This was reviewed on Wizard Product Review this week.
It got a great review!
Looks great!

kyle

It deserves every bit of the accolades it received. Brian and his father are brilliant thinkers and left nothing out. It's a beautiful piece and something I am proud to use in my own shows.

Max

Actually the review in the WPR was very promising but the my problem with Platt Pad is that I don't have any clue or don't understand what the pad does for me. Is it a switching device?

Yes, I believe so.

A utility prop that can switch a wide variety of objecs would be very useful, but I'm not really that excited by effects with small packets of cards. Does this have applications for routines that don't involve a small packet of cards?

Also, if pages of the pad are used during the performance, how easy (and cheap) is it to refill?

As I use packet tricks quite often, I tool like Platt Pad would be quite usefull, IF this would make it possible to switch out the gaffs for examinable cards easily, because this would be much cleaner than putting the decks back into the deck an do a sleight-of-hand switch.

But here is my problem with the pad again: I don't know what it does and the product demo doesn't present any usefull information as well

Madcats, You need to read the thread! Here's a post answering your questions by Brian Platt on Page 2:

[quote="Platt"]Quote:


On 2010-02-28 14:40, lunatik wrote:
Quote:


On 2010-02-28 12:25, Pit Boss wrote:
Unless I missed it, which I could have, the demo never shows exactly what happens. I would like to know the sequence of events, at least, after the spectator makes a selection.

If I just missed it, I apologize.

Thanks, JD



I'm in the same boat, I have no clue as to what this does or anything.



Hi guys, if you read the lengthy descriptors on our website, you'll see but a fraction of the effects possible. It was originally made to create a perfect 8 card brainwave. One where you end clean and can hand the cards out. I've created numerous versions of that effect. After well over 1,000 performances, I can tell you they all have the same effect on the spectator: The spectator fairly touches a card. It's the one that's different than all the rest. Everything can be handed out. Spectator is baffled.

There are many many things that can be done with the pad. Most packet tricks where you end dirty, with the pad, you end clean. I'm sure others who own the pad can chime in, but if you read through the effects on the website you'll get a good idea of the basics.

Regarding the demo video... As any creator of magic effects knows, making a demo video is tricky business. I personally have had many issues with unfair videos. I attempted to show you a few basic effects from the spectator's POV and be as fair as possible. He or she touches a card. It's the one odd one out. Everything is examinable. Again, I teach many versions of this effect on the DVDs totaling 2.5 hours. I included one of those 8 card brainwaves (entitled 8 Card Grail) in its entirety on the demo video. I hate to spell it out but if you'd like the time codes, look at 1:10- 1:22. That's the full performance from start to finish. Hope that answers some of your questions as to what can be accomplished using the pad.

Best,

Platt[/quote]

Jim

I just got the Platt Pad today.

All I can say is Platt's are mad genius.
I can think of even more uses than the 2 dvd's worth of stuff that comes with this pad.
This is one versatile tool.

The Platt Pad rocks!
:righton:

You'll like it, doob!

The only thing I can think of that would make it a lot easier to get going with it: A written list of the routines on the DVD along with the props needed to perform them!! This is another product that suffers greatly from having no written material. The DVDs are long and not very well chaptered, so finding something on them can take up some time. Most of the routines don’t actually show you the effect because they are really just offering a great "clean finish" for other people's acts. So you will see other magicians' stuff referenced quite a bit - you'll have to get a copy of each of those effects/routines from somewhere else. A list of what these are would have been nice, instead of having to go back through the 2 DVDs and take copious notes. Also, each requires some special props. I was thinking after watching the DVDs, "OK, let me see where I can buy some... wait a minute - do I need double-faced kings and jacks? Or was it double-faced kings and queens?" There are a lot of things like that where a nice listing of the props you will need would be a good thing to have.

You will see what I mean after the third , fourth, or maybe tenth time you are going through the DVDs again to find out what you need for a certain effect!

Thanks!

Jim

Hi, Jim
I've actually already encountered what you describe, LOL, and totally agree....
There are a couple of things, including the DF cards you described, that require add'l props or parts, and you're right, going back to find the stuff you need is a pain...time for me to get out another pad (haha) and take some notes; this one could use an effect listing and perhaps some kind of written quickstart
I still love this thing, tho

Would the PLATT PAD improve the handling of the DUO-TECH II or Micheal Pizzolla's Synchronicity 3?

Walt

Walt, I don’t have either - and I don’t know much about them. Hopefully someone else here can answer.

Thank you.

Jim

Voh002, yes stiff paper, small envelopes or index cards can be used.

Madcats, you could look at it like a switching device. But I never really think of it that way. Most routines are set up so a switch wouldn’t even come to mind.

Caliban, I’ll have to double check but I believe you can switch out up to around 20+ cards. In the past I’ve gotten up to a half deck, but it’s really not designed for that.

To the many who missed the move, I show the exact moment the move happens. You’ll just have to trust me when I say this non-move is never ever a consideration from the specs POV. Even if those specs are magicians. Seriously.

Dooblehorn, yes I am a mad genius. Ha, but thank you for the mad compliment.

Jim, I know what you’re saying about having to go back and look for the props. I did at one point consider listing the additional gimmicks I use for some effects, but I chose not to because 90% of the time I use nothing more than business cards! But I am partial to a few effects that involve additional gimmickry. I still perform Memory Test all the time. It’s basically Jon Allen’s Double Back where the spectators can pick up the cards and fully examine them immediately after the effect. Still my favorite non-mentalism effect on the dvd. I’ll be showing that this evening at my lecture in Scotch Plains, NJ.

Natural Mystic, I know a little about those two effects and I don’t think the Platt Pad is applicable. However most effects using gimmicked cards (wild card, macdonald’s aces, nfw, double back, double-pipped effects, etc) can be cleaned up effortlessly with the pad and just a little creativity.

Thanks all for the support. And please email us with any questions.

Platt

My only question is... When is your next piece of "intelligent" magic coming?

I say "intelligent" because unlike most so-called "new" magic products that hit the market today that are just copies of existing effects/props with maybe a slightly altered method, yours are always something that is truly new; something that hasn’t been done before. Or I guess I should say, something that hasn’t been done this way before! There are a limited number of truly original concepts behind most magic products and we are all too familiar with them. But there are always new, 'never before seen' ways to perform them. And what Brian and his Dad put out here to us is always a clever - no, diabolical - new way to accomplish an established magical effect!

We are waiting....

Thanks!

Jim

Brian did a fine presentation last night at SAM 161 in Scotch Plains, NJ. His Platt Pad is very clever and disarming. He passed around a sample and it's incredibly well made. Thanks for a great lecture, Brian.

I just ordered it. Im looking forward to implementing this into some effects Im working on.

I'll echo what everyone else has said - the platt pad is a truely amazing tool that is exactly the type of mentalism I like to perform. My best purchase for a very long time.

This sounds like an ingenious device. My question is motivation. Why have this big scratchpad on the table at all? It seems to me like it would be very much out of place in most performance situations.

Can you make notes on the top page, do a switch of cards or envelopes, and have the top page remain the same? Or does the switching mechanism switch the top piece of paper also?

Go take a look at the demo at http://www.Plattmagic.com . Brian has it on the table and performs a routine. You can see there how it looks and if it can be written on. Better for you to see it there rather than anyone here have to worry about exposing anything!)

Jim

Just to be clear. From 1:10-1:22 there are no cuts or video edits? The switch really takes place IN that video clip? If so, that's incredible.

Best regards,
Rob

P.S. I like the clip you chose of the woman at the beginning who insists on inspecting all the cards. What makes it great is that you see the rest of the clip at the end of the video where she even checks the magician's hands yet her attention never even comes close to the pad. That says a lot. For those who have not seen it, visit http://www.plattmagic.com/Products.html