There really aren’t many vanishing bird cages that are currently being made. It’s really the vanishing bird cage from India or the Baby Lindy and Walter Blaney cage from Dan Summers. Those two makers couldn’t be further apart in pricing! The cage from India is about $50, and the Summers cages are $1,500-$2,000!
I recently has someone ask me about the two, and there’s really no comparing them. For starters they are completely different style of cages, so it’s not an apples to apples comparison.
What the magic market is lacking is a good, entry level cage, something in the $200-$400 range, however that doesn’t currently exist right now. I’m going to do a quick comparison of the India cage and the Milson Worth Silver Meteor which is the cage style that the Indian cage copied.
For me there are two main differences. The first is weight!
The Milson Worth cage is 115 grams and the Indian cage is 149. You really feel that extra 34 grams in weight when the cage lands in your sleeve!
The other difference is texture. The Milson Worth vanishing birdcage has all the soldered spots smoothed out, where the India cage is rough and that will create a lot of potential snags when the cage is going up your sleeve.
I know that the Milson Worth magic company isn’t around anymore, so you can’t buy the cage new, but there are a lot of them out there for sale on sites like eBay, etc. This cage is a decent beginners cage and one to use if you want to try out the cage before investing thousands of dollars in a cage!
Just a quick note, if you end up searching for a Milson Worth Silver Meteor cage, don’t pay more than $150-$200 for it. There’s a seller or two on ebay asking for way too much for the cage!
-Louie
Thank you. This was useful info to have. It is a shame there isn’t a decent professional level cage available that is not a cheap made-in-India cage , but also not a $1,500 – to – $2500 cage , something more in the $300 – $500 range.
It’s interesting that the Indian-made cage is copied from the Milson-Worth cage , but is unfortunately heavier. I imagine if it were only some rough soldering then it could be smoothed out , but that extra weight isn’t going to disappear. There are some Indian-made props from Funtime Magic (Dahal) that are actually pretty decent. Too bad the cage isn’t of better quality (and lighter weight!)
I once had a Milson-Worth cage. Sold it with a lot of my other props when I stepped away from magic after art college and focused on animation as my career. (needed to sell stuff to finance my move to California … of course, now there are regrets for having sold certain items no longer obtainable!)
If you hunt around you can find a Milson Worth Silver Meteor Vanishing Birdcage for about $150ish.
Honestly, the more I learn about them, the more I understand why the price for a Lindhurst style cage is soo much. It’s a lot of labor that you can’t really outsource to someone who doesn’t understand what the cage has to do. There’s some fantastic cages that run about $1k. I don’t think you’ll find a brand new cage (that’s good) for less than $750 ever again. I just don’t think they can really be made for less than that.
Follow-up question for you, Louie:
Having handled the Indian cage , do you think if someone were to invest some time in smoothing out the rough edges, would it work ok for a Wakeling/McComb style “slow-motion” vanish under a chiffon scarf ?
While the indian cage works, I think you’re better off hunting down a Milson Worth Cage. By the time you smooth it out, you’ve got a lot of labor into it. Might as well just buy a better cage.
Ultimately, Yes, the cage should work for the McComb slow motion vanish. The main problem is that cage is soo small compared to the cage that billy used. I don’t know if the impact would be the same.
The current Indian made M-W copy seems like it is a lot more “floppy” than I remember the M-W cage I owned when I was a teenager.
I saw a quick video clip of Jeff Hobson performing with a M-W cage and he handles it very freely . I remember mine could be held in one hand as he is doing. The Indian cages I’ve seen look like they can’t stand up straight on their own or be held in one hand. (there may be more than one Indian manufacturer of these cages , and may some are better than others , I don’t know ?)
Here’s the Hobson video. You may have seen it , but just in case you didn’t …
https://i.imgur.com/IWvRWst.mp4
The Indian vanishing birdcages will not stand on their own. The Milson Worth cages definitely will…or at least most will.
The Indian vanishing birdcages are more like an Abbott’s cage that’s really heavy!
I hadn’t see the hobson video, it’s great! Thanks for sending it over!