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WKM Regular user London Uk 139 Posts |
Hi guys, long time no post.
I had some Mike Rodgers balls , and somehow one vanished! From what I read I cant get them anymore, and those available are of poor quality? Does anyone use the Smetsers balls, and how do they compare? Thanks.
Liam Ball AIMC*
The Gentleman Magician |
puggo Inner circle 2022 Posts |
I had a set but sent them back as the core appears to be a 'bouncy ball'. Drop one into the cup and it'll bounce right out!
Having said that, they looked like really good quality and perhaps I should be content with just placing them in the cups. I am a Smetsers fan as I have his standard and mini aluminium Harmonica cups - they're great! |
Leo H Inner circle 1331 Posts |
Quote:
On Oct 18, 2014, puggo wrote: This can be considered a feature and not a bug. Ammar's Cups and Balls book contains a false transfer wherein the mini baseball bounces back into the hand transferring the ball. I could not make this work with the Mike Rogers baseballs, but it should work in this situation, if Puggo is correct. This is great news! |
WKM Regular user London Uk 139 Posts |
So how do they compare in terms of things like, construction and materials quality, stitching, size, visibility etc?
Liam Ball AIMC*
The Gentleman Magician |
Leo H Inner circle 1331 Posts |
Those Smetser baseballs are on my bucket list WKM. I will post my comparisons to the Mike Rogers baseballs when they arrive.
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Nosslrak New user 43 Posts |
If you were to cut open one of Mike Rogers Baseballs and one of Leo Smetsers, what would you find? What are they made of?
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Mobius303 Inner circle Lakewood, Ohio 1309 Posts |
The Mike Rogers baseballs had a rubber core and a cork core on the chop balls.
The new balls you are talking about have a denser rubber ball which makes them bounce more. The stitching is different as well so they will not match the Rogers balls. |
Nosslrak New user 43 Posts |
There seems to be a lot of mini-baseballs out there. Anyone know if any of them is made of something else than just a rubber ball? Real baseballs for example have some padding between the leather and the rubber ball which at least the mini baseballs I've handled lacks.
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padre rich Special user 635 Posts |
I've done C&B for a long time and I am partial to Mike's Baseball's. But as much as I know that balls and load selection is a very subjective thing I would urge C&B workers not to over think what balls you use.Pom poms, monkey fist, sherwoods, RNT2, aluminum foil, grapes- They all work! I guess if your the technical type -knock yourself out and get into construction and tolerances, but at the end of the day you can fool the chonis (underwear) off layman with paper balls and coffee cups.
God's grace rocks! It makes a good cups and balls routine look pretty boring in comparison.
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Leo H Inner circle 1331 Posts |
Quote:
On Oct 19, 2014, WKM wrote: The Leo Smetsers baseballs were on my bucket list for a long time and I finally purchased a straight set of 4 and a chopped set from Alakazam Magic U.K. They're not cheap at 24.99 British pounds for a set of 4 and 19.99 British pounds for the chopped set. With shipping from the U.K., both sets totaled 47.68 British pounds--almost $74.00. Definitely on the high side, but if you're looking for a nice set of mini-baseballs, I don't know of any other supplier that sells the straight sets for less. Ammar is currently out of stock on mini-baseballs and final loads. I believe he is experiencing difficulty locating a reliable manufacturer--a continual problem. The Frozen Bird sells the Smetsers chopped sets for practically the same price as Alakazam with the obviously lower U.S. shipping charges, but I decided to get them all from one source. The prices on Smeters' website for the mini-baseballs are roughly the same as Alakazam's, so I don't see any way around the price situation. That is the only bad news, the good news is that these mini-baseballs are superb. They are also made of leather and the stitching around each ball is even. Perhaps they were made on an industrial sewing machine because the stitching is evenly spaced all around. Compared to the Mike Rogers baseballs, I find that the Smeters baseballs resemble genuine MLB baseballs that were shrunk to one inch size by some futuristic gadget. The thread thickness on the Rogers baseballs are a bit thinner and each ball has a visible ridge on the stitching seams. So to my eyes, the Rogers baseballs don't look exactly like MLBs that were shrunken down. My Rogers set was purchased from Stevens Magic a few years before Ammar gained the rights to manufacture these, so my comparison is based on that. I'm not sure who made my set and I don't believe it was Rogers because he had already passed away some time before my purchase. Beyond the aesthetics, there's no difference in the way they handle. They're almost the same weight at .05 oz for the Smetsers and .04 oz for the Rogers. The ridges on the stitching does help prevent the Rogers baseballs from rolling a bit on a flat surface, which I experienced with the Smetsers baseballs, since they're more evenly rounder. I tested the Smetsers chopped baseball in my Wellington aluminum chop cup and it worked beautifully, as well as my Rogers chopped set. The chopped sets pretty much compare the same way to each other aesthetically as the straight sets. |
migwar Elite user west yorkshire, UK 457 Posts |
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On May 4, 2015, padre rich wrote: I recently got a set of mini baseballs from someone in the UK, I forget his name. Great quality. But I alternate between these and monkey fists. I also occasionally use crotchet balls still. I do think the monkey fists are a great grippy texture but the baseballs are great to patter around. |
William Dee New user 99 Posts |
I use the monkey fist balls myself I find that they are perfect, the best part is you can get new ones from ebay for less than you can make them yourself. I replace mine all the time so they always look good.
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Leo H Inner circle 1331 Posts |
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On Sep 29, 2015, William Dee wrote: Monkey fist balls wear out over time? I've never heard of the mini baseballs and crochet balls wearing out. |
migwar Elite user west yorkshire, UK 457 Posts |
They can start to look grubby,most balls do.
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Mobius303 Inner circle Lakewood, Ohio 1309 Posts |
Are you using suede or leather. Leather Monkey Fist balls can be cleaned. Suede ones cannot be cleaned but can be brushed.
I have not have any "wear " out. I have dropped a leather baseball and it marked up the leather so that one was replaced. |
The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » Ever so sleightly » » Mike Rodgers vs Leo Smetsers balls. (6 Likes) |
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