Product description : Rubik’s cube magic, here we go ! This seems to be a trend those days, with many great products being released (Rubik’s Nightmare, Cube3 etc..) and now there is this effect in which you let a spectator shuffle two cubes, and in a mysterious way, they both match perfectly ! You can then do an instant solve or any kind of routine you want with the cube. But don’t feel limited by what I’ve written, this is so much more and you won’t believe how far JB and Michael have pushed this concept. Let’s go into the review !
Price and where to buy it : This is sold at $79 until July 23rd (the price will rise to $99 after that) and you can find it on Michael Lam website : https://cardfreakhk.wixsite.com/magic/products
What you get : You receive a cardboard box with the artwork of the trick printed on it, it’s not the fanciest box I’ve seen but it looks good and I’m much more interested with what’s inside it. Inside, you’ll find the link for the explanation video, and I must agree that it is very well shot and very well produced ! Michael and JB are doing a great job showing their baby, how to set it up, how to use it and what you can do with it. And this last point is very important because not only they teach the classic the matching cube routine, they have thought of several other ones which are very strong, including a mosaic routine kind of thing, with 24 cube which would look perfect on stage (and yes, people can shuffle most of the cubes if you want them to, which is very interactive for a stage act). And at the end, the tower of cube represents a drawing or something, you could even have someone shuffle a single cube they select out of that tower and the design matches ! (kind of the Mona Lisa puzzle trick but with Rubik’s cube). Enough said about the video, you also get the main gimmick which is very well made out of ABS so it will last a long time. You get also several other gimmicks in order to “set” your main one and a small black velvet bag in which you can fit 2 cubes. For the price asked, this is a bargain in my opinion, great gimmick and amazing video, you can’t go wrong !
Teaser :
(an actual performance)
(the teaser)
The pros and the cons : Here is the core of my review, let's begin with the cons, as I will usually be doing, I prefer to keep the good things for the end.
THE CONS :
[if !supportLists]– [endif]This is also a pro but you’ll have to buy 2 regular cubes in order to perform Perfect Square, so this is an extra cost you have to take into account.
[if !supportLists]– [endif]There is a little bit of work to get it down, but you’ll see that you will enjoy performing this over and over in front of your mirror, it’s addictive !
THE PROS :
[if !supportLists]– [endif]Let’s see why having to buy your cubes is a pro ! I think it’s a pro because you can use nearly any cube you want, whether it’s a regular Rubik’s or a speed cube, as long as it matches the size of the cube (57 mm), you’ll be fine ! (and even if you have a 56 mm cube, you’ll be fine, there are ways of making it works with the gimmick).
[if !supportLists]– [endif]Also, if you lose one of the cube, you’re not fucked, you can just buy a new one, which is better than Rubicon because both cubes were gimmicked.
[if !supportLists]– [endif]They provide you the gimmick “blank” with a set of stickers so you’re not limited with an algorithm you don’t like. You can customize your cube to the algorithm you want, you don’t have to learn a new one. This is a huge plus compared to a product like Rubicon, because you didn’t get the choice of the algorithm with it.
[if !supportLists]– [endif]This will work close up, I can’t go into details why but the way the gimmick is made, there is less to see for the audience.
[if !supportLists]– [endif]The price ! This is insanely cheap when you compare it to other options on the market.
[if !supportLists]– [endif]The gimmick is really well made, I can see it lasting a long time if you take care of it. Since it’s made out of ABS, you can (even if I don’t recommend it) drop it without damaging it.
[if !supportLists]– [endif]I found that the perfect cube for Perfect Square is the regular Rubik’s Cube from Rubik’s. I know the old ones were shitty, they didn’t turn right but the new ones are much better and they fit perfectly the gimmick. Also, they have plastic instead of stickers which is a very good thing because stickers may get damaged if you do the trick over and over.
[if !supportLists]– [endif]They have thought of everything, in order to hold the gimmick in place, they found an incredible material which works amazingly well and will never let you down.
[if !supportLists]– [endif]This is addictive, you won’t be able to put the cubes down, you’ll be doing it over and over in front of your mirror !
Overall rating : I’ve been a huge fan of the cube matching routine, since I reviewed Rubicon a few months ago, I think Perfect Square will replace it, because of the way it’s made, the fact I can use regular cubes and so on, 4/4 hearts.
As for the difficulty level, it’s not as easy as I thought it would be, it’s not hard neither, just take a good week of practice, I would say 3/5 stars.
Similar products : Rubicon by Greg Wilson is an amazing routine which is still great, I just think Perfect Square brings enough good and innovative points to the game so I’ll switch to it ! Rubik’s Nightmare by Michael Lam and Henry Harrius is a good routine too, there are many options on the market.