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Newsletter January 2010
Email Newsletter No 1. January 2010. Welcome to the first email newsletter from Made to Measure Magic. For some time I have been collecting email addresses at conventions and when people place an order with a view to starting a newsletter. Obviously, one of the main reasons for this is to advise of new releases but I also want to include news about Made to Measure Magic, ideas and tips on our props. My ideal would be to send it out monthly but in reality I know this will not happen. You will almost certainly get one in February and early September as this is when I traditionally release new items in time for Blackpool and Kidology/IBM – between these times you will get them whenever. If you do not want to receive the newsletter just respond to that effect and I will delete you from the list. News and Gossip Well the main thing going on at the moment is building up stock for Blackpool. From IBM to Christmas I built nothing for stock as I had enough orders to keep me fully employed. I still have a few orders outstanding but these are being completed alongside restocking. A high spot last month was the episode of Sorcerer’s Apprentice on BBC2 where the boys’ team all performed my Mutilated Umbrella without actually exposing it. This has been one of my best sellers over the years (in fact I have a number of customers who have had more than one) and everyone who has bought it says it is a regular feature of their show. Personnel For those of you who do not know the set up at Made to Measure Magic I propose to tell you about it. At this moment there me (full time) and Sue (my wife – part time). There are one or two others who help out occasionally but I will tell you all about them in the future but I will mention Stuart McDowell (Mr Stix) who some of you may have seen working on my stand at the IBM and Manchester and I am hoping he will become more involved in the future. More about Stuart another time. New Releases I have not released anything new since Kidology when I released the DIY Doll’s House (Rabbit Production) and Vanishing DVD. Both have been well received and I am now on my third batch of Doll’s Houses. The thing that has surprised me most is that probably half the people who have bought the Doll’s House do not have a rabbit but use it to produce a soft toy.
DIY Doll’s House DVD Vanish I agreed with David Tompkins last summer that I could produce two of his ideas – Balloons Behaving Badly and Little Aliens. Walt Lees also gave me permission to produce Second Delivery (which used to be put out by Repro). I have not had time to do anything with any of these items yet but if anyone out there is looking for one of them (You may have seen David perform his or remember Walt’s item from Repro) let me know and that will probably give me the impetus to go into production. Otherwise they may be released for Kidology 2010. I intend sending out another newsletter prior to Blackpool and there should be some new releases to tell you about then. Recent ‘One Offs’ I would just like to tell you about a couple of the things I have produced in the last couple of months which may give you ideas of your own. Please note I am describing these with the permission of the people for whom they were made. Occasionally, I am asked to make something unique and not to tell anyone as the customer wants to keep it to themselves – I always respect this request so if you ever want anything made but kept confidential rest assured I will be the sole of discretion.
This is basically two boxes that I made for Dave Hickory. Loads of storage for carrying your props and then they just stack one on top of the other when you get to the venue. What Dave asked for, that I had not done before, was to make front of the top box a blackboard. Now he can personalise every party by chalking the child’s name in it.
Just to prove that I don’t only make boxes here is a table I have just made for manipulator, Neale Munson, from Essex. Imagine that with a nice candelabra on top filled with Fantasio candles.
Tips The idea of this section was to pass on tips from other customers on any of the Made to Measure Magic range that they use. If you have any idea/tip that you would like to share, please let me know and I will include it. I’ve not received any input this month (because no one knew about it) but I will say that Dave Hickory’s and Fuzzy’s ideas above may well appeal to some of you. Conclusion I am going to leave it there for this month but if you have any comments on the newsletter – be it content or format – please let me know and I’ll see what I can do. Best Wishes. David and all at Made to Measure Magic. |
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Web Site Copyright © 2004 David Baxter |
How many of you use the mind reading teddy. How do you
explain the reason for putting the pieces of coloured card into the teddy’s
mouth. Fuzzy from Peterborough had the idea of using lollipops instead (which
makes more sense). This is the result shown above. The small bags at the front
are used to cover up the lollies.
