 days later Acar posts he would take care of return shipping (which doesn't help me at that point since I had already paid to send it back).

Its been a few days since they received it and no response yet. Their customer service service lately has been kind of Jekyll and Hyde.

I guess this item is only available from Penguin. Such a shame. I have nothing against them, it's just that it's difficult to business with them. I live in Thailand and attempted to buy something from them last year, but for some reason Thailand was not listed in the pop-up menu. I wrote them about it and this was their response:

"Thanks for your email about shipping to THAILAND. We do not normally ship their(sic) as too many packages were "lost" or "stolen" and never made it to the customer. You can order at your own risk and must select FedEx as the shipper. Here's how to place an order: Go through checkout normally entering your information. In the shipping are, in the STATE box, select INTERNATIONAL at the top of the drop-down list. In the CITY box, type THAILAND after you type the name of the city and select ICELAND in the COUNTRY box. Why Iceland? Because this is Penguin Magic and penguins love ice! Also, our awesome Warehouse Team will be on the lookout for packages going to Iceland. Type in the THAILAND postal code."

I saw some red flags in this message that don't exist from other magic dealers, 1) Order at your own risk. 2) You must select FedEx, (expensive) 3) Enter the country ICELAND in the shipping address. 4) It's just my opinion, the reference to "Penguins love Ice" is just plain silly and unbusinesslike. I need my magic dealer to at least appear somewhat professional.

Now, after reading about a host of other problems with this item and mixed reviews about Penguin, I decided to forego my purchase, and instead have bought another Industrial Revelation from Jamie D. Grant. Worldwide shipping only $15. The first one rusted and I got it dinged up a bit. (My fault, I guess). Yes, it is heavy, but I think that just adds to the illusion. It would have been nice to be able to buy Matchbox Mystery, too. But I can't in good conscience deal with above-stated caveats so prominent.

Best of luck to all others who have MM and are happy with it. Sorry I can't join you.

There's a story behind every one of those shipping caveats. I sell a lot of stuff on Ebay, and it doesn't take long to figure out which countries tend to have items go missing the most. Me, I just drop those countries from my approved list entirely. At least Penguin still offers you a choice. Moral: don't get mad at Penguin, get mad at the Thai postal service.

Not looking for a moral, nor am I mad at anyone. I have way more choices than just the terms outlined by Penguin. If you can't find what you want at one place, you go looking at another. There are always options.

I did say I have nothing against Penguin and I have bought downloads from them in the past and will do so again. This was not meant to be a shipping horror story. I averted that possibility. But as a customer I have the right to spend my money at places I know will make it less difficult to do business with me, no matter where I live. Where there's a will, there's a way.

Now that we have that out of the way, back to my original query. Is this item only available at Penguin? Thank you very much if anyone knows the answer to this question.

Would like one myself..... But some seem ok and others are not. And can't be bothered having to send it back if not a good quality one.

Let's hope they can sort the good batch from the bad batch.

Graham.

Just received my replacement for the Matchbox Mystery, and it's perfect. Thank you Penguin Magic.

You're the best Acar!

Ssst!
Penguin is sleeping

So, I have been very pleased with Penguin and I still am, but I was a little disconcerted to hear that you had to "specifically asked...for a good gimmick." I didn't think to ask! So,I've been working mine for about a week now and it is clean maybe one in four times. I am of course aware that, being that I know how it works, I am more sensitive to seeing the seam in the block then someone not in the know would be; however, there is a noticeable ridge at the seam and if you twist it a little you get play between the two sections (I hope this isn't exposure.) I can not drop it into someone's hand without having a chance to visible inspect the block and adjust it before I drop it. So, whether it is just my gimmick or not or if the precision isn't there, I don't know. I really wanted this to work as I have a routine planned, but I am not confident enough in the gimmick to use it.

Kevin

Quote

"Alright so here is the deal.

I received a MM last week and had a similar experience as Corbett. I could "feel" the area where the gimmick meets, and I wasn't pleased as I had specifically asked in my note when purchased for a good gimmick... and that I would be picky.

True to Acar's word, I called Penguin customer # last week and they said no prob - they would "hand pick" a good gimmick and send me a new one ASAP.

The new one was FAR better - and I could see that it had been tested a bit as there were two holes in my matchbox already.

"