Hey David, The monster guillotine was made by Mak Magic and I used to do a routine with it in Tim Deremer's International Palace of Illusion Show (10 in 1) in the early 80s. It was quite menacing and got a great reaction.

Well I checked out the catalog today, and I was wrong, its called the 'Super Guilotine', and does infact look close to David's pics above, the difference being that the uprights don't appear to be painted, instead a more raw or bare antique-ish wood, but its hard to tell as its only in B&W, the other difference that I can see is that it also has chains on it. It was in vol 6 of the Mak Magic Catalog. Not that any of this matters, but just thought I would correct myself. Carry on.

P.

Peter,

Can you scan and post or email a photo of that catalog page?

Thanks!
David

That looks great and very authentic looking.

I personally have never been a fan of the guillotine illusion..there is nothing too crazy about..idk..i never felt it even b4 I knew the secret

David, for you, it'd be my pleasure! Just give me a day or so, and I'll shoot you an email with the pic of the page!!

Peter,

Awesome, thanks so much!

Sincerely,
David

No prob! My memory of the cataloge was obviously poor, because when I dug up the cataloge and after comparing the two, I am positive they are essentially the same prop, just a different finish on the uprights and chains. There is no price on the page, but for some reason I recall (but not positive) being quoted a price of around $700-$800 from my local magic shop who could order one in, going back about 20-25 years maybe. So obviously today it would be worth more (in my opinion). I used to drool over the picture when I was a kid. Still looks cool, more authentic and scary looking than a fancy and pretty head chopper in my opinion.

Any luck Peter??

Shoot, sorry David, I forgot...lol, Im up to my eyeballs building my new ShockWaves in the shop, that it totally slipped my mind! Im going back into the shop in a few minutes, will take a photo with my iphone and email it to you. Now where did I put your email address....Nevermind, just grabbed it from your profile, give me about 15 minutes.

P.

Peter,

That's awesome, thanks! And congrats on the new product, it looks great!

Sincerely,
David

Thanks David! Pics sent, also found the price sheet from 1989 and sent that too!

Peter,

That's awesome, thanks so much!! I think mine must be the Supreme version as it is well over 7 feet tall as mentioned in the catalog.

Wow, guess I should raise my asking price! ; )

Sincerely,
David

Yeah you are asking less than what it cost in 1989! I would say it is pretty close to being a vintage item now, probably worth a lot more to a collector now!

Feel free to do what you like with the photos!

P.

According to the inflation calculator I found online, it's worth $1500 in 2011 dollars!!