Random I-Tunes Song of The Moment: Wasted Years by Iron Maiden
Cameron Francis: Wallet Transformer Review
One DVD, the stuff to make a gimmick and $30 bucks. Is it gem or is it rubble? Stay tuned to find out.
Effect
Signed card to wallet: a classic for sure. In this version, you can use your wallet. You won't need any special wallet. After the card is selected and signed, you can open your wallet to show a card in your wallet. You (appear to) remove it from the wallet and it's the signed card.
Method
The method relies on a simple gimmick that you construct with the materials provided. It takes 5 minutes to build. You put this gimmick in your wallet. It allows you to show a card in your wallet and then apparently remove it from the wallet.
The gimmick is super easy to make, and though I've not tested it in every wallet (obviously), it's the kind of thing that I can see will work in just about any kind of wallet. Once I made the gimmick and placed it in my wallet, it worked the way it was supposed to. However, it took me a fair bit of fiddling and experimenting to get the exact knack for making everything come together. Once you've taken the time to practice and get the knack, you'll find that the illusion looks like it does in the ad trailer.
Ad Copy Integrity
The written ad copy is accurate, but I need to clarify a couple of points. It mentions that it works in hip pocket wallets, dress wallets and checkbook style wallets. This is true. However, the traditional billfold (hip/dress wallets) uses one type of gimmick, and the checkbook style uses a different style. In other words, when you create the gimmick, you have to make one or the other, and they are not interchangeable.
You are given the stuff to make two gimmicks, so you could make one of each type of gimmick. However, doing that causes a different problem. Part of the gimmick that you make includes what looks like a credit card. You have to cut this credit card a certain way to make it fit the wallet — the standard wallet requires it to be cut one way, and the checkbook requires it to be cut a different way.
If you create both types of gimmicks, you'll have to cut both of the included credit card looking things. The reason this could be a potential problem is because there is a bonus routine taught on the DVD that requires the use of the credit card looking thing. The catch is that it has to be a whole uncut credit card looking thing, so if you've created two gimmicks, you can't do the bonus effect. I think that a lot of y'all will want to do that bonus effect, so you may not have the option to create both style gimmicks.
Also, there is one other piece of stuff included for making your gimmicks. If you make two gimmicks, you won't have enough of that stuff. It's not hard stuff to find . . . a trip to your local craft store will get you what you need if you decide to make a second gimmick. If you only make one, then you're good to go. There's enough included with the DVD for one.
Product Quality
It's no secret that there's a restraining order preventing me from being on the same continent as Owen Packard. Even though I tried to explain to the authorities that I was looking in his window with binoculars because I was trying to see what time the clock on his wall was showing, they didn't buy it. Plus it was hard to explain why I was in that tree with a video camera.
So I stalked Owen . . . it's not like you haven't thought about it. I was just trying to get near the beard. Anyway . . . I said all that to say, "I'm a fan of Big Blind Media." Their products are always top quality productions, and this is no exception. It's well produced, well lit, well mic'd, easy to navigate, etc.
The teaching is clear and simple. The only warning I have is that if you were using a checkbook style wallet and followed along with the gimmick construction, you would have built the gimmick the wrong way. It wasn't until a fair bit later in the DVD that you are shown that checkbook style wallets require you to build the gimmick in a different way. Some clarity that the construction was for standard billfolds and that the checkbook style construction section would be coming up in another segment would have been very appropriate here.
A section with some finer points and/or tips would have been helpful as well. I had several cases where the gimmick didn't quite work the way it should. It turned out that I was doing it wrong, but I had to figure that out on my own by trial and error. Also, the switched in (signed) card often would stick to my wallet and not make its appearance when it was supposed to. Again, this was me not doing it right, but it would have been nice to have some pointers/tips on how to more correctly do these things.
In fairness to Cameron, he may have never had these problems, so it may have never occurred to him that the problems exist in the first place. Also, as I mentioned earlier, just a few minutes of trial and error will get you there.
Final Thoughts
Overall, this is a solid product. It does exactly what it says it does. The only real question is whether or not you think the illusion of removing the card from the wallet looks good. If you think it looks good and you are looking for a card to wallet effect that doesn't require a special wallet, then you'll be very happy with this.
If, however, you think the illusion is not good and/or you don't like the effect and/or don't plan on performing card to wallet, then why are you reading this review?
Final Verdict:
4.5 Stars with a Stone Status of Gem.
6 Comments
Hey Jeff/all readers,
If you do decide to buy this, once you know how the gimmick works, you do not even have to use the printed credit cards to make the gimmick.
Instead, if you have any old ATM or credit cards (expired, of course) you can actually use those to make that part of the gimmick and it works very well.
I also played around with using a thick, matte finish business card and that also worked.
Anyway, what I am getting at is watch the explanations all the way through before you make the gimmick. At the end, you can decide to use the included cards or not and if not, you have two cards to use with the bonus effect.
Have fun!
Dr. J
@Dr. J. – Excellent advice. Thanks! I haven’t tried it with a real credit card. That’s a great idea. I’ve seen a few posts out there were several people suggested this, so give it a shot.
Hi Jeff,
You ask “why” a few times in this video.
Here are some answers:
Why watch if I’m not interested in the effect? Heck, I’m not even a magician and I enjoy these videos. I like magic, used to do magic as a kid many decades ago, and like being on the periphery of illusion. I’ve even thought about doing reviews as a spectator. So, “why?” Because I care about the subject matter and like to hear about it from a thoughtful source.
Why are you have sporadically blooming lights? Well, that’s harder to say. Here are some things to check.
1. Make sure that the lens of your camera is very clean. A fingerprint smudge (I know, you don’t make fingerprints because your hands are so dry, but I’ll bet you’ve eaten a french fry in your lifetime, which would happily lend its oils to your fingers.)
2. I believe that you are using your phone as a camera, so this suggestion may be harder to deal with, maybe even impossible. Is there some control on the “camera” that allows you to lock the exposure to a single setting? It’s obvious throughout this video that the automatic exposure function is struggling. If you can figure out the correct exposure for your setup and lock it down, then it won’t shift as you move or bring things up to the lens.
3. Do you consistently use the same lighting in the room? Are the same lights always on at the same setting? Are they always aimed in the same way? If not, choose one lighting configuration that works and stick with it. (For example, if sometimes you use less light, then that will affect the camera and the lights will “bloom” more. Generally speaking, the more lights you can have on in the room, the more stable the exposure should be.)
4. It’s possible that the reflectivity of your shirt is a factor. A shirt that reflects a lot of light will tell the camera to expose one way. A dark shirt will make the camera expose a different way. These video sensors, as good as they’ve gotten over the years, still don’t have a lot of latitude. So your clothing may be affecting how the camera is dealing with the exposure.
5. This is really, really unlikely, but if sometimes you have some appliance that draws a lot of power operating on the same circuit, the lights will be dimmer when the device (e.g., an air conditioner) is running and brighter when the device is dormant. I really doubt this would affect your setup as it is, but, well, who knows?
None of these ideas may cure your problem, and if that’s the case, then I wonder if there is some weird glitchy thing built into the software (or firmware, maybe) that controls the camera part of the phone. Are you sometimes shooting under battery power and sometimes using a charger? Now I’m really grasping at straws.
Good luck, although from this spectator’s perspective, I don’t think the problem is particularly distracting.
I really enjoy your reviews, despite having no vested interest and no real “why” beyond curiosity and fun.
@Amir – Hi. thanks for watching the reviews, even though you’re not a magician. 🙂 Also thanks for the tips on the lighting.
You are correct; I’m using my iPhone. As for the lighting, I’m just using the light on my ceiling and the florescent light in question, no special lighting. I’ve considered the shirt as a possible problem, but I’ve had the light work and not work with the same shirt. I’ve decided to turn off the florescent light. It seems to be working just fine.
Thanks again for watching. 🙂
Jeffro
My pleasure.
Yeah, just keep that fluorescent off. Looks better that way anyway.
And uhh… I thought of one other conceivable but unlikely cause, for future reference, coming from my days as a filmmaker in the Midwest. If you’re stepping into your nice and toasty study to do your videos immediately after you’ve been out in cold weather with your phone, or maybe if you’ve left your phone in front of an air conditioner duct so it’s good and chilly, condensation may be appearing on the lens (although after just a few minutes, it should disappear).
I’ll stop now.
@Amir – Yeah . . . I’m diggin’ the way it looks without the florescent light. As for the condensation, I’ll keep an eye out for that. Thanks.