I am thinking about buying the Cups and Balls. Which ones are the best?

Gazzo's

Do you all recommend a Chop Cup to be used also? I wondered about getting a set and just getting 2 regular cups and 1 Chop Cup.

Consider the ones from Auke van Dokkum. Take a look at his site http://www.cupsandballs.nl

Oh and if you're spending that amount on cups, order his baseballs as well. There is no substitute.

See my review:
The Porper Cups Review

Tough Question. A lot depends upon how much you want to spend, and in what venue you will be performing.

The Gary Animal/Gazzo cups are esteemed by street workers as being large and durable. I have both the Animal set and the Gazzo set and think they are great. The site: http://www.magicpitch.com/index.html

Jim Riser beautiful handspun copper cups. I have his mini cups and love them. (My next acquisition, I hope, is a set of his traditional style cups.)In fact, the mini cups are the ones I use most, because I can carry them in my coat pocket. Jim is a member of this forum, honest, helpful, and a superb craftsman. Here is his site, if you'd like to check out his cups: http://www.jamesriser.com/Magic/JamesRiserMagic.html

My pride and joy, however, is the set of Brett Sherwood silver/gold cups I got recently. People I respect (like Jim Riser and Pete Biro) have described them as the absolute best you can get. Here is the site: http://www.sherwoodmagic.com/

As you can see, there are lots of options. Jim Riser has a page dedicated to selecting cups that might help you: http://www.jamesriser.com/Cups/SelectingCups.html

Agree with John the Brett Sherwood cups while expensive are really breath taking and with Auke van Dokkum's leather balls, you have an unbelievably classic effect.

I can honestly say this is the best magic purchase I have made in 20+ years.

I agree the Brett Sherwood cups are the finest set in the world. I was talking about cups for mere mortals;-)

If they can be afforded, the Sherwood cups are the way to go. They are the BMW's of the Cups and Balls.

Chris

I think that the best source for deciding on cups and balls is Riser's website; you can get quite a good education by going there.

I'd say that if you're looking for a set that isn't too expensive and which should hold up for quite a while then go with the Johnson cups. However, if you're looking for the BEST, then go with the Porper cups and the Sherwood cups.

Jason K, just curious. Why would the fact that not many people use a set of cup make them "better" for people who DO use them? I've seen ads for Frank Garcia Cups and I've never seen anyone use them. Does that make them better for people that do? That argument just doesn't make sense to me.

I just Started doing the cups and balls and bought the johnson set. Coming from a person with little experience in this area I found the cups to be great.

I've been using the Johnson cups for a couple years and to me they hold up nicely.I'm very happy using these.Hope that helps.

I use the Phoenix Cups. They are a true working set of cups. You can beat them, drop them and slam them together and not worry. The wand that comes with the set is Ironwood and only has two noticable dents after more than a thousand performances.
I have not tried out the Gazzo cups but they are probably very durable as well.
Jason

Definitely Auke van Dokkum's cups are the nicest and will take a tennis ball as the final load!
http://www.cupsandballs.nl
handle like a dream!
bye for now
Steve Dela

Van Dokkum
Standard Cups (steel)
Price: £179
http://www.cupsandballs.nl

Manufactures own write up:
These will play extremely well for formal close-up, table magic and parlour shows.
The cups, which are turned from one single block of metal, are very heavy and handle like a dream.
They have the time approved three bead style and when stacked are steady as a rock.
Three one inch balls can be held easily between two of these well balanced cups.
The cups will set a new standard for the serious cups and balls aficionado!
You can choose Stainless Steel or Brass.

The cup can hold a 2 1/2 inch load.
Size = 2 7/8 Inch. Weight = 8 oz. each cup

Independent review: (Steve Dela)
What can I say, this is quite possibly the nicest set of cups myself and all the other assessors have ever used!
In appearance they look absolutely outstanding! They have an amazing shine and handle like a dream,
The quality of these cups is clearly seen in the Photos.
These are computer machined cups, cut from a solid block!
They are extremely heavy duty and I can imagine they will last forever.
When stacked they really are as solid as a rock and defiantly don’t dent easily when tapped with a magic wand!
These cups are a real head turner when brought out at a restaurant table!
They look very smart and very professional.
Plus are polished to an amazing mirror finish! (extremely shiny).
Also included is a lovely, extremely high quality, heavy duty drawstring bag to keep them in.
These cups do not come with balls, but Auke sells absolutely beautiful 1” leather base balls available in a variety of colours!
You can do all the standard cup and ball moves and they roll over brilliantly.
This set has the largest recess in the top of the cups out of all the cups we have reviewed, so your balls will not roll off easily if you accidentally knock them!
For final loads you can use, real fruit, Fake fruit (available http://www.ammarmagic.com),
The cups will not take a standard sized baseball as they are slightly too big to fit, so Auke sells ‘final load base balls’ that are slightly smaller for the cups (but people afterwards will just remember you producing a baseball from the cup).
These cups are large enough to hold a standard size tennis ball!
This is a professional set for the professional magician.
They would also be nice as a collectors item as I am sure they will not be around for ever!
as with a lot of cup and ball sets they might disappear before you get chance to buy them!
I believe this set is excellent value for money and I highly recommend them for the professional magician looking for a good quality set that will last!

Phoenix seconds are a steal. I have had mine for over 4 years. Very durable. Picked mine up for $40.

Johnson cups are they way to go!!!! Phoenix cups look old and dirty!

Johnson are nice, but I can build an illusion for the cost. Another nice reasonable set of cups are made by Bizar De Magica. They are available in copper or Brass. Nice weight. Your success with the cups lies in your skill, not how much your cups cost. I do the cups at least 3 times a night in a restaurant setting. I always bring them out as a special effect for special occasions. I would hate to leave a $200 set of cups unattended in a waiter's station.

I recently bought a set of Phoenix Cups and Balls.When I opened them,they were discoloured and blotchy.I cleaned them up so that they were shiny but a couple of hours later they returned to their blotchy,discoloured state.I repeated the process but with the same result. It is some sort of Oxidation problem, I imagine.
I was wandering if anyone who has this type of set has had any similar problem and if so is there a way of getting rid of the disclouration at least for a reasonable period of time{a couple of weeks or so}.
I appreciate any feedback.

Chappelly

I have seen sets that are hundreds of dollars. That is a bit steep for a poor college student like myself...so I have found that just a regular ghetto set works. It adds to the ghetto seen of the 3 card monte and shells. But...if you want class...by all means...go for the expense.

I personally hate shiney cups. I introduce the effect as one of the oldest in magic. Old cups fit the bill. The Bazar cups tarnish beatifully. Waiting on a set of Penguin cups. I have been told they have a mouth of nearly 3 1/2".