Time Machine is a Rip-off

[Guest]

Dear Friends in magic:

A rip-off of our product Watch & Wear has recently been brought into the
market. And more than a rip-off, if you see the pictures of the watches, you
will see that it is a counterfeit! (a bad one)
This rip-off is marketed by some Rob Stiff (wouldnt Rob Steal be a more
appropriate name?).
This person is well known in our market for playing this rip-off game. You
can see in his catalogue several products, which have been copied from other
magicians creations.
In the case of his rip-off of our registered Watch & Wear, he uses a mercury
switch instead of a silver switch like the one we use. While developing
Watch & Wear we tried a mercury switch (marketed by Kevin James) but we
rejected that method for several reasons:
The crystal tube was so fragile for this product, that even small
vibrations made them break thus ruining the whole watch.
Mercury is toxic and dangerous. It requires very special care that may be
provided in other tricks, but not in a watch you may want to wear.
Our current silver switch is more reliable, works forever and allows many
presentations that are simply impossible with a mercury switch. In Watch &
Wear instructions booklet there are some clever Trevor Lewis routines,
which couldnt be performed if the watch had had a mercury switch.

How fragile is a mercury switch? Or better: how long will last a watch with
a mercury switch in it? Well, Rob Steals rip-off has a 30 days warranty,
whereas our Watch & Wear has a 1-year warranty. This detail is something
you will find only in the small print in their instructions booklet and by
no means in their ads. In our ads which incidentally have been running for
6 years so far- it clearly says 1-year warranty.
Nobody here selling the Time machine here said it, and it is a very important DETAIL.
To copy a magic trick is a way of robbing. And Mr. Stiff is well, Robbing.
We are in the business of selling magic tricks. And we need new stuff
all the time. We all know how important it is to have something new to show
to our clients or to put in our catalogues. But a copy is not something
new. It is actually something that makes our business shrink.
We, the serious people who market magic tricks in good faith, shouldnt
allow these things to happen.
Anyway our feeling is that when it comes to unethical affairs (and Rob's
product and behavior can only be labeled as unethical) there shouldn't be
any excuses to support them. I know this may sound as a very extreme
example, but the fact that some people commit crimes doesn't allow me to do
the same. I should decide on which side of the line of ethics I want to stay
and must remain there. Even if it costs me a buck or two.
You may have ordered Rob Steals product in good faith. You couldnt know it
is a poor quality rip-off.
But now you know.

Our Watch & Wear is not a ripp off of the Collectors Workshops Perfect
Time. You can consult about it to Randi, Fantasio, Max Maven, Kevin James,
Gaetan Bloom, Trevor Lewis, and even Mr. Rick Block, that is a very good
friend of us!!
Going back to the Time Machine, there is an Office in the Argentine Embassy in the US, which has
all the backing documents to work on this case. American lawyers will work
on this on behalf of the Argentine Embassy to defend our rights. Rob Stiff
may earn a buck or two with this gambit. But theyll end up in some attorney
s pocket.
Well ring every bell and will do a campaign to inform the American
magicians that the warranty hasnt been properly informed and that there is
selling a product potentially hazardous to their health. Again: a mercury
switch is NOT something you want to put into a watch.
We are business people. We like to compete. Magic needs competition among
creators of magic tricks. But copyright is not something to fool around
with.
We thank you for your understanding and appreciate your help. If you need
any additional information, please feel free to contact us.
Best regards,

Martin Pacheco
Bazar de Magia