Here's a beginner's magic kit that you might find at your local drugstore. It's actually a single deck of cards that promises "20 tricks" and a "blank deck" that changes into a "printed deck." I found this one at my local dollar store. Is the deck even worth a buck (which is what I paid)? Frankly, it's not.
Blanked Out
Here's what the deck is supposed to do. You display a deck of blank cards by thumbing through it. You cut the deck to reveal a face card, say the queen of hearts, which has a blank back. You show a couple of other cards in this condition.You turn the deck over, cut the deck and show that there are cards with printed backs, but with blank faces. Finally, you thumb through the cards and show that they are all normal cards.
Lots Wrong
So what's wrong with the kit? While the concept and method are solid, the cards don't handle well. I found it difficult to cleanly perform some moves because the poor quality of the cards caused them to somewhat stick together.One of my pet peeves regarding magic products for beginners, I find the packaging misleading. The picture on the box shows a fanned deck of cards that are blank and then turn into real cards. However, this is not the way that the cards are displayed when you perform the trick.
Big 20?
More problematic, the kit promises "20 tricks," however, the first eight "tricks" are simply the steps necessary to perform the basic trick. In my book, these don't count as individual tricks.The instructions are adequate. But what Einstein decided to print the instructions with tiny, light green text that is practically unreadable?
Should you see this one, my recommendation is to pass. This kit is a waste of money
