Be careful.

There is a seller on the big auction site that I am pretty sure is selling Tenyo knockoffs made in China as Tenyo items.

He is selling copies of Fortune Sticks, Crazy Spots and Mystery of the High Hat.

He "lost" the instructions for all three tricks.

Thanks John
I had no idea that High Hat was being pirated.
I noticed a ridiculously cheap High Hat with no instructions..the seller now has it bundled with a Crazy Spots.
Thought something seemed fishy.

A site in China is making about 10 Tenyo knock-offs.

Most of them look different so you would know they are not Tenyo, but three are a very close look alike.

The three that look like the Tenyo are the three the seller is selling on the auction site.

He is really doing a good job trying to mislead people because he is claiming he "lost" the directions as if he once had them.

On the Fortune Sticks he later comes back with the instructions which say "Cartoon Sticks" which is the name of the trick on the Chinese Site.

The Chinese site also stole Stereo's picture and description for Fortune Sticks.

The Cartoon Sticks instructions was my first clue that this seller is selling the Chinese knock-offs and the second was the shape of the High Hat. It should be oval not circular.

Thank you for the info, I was not aware about this China shop.

What is the link to this shop? Sorry guys ... but I would really like to get a cheap version of Mystery Of The High Hat to perform with ... . I would like to have an extra copy but 100 - 150 USD is a wee bit too much for a Tenyo item that is not even mechanical gimmicked ... you know what I mean when you own the trick. I can make my own with for example a shot glass but this isn't the same ... . The 'hat' looks suspicious so everyone thinks the secret is in the hat.

I would like have one too, don't have this one on my collection, and don't have the budget to buy real one.

No offence, but I don't believe anybody should be seeking to buy knock offs of any kind.
One, its probably junk.
Two,There are far too many shoddy products of all kinds on the market already and that is the reason why: people willing to buy them.

If you are just interested in performing the trick, may I suggest just making a version yourself.

For example, Little top hats should be found at craft stores or bridal boutiques, you can make chips with coins and stickers.
Watch the routine a few times and the secret is obvious.

I really can't believe you guys «of all people» would be willing to buy knock off tenyos..

What if I came here and said that I had built my own Prison Box because it was too expensive/scarce..and that I had enough parts left over to make 25 copies that I would be selling at auction.. What would you say to me?
Just my 2¢
M°

Actually, a homemade Prison Box might be interesting if it worked. Mr. Carbone made one.

(Okay, so maybe I'm ribbing you a bit.)

Ouch ~ my ribs!

Knock offs:

It's an illustration for the "Bird Watcher too" package Roberto ?

LOL (I'm kidding)

I bought a Mystery of the Hight Hat on eBay a month ago. It was an original Tenyo product and only cost me $45. Just keep looking.

Well, unless you can't afford to be buying the real thing. Pretty ridiculous to starve because you can't afford the choice cuts of meat, so to speak.

When people really couldn't afford real diamonds (or they couldn't continue selling them at such crazy prices), they developed Diamonique, faux diamonds that look pretty much like the real thing to most people. Eventually they caught on so much that most times that's what all the leading sellers sell on the shopping channels nowadays, and people love them mostly because they can't collectively afford the real things over and over again. Better to have diamoniques, something similar that you might indeed be something you like, rather than not because you can't afford the real thing.

Of course, it's always good to give a woman a real diamond. They don't mind buying faux ones for themselves but aren't keen on accepting one from a man in their life. I'm just sayin'.

I understand your point Mb but, comparing magic tricks to starving is not really the same thing.

Also, buying a zircon as a zircon is fine..but who would be pleased to buy a zircon if they were originally told it was a diamond?

As far as the knock offs, I am refering to the theft of intellectual property and maybe even copyrighted material and the idea that we are Tenyo collectors...what good would a 'Top Hat Mystery' be to your Tenyo collection if you needed a 'Mystery of the High Hat'.

I understand filling in gaps or just wanting a certain trick but as Richard pointed out.. you can pick up a mint High Hat for about $50us. I see them constantly on auction go unsold at this price. Save up your pennies..euros..yen..and get an original item you know is quality..
We love Tenyo because of the innovation, quality, collectability, et cetera..even if nobody thinks supporting knock off artists undermines the integrity of the market, I do.
I see it every day in every way in every store in the country. Quality is a thing of the past in a disposable world.. Why buy into that mentality?

Anyway, that's enough from me on the subject. As I stated earlier, this is only my opinion and in the end only we can know and behave in a way that is right for ourselves.

Thanks for the feedback Mb..

Not a problem Marlowe, I too understand your point and I think we're staying on our sides of the line on this because to put it another way, I don't see why you shouldn't drive just because you can't afford a Benz. I can hear you now, "Mb, a car is not like..." But once again, I also know you know what I'm sayin'. I will say that if someone is selling something as something real when it's not, well then that's fraud and somewhat a horse of different color here, and should certainly be considered before purchasing if the seller isn't jailed first, especially if you're looking for the real thing. My point was toward when you can't afford the real thing or you can't find it affordably to you and you know this isn't the real deal but it's OK for you. That is an individual choice.

As a coin guy mostly, it's like with those replica Morgan dollar coins, they happen to be great if you can't get your hands on the real thing. Why? Well, first of all they were dirt cheap in comparison to silver Morgans. They have the same dimension and the feel is good for what you need them for in coin magic. They also look pretty good and are typically ferromagnetic, which can be helpful. Now there are those that yelled to folks not to get replica coins, basically to suffer until you could get the real McCoy. I yelled the other way of course, again, no need to starve until you can eat or eat best. Morgans are typically expensive and the gaff coinage for it is even more super expensive, some of is absolutely crazy - plastic Tenyo dwarfs in comparison, believe me. Anyway, all of the sudden now, reputable coin gaffers began selling the replicas and then even making the gaffs for them at a great price, Joe Mogar comes to mind as to this. Also coin gaffers are starting to gaff clad coins (this used to be blasphemous) as they made a fortune doing expensive silver coins, so things are changing or better yet "thinking" about these things is changing. The clad stuff now is much cheaper and thus affordable to those that I guess can't afford the good stuff, only it's OK now because the gaffers decided it was.

I know Tenyo has a built in collector's nature to it, so real stuff is important, so perhaps I will leave it at that for people to judge for themselves based on themselves.

Thanks for the good conversation here and have a great Thanksgiving, telling by all these fabulous Tenyo collections I've seen, we all have a lot to be thankful for and that's the real deal of it all.

-Mb