As all readers know, InsideMagic.com does not do paid endorsements of Magic Dealers or their tricks for sale. When we review a trick, readers know that we really, really like it and are not receiving a red cent for the good word.
Not that we are against being bribed to writing a great review for a lousy trick but the offer doesn’t come around that often. That could be because Magic Dealers are notoriously honest and we have a readership hovering in the single digits and the hovering is in the lower range of that single digit range. We prefer to think that Magic Dealers are honest and above bribes.
But the subject has caused us to wonder: why do Magic Dealers like Viking Magic, Meir Yedid and Cody Fisher produce quality tricks. They could produce the same effect to do the same thing with lousy quality but they don’t.
We got to thinking about this when we received Viking Magic’s Nest of Brass Boxes. The tolerances of the brass machining is exact and, dare we say — and we do dare, it’s our nature — perfect. The trick is not new, it is the quality of the trick that makes the difference. George Robinson is not just a nice guy and proprietor of a great shop, he seems to insist on quality when less than quality would do. The brass is beautiful, the instructions are great, the delivery was prompt and the trick works right out of the box. We didn’t have to make the gimmick or even polish the brass.
Meir Yedid apparently loves magic as much as we do. His services include the latest magic news and his descriptions of the effects he sells are first class. He gives a short history on how he came upon the trick, offers his suggested variations on handling, and great prices. Again, he doesn’t need to do this. People in our business know Meir Yedid. They trust him and so he could rest on his laurels. We recline on our beanbag chair, we have no laurels on which to rest. If we did, they would probably have thorns making for a difficult resting experience.
As many InsideMagic.com readers know, we have a jones for color changing knives. It could be because it was the first trick we received on the first day upon being employed by the legendary Barry Gibbs — developer of the finest Rising Card effect ever made, the A.M.Y Rising Cards — at the legendary Magic Wagon at the no-longer existent Palm Beach Mall. He instructed us to learn the moves and to come back for our next day at work with it practiced. He also told us to clip and clean our fingernails before demonstrating any magic at the kiosk. That set was from D. Robbins with the locking blade. We loved it because it was our introduction into our mentorship with Mr. Gibbs. Over the next two years, he taught us so much but the Color Changing Knives stuck — pun intended.
We have purchased Joe Mogar sets, Rodger Loveland‘s beautiful and larger set, and now two more sets from Meir Yedid including a set made from used car parts. How many sets does on magician need? We don’t know but when we find out, we’ll share the news on this humble site.
Cody Fisher is not only inventive, he is a great guy. His personal approach to dealing with customers and past customers is the finest — and it does not have to be. His tricks are strong enough to be a less interested or helpful dealer but that apparently not his style.
But why? Why make such great Magic Tricks with such high quality and great customer service? Because we are a small market? No, they would have greater economic incentives to do the bare minimum and take the least path to satisfying the customer. The economics of the situation would seem to dictate that they should do enough to get the sale and move on. Yes, customer service would help build loyalty but pricing lowered by lesser quality would compete against this benefit.
We come to the conclusion that they are magicians first and Magic dealers’ second. They promote our Art and care about their customers because they want to put out the best quality effects and follow up with customers because they care about their customers’ use of the products.
They don’t need to but they do.
We are thankful that they do but we are not above taking bribes for endorsements. Perhaps that’s the difference between us and them. Fortunately in the last 25 years of this site’s existence, we’ve never had to face that dilemma.
