T.U.C. stands for “Tango Ultimate Coin”. It is a special gimmicked coin designed by Marcelo Insua, who is also known as Mr Tango, and manufactured by his company, Tango Magic. In my opinion, the word “ultimate” is justified in its use as a description for this gimmicked coin. It is a shell and coin set that is cleverly crafted so that the shell will not come off the coin easily unless activated. This enables a shelled coin to be handled with greater ease and confidence. This is indeed quite an “ultimate” gimmicked coin. It won for Marcelo the Invention Award at FISM in 2012.
T.U.C. Poker Chip Green uses the same T.U.C. gimmick applied onto a green colour poker chip. You receive the T.U.C. green poker chip together with 3 other regular green chips. Together, they allow you to perform coin effects that require up to 5 coins. The T.U.C. poker chip is precision made. The shell is hard and will not bend easily.
The separation of the shell and chip is usually done with one hand. It is not a difficult thing to do, but it does take some practice to get it done smoothly.
There are some confussions concerning accessing the instructions online.
You are given a link with a password. However, there is no direct tutorial for the T.U.C. Poker Chip Green. The closest to it is the section entitled “T.U.C. and Triple T.U.C. Basic Concepts”. Here, the concept and handling of the T.U.C. coin is explained, together with a 4 coin across routine using a glass tumbler and 2 spectators. You can use this tutorial for your T.U.C. Poker Chip Green.
There is another source that you can check out for your T.U.C. Poker Chip Green. The trailer for this product, which is available in the web site of any magic dealer, shows the performances of both a “3 Fly” as well as a “4 Coin Across” routine using the T.U.C. Poker Chip Green. There are no explanations, of course. But if you are familiar with coin magic, you can easily figure out how to perform the 2 routines.
There is also a statement on the product packaging that says you get to see “Tangopedia”, which is like an encyclopedia on gimmicked coins that contains 50 coin routines. However, the “Tangopedia” is no longer in the web-site. Previously, it was. One of the reasons for this could be that “T.U.C. Secrets The DVD” is now available separately.
If you perform coin magic using shells, an understanding of the construction and handling of the T.U.C. is good enough for you to add T.U.C. to your coin routines. In this case, you can use your TUC Poker Chip Green in your coin routines, using green poker chips instead of coins. Although it is not common for people to carry poker chips with them unless they are in a casino, magic with poker chips is more visual and colourful than magic performed with coins.
If you like using poker chips for coin tricks, Tango Magic also supplies other types of gimmicked poker chips. There are magnetic poker chips, expanded poker chip shells, and magnetic scotch and soda poker chip sets. The poker chips are also available in different colours too, such as in red as well as in blue colours.
Welcome to the world of coin magic using poker chips. (10/10 star rating)