I have had such a good time performing with my Morrissey mini copper Chop Cup. I am considering some of their short full size cups perhaps a combo set. The price looks reasonable. Is there anything better for the money or is this a good choice?

I have loved and used Morrissey Chop Cups for over 30 years. Just like the look and feel. Unless they have fixed it the one thing that I hate about their cups and balls sets is the shallowness of the tops of the cups. Balls tend to roll off of the, etc. Used to drive me nuts. Ickle Pickle Products was and I think still is making sets of cups along the old Rings N Things line. Much nicer..also about 20% bigger. Best,

Morrissey makes some nice cups, but Brad is right about the shallowness of the saddle. It's downright inconvenient. You would actually be better off with a set of Uday cups.

Drop by the museum and see if anything catches the eye. The old Paul Fox cups were really good about not losing the balls on top of them.

The Sherwoods are the best, though.

That's is a very valid point. With my use of my little Chop Cup I never set the ball on the cup since the routine is based on them being seperated.
I got to see Sherwoods in Cleveland at the 2004 IBM convention. OOOO,if I ever get a set I don't know if I could ever actually use them. They would be under glass!

I have to admit sometimes I have things I don't reminber buying. The cup subject got me thinking. I bought a set a couple of years ago. Where are they? Into the Magic dungeon I go opening storage boxes. What do I find but a set of Copper Morrissey tall cups. You guys are right thay are a bit flat on top. Another suprise. I also have a set of Bazar DeMagia Brass Combo cups and they seem to be much better although still basic inexpensive cups. I do not remimber when or where I bought them so its kinda of fun to find them. I guess if I ever bought a set of Sherwoods I would remimber that!

Bill's suggestion to poke around the photos in his C/B museum is a good one. If you can't find something you like there, it probably doesn't exist!

I would also suggest you take a look at the Bazar De Magia combo cups. In my opinion, they are nicely designed, and don't suffer from the flat-top problem of the Morrissey cups. There are certainly better sets out there, but for the money, I think they're a good value. See http://themagicwarehouse.com/closeup4.html#mb2834 This is an aluminum set, but I believe their combo sets are also available in copper and brass, too.

Of course, I still believe that a good C/B worker doesn't need a combo set in the first place, but again that's just my personal opinion. There are some good combo set routines out there, but my own experience has been that a combo set makes things tougher rather than easier. As they say, your mileage may vary. SETHB

I have used a set of Morrissey mini coppers for about 20 years. I have solved the shallow saddle problem, but some of you will freak out on this. I took two pool balls, set one on top of a cup and very lightly and carefully hammered it with the other ball. This formed a perfectly-sized dimple. I did this with all the cups.

I use the pool balls as final loads, producing them in a manner similar to the Fleshman Flash and had a problem with them rolling off the top of the cups. Now they don't do that. The dimple is custom fitted in a sense.

Bear in mind, I have an older set of these cups and they are made with a heavier guage copper. I also think the tops may be a bit smaller in diameter than the newer models. This may impact the look of the dimple. Perhaps a corresponding diameter ball to hammer with?? They do make larger diameter pool balls. I almost made the mistake of buying one the other day, but luckily checked the fit in the cup first.

~michael

Ebay

Come on, Pete, you are giving my secrets away!

Michael Baker's idea about using a pool ball as a mandrel is not off base at all. Ted Bogusta told me that back when Pop Krieger was at Martinka's he would routinely take cups he thought did not have a deep enough saddle and pound on them with a ball pein hammer. Do not do this with combo cups, though. The older Morrissey combo cups will have damage to the gaff, and the ones made a few years ago will lose the gaff completely. The most recent ones may survive.

There was a set of brass Sherwoods on ebay recently.

That's right. My set of aluminum Morrisey Combos had the same saddle problem (or lack of a saddle). I used a ball pean hammer to create one. It eventually dislodged the gaff...and the saddles (dents, rather) were very unsightly. They looked like dents. Michael Baker's pool idea looks like it'd work. -- What about getting a set Bazar De Magia combo cups? (as SethB mentioned) Inexpensive. Surprisingly good quality cups (in copper or brass). I haven't seen the chop on them, but have a backup set of regular cups.

Just get the regular Bazar's. Nice cup for the money. Medium weight, will hold a lacrosse ball.

Please don't tell me anyone has taken a hammer to Sherwoods.......
I think I know better but.....

Actually, Kingry, you took the words right out of my mouth! I was going to suggest that the poster look at the brass Bazar non-combo set. Once again, for the money (about $35), this is a good heavy set of cups that will ring nicely when struck with a wand, are easy to handle, and should hold up very well.

And the Bazar cups will take a lacrosse ball as a final load -- they are inexpensive, easy to load, heavy and impressive when produced, and basically indestructable. If they get dirty, just drop 'em in the sink with a little dishwashing liquid (the lacrosse balls, not the cups). There are fancier and more expensive sets out there, but in my experience this is a good working set at a good price. Another point -- if you damage or lose a cup, the replacement is easy and the price is right.

I think Bazar also makes a Chop Cup too, but I have not seen it and can't give any opinions about it. SETH

Did I fail to mention?? We don't need no stinking chop gaffs!!

My set is straight... no chop. I forgot the original post was about a combo set.

~michael

I missed something too: A previous post that doublelift had already found a set of Bazar combos in storage. Guess that has answered the question

I am happy feeling silly this time. I guess we all have stuff stuck back for later. Later is almost like free stuff sometimes. Turned out I had a regular Brass set of Bazar's and a Tall set of Morrissey Combo's. The Bazars win. The gaff it the Morrissey's is kinda obvious if anyone ever looked. The little copper Morrissey Mini Chop is a sweet little cup. I found a bright Yellow ball for a final load that fits perfect.The impact of the yellow ball showing up under the shiney copper is great. Thanks to all for the suggestions!
Now if I could just find a set of Sherwoods that I don't know I have......

The same thing happens to me -- you find something packed away that you didn't even know you had. It's like Christmas.

Like finding money in last year's coat pocket.

Like finding a d*v* in last year's coat pocke-- Oh Dear God, no.