After reviewing a number of threads on the thin model “Rising Cards”, and speaking to several members here on the Magic Café’, as well as other friends in magic, I believe it is time to set the record and rumors straight regarding the deck that revolutionized the manufacture of rising card decks and placed them in the hands of magicians all over the world.

My name is Barry Gibbs and I am the creator of the “thin model rising card deck”.
The original deck was the”A.M.Y. Rising Cards”, and was named after my oldest daughter “Amy”, who was 2 years old at the time. She is now 39 years old.

This can be verified by magicians such as Bev Bergeron, Paul Diamond, Arthur Emerson, Tim Quinlan (Inside Magic), Bruce Gold, Richard Adler, Jamie Porter, Whit Hayden, Neil Lester, Michael Ammar, Bill Wisch, Petrick and Mia, Herb Morrisey, Barry Taylor, Klingsor etc., just to name a few.

Full credit should be given to Harry Devano for the use of the weight principle, however the original Devano was bulky, not a self contained packet and could not be handled (shuffled, cut, convincingly fanned, etc.). In other words I wanted a deck that did not appear to be gimmicked in any way.

Another problem with the Devano was the original used a heavy cord which had a tendency to “hang up” during the rise and although you could adjust the tension on the cord, the problem still occurred where the cord had a tendency to “snag” at the most inopportune moments. The “gaff section of cards took up almost 1/2 of the deck. And was not “self contained, but a loose packet that could create a disaster if you slightly over fanned the deck.

Being a card man, I decided to make a rising card deck that you could riffle shuffle, hindu shuffle, overhand shuffle, faro shuffle,“one hand shuffle”, cut and fan, like a normal deck of cards. If you know how to handle cards, you can do all of this with an A.M.Y. Deck. If you don’t know these shuffles and handling then you should take the time to learn them as they will improve your card handling.

After much experimenting, I succeeded in reducing the size of the weight and the number of cards in the gimmick to less than 1/5th the size of a deck of cards. I further made this a self contained packet which was held together by the crystal thread I used to control the weight.

The face of the gimmick packet was always a face card, with a duplicate behind it. This helped to conceal the gimmick which if flashed was almost undetectable.

As for the lifting mechanism I elected not to use pins simply because it created another manufacturing step that would increase the cost factor, and further the pin mechanism was Harry Devano’s. I chose to use masking tape as a roll of tape would last many times the lifetime of the deck, was inexpensive and readily available to anyone who bought the deck. I was aware of wig tape, however, I felt this might not be available in all areas for someone to buy replacements, and I was not interested in creating a market for replacement tapes that had to be purchased from me. I personally felt this would be taking advantage of my customer by forcing them to buy replacements and further replacing the masking tape was a simple operation when the instructions were followed.

All decks A.M.Y. Rising cards were personally manufactured and tested by me before they were sold. They were not mass manufactured in an assembly line.

I shudder today when I see some of the copies that are on the market as they certainly would not stand up to the specifications that I used but are only made to mass market to make money for the manufacturers. Unfortunately, there is no way to legally protect a magic trick you create.

Check out this article on Inside Magic for the answer to protecting your invention:

http://www.insidemagic.com/magicnews/200......a-trick/

As I stated in the beginning, this deck was manufactured specifically with card magicians in mind.

Over the years I have had many a magician, both professional and amateur, approach me and say that the A.M.Y. Rising cards became a staple in their routines and this assured me that the deck I created was serving the purpose I created it for.

I recently spoke with my daughter, who still has all the manufacturing equipment for the A.M.Y. Rising Cards, and she wants to start manufacturing them again. Perhaps we may just do that in the future but more on that at a later date.

Now you know the story about the “thin model rising card deck” and where it had its beginnings. Hopefully this will update your Magic History lesson for today and serve to clear up all the disinformation that has been written.

I thank you for you patience.

Barry M. Gibbs /aka Michaelmagicart
November 23, 2008

I would like to thank those of your in the Magic Café' who encouraged me to clarify all the past misinformation written.

Thank you for clearing this up, Barry! It appears that only a handful of people knew the real story until now. Very interesting!

Robert

Thanks Mr. Barry M. Gibbs for the interesting information!
Please can you give us the date of your first model of the A.M.Y. Rising Card, was it about 1971?

Judging from the 37 year time difference,I'd say 1971 was the correct year of the first run.
I have a model which was given to me quite a few years ago,whether or not it's an original I don't know but,it's had it's fair share of talcum powder sprinkled in it to keep it running over the years,it's probably the sweetest smelling gimmick in existance.
Ray.

Yes, it was in early 1971 while working for Paul Diamond that the first model was completed and test marketed through the Magic Fun Wagon in the Palm Beach Mall. Later it was introduced at A Florida State Magicians Association Convention. The first real national exposure was at the Boston SAM Convention.

After I opened my own Magic Shop in West Palm, I devoted quite a bit of time to manufacturing and supplying other magic dealers with the A.M.Y. Rising Cards.

Now that Supreme Magic is a memory of the past I feel I can let the cat out the bag regarding Edwin Hooper secretly trading Supreme Magic for my rising cards on a regular basis. He did not sell them under the name AMY, because he did not want to offend Harry Devano. I remember a rising card routine by Ian Adair, written in an old Linking Ring Magazine, where he mentioned a deck he used that was manufactured in the U.S. because he felt it was the best rising card deck and that the gimmick was undetectable from only a few inches away. I will put my "tongue in cheek" on what deck he was referring to. What was so funny about the whole situation with Edwin was that other dealers at conventions I attended always wondered how I managed to have so much Supreme Magic for sale when they could not get it from Edwin.

I do not want to bore you with other tales from the past, but thank you for your interest

Judging from the 37 year time difference,I'd say 1971 was the correct year of the first run.
I have a model which was given to me quite a few years ago,whether or not it's an original I don't know but,it's had it's fair share of talcum powder sprinkled in it to keep it running over the years,it's probably the sweetest smelling gimmick in existance.
Ray.
[/quote]
You must have some old talcum powder with zinc sterate in it. That is a collector item alone since the government outlawed zinc sterate in talc and baby powder a number of years ago. I always treated the gimmick with fanning powder during the manufacturing process, and recommended sprinkling a few drops on the gimmick from time to time in my instructions.

One thing may help to determine if you have an original A.M.Y. If the face card on the gimmick is a King Court card, chances are you have an original. The other thing would be P.M. me the actual cards in the gimmicked packet. All A.M.Y. Rising Cards were made with the same cards, in the same sequence. I doubt seriously, after seeing some of the rising cards on the market today, that anyone ever took to time to really do any research as to exactly how and why the gimmick was made with these cards.

Also, if you still have the wrapper it would be light blue.

Unfortunately it sounds like a copy.
It has an ace of clubs to the face,6 thru 9 of diamonds,then,2 thru 5 diamonds and finally a joker.They are on Bicycle stock.
That said,it still works a treat and always gets great reactions.
It's nice to hear a bit of history of a classic,thanks Michael!
Cheers,Ray.

Again thanks, Michael, for yourt "tales of the past", which I really admire!

I own a original A.M.Y. in a light blue wrapper.

I'll take one when you start selling again.

Thanks Pete,

I will put your name at the top of the list and have Amy autograph the instructions for you. This is a love project that I am considering tackling in 2009, with updated instructions and handling. Actually, Amy is pushing me to do this, and you know how the ladies can be, especially daughters! She now has my Grandson pressing to start making them again.

Posted: Nov 25, 2008 10:16pm
MueCard,

You are welcome to all my tales of the past, and I am happy to hear your A.M.Y. Deck is an original. Light blue was Amy's favorite color and she picked the color for the wrapper.

If you really like tales from the past here are a couple additional tales I have written:

http://www.insidemagic.com/magicnews/ind......eginning

I remember one of the knockoffs. It was the ARNE rising cards. Who made those?

Ray Tupper.

Yes, unfortunately it is a copy, however, as long as it works for you that is all that is really important.

I would have never used an Ace of Clubs as a face card, as that would have defeated one of the features that is to me very strong. If you "flash" an A.M.Y. the chances are very slim that the gimmick would ever be detected.

Like I have said many times before when I see any effect copied, the copier does not understand the thought process that went into the creation and therefore the copy lacks the minute details that makes the original distinct from all the rest.

I will pm you that answer Bill.

I owned an A.M.Y. deck at one time, although I don't anymore. I often wished I did have one, because the copy versions didn't work as well. I hope to get another A.M.Y. deck once they become available again.

I was also intrigued to learn how the name came about. That was always a mystery to me.

Barry, thanks for your additional tales! I do like them!

I will add you to the list Michael.

Incidentally, I visited your website and was impressed by your work. I see you take pride in what you do and that is rare today. Your attention to detail is very hard to find today.

ARNE... I thought, at the time, he was the originator. Seems to me they were available from Paul Diamond. I remember ARNE as one of the guys I used to run into on my trips East.

Thanks!


Thanks again!

I sent you a PM Pete.

Hey Barry, don't forget the guy that sat beside you at the Wagon and made several suggestions on the Rising Cards design, including the one to use a silver dollar as a weight in the first ones built. I think I may still have some blisters on my fingers from cutting out cards by hand with a single edge razor.

>This can be verified by magicians such as Bev Bergeron, Paul Diamond, Arthur >Emerson, Tim Quinlan (Inside Magic), Bruce Gold, Richard Adler, Jamie Porter, Whit >Hayden, Neil Lester, Michael Ammar, Bill Wisch, Petrick and Mia, Herb Morrisey, >Barry Taylor, Klingsor etc., just to name a few.

michaelmagicart, I assumed your name was Michael. That said Barry, might make things less confusing if your username reflected your real name of Barry Gibbs.

As for FlashyMagic, one would think that if crediting were an issue here you too would use your real name...just thinking out loud.

My deck was bought through Magic, Inc. many yers ago. When I ordered them the lady on the other end of phone said "You mean the Arne deck"? First time I had heard that name and still puzzles me as why they were calling them that. Happy at this time to find out the originator of the A.M.Y. deck. Thanks Barry for such a great deck!

John