Project Swiss Army – Brandon David & Chris Turchi

Product description : Brandon David and Chris Turchi are 2 very good creators, they created Envylope which was exceptional in my opinion. This is their newest device, it’s a combination of a gimmicked deck and a gimmicked box which will allow to do multiple things : retrieve signed card from within the deck which is inside the card case, easily force multiple cards without any break, strip out any 4 of a kind, shot out the deck the selected card with a single flick and many more things. It’s more a tool than a trick in itself but is it worth your money ? Let’s find out together !

Price and where to buy it : This is sold at $34.95 and you can find it in nearly every Murphy's magic « partner » shop !

What you get : You get a rectangular cardboard box, really nicely made, the packaging is quite nice, you have the name of the trick written in metallic ink, very classy. Inside, you get the link to watch the explanation video, it’s really well done and shot in the Murphy’s studio. They did a great job explaining how the special deck and box work, along with some routines in order to get started with it. You get the box with the deck inside, I’ve already seen similar gaffed boxes like that but this kind of deck is the first time for me. It’s not a stripper deck, it’s completely gaffed which means you won’t be able to use it for anything else. Overall, if you don’t mind carrying a full gaffed deck just for one routine, then you won’t be disappointed with Project Swiss Army.

Teaser : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJC2Dt8FLzo

The pros and the cons : Here is the core of my review, let's begin with the cons, as I will usually be doing, I prefer to keep the good things for the end.

THE CONS :
• As I said, this deck is 100% gaffed and I can’t see any routine that could be done with it, except the one which are taught. But forget using this deck for your classical ambitious card, it would be too much trouble.
• Be careful with the angles, the way you are holding the deck can flash the gimmick if not done correctly.

THE PROS :
• The demo and description of the product is accurate, nothing is misleading, which is a great point nowadays.
• You can really show the box from all sides before putting it in your pocket and putting out the signed card. You can even let someone handle it without any problem I think.
• The illusion is very convincing, the fact you’re holding a “real” deck is very good.
• The spectator can really put back his card anywhere in the deck and you would still be able to pull it out from the box.
• There are many things you can do with the deck, and many things with the box too, they didn’t talk about it too much in the video but I’m sure your imagination will develop new applications with it.
• When you receive it, you’ll maybe be disappointed by the gimmick but please don’t let this put you off ! There are very cool things you can do with it.
• You can easily switch your regular deck for the PSA deck when you want to do the routine, a bit like The Extractor.

Overall rating : I thought I would be disliking this but after playing with it, I can see the value of it. If you don’t mind carrying an extra deck, this one is very good, 3/4 hearts.

As for the difficulty level, it depends on the routine you want to do but it’s quite easy to get the knack for the gimmick, I would say 2/5 stars.

Similar products : The Extractor and The Extractor 2.0 are 2 very solid releases which allow to do the same routine “place the card in the pack in the box and pull it out easily”, I recommend you checking it out !

If you liked this review, make sure to check all my other ones on my website : http://lesavisdalexis.wixsite.com/reviews

Still not really made clear.Do you need to force a card.Or is it just a bank of cards they carnt choose from? If the extractor didn't exist would this be trick of the year?

You can do both, you'll just have to modify the handling

Just wanted to post a quick review.

...I love extractor... will stick to extractor. I'm sad to say, I had high hopes, but it works Nowhere near as well as extractor. It's like comparing a ferrari with a ford.

I haven't found it enjoyable to use at all and creates many many problems including;

*the deck is extremely awkward to handle
*Angles are a lot worse than I imagined from the trailer = this cannot be performed surrounded
*It's actually extremely fiddly and knacky to remove the card from the box... Especially for me as I have big fingers - good for the girlfriend, not so good for this.
*Removing the card often brings out other unwanted cards with it, causing a messy pocket and reset.

All of the above points are compared to using the extractor. I thought this would be a lot better - more useful than I thought... but I just cannot and will not find a use for it. I hoped it would be a good alterative but nah.

Brandon and Chris are great inventors and I liked their thinking here a lot... but it falls short.

Hope this review helps others on the fence.

I just wish they could re-release the extractor with plastic cards so it doesn't wear away so easily / get grubby. Cards splitting is annoying... I've made my own extractor up from scratchn using plastic cards.

If you get any unwanted cards just remove 2 or 3 from the deck, mine was a bit tight, losing those cards was not noticeable and made things a lot easier.

Yes the Extractor is great but this has advantages over it and the Extractor has its advantages over this.

The angles and handling are not bad or difficult but I guess everyone is different, I think this is very easy to use.

How did you get this as it is not released until Monday?

Magic in mind, if you have watched the trailer, you would have known that you can sign a card.
magicmarkworldwide2, you compare Swiss Army with Extractor but both products are very different, ther are many things you can do with the former which you can't with the latter, so the comparison makes no sense.

Is it easier to extract the card then extractor? I found extractor a bit stiff. Maybe I had a defect. Hope someone can help?

Ahem I didn't ask if you could sign the card as I have watched the trailer.If you'd read my post I asked for clarification if the card needs to be forced.Ive learnt it does if you just use the deck.However if you use it like an extractor,it doesn't req a force.Just a deck s....h.Anyway thanks for quoting me on something I didn't ask.

By saying "do I need to force a card" means that you assume the use of duplicate, i.e., may not be possible with a signed card.

Hope this clears things up:

If you want them to freely select any card - you have to use a regular deck then switch in the swiss army deck.

If you want to perform with one deck alone (the swiss army deck), you'll have to force an ungimmicked card on them which is subject angle limitations.

Any card picked using either method can be signed.

Extractor is much easier to extract a card - it's one motion vs a couple of knacky finger moves IMHO. It's easier to use, more reliable, almost angle proof AND provides a peak,

The only advantage I see in using the Swiss Army Deck is that you can show the cards in the box from ALL ANGLES before you put the box away.
Another bonus, a deck switch is not required if you are comfortable in forcing a card using a suitable method.

And for all those saying DO NOT COMPARE swiss army with Extractor.... Don't be so stupid.
The two props are primarily designed to DO EXACTLY THE SAME THING!!!! Comparisons have to be made!!

For me it's like comparing the original and brilliant PK ring with that piece of junk Silent Assistant. Swiss Army is a bit better, but it's like reinventing the wheel, all for the sake of being able to OVER PROVE an issue spectators are NEVER GOING TO question you on.

Don't buy it then.

Firstly again my question was do you have to force a card.I didn't ask can they sign the card as I have watched the trailer.....

Now your saying because I asked that question I think it uses duplicates. No I don't it obviously doesn't. It let's you acess their card easily like an extractor.My question re forcing a card was wiyh merit as you do need to force a card unless you deck switch.Since this has been answered I won't be buying as it has no significant benefit over an extractor for my uses

Magicmarkworldwide2, "don't be idiot ?". Well, that's a way to talk, sure...

Maybe, like the other guy, you haven't watched the trailer. If you really did, you would have known that the guy performed several different effects. One is stripping the four aces directly from the deck. Try doing this with Extractor please...

I have watched the trailer mate my question for the hundredth time was do you need to force a card.The answer is yes you do.Unless you deck switch.So as you have to do that with the extractor anyway.It has no improvement whatever for my uses.

I can't see that this adds anything to extractor at all.

I use extractor 2.0, completely free choice, the peek is amazing and the removal super easy.
It fries people.
The card goes back in the deck in the box, right in front of them and the spectator can put it in, anywhere they like.

Being able to put the card back in the deck and then put in the box, solves a non-issue. and seems to cause all sorts of other issues.

I don't get it.

Amen

Seeing only the retrieving card from the deck is limiting the uses of this product.

To each his own, I have both and like them both