Review of Pocket Change by SansMinds:

Five tricks, 14 minutes and $19 bucks. Is it Gem or is it Rubble? Stay tuned to find out . . .

Effect

You'll learn 5 effects on this DVD.

Gravity Transpo: Two borrowed coins (one big, one small). Both are placed in your hand. One is removed and visually becomes the other coin with no cover. No extra coins are used. They can both be signed.

Dual Transpo: A penny at your left hand's finger tips and a quarter at your right hand's finger tips. In a blink, they visually trade places with each other.

Blow Vanish: A one handed vanish of a single coin that adds an extra level to an old vanish.

Blow Vanish 2.0: Another single coin vanish using two hands.

Inked: A drawing on a coin with permanent ink changes to another drawing very visually. The coin can be examined.

Method

Gravity Transpo: This is the purest effect and method in my mind. It really only uses two borrowed coins. The catch is that one of them needs to be a bit bigger than the other. In the performance, a Penny and a Canadian Toonie coin are used. In Canada, most people will have a Toonie on hand. However, the best coin in the USA would be a half dollar. Those are not easily borrowed, so you may need to supply your own. However, I did test this with a Quarter and a Penny. It'll work, but it's not as visually impact-full as it would be with a Toonie or a Half. Also, the moment of magic is a bit "noisy" so you'll need to do this one in a noisier environment. But the method is solid. The question is whether or not you can borrow the right coins and whether or not you'll be in the correct environment. And it's not as clean as the trailer shows. They cheated. See my notes below in Ad Copy Integrity.

Dual Transpo: This method requires you to be prepared with two extra coins. You have two secretly, and then you borrow two more (apparently the only two in use). The method is simple and elegant. However, it's nothing new or revolutionary. It's essentially the exact same handling you might use for a Three Fly routine.

Blow Vanish: This combines the Pinch Vanish and a coin manipulation move that's normally not used as a vanish. This combination adds a very good level of deception to the Pinch Vanish if it were practical. This is very, very angle-sensitive, and you have to constantly adjust your angle and finger positioning throughout the performance of the vanish. I've walked through it very slowly step by step, and the angle that you have to hold your hand changes every second depending on which part of the vanish you're at. There's just no practical way to not flash somewhere.

Blow Vanish 2.0: The first Blow Vanish is one handed. The second one is two handed. The advantage is that it's easier, and it's much less angle-sensitive. However, the method might be apparent to the spectators based on the way you're holding your two hands together.

Inked: This method is simple and visual. However, it cannot be done with a borrowed coin. It requires the use of a coin that you've prepared in advance (5 seconds of prep time). It also requires a special gimmicked pen to be used during performance. To effect the vanish, you drop the coin into the spectators hand. As it lands on their hand, the picture you drew on it has changed. However, you have to pick it up again and "do something" to it before they can examine it. Further, for this effect, you can't actually borrow the coin. You have to have one prepared in advance. But when you're done, you have to give it to the spectator because you pretended to pluck it from a handful of their change in their pocket, so from their perspective, the coin is theirs. Of course, you can leave out the "borrowing" part, but it does make the effect less impact-full.

Ad Copy Integrity

The ad copy is a bit off. The ad copy claims that "You'll be prepared to blow people's minds anytime without worrying about carrying fancy props on you." That's not true. The fifth effect, Inked, requires that you have a sharpie on you and a gimmicked sharpie that you can, no surprise, buy from SansMinds. So that was a problem for me. Also, as mentioned on Inked and Dual Transpo, you have to be prepared with extra coins. That's not the end of the world, but it does violate the other statement in the ad copy that "every effect can be done with borrowed pocket change." While it's true that you are using borrowed change (and some of your own [secretly]) on Dual Transpo, on Inked, you are not using borrowed change. You are using your own. The reason that's an issue is because they're claiming that you don't need anything else; just borrowed pocket change. That's a false statement.

As mentioned, Blow Vanish is super angly, and also it was not shown to a live audience on the trailer, whereas most of the others were. I really believe that it's not as practical as it claims. Further, in the studio performance of it, it looks like they cut out a few frames of the footage. I can't prove it, but it looks like they did. And to add fuel to the fire, the apparent cut happens right at the perfect moment where the most angle-sensitive part of the effect happens. Another disappointment is that they appeared to have done the same thing with Gravity Transpo. I've slowed the footage down (on both) and it's clear to me that they cut out a couple of frames to enhance the illusion of the coin changing. The fact is, that it can be done, but it's so delicate and the angles are so sensitive, that if anyone in the audience even twitches, they'll get a flash of the coin. I think that's why they (allegedly) needed to cut part of the footage, because he likely flashed.

Another annoyance is that they used the word "impromptu." The Blow Vanishes and Gravity Transpo are the only impromptu (i.e., requires no extra stuff other than the borrowed coins) effects. However, one of the Blow Vanishes and Gravity Transpo are partially faked demos.

Product Quality

The DVD is only 14 minutes and 14 seconds long. That includes the minute-ish long trailer. That leaves an average of 5 minutes per effect to teach and perform it. Surprisingly, that seemed to be enough time. I felt the effects were taught well for the most part. The only one I might say is an exception to that is the Blow Vanish (the one handed version). I feel that he didn't properly and/or clearly fully address the angles issue. If it really is doable and they really didn't cut the frame from the footage, then a whole lot more explaining is needed to properly teach this effect.

Final Thoughts

I like what this video is trying to accomplish. It isn't really meant to be a set of effects you'll perform at your next gig, necessarily. It's meant for the casual setting. Hanging out with a few friends and they want to "see something." So you borrow a few coins and do some pretty visual magic. Conceptually I like that, and for the most part, the methods above fit the bill. Even though they appeared to have cheated on the Gravity Transpo, the effect is still doable, but just not quite as visual as shown, but very close. When I accuse producers of editing footage in a deceptive way, I don't make that claim lightly. I've watched the footage over and over again. I even imported it into a video editing software that allows me to watch it frame by frame. Further, I've manually walked through the handling myself for Blow Vanish, and all things point to this being so impractical that it's almost pointless and all things point to the very real possibility that both Blow Vanish and Gravity Transpo were edited, particularly Gravity Transpo.

Final Verdict:
2.5 Stars with a Stone Status of Grubble (a couple gem ideas surrounded by rubble - deceptive advertising).

I love adding impromptu magic to my repertoire. Coins are the perfect prop in most casual situations. I was hoping to add a few ideas when I picked up this DVD.

Unfortunately, it was a lot of coin moves and tricks that have better versions that have already been previously published.

The best trick on the DVD (that involves a smiley face drawn on a coin) is NOT impromptu as advertised on the DVD. It requires a gimmick sold by SansMind, or an extra prop you need to carry on you. I think the method could be altered, but I’ve got to review this product as it is, not what it COULD be.

The vanishes and changes look ok, but aren’t any stronger than classics like Spellbound, Copper/Silver Transpo, and the French Drop.

If you like the moves demonstrated on the DVD and want to add them to your arsenal, this DVD would be worth it for you. Everything is well taught, and nothing is unclear. The DVD is also EXTREMELY well shot, like all SansMind DVDs. The price is also just under twenty bucks, so it’s hard to go wrong if you like the trailer.

Just barely three stars for this one!