We recently received this question from one of our readers, Mike:
"There are so many different magic wallets on the market, that I don’t know which one to buy.
Actually, I mostly like the small wallets cause they look minimalist. I want to buy a wallet, which is easy to load with, for example a signed card
(card to wallet trick).
So the question is:
- Which small wallet has a good quality and is very easy to load?
- Is it better to buy a wallet that can only load cards or is there also a good ‘card to wallet’ with which you can do other beautiful magic like:
- Peaking
- Switching
- Forcing?
I hope to hear from you. Thanks you very much."
Great question. Magic wallets have always been a fascinating topic for me; the idea that you can take an ordinary everyday object that looks completely nondescript and use it for the most incredible magic tricks is just amazing.
However at the same time, I appreciate that magic wallets aren't cheap. Especially if you're looking for quality.
What's more, there's A LOT of them. There's almost too much choice when it comes to magic wallets; how do you even know where to start?
Today I'm going to give you the complete lowdown on purchasing your first magic wallet, depending on which effect you're looking for.
Best Magic Wallet for Card to Wallet (Palming)
The classic versions of the card to wallet have always required palming, and it's a solid choice if you know how to do it.
There are a lot of great wallets that accomplish the card to wallet effect using palming, but a tried and tested choice would be the Jerry O'Connell Plus Wallet.
This wallet isn't cheap but it is often hailed as the 'best magic wallet of all time'. It goes one step further than the majority of magic wallets out there in that not only does it enable you to load a signed card into your wallet, the signed card can appear within a sealed envelope inside the wallet.
This wallet also allows you to do more than card tricks as works with objects like signed coins or rings.
This leather wallet is really high quality and whilst the price point is higher than some of the others, anyone you ask will assure you that the wallet repays you time and time again within your performances.
Within your question, you mentioned that you wanted a smaller wallet that would easily pass as an everyday wallet. Luckily for you, the Jerry O'Connell Plus wallet comes in two sizes; you can buy either a Small or Large. The dimensions of the Small wallet are 150mm x 98mm and the Large sizes at 170mm x 100mm.
If you don't have the funds for this wallet at the moment, you might want to consider the Real Man's Wallet. It fits your requirements of being small and minimalist and the effect is great, but the price is much lower. I know a lot of magicians who vouch for this wallet and also use it for everyday use, so it's another safe bet.
Best Magic Wallet for Card to Wallet (No Palming)
Palming is an absolutely vital skill for magicians, so I wouldn't advise you to shy away from learning it. However, I understand that sometimes it's just easier based on certain situations to have an option that doesn't require such technical sleights.
Fortunately, there are plenty of magic wallets that don't require palming. One of the most popular of these is the Mullica Wallet.
The Mullica Wallet lets you perform an incredible card to wallet effect with zero palming required. However, that doesn't mean it's sleight free! There are a few sleights you'll want to know to get this trick working, but palming is not one of them.
You can check out this wallet here. In terms of pricing, it's slightly cheaper than the previous wallet but not by much.
If you want to work up to a palming dependent method but start out easier, you could try the BMK Wallet. This wallet combines the methods used by three performers, Balducci, Mullica, and Kaps. There's both a palm method and non palm method available.
However, some magicians have noted that the BKM wallet is perhaps a little too big for them; in that case you might be better using the Jerry O'Connell Plus Wallet I mentioned earlier as it also combines both palming and non palming methods.
Best Magic Wallet For Peeking
Wallets can also be used to great effect as a peeking device, and there's plenty of products that offer this function.
My favorites are the Stealth Assassin Wallet and the Telethought wallet. Both of these are the perfect wallets for mentalists, but one is considerably cheaper than the other.
The Telethought Wallet
Imagine this: The magician presents an ordinary blank card and invites a spectator to write down ANY word they want on it. Once they've done so, the card is inserted face down into a wallet.
Despite the wallet staying in full view the whole time, the magician is able to reveal the exact word recorded on the card. This effect isn't limited to words; the spectator could draw a picture or even write down a phone number!
Without revealing the method, it's safe to say that this wallet utilizes an ingenious gimmick that is completely invisible to the spectator.
Like the others mentioned, this wallet is available in both Large and Small sizes (although the Small is considerably cheaper).
The Stealth Assassin Wallet.
The Stealth Assassin Wallet is a classy looking 'Gentlemen' style wallet that fits your hip pocket. It might not look quite like your everyday wallet but the effects that you are able to perform using it makes the unusual look definitely worth it.
In terms of size, whilst not as small as the other wallets mentioned, it isn't overly large and can definitely pass as an everyday wallet.
This wallet uses a couple of different methods, including the wildly popular 'Sight Unseen' working, only within a wallet this time.
The Stealth Assassin Wallet is slightly harder to find online than the Telethought wallet but it is available at Magic Shop here.
Best Magic Wallet For Switching
Switch wallets make a great addition to packet trick routines; especially when you don't want the audience examining your cards.
You perform your routine, and once you finish you pack the cards back into your wallet. Suddenly (but inevitably) a member of the audience starts clamoring to see the cards. With a sigh, you remove the cards from the wallet and let the audience inspect them for as long as they want. There's nothing to see; you've already switched out the cards.
This one was a bit harder to come up with ideas for.
Why?
Well, the majority of magic wallets are designed primarily for either peeking or loading an object. Switching seems to be less of a priority and as a result there are fewer options on the market for it. However, there are a few solid products that are available to you; here's my favorite.
Shogun Wallet
The Shogun Wallet is incredibly simple yet fooling. The wallet looks like a completely ordinary leather wallet but in fact enables you to switch out cards, packets, bank notes and pretty much anything you can imagine. The product description of this wallet describes it as 'devious, yet innocent', and I'd be inclined to agree.
All In One Wallets?
If you've been reading through this and feeling like you wanted a wallet that performed ALL of the features we've been discussing; card to wallet, peeking and switching, you might want to consider buying an all in one wallet.
Rather than spending hundreds on each individual wallet, you can buy a wallet like the Infinity Wallet that has a whole bunch of features packed into one wallet.
The Infinity Wallet is a multipurpose wallet that includes:
- Card to Wallet
- Peeking system
- Switching
- Multiple Outs
- Index System
That's a lot of super useful features; in fact, this wallet alone would give you enough tricks for a full stage routine! I would definitely recommend this wallet for someone who wants a magic wallet but isn't sure which type would suit them best.
You can have a play around with this one and get a feel for the different utilities; once you've spent a while performing with it you could go on to buy another wallet that specializes in the function you enjoy most.
For example, if you find whilst using this wallet that the card to wallet trick works wonders for you, you can come back and buy a specialist wallet for that very effect, such as the Jerry O'Connell one I mentioned earlier.
Finally, the original question also asked about forcing. Whilst there is not as many options for this, I did manage to find a wallet that looks like it could fit what you're looking for in that regard here.
I hope you found this post useful in making your mind up on which wallet is best for you! Please feel free to follow up with any additional questions you have.
You may also find interesting:
The 6 best magic wallets reviewed
What's the best magicians wallet for me?
About the author: Benji is a hobbyist magician from the UK who also runs a magic site over at thedailymagician.com.
Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://blog.magicshop.co.uk/2018/11/buying-a-magic-wallet.html