Magic Sets

With a nod to the historical giants of magic, this beginner's set from Fun, Inc. offers a solid introduction to our art. It's a great deal at around 20 dollars.

Scholastic's Ultimate Magic Club magic sets are designed for kids between the ages of seven and 12. The sets come in various themes such as money, party magic, animal magic and more. At a reasonable price of ten dollars and with a good mix of tricks, as well as a detailed and colorful instruction book and a DVD that shows performances of all the tricks, these are a first rate magic set.

Take a popular series and create a related magic set and it's bound to sell. This all stems from the book, "The Dangerous Book for Boys," written by Conn and Hal Iggulden, which teaches boys how to do traditional boy-style things such as tie knots, build treehouses and more. There's nothing like a big franchise for a magic set to tap into. But riding on the series coattails, this one is only so so.

Marketed as a "science kit" about magic, this kit, which only costs about six dollars, is a standout kit in its price range. It also tells the truth and promises to teach only six tricks, which is the case, which is downright refreshing for a kid's magic set.

Combining two things with lots of kid appeal, especially to boys, the "Gross Magic Kit" brings together magic with repulsive items such as green ooze, creepy insects, garbage and more.

An amazing and comprehensive collection of "freaky body illusions," this latest from Kevin James and Marvin's Magic offers a zany series of magic tricks that use body parts. Many are well known standards and the kit comes with quality props as well as a professional DVD that explains the techniques and use of the props. Study the moves and you can almost appear to be a flexible and malleable cartoon character.

Great Box of Magic is a colorful magic kit for beginners that comes in a compact and well made cardboard box. It features a first rate book that teaches the tricks, but for a kit in its price range, this one is rather sparse on props.

This beginner's magic set, which is priced between $20 - $40, depending on the number of enclosed tricks, promises "high impact" effects for ages five and up. The set's main draw is probably its top hat and bunny puppet.

This kit features a lot of great magic for under $20, but it's not for everyone. It consists of three books by Karl Fulves: 1) Self-Working Card Tricks, 2) Self-Working Coin Magic and 3) Self-Working Handkerchief Magic. In addition, the kit comes with a deck of cards, two handkerchiefs and three coins.

This beginner's magic kit is dedicated to card tricks and promises "with a little practice and the right attitude, anyone can learn enough card tricks to impress a small crowd." The kit consists of two decks of decent quality playing cards, a notepad and pencil and a good soft cover book, "Easy Card Tricks" by Peter Arnold.

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.