Sometimes, a packaging flaw is a great thing -- it seems like the glue that Tenyo put into its packages was not meant to keep them closed for over forty years.  Imagine that!   Well, this Zig Zag Cig's packaging glue wore out somewhere along the line, and so now it is open (allowing you to enjoy the wonderful prop!) but the package is unharmed, not torn or bent.     
A nice find for collectors and performers, too.

One of the first Tenyo effects, along with Silk Serenade and What's Next, to really capture the US magic buyers attention and cement Tenyo's reputation as the purveyor of the coolest new methods and effects in magic back in the 1980's.    Since then, ZZ Cig has proven to be one of their best (in my Top Ten-yo list, as it is with most Tenyo-nians), and has even inspired professional handlings bymany magical luminaries.

 The effect is that a cigarette (or I use a borrowed dollar bill) is placed in a small tri-sected plastic box, and the middle is slid out to the side, ala Harbin's Zig Zag lady effect.  Because of anatomical differences between ladies and cigarettes, this method is very different from Harbin's but just as (if not more) convincing. The middle is slid back in, and the cigarette (or bill) is restored.

Like most Tenyo, you wish it wasn't plastic, but the effect is so darn good! The audience reaction is what counts, and they never seem to care that the magic is done with a little plastic prop.

This item is still available in the Japanese packaging.  But for collectors, having the original English version is the way to go.   Here is an opportunity to get that version, and never need to worry about opening the package to play with it!

CONDITION NOTES
this example of ZZ Cig is open -- the glue that seals the folded cardboard package has worn out over the years, and so the package opened itself without any damage!  The prop is apparently unused, though one of the three pieces of faux cigarette used for display seems to have been lost and replaced with a real cigarette filter.  The solid "fake cigarette" that came with trick is still present.  Instruction sheet in English is original and present.

.

Back to previous page