Yep, I have to admit to being a bit disappointed. Assumed I had a little more time before pulling the trigger on this one.

I don't know how the heck it happened, because airmail usually takes about 10 days to Australia - but I just got a delivery at 6pm, sitting on my fence.

Alone hath arrived.

Hopefully will have a chance to play with it tonight. Thanks guys, that is exceptional service, I seriously don't understand how it got here so quick. I'm perplexed.

***, I was gonna order today for the pre order price. I figured I had a day or so before it shot to 300 Dollars.

that is quit teasing, gosh...! I am looking forward to read your review!
hoping airmail to europe is as fast as to australia.
Luke, do you have ordered with standart airmail or express?

have a great week guys

Luke,

I hate you so much right now...you can forget about my dance!

Let me know how ya like it, buddy!

Nathan

Nate I can't help it the US postal service sucks. PM me on you know where...

It came by standard airmail, not express. I have no idea why it got here so quickly, however I did notice a large bicep with a tattoo of a an anchor on it hanging above the fence when the courier dropped it off. I can only assume that a certain someone has been hand delivering them to watch the reaction the customer gets when they are received. And bash them using brute strength if they spot a frown.

Now, onto my Alone unit.

The packaging is fantastic, very professional which you would expect. I had enough time to set up the unit and watch about 45 minutes of the DVD, which is well presented and very in-depth. Both Matt and Christopher go into great detail on the specifics of the unit and how to apply it to your performance.

The unit is a little bit larger than I expected, but not so much that it cannot be concealed easily. It's inner workings are very clever, and the receiver is well hidden (as we all probably know) from the spectator. They wouldn't suspect a thing.

I haven't had time to actually field test this as I only received it hours ago, but I did run a distance test. This works (as far as I can tell) from 30+ odd feet away (allowing for walls). The only thing that makes me nervous is that over this distance I did not pick up a strong signal. I am unsure as to whether my partner was using the pen correctly (although after some verbal abuse she swears she did), but it seemed that the sensitive areas were a bit fiddly at this distance. Perhaps it is in my head only. I had been drinking somewhat.

In close proximity it worked very well though, and I had no troubles at all distinguishing one signal from the next. I can see it working best within a shorter range. However as I said I haven't really had enough time to play with it.

The ideas for this unit are endless, and the setup is relatively simple. Alone would be a performers delight in that you set it up and you are ready to go for the rest of the night with minimal/no reset.

All in all I am very happy with my purchase, and I can see myself getting quite a bit of mileage out of it. Please note that these are only speculations after an hour of toying. It is very clever and I think that Matt and Christopher have a great product on their hands!

Will post more when it is tested for real...

Thanks for the quick feedback Luke. Regarding the range, ALONE is definitely designed for close combat and is not intended to be able to transmit thorough walls and floors like a Real Ghost or thumper transmitter will.

All the best,

Christopher

I don't have a problem with the pre-price or the new price.
I simply hate when someone (normally the guy in charge who can make the decisions) says: "It's now got a new price... and it's higher. I've done what I can but now it's out of my hands, sorry"
If it were me and I were the guy in charge I'd act like the guy in charge and do what I wanted to do. And that includes saying: "I'm putting the price up so that me and my business partners can get more money from you and that's simply the truth".
That's cool with me because I already sorted this out in my brain and my brain tells me that's the reason WHY. And my brain is probably correct.
Now then, I want to purchase it at the original fair price. If you want to sell it to me at that price pm me.
I expect you won't, but ask yourself this: if I brought a 1,000 team or purchasers with me, would you? OK so we all know the answer is 'yes' so stop taking the p-ss and do the right thing.

bobser.
ps: I know you won't cause I don't have the 1,000 purchasers with me, but I know I'm right, and so do you, so... feel guilty!
Remember 'magicians helping magicians'?

Bobser is always on the scrounge ignore him. The original price was $300. The presale price was the cheaper one.

C'mon bobser cough up. Or do without. I think its a great idea although a bit pricey. And from first review the transmitter doesn't seem to be all that strong.

Why would christopher not charge? And just like you when you book gigs with the material you have. you don't do it for free.

I think this is bad form. Such a shame.

I suppose I have no reason to be angry as I put myself into this mess by trying to please as many people as I could. Bobser, you are simply wrong. The price was ALWAYS going to go up. I got twisted up in contractual obligations that I can not back out of. People who know me are aware of how hard I work at providing good service and I will try once more here to keep things fair. Anyone who feels disapointed over me changing the pre-sale period to 8 weeks (yes it has been THAT long) from 9 weeks can consider this offer: Matthew and I are working on an Expantion Pack to be release in February. It will sell for about $50. Any one who orders between now and November 10th at the retail price will receive an Expansion Pack free. Beyond that, I am at my wit's end.

Christopher

Christopher:

Relax man. for what I can see the price hasn't gone up. $300 was the price. the other was a special pre-sale price. I think the majority understand that. you will always get some moan on here. They had plenty of time to take advantage. Special prices do not last forever. Unfortunately bobser has missed the boat.

Bobser is a hustler charge him $350 instead. Magician's helping magicians doesn't extend to marketed services or products its aimed at advice.

Your doing a good job. And you deserve to make some money. And I don't see how they can complain now your offering the expansion pack.

IMHO that's incredible customer service! Christopher has always been prompt in responding to customers, being flexible with payment options, and even sending me material that I needed when I purchased something second hand. Contractual agreements has tied his hands and we all know his character and how good he's been. Things happen and I feel this gesture is incredibly generous of him.

Mike

I do want everyone to know that above wasn't really a proper review, as Christopher said it was 'quick feedback'. I am taking this with me today for some real testing!

OK...here we go!

I am going to start by explaining this situation in full as the situation of shortening the pre-sale date from 9 weeks to 8 weeks seems to have disappointed a few people greatly, for that both myself & Christopher apologize. Christopher has customer service that is second to none & I am disappointed that a few individuals would choose to tar & feather Christopher over this without knowing ALL the details that have caused Christopher's hands to be tied.

First the facts:

1) The pre-sale date was supposed to end on the 10th of November!

2) The pre-sale has lasted for 8 weeks (1 week short of the schedule)

The series of events that have lead to this unfortunate circumstance are as follows.

All pre-sales were supposed to be shipped on the 10th of November (after Mindvention was over.) When we returned from our UK lecture tour the ALONE units were ready to go so Christopher (as a courtesy to his customers) decided to ship those pre-sales early. He then decided to ship ordered units to Hocus-Pocus & Alakazam early too so that they would not miss the boat either. Now Hocus-Pocus & Alakazam are the only two authorized dealers in the world of ALONE other than Taylor Imagineering. They were chosen because of their excellent service & business practices. Because these are the only two dealers in the world to sell ALONE it does cut down on profits somewhat for Taylor Imagineering but Christopher wanted to be able to have some say in the price & the level of service offered to the purchasers of ALONE.

When the two dealers started to sell ALONE earlier than we originally anticipated it created some conflict between their retail price & the pre-order price. A conflict of $50-00 + shipping. Now as you can understand, no one is going to order a product from either of those two retailers if they can buy it cheaper from Christopher & therefore this puts the dealers in a difficult position which they should not be in. This situation arose from the fact that Christopher was trying to keep everybody happy by shipping earlier than anticipated, however due to the large work load Christopher over looked this 1 week cross over period.

Pre selling a limited number of high ticket items is a necessary step for many creators as large R&D costs & production costs have to be covered before any profit is made. The production of ALONE is already into the 10's of thousands of dollars & all of that has to be recovered, therefore pre-sales are necessary.

Both Taylor Imagineering & myself have worked very hard to keep customers happy & have been VERY forthcoming with not just 1 or 2 demos of ALONES possibilities but 7 demos + ongoing up to date information. We have done this because we want everyone to be happy with their purchase.

As Christopher mentioned we have been working on an Expansion pack for ALONE that will be valued at about $50-00 US that will include gimmicks that can be added to ALONE along with many guest contributors. This Expansion pack will (as of now) only be available through Taylor Imagineering & is due for release at Blackpool Magic Convention in 2010. Christopher has offered a free expansion pack to anyone who has a problem purchasing at $300 which I think is an incredible offer & more than fare. This offer will only apply until November 10th & after that it will be gone!!!! Please note that this expansion pack WILL NOT be shipping until after its release at Blackpool in 2010!

Also with reference to the insinuation that Taylor Imagineering & myself did this for a quick buck because sales were doing well let me say this (even though I do not need to). We have had to pull the pre sale price because units are now being sold by Alakazam & Hocus-Pocus. We have to sell to both of these dealers at a wholesale price & therefore we make a lot less money!!! If this was about continued high profits for us we would have made more money if we continued to offer the pre-sale price. Hope that makes sense & if it does think about it for a second!

Taylor Imagineering is a business & has to make a profit but trust me when I say again that many units have to be sold before profits are made!

OK, off my soap box now!

Cheers,

Matt Johnson

Got it love it, knew what to expect but the extras on the dvd far exceeded my expectations,,, thanks for a great product

As someone who (Luckily) did get the pre-order in time, I can see both sides

I have always found Christopher to give excellent customer service, however I did raise the question about alakazam and was told they would only stock the product after the pre-sale,

so even if you did ship to them early to the dealers. I can’t see why you could not have added a condition that they do not put them on sale until after the official pre-sale had finished (which is common with many products)

I got in under the wire, but don't see how anyone who didn't can complain given the expansion pack offer (which you guys know you would have ended up purchasing anyway). They got stuck in a tough spot (not due to any "greed"), and I truly think they've done the appropriate thing to make amends.

Look forward to receiving later this month!

I find it ironic that the two most innovative creators of mentalism on the market today (Taylor and Outlaw) are having to dodge arrows about their customer service. Both of these guys are not only offer top notch services and products, they are clearly top notch individuals. I applaud and celebrate both companies.

If you don't like the price, policy, color of the box, etc than don't f%+#?!& buy it!

Owners of the item wont mind....