First up is Poker Test 2.0. This has been getting a lot of attention as a very easy to do and very visual effect. 5 blank cards change into a brilliant poker hand with a different coloured back design. What a superb opener for your walkaround set. £21.99

Although we do more and more product reviews, we started off primarily as an informational site about new playing cards, so we like to keep you up to date on any interesting designs we see. The Draconian Playing Cards are a superb example of this. By the designer of the much admired Luxx Deck – and inspired (amongst other things) by one of my favourite authors – the design is based on Dragon scales and provides some beautiful displays. A gorgeous deck in blue or orange – only £9.99.

(For pure class factor, more cards which have caught our eye are the Monarch Playing Cards from Theory 11 – £6.89)

If you’ll allow us a foray into one of our favourite areas of magic, the Jaks Wallet is a wonderful mentalism tool. It is a business card wallet which enables you to get a cheeky peek – and is made to the excellent standards of Jerry O’Connell. If you have even a passing interest in mentalism this is well worth a look. It’s £38.99 if you get it from somewhere we get a commission! But direct from our friends at PropDog (who now own the rights to the Jerry O’Connell material) it’s only £29.99.

And if mentalism isn’t your thing, but wallets are – we recommend checking out the new Fire Wallet 2 – which has a number of improvements over previous fire wallets and even includes a card to wallet feature!  Only £33.99.

We’ll have more information on a couple of new releases from BBM in the next week or so – so watch this space for some more in depth reviews.  Have a magical March!

The post Trick of the Month – March 2015 appeared first on Bicycle Cards.

So let’s start at the beginning. PropDog is unusual straight away in that it is located on an industrial estate in the Hounslow/Twickenham area.  That keeps away the usual curious passers by of a high street shop and is surprisingly convenient for access to M25/M3.

When you ascend the stairs you reach a room which is half showroom (with a counter – but one you are actively encouraged to go around/behind!), half office and half (yes I know that makes more than ‘one’ – but it is a magic shop) lounge/kitchen. You can watch a magic DVD, browse through his library, or look at a prop before buying and Dave is friendly and un-pushy. The room is light and airy – decidedly unlike some of the more ‘traditional’ stores – and comes complete with a dog (called Lucy – and yes – she is the dog who inspired the shop name!) and rescue parakeet called Peeby (P.B. = PropBird of course) on a cage!

Cup of tea in hand (mine, that is) Dave explained how PropDog had started. He’s a man driven by the next challenge and had reached a point in his performing career where he was busy but felt unchallenged. At the same time, always enjoying making things on the side, he was finding an increasing demand for some of his custom items – the famous Ring Flight Revolution and popular Bonsalopes. And before he knew it he was running a magic store – the next challenge he wanted.

But what impresses me most about PropDog are the high standards Dave sets himself. From the simple but important ‘if it’s on the website it’s in stock’ rule to the 100s of prototypes he goes through to create the perfect prop. His Starbucks Chop Mugs are things of beauty and he’s still working on making the perfect chopped sugar cube to go with them.

He’s a man of clear vision and plenty of energy, and takes obvious delight in experimenting in the fully equipped workshop which is on the ground floor of his unit. As I wandered around with him I could see various props some released and some on the way in different stages of meticulous production processes. He’s an enthusiast and the results are very impressive.

So if you’re in the area I would highly recommend popping in for a chat and to pick up some great magic. Or take advantage of propdog.co.uk if you can’t pop in. I hope to be back before too long.

Oh, and I had to take this picture didn’t I?…

The post Clicks & Mortar Focus – PropDog appeared first on Bicycle Cards.