Price$39.95
Media TypeTrick, Online Instructions, Gimmick(s)
CategoryClose Up
Date AddedNov 15, 2023
SOLO CUBE
Taiwan Ben
Taiwan Ben Magic Shop
(Based on 1 review)
You will be able to produce a Rubik's cube from Nothing to 2D to 3D without any cover!
A Magician presents a deck of cards and has the spectator select one card, then shows the chosen card. With a little shake of the playing card, a cube image gradually appears on the playing card, then a real cube falls from it magically. An innovative way to introduce a Rubik's Cube for your next routine.
Features:
No thread
No elastic
No chemical
Reset in seconds
Practical and easy to do
Contents:
Reviews
(Top ▲)
Overview
One mini cube, one special gimmick, 12 minutes of tutorial, $40 bucks, and one Solo Cube. Is it gem or is it rubble? Stay tuned to find out.Effect
A silhouette of a cube on the back of a playing card materializes.Method
A slightly modified mini cube and a specially gimmicked playing card do most of the work. The second piece is a little bit of standard sleight of hand.It is fairly angle sensitive. Nobody behind you. Nobody on extreme left or right (depending on which hand you're holding the gimmick in). Also, the top is a bit angle-y as well. You need the right eye line.
I don't think it's a surprise to anyone that you're hiding the cube behind the playing card, so get a small cube and hold it against a playing card and you'll get a sense of the angles.
Product Quality
The gimmick is very easy to use and is well made, and functions perfectly.The tutorial, however, is definitely lacking. It's only 12 minutes, and not only is there no performance, there's not even really a "demo." The video walks through how the gimmick operates, and then he walks through two so-called "routines."
They are nothing of the sort. If you buy this, you're definitely on your own as to what the presentation is. Further, the music was loud, and obnoxious, and sounded like two different music tracks were playing at the same time with additional background noise when our instructor tries to talk over it all and choppily explain everything.
The "routines" were not even "performances for the camera." They were just walk throughs. Him talking to the camera telling us what he's doing.
"Force the card (he did show how to force it). Then get the cube from your pocket into finger palm."
He does this openly. We never see a full walk through with any semblance of showing us what it would look like when "performer." It was all exposed walk throughs.
You'll notice that in the trailer there is no live audience either. No performance, just the visual moment. The same is true in the "tutorial." Not all effects require an audience or a performance to teach, but many do.
This is a case where seeing it in either a live environment or at the very least a "performance" (rather than "walk through") to the camera would have been helpful to show the nuances.
The cube itself is a standard cube but there is something added to it that makes it not examinable. The something could be sneakily removed, but that still would not let the cube be examined. It would, however, allow you to twist it more freely.
He mentions that if you wanted, you could switch the cube for one that is examinable "if you wanted to." But no resource given on where to get one, and one wasn't included. I think that $40 is a reasonable price for this, and I think including a second cube for $45 or even $50 would still keep it totally reasonable and fair.
However, it becomes an even more important point when you consider that I can't find a matching cube that size anywhere. I checked all of my usual cube-buying resources, so at least a link to a place to buy duplicates could have been provided.
Ad Copy Integrity
The ad copy is, surprisingly, 100% accurate. Everything you see in the video is not only possible, but it's easy, and it looks exactly like the trailer demonstrates. Further, the written copy, albeit a little lost in translation, 100% accurate.Final Thoughts
- Effect: Visual. Magical Looking.
- Method: Easy. Reliable.
- Product Quality: Solid Gimmick. Week Tutorial.
- Ad Copy Integrity: Honest. Accurate. Real
If you have an idea for what you would do with this, you'll be very happy with your purchase. If you're looking for a routine, or specific trick, you will likely not be happy. The gimmick itself is super visual and works perfectly. The tutorial is a bit lacking, but if you know what you're planning on doing with this, and you can accommodate the aforementioned angles, then this is worth your while.
Final Verdict:
3.5 Stars with a Stone Status of gem.