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Ender's Review: Ultimate Gaff Deck Kit (Magic Makers)

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Ender's Review: Ultimate Gaff Deck Kit (Magic Makers)
« on: August 10, 2017, 10:32:02 PM »
 

EndersGame

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The Ultimate Gaff Deck Kit (Magic Makers)

Amazing deck of gaffs, not so amazing video

Overview

If you're like me, then at some point you'll want to explore the exciting world of packet tricks. There's lots of classic and powerful effects, so what better way to start this journey than with a deck of assorted gaffs that comes with an instructional DVD!  That's what's included with "The Ultimate Gaff Deck Kit" by Magic Makers, and it sounded just perfect for me.  But is it?  In this review, I'll tell you the good, the bad, and the ugly about this product.

Here's the official video trailer for the kit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-cap7ee18k



Contents

The video teaches 13 different effects that can be performed with the gaffs included in this deck, although the gaffed cards included can be used for countless other tricks besides these.  Magic Makers has done us an excellent service by releasing video performances for all of these effects online, so you can see in advance exactly what you get - click the name to see these videos.  I've noted in brackets the names of the popular effects that some of these routines are similar to.

Full Deck Color Change
Single Card Color Change
50/50
Magic Card Merge
Follow the Leader (similar to MacDonalds Aces)
Crazy Aces
Chase the Ace Plus (similar to Ultimate Three Card Monte)
Chase the Queen (similar to Stand Up Monte)
Queens Gone Wild  (similar to Wild Card)
Fleeing Queens
Trading Kings (similar to Twisted Sisters)
Money Monte (similar to Color Monte)
Itsy Bitsy Spider (similar to The Web)



The Good: the Deck

It's expensive to buy packet effects separately, and the nice thing about the Ultimate Gaff Deck Kit is that it comes with a complete deck with an outstanding collection of gimmicked cards, allowing you to do a wide range of the most popular packet effects like Wild Card, MacDonald's Aces, Color Monte, and Ultimate 3 Card Monte. There's also some double backers and double facers. So as far as the cards themselves go, you're set with most cards you'll need for performing many different tricks with gaffs, and I was super impressed with the diverse collection included!



The Bad: the Video

There's a companion DVD that comes with the deck gives performances and tutorials for 13 different tricks. The video features magician Kris Nevling, and while Kris has lots of talent, the quality of this particular video is extremely disappointing. Unfortunately it feels more like a teenager doing a card trick tutorial on youtube.  While he's a skilled magician, in this particular production, Kris doesn't bring much passion to the table, his performances aren't very inspiring at all, things aren't always clearly explained, and there's a lot of verbal stumbling which could easily have been fixed by doing a re-take. It's very unpolished and mediocre at best, and compared with other videos I've seen from Magic Makers, this one doesn't live up to their usual standards.


 
The Ugly: the Names

Most of the tricks are existing popular effects, but are taught with slight variations, and given different names. To be fair, in most instances Kris explains some of the history of the effects, including crediting the names of magicians that created routines that predated the versions that have become popular today.  But most people will prefer to learn the more popular versions, and as they are more commonly known.  One example is "Itsy Bitsy Spider", which is a similar effect to Jim Pace's "The Web", but overcomplicates the handling by adding an extra card, which doesn't at all improve things. In most cases Kris does give his own handling of the effects, and I'm not convinced that his variations make things better.  I find it a pity to give all these effects variations and different names, when this is clearly intended to be a collection of packet trick classics, and give people what they need to perform tricks like MacDonalds Aces, Ultimate 3 Card Monte, Wild Card, Twisted Sisters, and Color Monte.



Recommendation

If you're looking for a product that includes teaching materials, I'd recommend getting "Packet Killer" instead, which is also produced by Magic Makers.  It also comes with a deck of assorted gaffs, but has a fantastic instructional DVD featuring Simon Lovell. It is a much better video, and uses the proper names and routines for the classic effects. It's usually a similar price, but is a superior product overall, even though there are some slight differences in the gaffs included.

So if you want to learn all these classic packet effects for the first time, despite the appeal of getting a single gaff deck which gives you the cards you need to do all of them along with an instructional DVD, it's probably best to stick with the original versions, or to get the Packet Killer collection with the Simon Lovell DVD instead. So while I was very happy with the deck, I was disappointed in the Ultimate Gaff Deck Kit overall.

On the other hand if you already know all the routines and are just after some replacement gaff cards, then the deck included with the Ultimate Gaff Deck Kit has a terrific assortment that will enable you to do a wide variety of well-known packet tricks. 



Want to learn more?  See:

- Ultimate Gaff Deck Kit: www.magicmakersinc.com/p-667-the-ultimate-gaff-deck-kit.aspx
- Amazon: http://amazon.com/dp/B00IFQS5MQ

- Packet Killer: http://www.magicmakersinc.com/p-190-packet-killer-45-tricks-with-special-bicycle-deck.aspx
- Amazon: http://amazon.com/dp/B000JQQMD4
« Last Edit: May 24, 2021, 10:49:33 PM by EndersGame »
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