5-MINI MUSES

#5 – Mini Muses [2/27/96]

93rd Annual American International Toy Fair, New York City:

On February 12 to 19, hundreds-of-thousands of people attended the Toy Fair and magic was well represented. Every year there are more and more toy manufacturers marketing magic tricks and sets. This year I saw more magic lines, booths and products than ever before. Most of the new items will not be on the market till the second half of 1996 but, the prototypes were on display and were being demonstrated. I will give you a brief overview of the magic here and eventually run columns about each individual product as the release dates get closer. Here are the products and companies which stood out in my mind:

Milton Bradley set-up two magic theatres to launch the Magic Works 5 and the new Talking Magic Works, the most ambitious and innovative approach in years. This stuff is more amazing than the hi-tech magic available in magic shops.

Pressman Toys are no strangers to marketing magic. This year they re-named and re-packaged two of their older magic sets and introduced four new items: The new Mr. Creepy line includes a large magic set with 13 tricks and three smaller sets with three tricks each. All of the Mr. Creepy tricks have a gory theme to them, for example, a ball & vase in the shape of a skull and instead of a ball the brain vanishes and re-appears!

Harmony Toy are the manufacturers of Marshall Brodien Magic and he was at their booth demonstrating many of their new items. For 1996 they re-marketed one of their magic sets with an instructional video and added a juggling set to go with their balloon modeling set. They will have four new sets of different sizes all using magnets to accomplish the magic. They have acquired licensing rights for Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame, so look-out for four magic sets with that as the theme to hit the market on May 1 when the movie opens.

Marvin’s Magic from London had a big promotion at N.Y.’s F.A.O. Schwartz with magician Ashley Springer doing five shows a day on the weekend. At their magic booth they displayed many new items and sets, all of which have one thing in common: the boxes they come in are magic drawer boxes (if you know the secret you can show them empty and produce the props). Their products are of high quality and will probably be found in the high-end toy stores.

Other booths with magic lines were S.S. Adams with a new magic set, House of Marbles with six trick decks and a card book, University Games with three small magic sets, and many other manufacturers with one or two magic items each.

International Festival Of Magic:

On Friday February 24 I attended the International Festival of Magic directed by Max Maven, produced by David Belenzon, and starring (in order of appearance): Aldo Colombini (emceed first half and did act in second half), Christopher Hart, Billy McComb (did act in first half and emceed second half), Goldfinger and Dove (did levitation then came back to close the first half), Peter Pit, Jade, and Nicholas Night with Kinga. For my money seeing Goldfinger and Dove was worth the price of admission, everything else was a bonus. The sold-out audience at the John Harms Theater in Englewood, N.J. had a lot of fun with the biggest reactions going to Goldfinger and Dove and Nicholas Night’s building of a tricycle and rider out of garbage. After the show many lined-up to get the performers autographs on posters, photos and programs, also for sale in the lobby were magic sets and simple magic tricks.

Apocalypse Scoop:

Since I layout Harry Lorayne’s Apocalypse I am the first to know what goes into each issue. Now you can have that same information. The April 1996 issue contains: Bob King’s Perfect Match (Cards), David Regal’s Driving A Person Mental (Mentalism), Felix Farrell’s Pierced Polyester (Knife through coat), Paul Gordon’s Emergency Dream Card (Cards), Simon Lovell’s The “Heartless” Deck (Cards), Howie Schwartzman’s Bill Strip (Money oddity), and Ian Baxter’s The Automatic Gambler Is Back (Cards). Plus: Ellipses(…).

Pit Stops:

Here is where I will be. Come by and say hi.
February 28 – I will attend the Jerry Mentzer Lecture in Linden, N.J.
March 1 – I am producing the Scotty York lecture for SAM#1 in N.Y.C.
March 17 – Have a booth at Magic Fun Day in Woodbridge, N.J.
March 30-31 – Have a booth at the East Coast Magic Spectacular 8 in Pine Hill, N.J.