New Boons & PW

[Guest]

My friend, Lincoln, will be going to Mindvention and there he will debut some of his products. And they are outstanding.
Lincoln is known for his skill with NWs and PW and he has developed some products for both. His boon is the Cadillac of Boons. He's worked on every detail to make it easy to use. He has created a built in design that allows you to hold a card one handed it and still get a smooth look to the prediction. He has solved the problem for those that have fleshy thumbs and has custom crafted 3 different "stabilization zones" that increase the quality of your writing.

As soon as I saw his first prototype I switched over to his boon. It works like a charm.

Because I hang with him a lot I have a bit of what the ads might be saying:

"Lincoln's Best Boon" the L.B.B.P.(pencil)Deluxe Package (which includes the
boon, the "always-ready" small metal carrying case to prevent broken lead
and keep lint off the sticky stuff while in your pocket, an extra pack of
leads that should last years, a perfectly matching automatic pencil with its
own lead, and a booklet of routines/ getting started quick practice tips,
techniques and subtleties as well as amazingly effective practice tips
(never before released to the public) that will have you "divining" not just
simple numbers that your audience has thought of, but even names of places
people and things. These techniques will give you the confidence to open up
endless possibilities of thoughts you are "reading". As well as original
routines that range from the really funny to the totally creepy.)

"Lincoln's Best Boon" the L.B.B.L. (Listo) Deluxe includes the boon, the
"always ready" case, extra Listo lead in black and in white (for the effect
in the new Osterlind DVD as well as others), as well as the Booklet

"Lincoln's Perfect Pocket Pencil" which includes the pencil that auto feeds
the lead while in your pocket. Nothing to sharpen or worry about ever
again. Enough lead in the pencil to last hundreds of performances, and
instructions with practice tips and routines. This device can last you a
life time of performances whether you are a pro performing all the time or
someone just out to freak out your friends. All you ever have to replace is
the lead once every few hundred performances. The lead can be purchased at
any office supply store for about a buck for a pack of leads, and can be
replaced in less than 30 seconds. Leaving your perfect pocket pencil ready
to go in no time!"

I don't know if this will be a Mindvention exclusive, but I know he will first start showing them at the convention.

Greg

[Guest]

Does he have a website and how does one order the above items?

Are they available direct or are they dealer items?

[Guest]

Originally posted by Charles Green:
Does he have a website and how does one order the above items?

Are they available direct or are they dealer items?

You can write to him at: lincoln@lincolnworld.com


Greg

[Anthony Brahams]

In another thread rip-offs have been discussed. Is Eric Mason's estate or inheritor being paid royalties for this product or permission given? One sold by Jerry Somerdin (very good) has "Thanks to Eric Mason, creator" on the instruction sheet but I wonder about rights?

[Guest]

Originally posted by Anthony Brahams:
In another thread rip-offs have been discussed. Is Eric Mason's estate or inheritor being paid royalties for this product or permission given? One sold by Jerry Somerdin (very good) has "Thanks to Eric Mason, creator" on the instruction sheet but I wonder about rights?

Don't know about this one. I'll send him your message. I've seen so many varieties of boons and NWs that I wasn't aware there was someone specifically holding the rights to them.
Can you tell me a way of specifically reaching Eric Mason's estates and I will sent that, too?

Greg

[David Alexander]

While Eric Mason's clever development was a step above the previous incarnation of gluing a piece of lead to a scrap of paper and attaching the paper to the finger or thumb with saliva or spirit gum, it remains to be seen if Mason's estate has any rights at all, especially this late in the game.

Just saying the estate does, doesn't make it so. I'd be curious if any rights were pursued against other alledged "infringers"? If not, the rights, had any existed, may have been abandoned long ago.

Lincoln's "Boon" writer may constitute a completely new development, way beyond anything that Mason developed and could be, in the eyes of the law, a "new" invention. I don't know as this would require legal action - extremely expensive and time consuming legal action - by Mason's estate, should they bother at all.

Was Mason's device legally protected by patent? I doubt it as the cost would have been prohibitive and given the length of time from when it first appeared, any patent may have already run its course, had it been so protected in the first place.

"Boon" may have become a generic term referring to any small writing device attached to the thumb.

I also find it mildly offensive when, without any supporting evidence, Lincoln's creation/development is characterized as a "rip off."

[Anthony Brahams]

Firstly I am sorry that Mr Alexander finds my posting "mildly offensive" as it was not meant to be.

When the products, apparently, and the name (Boon), definitely, are the same as something invented by a friend I contend that I am entitled to query the rights--and the word "rip-off" is that used many times in such circumstances in tis type of situation.

I asked the questions as it may well be that the two current producers of Boon are legally entitled to sell them.

[David Alexander]

Well, no, you're not entitled to query something that may no longer exist, nor, absent the presention of accurate and compelling evidence, are you entitled to accuse someone of committing a crime or, at the least, behaving in an unethical manner.

Evidence should be presented before people are accused of "ripping off" anything or "rights" and "permissions" demanded when said "rights" and "permissions" may not exist.

As I write this, I have before me an original of Step One of Corinda's Thirteen Steps, produced on a cheap memeograph machine. Corinda describes Mason's creation, an adhesive writer, marketed under the name, "Boon." The date on the Step is 1958. Even if Mason's Boon Writer had been patented - and no evidence is presented by Mr. Brahams that it was - a British patent would have given Mr. Mason rights for 20 years. That's it. Presumably, the Boon writer was available before Corinda's first step was published, making the Boon on the market for at least 50 years.

Patents are designed to give the originator a certain amount of time from which to profit from his creation and then it enters the public domain. Had the Boon been patented by Mr. Mason, a right descendable to his estate, it would have run out decades ago.

Again, opposite "demands," what evidence do you offer that this fellow, by law, should pay the estate of Eric Mason a dime?

[Guest]

Lincoln wants to wait until after Mindvention for the orders.

He just sent me this email:

Thank you to everyone interested in my new boon design. I am planning on having a limited amount to demo and sell at Mindvention. But, will not be offering them to the general magic/mentalist public until I have enough ready to handle the orders. Getting everything ready in time for
Mindvention means that I am not taking orders nor can I answer any questionsuntil some time after mindvention.

Lincoln


Greg

[Bill Mullins]

Originally posted by David Alexander:
Patents are designed to give the originator a certain amount of time from which to profit from his creation and then it enters the public domain. Had the Boon been patented by Mr. Mason, a right descendable to his estate, it would have run out decades ago.

Again, opposite "demands," what evidence do you offer that this fellow, by law, should pay the estate of Eric Mason a dime?

By this logic, neither Melba Dew nor Paul Fox's kids should have any claim on the design of the "Paul Fox style" cup. He could have taken a design patent, which would have expired by now, and it would have entered into the public domain.

Of course, it appears to have done so anyway. Right now, you can buy, in varying degrees of quality and fidelity, several different "Paul Fox" cups. Does this mean that anyone who pays a little extra (that ends up in Dew/Fox pockets) is a sucker?

As near as I can tell, Joe Porper hasn't attempted to patent his "strong box". Legally, then, has he not put the invention into the public domain? Yet I daresay that if I were to get a local (or Asian) machine shop to whip out a few dozen, and sell them, it would not be well-received in the magic community, at least not in the parts that I respect.

Patents are _a_ type of intellectual property protection. The magic community has historically given somewhat more monopoly rights than a patent grants (or has at least paid lip service to the idea of doing so). I don't think that, since a patent would have expired by now, the issue is put to bed. But maybe that should be the case. If an inventor isn't willing to take the steps on his own behalf that society has codified, to claim his invention, why should anyone else honor his claims?

The usual answer is "money" -- it costs a few thousand $ to prosecute a patent. Suppose a patent could be obtained for $4000. It's good for 20 years. If an inventor declines to get one, he's saying, in effect, "this invention isn't worth $200/year to me". If he puts so little value on it, why should I refrain from making my own?

[David Alexander]

Bill makes good points, especially in the observation about magicians and "lip service."

The fact is, in the real world, designs and ideas are copied all the time and in most instances there is little the offended party can do. Stories abound in the rag trade of a new designer walking into a manufacturer's office to show him her designs. He says he has to show them to his "partner" and takes them into the back room and runs them all through a copy machine. Two weeks later she'll see her designs on the street and there's nothing she can do.

Story ideas are pitched to TV producers all the time and, without compensation, are used later. Sometimes there are suits, but most often, there aren't. Writer's groups do what they can, but there will always be the exploiters and the exploited.

Consider the knock-off experts who are regularly on television during the Oscars, bragging about how they'll copy the high fashion designs they see on celebrities and have them in low priced stores in two weeks.

Magic has no claim to high moral ground, nor is it particularly different from any other human activity. Charlene Wheatley and whatever rights she may have had regarding the Chop Cup were ignored by some of magic's biggest dealers and manufacturers when they brought out their endless varieties of Chop Cup.

[Anthony Brahams]

I am not going to continue in the thread, after this posting. Mr Alexander, whose idea of morality may differ to mine (I wrote "may") is not entitled to deny me or anyone what they wish to write, within legal limits and preferably moral and ethical ones -- if free speech is to prevail I AM entitled to query as I was asking not accusing.

Anyway, perhaps the new Boon instructions sheet at least acknowledges Eric Mason as Jerry Somerdin's did.

[David Alexander]

Brahams mis-characterizes what I wrote, makes a sideways comment about my "morality," and then leaves in a huff.

What I wrote, and will again repeat, is that I was not trying to "deny him free speech" as he suggests, but pointing out that he didn't have the right to accuse someone, however obliquely, of theft (he specifically used the word "ripoff") without acompanying that accusation with appropriate evidence. Further, he did not seem to bother understanding the limitations of legal protection, had Eric Mason bothered to afford himself said legal protection in the first place.

My ethical construct requires that when I make an accussation, I accompany it with evidence supporting that accusation. I don't do it obliquely. I don't try to bully people into getting "permission" or to "pay for rights" they may not have to pay for...."rights" that may exist only in Mr. Brahams mind.

Too many magicians seem to have a fantasy about "rights" that exist in perpetuity. They don't. Patents are limited in time as are copyrights. Trademarks and service marks are somewhat different, but they must remain in use or they are considered abandoned. The idea that a magician can invent something, sell the "rights" and that those "rights" remain in effect forever is nonsense.

Further to that, it very well may be that the word "Boon" has become a generic description of any sort of "writer" (pencil, ink, or stylus) attached by adhesive to the thumb or finger, much like "Xerox" being more or less generic for copier or "Kleenex" for tissue.

Giving someone credit, should said credit be accurately determined, is more a courtesy than a legal requirement.

[Jonathan Townsend]

Originally posted by David Alexander:
...
My ethical construct requires that when I make an accusation, I accompany it with evidence supporting that accusation. I don't do it obliquely.

...Too many magicians seem to have a fantasy about "rights" that exist in perpetuity. They don't. ...

Further to that, it very well may be that the word "Boon" has become a generic description of any sort of "writer" ...

Giving someone credit, should said credit be accurately determined, is more a courtesy than a legal requirement.

Four interesting issues. Forthrightness can make things much simpler.

Last I checked, "boon" is an old term for something like a favor.

The notions of "rights", "credit" (and even the basic idea of "property") in magic are somewhat nebulous.

[El Mystico]

I'm sorry; is this just me?
The tone of David's response seemsd to go way over the top in relation to Anthony's original post.
Anthony never said the new Boon was a rip off. He did say "I wonder about rights" - and David seems to have answered that.

But quite what "you're not entitled to query something that may no longer exist" means is another matter!

But, "nor ... are you entitled to accuse someone of committing a crime" frankly, I find offensive, because Anthony did not do that at any point! David says "when I make an accussation, I accompany it with evidence supporting that accusation" but doesn't seem to stick by his own morality here!

Anthony's suggestion that a line along the lines of "Thanks to Eric Mason, creator" seems to me to be wholly appropriate.

For the record, I don't know David, I think I met Anthony once, I did know Eric - but never was able to get to grips with the Boon - and so am keen to try out this new development.

Lots of love to everyone

El

[David Alexander]

Yes, "Boon" is an old English word for favor, but in this case, Mason used it as his marketing name for his creation, described as an "adhesive writer" by Corinda. "Boon" may now, possibly, describe any adhesive writer...a "Boon-type writer."

The ability to give credit is often difficult because there is no central library that holds all magic publications and few - amateurs and professionals - have wide-ranging libraries where a search for "proper" crediting can be conducted. I've written elsewhere that there is a difference between acknowledgements and credits, with acknowledgements being more casual.

Indeed, "crediting" could take longer to conduct than the actual creating and development process of the trick itself.

Given the hodge-podge nature of magic publishing - lecture notes that may be published in editions of a few dozen to a few hundred, to major works by "major" writers of 1,000, the plethora of booklets, pamphlets, video, audio and DVDs that have flooded the market in the last few years, and the lack of any central authority, detailed and in-depth crediting from the published record would be difficult for most writers/inventors. (Not in this case, I hasten to add, as Eric Mason seems unarguably the creator of the adhesive writer marketed as "Boon.")

Then you have the complication of the differences between Effect, Method, and Presentation, which can be protected legally and which cannot, further complicated by the highly derrivative nature of magic. Is the trick a "new" trick or effect, or merely an improvement, enlargement, derivation of something else? That's when it gets sticky and provides fodder for endless arguments about who invented what and who should get credit for this or that.

[David Alexander]

Dom, Anthony wrote:
"In another thread rip-offs have been discussed. Is Eric Mason's estate or inheritor being paid royalties for this product or permission given? One sold by Jerry Somerdin (very good) has "Thanks to Eric Mason, creator" on the instruction sheet but I wonder about rights?"

Clearly, I took what Anthony said to include this new Boon writer as a rip-off and that Mason's estate has "rights" that the new producer should have explored before he produced his product. There was no presentation of evidence that any "rights" exist or that anyone has the right to "give permission" or collect a royalty.

To me, Anthony came across as being pushy, assuming that rights existed and that Mason's estate controlled them, so I pushed back. If he made the query in an innocent way, then fine, but it did not come across to me in that way and I so responded in a manner that I believe was appropriate.

And yes, Dom, I'm with you in never being able to quite master the Boon writer. A larger base was needed for more stability. Fortunately, others have produced appropriately-sized "Boon-type" writers that resolved the problem for me.

[Bill Palmer]

Regarding the "Boon" -- that was the name of the prop, not the person who invented it.

Regarding "Paul Fox" -- that's the name of the designer. That is passed on to his heirs. How long it's good for depends on other factors.

Reclaiming the Paul Fox name may be like trying to put toothpaste back into the tube.

[Stefan Sprenger]

Any news yet!?

[Guest]

You can finally find all the info on "Lincoln's Best Boon" and "Lincoln's Perfect Pocket Pencil" at:

http://www.lincolnworld.com/products

There are 2 limited time special offers on the site, the pro pack, and the pocket pencil with magnetic holder.

I only have a dozen or so ready to go right now since I am making them all myself. So, please keep in mind that if you are one of the first people to order them, you will receive your items usually within a week. For a limited time, I am sending out all orders over $30 with free priority shipping in the USA. $10 flat rate shipping for any orders outside of the USA. If you are not one of the first, you will be among the first to get the next batch. Which, should be ready to mail out within the next week to 2 weeks.

I designed this boon for myself originally, not with the intent of selling it. I had not and still have not seen any boon that looks anything like it. The research I did to see if I had "re-invented the wheel" so to speak was to show it to Jon Riggs, Barry Richardson (who literally wrote the book on boons, "A Boon for all seasons" along with the creator of the boon, Eric Mason) and many other respected and very knowledgeable mentalists. They all loved it, most bought them at mindvention, and none said anything about it being remotely like another product. So my assumption is that no one has had a boon of my design previous to myself. While it is based on the idea of the original boon, there are at least 12 differences in "Lincoln's Best Boon" that make it better in my opinion (and in just about everyone that has seen it/used it) than a regular boon. I do also credit Eric for inventing the boon in the booklet that comes with the boon.

Thank you for your interest,

Lincoln

[Guest]

I just received one of Lincoln's boons and it's a great design and easier to use (for me) than a few others I've tried.

Tom

[Guest]

Lincoln's products are excellent. If you are into PW I urge you to try the Zip pen which can be bought at your local Office Supply store for only a few dollars. You may never use another PW except the Zip.