So I'm back to add to my earlier review. I should have known that fate would fall ill upon me and this gimmick yet again because after leaving my last review of the FDS2.0 I went to go and play around with it some more and it BROKE! The el@st!c snapped mid-switch! ALMOST 3 days old, LESS than 50 switches, and it is now broken. Not only that, but due to the method of it's attachment that I discussed in my earlier review, I do not see a way of repairing it properly without destroying the gimmick. I attempted to try and peel off some of the glue (which appears to be super glue, not hot glue as I had originally guessed) holding it to the gimmick and it began to peel the graphics from the gimmick. My gimmick is now broken AND disfigured and I am in awe of the fact that anyone would try peddling a product with this much lack of craftsmanship to the general public not only once, but twice. I guess the old saying is true; fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Well, I certainly AM ashamed that i fell for this a second time, I just hope Mr. Lim is too, although I doubt it since he already has my money.

The only reason I am not super mad about this flash 2.0 is I figured out a better way to make the gimmick 10 times as strong and more effective than this one. When I watched the video and he said his gimmick was about 2 months old and still in great shape I could tell he was lying. Never will I support this mans crap again. I came up with the simple but time consuming fix in moments after practicing with it. One. I have a way to make the box more integral,and it still feels and looks like a normal box. Two I have figured out a better system involving the rest of it. I don't know why this creator didn't do what was needed to make this stronger. Oh wait I do know.....he is a scam artist. Ill adapt my methods and make it better. Shim if you want some advice call me. You should be ashamed. I am not mad about the money it cost me,just mad that he is misleading people. Oh and those other reviews with 5 stars...hahhaa probably his people or him rating it. Your gimmick is a piece of crap.

I have never been a fan of blue bicycle cards. I never ever use them when performing unless an effect requires the use of a contrasting backed card or deck along with the red decks I typically use. I just find them… repulsive...

I own the original FDS and have never used it; for several reasons, but that was always the main one - the gimmick was blue. Therefore, I was happy when I saw that the FDS2.0 was being manufactured in red. Even without seeing or having handled the new gimmick, that, to me, was an enormous improvement over the old version. Even with all of the short-comings of the original FDS, I would have gladly found ways to work around them if it had been made in red and not blue. Unfortunately, they didn't just stop there, and upon receiving my gimmick and playing around with it for a couple days, I will go on record and say that, in my opinion, that is where the list of improvements ends.

Most of the aspects of the original gimmick that I found problematic and/or suspicious that made it unfit for performance are still present in the new one: the gimmick STILL has a very hard time housing a full deck of cards and the h*l3s for the el@st!c thr3@ds are STILL plain as day and can be seen from a mile away.

There are also two new problems that I have noticed with this second version of the gimmick. The first, I will admit, is a bit nit-picky: the "thicker" and "more robust" material that the gimmick is now made from has a very shiny, almost vinyl-looking finish that, depending on lighting, would raise some suspicion about the gimmick passing as a normal box if left in the spectators view (which I would not recommend under any circumstances due to the previously mentioned h*l3s in the gimmick).

The second problem with the new gimmick, however, I find pretty unforgivable: One of the things I found MOST frustrating about the original gimmick is that, in the instructions, the section on repairing the el@st!cs on the gimmick taught a very poorly thought-out method of doing so. Not only was the way in which Shim recommended you repair the FDS gimmick if/when the el@st!c broke not even close to the way it came manufactured originally, but left the gimmick looking ten times more suspicious that it already did (again, h*l3s). Those of you who have the original probably know what I'm talking about and if you don't, I recomend you re-watch that portion of the DVD to have a better understanding of what I am referring to if you're interested in the FDS2.0 because with this new version, the "repair" method of attaching the el@st!cs is how the gimmick now comes standard - Right out of the box. I bought two of them and it is this way on BOTH of the FDS2.0 that I received; A huge glob of hot glue(?) holding a trail of el@st!c thr3@d down both sides of both gimmicks.

Again, I could have lived with the faults of the original FDS if it had been in red and not blue (Especially since the method on how to alter the original FDS gimmick was nearly as infuriating as the method of repairing it, which is why I never bothered). Unfortunately, the change in color to the FDS2.0 is, in my opinion, the only real improvement here.

I will say this; I DO maintain that the thought behind the gimmick, and the effects possible with it are still very valuable and highly creative and although both the gimmick and the routines I intend to use it for may require a fair amount of tweaking on my part, I will at least be attempting to put the FDS2.0 to good use. Have Shin and Piccone redeemed themselves with this new version? Absolutely not. However, I do find a bit of solace in the fact that this version of the gimmick may eventually be worthy of a performance that isn't in front of my workshop mirror, even if it IS due largely to it's color.

so if you see the trailer to this trick, you will be amazed. i my self was amazed and purchased this trick despite some negative reviews. it came in a nice looking case and when i watched the instructional video i thought to myself, this is a great idea. i watched the whole video and decided to play with my gimmick for the first time. after doing 3 switches, part of my gimmick broke. i was extremely disappointed and tried to fix it as shim lim has taught me in the instructional video. he provided me with maybe 4 inches of extra material to fix my gimmick. it is just not enough to fix both sides. the gimmick is very fragile and i suggest you guys to purchase the cooler. this might be a good idea, but the gimmick quality is just not good. this could be just me not being careful enough (i even washed my hands before touching the gimmick and was very careful trust me) or my gimmick not coming in the perfect condition but i suggest you to save your money and purchase something else! sorry for the bad words about your product shim but this is just my honest review.

I know that sometimes people buy things with ridiculously high expectations. I usually have a very open mind when purchasing items knowing that there is usually a lot of sleight of hand or concealing necessary to make different items work. However, having said that this gimmick is just way too fragile I watched the entire 1 hour video before ever even touching my gimmick so that I would know exactly how to handle it without breaking it. In spite of the fact that I did everything that I was instructed to do with the upmost respect for the gimmick and a very gentle hand my gimmick broke within 2 minutes of use. I repaired it and again was very delicate while breaking it in and had the string on the opposite side of the box break. I don't think that the gimmick is very well concealed I can see it from across the room. I also found the handling of the cards while trying to use the gimmick to be quite difficult and just outright unpractical. The truth of the whole thing is it's a pretty good idea but I feel that it is very overpriced for the quality and practicality of the item. You could make this gimmick yourself after having purchased a few inexpensive items off the internet. I personally would rather have had an instant download with instructions on how to create this gimmick myself. In other words, reduce the price to $12 and give instructions on how to make it and I would have given you a better rating.

I contacted Team Shin Lim via email to ask about the broken deck switch, mine arrived torn in the sealed box. So they asked me to send photos. I sent them the invoice, and photos and was asked to send more photos, which I did. After a week of this, they told me, they would not help me because they were not the seller. Well they knew that when I first contacted them asking for help. Why pretend to help me, stringing me along when you have no actual intention of helping? This is the mis-direction.

The deck switch itself is very delicate. Mine broke in less than a week. I had to go buy some glue to make a repair and ended up tearing the box trying to remove the old glue. Nearly half of the one hour video shows Shin Lim with glue, scissors and other parts repairing or altering the box.

Oh, and yes, Shin Lim, if you buy a Panasonic Camera and it's broken when you open it new, the manufacturer will stand behind it and let you send it back to Panasonic to have it replaced. Good businesses stand behind their products.

Without going into too much detail as to why this is not worth your time or money just know that it is virtually impossible to do a switch with a full deck of cards. So what's the point? The advertising is super misleading and Shin Lim is sullying his good name as a talented performer. The company should refund everybody who bought this product.

It's a good idea, but the gimmick is too easily broken and then difficult to repair.

Yes the gimmick is very fragile, not suitable for the close up walk around magician as the gimmick can break very easily, this is better for a pre-recorded show where you can stop and edit if the gimmick breaks. Also the video shows a blue box and blue backed cards turning into a red box and red cards, the box cant change colors, it is simply red or blue when you order, so the whole entire demonstration of a color changing box is misleading and its not what you get when you purchase this effect. Watch the video at 1:27 till 1:34 this will not happen to the box itself when you buy this effect.

I see a lot of negative reviews about this product on the review page and I understand that people are disappointed. They feel the new trick and how its not much better than the old one, but as a first time owner of a flash deck switch gimmick myself (having not bought the first version) I must say I'm actually rather happy with it. The gimmick is not perfect but I felt the instructional material provided was actually pretty high quality and if you don't mind arts and crafts you can definitely make your own gimmick or repair the one provided without too much work if the original breaks. All you need is spare card boxes adhesive of your choice and e*****c t****d something almost anyone who has worked with card gimmicks that have movement to them probably already owns.