I got in on the original early and was disappointed in the craftsmanship as well, which I found odd as I have had Roy make several coins for me and all are top notch. Blue Crown was awesome in that they sent me another completely on there dime and never asked for the other one back, but unfortunately the replacement was lacking as well.... So this has sat on my shelf. And I will say it was for more then one reason.

The first being the quality.

The second was the coin itself... While there is some dispute in my thinking on this, old style quarters are not as prevalent as they used to be, so if someone hands you a quarter and they can see its a new style, but you show the effect with an old style, They sense something is amiss, though they might not quite catch on to what. (Yes this happened to me, no I am not a newbie, yes I have audience management skills, please don't flame me...lol) So in an email to BC I offered an alternate coin to use. The new State Parks quarters have a circle on the tails side that is exactly the size of a penny. They politely told me old styles were still around..... Fair enough, opinions differ..

I would LOVE to buy the new C&C 2.0 if I could get one made from some of the park coins. What say you Kevin? Would your machinist be willing to custom make a few?

Heres to hoping... lol!

-J-

Hey Judah. Definitely happy to discuss the rationale for using the eagle-back quarters instead of state/national park quarters.

The eagle design is still the most familiar quarter. It was minted from 1932 until about 1998, and they're still in wide circulation.

There's an inherent innocence about eagle quarters. They're plain, people have seen thousands of them, and there's no desire to inspect them closely.

However, with the various commemorative state/parks coins, there is an interest. People want to see what state and picture are on the coin. This places heat on the gimmick, where people may notice something "funny", or notice if you switch in with a different state. It's a lot easier to switch 2 eagle coins.

The 2nd thing is camouflage. At first glance, the America the Beautiful quarters look perfect for C&C due to the circular line that's in every design. This series is going to run for about 10 years, so it seems that they'd eventually be somewhat common.

There are a few unfortunate complications though. Right now, the America the Beautiful series is not very common. They have been minted in very low quantities. Our machinist went through a batch of 5,000 quarters and found 40 of these State Parks coins. Not a very good rate, and they have been made since 2010, so it's not as if they've only been around for a couple of months and haven't made it "out there" yet!

We did make a few prototype gimmicks with that design, but we were unhappy with them. The line actually accentuates the machining, rather than disguising it. The eagle coins provide much better camouflage with the cut of the insert going along the edges of the eagle's wings.

In regards to people noticing a switch - I simply don't borrow the coins to begin with. I start with my own Quarter and Penny (the gimmick) and once in awhile will switch in a regular quarter after the fact so everything is 100% examinable and can be given away is desired. Usually I just perform with the gimmick and don't worry about switches. There's no heat on the gimmick, and I've never been caught. Nobody has ever said, "Hey, that's one of those weird eagle quarters!" It just doesn't happen, because they're by far the most common quarter on the planet.

Hope that helps clear up some of the reasons for why we did what we did!

Kevin

I've NEVER seen a State Parks quarter, and, as Kevin has stated, I look at the "odd" quarters very often, just as I look to find some of the new Lincoln pennies that came out for the 200th anniversary of his birth in 2009. I still have not seen examples of all of them in circulation yet. People are hoarding them!

I do not give an eagle-backed quarter a second thought.

I received version 1 today from Penguin...wasted my $$. The same complaints as others have had...doesn't sit flat, doesn't stay nested...oh well...ill just throw it in the "drawer"...mercury, I sent you a PM

Hey Trooper. Sorry about that! As mentioned before, we have never tried to "cheap out" on any of the gimmicks. Some of these issues have been mystifying to us as well as Roy, since the original prototypes came out amazingly. I sent you a PM in return.

In general (not directed at anyone), if we could please keep this thread focused on the 2.0 edition, that'd be great.

If anyone has questions/concerns about the original, you're certainly welcome to PM me, contact The Blue Crown customer service, etc.

Thanks!

Kevin

Like I said, opinions differ...lol! I just looked at the change I got from two different quik shops (don't ask) which gave me a total of six quarters among the change. Not an eagle quarter among them, and TWO parks quarters. So maybe it is just where I live. Not saying anything either way.

Kevin makes some good points and expands the validity of using the Eagle. I just like to borrow things to do some magic sometimes, just a personal preference of mine and NOT a shot at anyone. It truly would be easy enuf to just use them as my own change with no great loss of wonder.

And I also trust that if Kevin says they tried with the Park quarter, and it did not meet par, I believe him. And as I was a machinist for many years, I would understand how his new machinist would not like something sub par. All in all I lay my thought to rest on the matter....lol!!

Anyways I will prolly pick up 2.0 as I like to get the updates to any effect I own, even if I never use it. Yup.... I am one of THOSE people. BUT, I will give it a due chance out in my world first....

Thanks to all...

Judah

Well I should be getting 2.0 on Monday...I'll be sure to pass on my opinion!

Ok...received 2.0 today via USPS...It is complete night and day from 1.0. 1.0 honestly was junk...The insert didn't even stay in place. For being a Roy Kueppers made coin, it was very disappointing. The coin in 2.0 works just like coin unique and miracle chip. The line is hard to see, and the inset stays put until you want it out. Great job Blue Crown!

Penguin has this in stock now:

http://www.penguinmagic.com/p/S14924

I got mine from Penguin yesterday and it sucks. I guess it's version 1.

I agree that Bats and Zombie rock. Also, Saysold is a pretty good poster too.

Murphy's just got their first supply of C&C 2.0 in today, which sold out in just a few hours, so dealers are also offering it starting today.

Here are some easy ways to tell the versions apart: Original has a red cover, while 2.0 has a Blue cover with a large "2.0" after the title. Original comes with a bang ring, 2.0 does not. Original gimmick has a steel shim, 2.0 has a magnetic locking system.

Hope this helps!

Kevin

I'm excited to say that the first shipment to Murphy's sold out super quick, and I see that this is also steadily rising up the best seller list on penguin. Murphy's will have another shipment in the next 6-7 days, so everyone can pick it up from their favorite dealer. Would love to hear some impressions and performance stories from those who have this already.

Kevin

Just want to add...I used some Flitz polish to shine the quarter gimmick...it made it SUPER deceptive! I couldn't even see the insert. I put 2 quarters next to each other and wasn't sure which one was the gimmick...so a little tip for those who own 2.0

I have the original C&C and mine seemed to be fine. However, I really don't like locking coins because they can't be reset easily. I saw some reviews about C&C 2.0 that were a bit on the negative side (Ex: Chris Ballinger said that a participant might see the gimmick). I decided to give it a try anyway, because I really like the idea of a magnetic gimmick that can be easily reset. Maybe I'm just lucky. I received mine and I was very impressed! It looks really good. I wouldn't hesitate to put it in the hands of a participant in the right routine with the right misdirections.

I have a routine that involves a bend penny attached to IT in a routine with this coin. The participant does the "mental bending" in their own hands and they reveal the quarter and a bend penny. In this effect, there is no heat on the quarter, because it is the penny that apparently has just bent. Also, the IT is used to make the participant feel something happening within their closed hand. I yank the IT right before the reveal and they definitely feal "something" happening. This removes the IT. All the heat is on the penny. I take the quarter from their hand, casually show both sides, but place all the emphasis on the penny left behind in their hand for them to examine. The IT is glued to the inside of the bend with the tiniest drop of super glue. To be extra safe, I put a bit of a stress point on the invisible thread right at the glue junction so it always breaks at that weakest point.

The only minor criticism I have with the coin is that the penny and the quarter were not perfectly aligned. When I am holding the coins separate, if I align the back sides of the two coins, I know that when they are locked, they will align correctly between the front and back. My penny was just a bit cockeyed to the quarter. I solved that problem by putting a tiny pen-mark dot on the penny side to tell me where to align the top of the coin. Perhaps that is just too much attention to detail, but as many of you know, one little incongruency can convert a miracle into a dissapointment.

KJ

Paul Wilson showed me some stuff he was working with his and he ended up accidentally leaving it behind when he went back to Scotland, so I've had the chance to play around with it for a few weeks and I have to say, if it's good enough for Paul (he seemed to love it) then it is for me. It's well made, works quietly and looks fantastic. I have to say that for the price it's a bargain, considering what you can pay for a decent coin gaff these days.

Penguin has Captain & Coke 2.0 as a cool box deal. You get a $25 "instant gift code" after purchase.

http://www.penguinmagic.com/

Too bad it's out of stock now. I had this and I like that it uses regular looking coins and very convenient that you don't use a bang ring. But just recently I noticed the shell won't hold the coin in place anymore. The magnet part seems chipped away. Not sure why, maybe the coins in my pocket damaged the shell. So I really can't use it anymore. Again, great gimmick but you have to keep it in a safe area, unfortunately not as durable as the original scotch and soda.

These have not been available for years! But I recently was able to locate a small amount of gimmicks and DVDs for the captain and Coke 2.0

https://kranzomagic.myshopify.com/produc......ain-coke