Anyone have any experience with this? It seems to be a manual version of the electronic pad. I know it's taboo to ask how it works, but I see it for about $150 on ebay and I'm trying to figure out if it's worth the money for my kids' shows.

Do you have to buy supplies for it?

Any help/suggestions/experiences would be VERY appreciated!

If you buy one and don't like it you can send it back.only if you buy right from Dancinghank.com I have only had 2 people send them back and we has sold 750 units

It looks like you can only do simple faces... is that just the example, or can you do any type of face?

John

Sean what is the difference between your board and the drawing board of Steve Axtell?

Best,
Jimmy

The difference between ultimate sketchpad and Steve axtell's drawing board should be fairly obvious his is a plastic dry erase board mine is a real sketchpad and you hand out the drawing the same drawing that was animating to the spectator at the end of the performance. The only similarities are that you draw a face that comes to life.

You do not have to draw the kind of face that I drew I have no drawing skills
the only thing that you must do is draw the eyes in the same spot and the mouth the rest of the drawing is up to you

So, other than the drawing of a face which animates via the movement of the eyes and mouth, they really have nothing in common. Okay.

Sounds pretty cool!

Steve, you talked me into it and I went to your site and ordered one! Can you have it to me tomorrow?! =)

Seriously... I'm looking forward to playing around with it. Since I do kids shows, I think this will fit in well with the various characters I dress up as when doing my acts.

Thanks again for the feedback! If you have any suggestions or tips, please let me know!

I brought one recently and really liked it. I had a small problem. I'm left handed. I wrote Sean and to my amazement Sean told me he would switch it out for the cost of changing it out. I like it a lot befor but now I am crazy about it. I brought it after seeing it performed. The crowd went crazy.

I have found Sean great to work with. He not only cares about his products he cares about his customers.

HMM, I bought the power verson... I have not really used it.... I love the effect, but hmm, this might get me to play around with it more...

I've got one and I need to use it more. Folks really like it. Fun to do. Sean is good to deal with. And he is a Yo-Yo champ. Recommended. Trois

John,

To answer your first question. The difference between the manual and the programable is you can set the programable down and the eyes will look around or follow you or look where ever you want while you walk away from it. Both are crowd pleasers and easy to use with a little practice.

I've owned the manual drawing board, ultimate sketchpad as well as the remote controlled drawing board. One other point to consider beyond price/budget is that the control that you have with the animations. With the ultimate sketchpad you have a pre-programmed routine...with the remote controlled drawing board you can animate in real time thus eliminating any lag. The animations with the remote controlled drawing board are both eyes and mouth. With the ultimate sketchpad you only get hands free operation with the eyes. All good effects that would do well with the right routine and performer.

I would strongly recommend more than just a little practice.

Yup... I've been using the Manual Pad for about 10 months now.... I have to say that it is probably the best investment to my kids shows I have made thus far.

I'd love to find something else of similiar value and versatility that I could add.

What exactly do you do with it in your shows? I can't see it being useful whatsoever unless you're a ventriloquist.

The way I do it is as part of a story. I tell them of how a magician once needed an assistant and no one raised their hand so he drew one on a piece of paper. He said a magic word (all the kids say Abbracadabra) and I tell them that the paper came alive. But I'm not that good, so it never works for me. (Then I move the eyes and keep moving them until the kids start yelling and pointing)... then look at the pad and the eyes don't move.

This goes back and forth until while I tell them I appreciate that they want to make me feel good, but that it just doesn't work. When they all keep yelling that it works...it works... I tell them they shouldn't make things up and the next thing they'll say is that it's talking... at which point I move the mouth.

I do this a few times before finally "seeing" it move, then I get really scared and rip the sheet out.

Interesting idea John. Thanks for responding.

I have both the Axtell remote drawing board and the Bogunia Sketch pad 5.0. I use the sketch pad for my repeat shows. The kids think they know what's about to happen, when I tear the paper out and give it away, they are all amazed.

The sketch pad could be done in a silent act. No need to be a ventriloquist. Just watch how Sean performs it in his video demo.

Yeah I just realised I can use this because I'm working on a silent act and I just thought of a great way to use it. I might get it at one point. Thanks for the help!

How fast can the mouth open/close with the MANUAL version? I need to make my drawing lip sing to a song and I don't want the mouth to look mechanical, always opening and closing at the same speed. I want it to be able to open and close quickly, many times in a row so it looks like it's singing. Would I be able to do that with the MANUAL ultimate sketchpad? Also, can the eyes (the larger circles) be different shapes? I want them to be oriental-looking. Will I have a problem?