"Coin Thru Box" by Jesse Feinberg
Suggested Retail USD$20.00
Available from your favorite dealer
In a Blink: 7 Out of 10

Jesse Feinberg's "Coin Thru Box" is a slick piece of work, using an old idea in a different way to produce a neat piece of magic.

"Coin Thru Box" is pretty much self-explanatory, but there are a few details to the effect that make it all the more neat. To begin with, you borrow a coin and have the spectator sign it. A card box is shown to be empty and the coin slid between the box and the cellophane wrapper. The coin is rubbed with the fingers and the coin is gone. Shaking the box produces a rattle. Opening the box, the coin is dumped out, showing the coin penetrated the card box.

To make things more interesting, from a workability standpoint, only one coin is used -- no switching or the like to worry about. The deck itself isn't gimmicked, so you can knock yourself out doing other routines with it. Set-up is almost non-existant, resetting is non-existant, the box is not gaffed, and everything can be examined.

Well, maybe not so much those last two.

If you want to get into semantics, no, the box isn't gaffed... without the gaff. It's hard to explain without tipping things, but essentially there are no alterations made to the box; the box is needed to the gaff to work. Once that gaff is out of play, the box is perfectly normal in every way.

And speaking of getting rid of the gaff, you'll have to before anything can be examined. Feinberg has a way of getting rid of it without sleights, and it's a neat idea, but the timing is way off, requiring you to bring the deck back into play before you can hand box out. This is just too strange a thing, the justification too much of a reach, and you'll want to come up with better ways of ditching the gaff (it's not hard; after you see it, you'll come to an obvious conclusion on your own most likely, although you probably won't like that solution much and will work toward a better one).

Now, the ads... I gotta tell you, they are more than a little misleading. No, not about the "everything can be examined" thing or the "box is not gaffed" bit (if you're not up on reading between the lines of magic ads, get some experience.. fast). The ads state, quoting here, "Use cigarette boxes, candy, etc..." Reading that, you'd think that the gimmick will work across a range of items. And your thinking would be wrong. The basic principle Feinberg teaches can be used with items other than card boxes, but not the gaff. This is not an all-encompassing piece of machinery that we're talking about here; it's a basic idea and a principle for use that will work with certain other containers with similar properties to the card box. This is not to say that the ads outright lied because they didn't; however, it does take you a bit down the garden path.

Overall, I like "Coin Thru Box". It's got a weakness or two to deal with (I especially don't like having to turn the box and the coin away from the spectator in order to get the dirty work done; this would be so much cleaner if nothing ever left the spectator's sight) but it's a neat idea and does look pretty good. The extra ideas Feinberg gives are neat fodder for further exploration with the principle involved, too. Is it good enough to make it something I perform regularly? Probably not. Would I whip it out from time to time as part of a larger routine? Probably.

That makes "Coin Thru Box" a bit above average and, considering the cost and the current market, that's not too bad.

"Coin Thru Box" by Jesse Feinberg
In a Blink: 7 Out of 10

Practicality: 9
The set-up is slight, reset is non-existant (once the gaff is in place you're ready to go over and over), angles aren't an issue, the deck itself isn't gimmicked so you can use it for other things... and the list goes on. The only downside? There's a gaff you've got to get rid of in order for everything to be examined, and that requires a bit of work.

Workmanship: 10
The special something, such as it is, is well made; you'll need to use it with your own deck but the construction is very simple.

Documentation: 7
The documentation is above average in lots of ways -- an insert with color photos is a nice addition, as is the section with extra ideas for this. It could use some editing, though, and it's unclear in spots (requiring a few readings to get the hang of things), but nothing severely hampers learning this one.

Effect: 7
As a standalone piece, this plays really well, but not as strongly as it can when combined with some of the other ideas in the instructions or routined properly with other effects.

Presentation: 6
As with Feinberg's other material, it's all about the visuals here. There is a lot of strength in this one, but there's a weak spot with the coin being removed from view that detracts from that strength.


Shane