Making a Magic Kit

[Tower of Lunatic Meat]

After picking up a few children's magic kits in thrift stores, I noticed that there's a lot of excess that really don't get used. I mean, 50 magic tricks is a bit overwhelming.
I've had the idea of making a children's kit (thinking age 7 and above) that would cut down a lot of excess and have a list of easy close-up magic that (I think) would work. But I have no idea how anything like this would work or where I would take it.
Any suggestions?

 

[Bryant_Tsu]

Sounds like something for RealityOne to take a look at.

 

[RealityOne]

Sounds like something for RealityOne to take a look at.

Bryant:

I was thinking the same thing.

Brett:

What purpose would you use this kit for? As a give away at shows? As a back of the room type sale? As something used to teach magic to kids in a class? That sort of dictates what is included as well as the price / cost of the kit.

There are some good kits out there. The Fantasma kits are amazing and come with DVDs. I like the Melissa and Doug kit -- they seems somewhat more substantial. There are also good kits at http://www.magictricks.com/magic-sets.html The idea of those kits is to give the kids enough to put on a show of their own. For younger kids (6 to 8), I like effects like the drawer box, ball vase, imp bottle, spiked coin, hot rod and color vision because they are practically self working and don't really reveal any magic secrets.

Elaborate more on you idea -- what would the purpose of the kit be and what would you put in it?

 

[Tower of Lunatic Meat]

I had the lofty idea of selling as an actual kit. Maybe I should start small and try it out as a giveaway or as a part of a magic class. I think an actual magic class would fit the bill a lot better. At least then you'd be able to personally teach the people who are actually buying the product.

For the lot itself. I figure that, at that young of an age, I'm not sure if they are ready for things like card work and cup & balls, but more along the lines of, like what you said, practically self-working magic.

Magic that can boost their confidence for kids and get their foot in the door of magic, instead of providing a 'cover all' kit and only 5 things get used.
Also, I wanted to construct it to where kids would be able to take 1 or 2 in their pocket and be able to do at any time without the need for a table.

Here's what I was thinking so far. This is about a weeks worth of scouring half a dozen websites:

Crazy Cube
Hot Rod
Die Chamber
Oddball
Brass Cubio
In N Out Boxes
Coil & Ring
Zig Zag Pencil
Sure Shot Dice Box

 

[CoffeeWithMagic]

I can speak from a recent experience of buying a magic kit for our oldest child close to the age range, that this is very true (the overwhelming and underused part). There are lots of extra materials, mainly printed paper items that rarely get used. I do think there are the basic solid tricks though, that are very good choices for beginners included in many kits these days. The Cups and Balls, Magic Ball Vase, and the Prayer Vase, for example.

I would say a small set would be ideal, but the problem is that often times you can purchase just the individual items I listed for pretty cheap individually as well, so when consumers see the magic sets for $20 with lots of tricks listed, I think that is part of the reason they buy them. The overwhelming things, that don't get used.

 

[Justin.Morris]

I would pick 3-5 things. And keep in mind the target age for the tricks. My daughter cannot do the Hot Rod to save her life (age six). Even crazy cube she has trouble with (mostly the presentation. But she would rock the zig zag pencil, coil and ring, or a ball and vase. If you are targeting 10 - 12 year olds, than those are great.

Also set yourself a budget and make sure of all the math ahead of time. Because you pay bulk pricing ahead of time, you need to make sure the math works and that you can pay for all of it before you sell a single kit. Too many people call it an investment -throw it on a credit card, and then start selling. It seems like common sense, but there's a reason that banks make s much money Price it out, Save enough to buy all the stuff, then make the kits to sell. Doing a smaller test batch first would have helped someone I know too. I know one guy who ended up with a lot of tricks that weren't that popular and didn't sell. That guy might be me.