Chance,

The red licorice is perfect for kids! I would worry about the candy dyes staining the wood. Probably not an issue for the plastic version, but wood can absorb dyes.

Good point!
Yeah...that might be a problem.
The clear coat my be good enough to protect the wood and not stain...but..if not...
then a guy could maybe place a strip of the matte Scotch Tape down the center area.
Easily removable...no stains.
Just trying to think out loud.

Anyways...I am sure there are many kid friendly solutions than a classic Marlboro Red

No doubt a trip to a Michaels would uncover a number of options... crayons, markers, those thick fuzzy craft sticks, etc. Would be cool if there were Lego pieces you could put together and fit in it... break them apart and magically put them together. Maybe a strand of those rubber band bracelets that are the rage this Christmas. Perhaps start with the unit in the zig zag condition and ask if they have seen the gizmo that the kids are using to make those rubber band bracelets. Put a number of the small bands in each section, push it together and produce a bracelet the child can keep. Have no idea if this will work... just brainstorming. Looking forward to getting mine.

It's an interesting challenge really... As we were discussing the cigarette sort of maybe could actually be split so it works really well... but is obviously not somehting to do for kids or even most audiences at this point.
A pencil or metal bar work well as far as the actual mechanics go but make the effect as much about cutting as it is about restoration and to me that is a much less strong effect.

So what can fit in there that coudl be cut? Red licorice is a great idea... could nto REALLY be cut but for kids shows it is a solid idea. Nonetheless I'd lobe to find something that woudl fit in there and actually be somewhat logical to split into thirds. Maybe a soft wood? Like a bala wood dowel? It could be handed out ahead of time and discussed how the wood is so soft that even bare hands can dent it... then split into thirds as a demo of how soft it is... maybe some discussing of the harder Maple being able to cut through the softer wood... then the restoration makes some sense.

Was looking for crystal clever as your new effect. It was the top voted effect. Was that ever what your might make._

Meant to say balsa wood... not bala

Zig Zag Birthday Candle might be worth looking into.

Any chance I might see one of these in person at Browser's Den in Toronto this weekend? I'm in Ontario visiting family and plan to drop by Browser's Saturday afternoon somewhere between 3 and 5 PM. It would be great to see you, Jason.

That is a GREAT idea for kids! And would just look cool. Great thinking.

Hey Rob:

How are you? It would be great to see you, but I won't be at the magic shop on Saturday. Hopefully we can get together soon!

Those are great ideas everyone is coming up with!! The reason I personally would not use a crayon is because I would be afraid that if I was clumsy inserting the whole thing (or the pieces) into the slots of the trick, the colored wax might rub off and get on the wood. With a reasonable amount of care you should be fine......but I'm nervous I'd mess it up. lol

Thank you for the continued sales----we're almost sold out of our first run!

Best regards,

Jason

Just bought two.

Can't wait to get them to review .

So, is there a second run?

I'm confused by why the Elite guys won't answer such simple questions as how many units were in the run and how many runs there will be.

I'm really happy to hear about the success but equally frustrated and almost insulted that they will not answer fair, direct and pertinent questions that would help me make an informed decision about buying.

Over and over we hear talk about selling out the first run in order to sour sales but then silence about how many units there are it will be. Is this really treating customers with respect?

I would also like to know how many are being produced in the "first run" just to get an idea of how limited it is. I was thinking of ordering a second but if further runs are possible, I see no point to ordering two for now.

Hello.

Sorry I missed your question Teevtee. And sorry I was away from the thread for a couple of days. I'm dealing with some serious health issues that will take me away from here from time to time, so I appologize for that. Please know if I miss a question or I am away from the thread that I'm not ignoring you. We respect all of our customers. Sorry you were insulted that I missed your question that was certainly not our intention.

Our intial run will consist of a minimum limited 50 units. However it is possible that a few more then this could be produced within the 6 week mfg time, but we are not sure since this is our first time doing a run and we are not sure if we can surpass this minimum (but we know we can meet it). But if the first run did increase during production, it would certainly be under 100 units. We will be happy to inform our customers what that exact production number is once the run is complete.

Also keep in mind this is a limited run not a numbered run. How many runs will we do? Well certainly the first run and possibly a second run(an additional 50-100 units produced in a 6 week time frame).
This second run will only take place if there is enough demand to warrant that additional run. If we don't think there will be enough demand for another entire run then this second run will not take place. Based on what I've seen so far from production, the zig zag cig will be limited to 100 units over 2 runs.

Will there be more runs then that? No. We are under contractual agreement with Tenyo to produce "x" amount of Tenyo Elite tricks in a specific timeline, therefore we cannot spend any more time (3months) on manufacturing zig zag cigs (even if we wanted to) we must move on to the R&D, development and production of the next Tenyo Elite item. This will likely be the format and numbers for all future elite items. Ranging from 50-200 in quantity based on demand and manufacturing time.

These new elite items are all hand crafted so you must understand that production takes longer and less of them can be made in a 6 week time frame. The first two elite items were produced in much much larger quantities and was one of the reasons we had trouble because our capital was tied up in inventory. This will never happen again now, and Elite items will come out much more often, be much more collectible and have that beautiful hand crafted characteristic to them! We're excited!

I hope that answers your question.

Peter.

That is a good answer.

Peter:

Thank you for your answers. I appreciate the information and certainly understand that you have much more important issues to deal with.
My comments were not directed solely at yourself but nonetheless I really do appreciate your responses and information.

This is very helpful and I think all of us who are interested in your project(s) appreciate it.

I think the new business model (seems similar to Magic Wagon) is a GREAT way to go and I again wish you all the luck in the world and I am super excited to see what is coming next!

This was one of my first magical purchases and a long time favourite. How could I NOT order it? Looks gorgeous, just hope the waits not too long!

Thanks Peter. 100 is not many.

About the item to be zig-zagged: how about cutting a supply of magic wands out of the proper thickness of wooden dowel rods?

You can paint them different colors (although the standard black and white color combination will contrast fine with the light wood).

Put a sticker on the middle for the convincer and then give it to your audience helper as a souvenir at the end...

Julie