52 Thread, One A Week

[Graham Lee]

I thought I would go through some of my old Video's and DVD collection and post a model a week from one of them. This is from Michael Veinbergs 3 video collection, this is the very first set I bought. Not sure when but the date on the case is 1995 so possibly 16 years ago. I bought them at the Blackpool magic convention and remember asking for a discount as they did not have to be posted. The catalogue price was over £100, which 15/16 years ago was very pricey, I was told and rightly so there was no discount because they had to drive to the convention, set up, book hotel for the duration, pack away, drive home, pack away and re-stock. A lesson I learned and one which I agree with as all the conventions I attend as yet I have never made a profit or broken even, they are a PR excercise and public awareness.

On the video he explains things very clearly and is very precise in his details, I have never heard of Michael before or even after I bought the collection, he is from San Diego and the video set is produced by Premier Entertainment.
Vol 1 has tools of the trade, basic twists and Turtle, Poodle, Basic Dog, Rabbit, Giraffe, Teddy Bear, Cat which doubles for 5 othe ranimals as well, Sword, Scabbard and a Penguin. All very basic models but this was 15/16 years ago and it was nice to go down memory lane. I believe Thelma was working on the Playtime Stand with Michael Decker the year I bought these, I remember seeing her book on the stand which was the very first one Thelma produced. I bought them from Magic books by post who used to have a video collection as well.

The first picture is the sword from the video that has a rhinestone feel to it, I would have 5 twists under the handle grip if made again as this was a bit small.

[Patricia Bunnell]

I like this sword... its different, easy, but looks like it will carry a nice impact.

I'm excited for the next 51 weeks!

Hugs...

Patricia

[Graham Lee]

So this week I went for Vol two of Michael Veinburgs Professional Balloon Sculptures.
I do not remember using any of the models from the three video set when I bought them all those years ago.
On Vol two there are, Parrot, Horse, Unicorn, Reindeer, Surfer Man, Bi Plane, Motorcycle, Flower, T-Rex and a Teenage mutant ninja.
turtle. There are a few figures with the pop twist where the last ear twist is not doubled over (Split Twist) so it would easily come undone.
Details for the pop twist with the split twist at the end can be found in the tutorial section; pop-twist-t1104.html

The Ninja turtle was nice along with the T-Rex that was eating a man, I think Bonnie has an idea like this in one of hera CD's?
I went with the plane this week as it;s one that could be used in line work or entertaining in the real world.
Picture one is the bi-plane as described by Michael on the video, please remember this video is over 16 years old, the bubble in the centre of the wings which is in the instructions I am assuming is the pilots head but there was no explanation of this or any artwork put onto the model on the video.

[Graham Lee]

For a quick and easy plane I think the design would still work today, I have changed things about with a few modifications.
The first picture is just two balloons the same as the original and just as quick, then we have added some extra balloons and details.
The last picture the clear balloon instead of making it into a hat could just be left straight for someone to hold and run around flying the plane and doing aerobatic moves,
let their imagination take over.

[Lisa Chester]

Graham, I love the idea of using the cockpit balloon as part of the hat
(a "why didn't I think of that" moment!!)

Lisa

[Tonya]

I agree with Lisa...what a great idea!

[Graham Lee]

Another variation on a theme, I think the propellors would look better in a contrasting colour;

[Bonnie]

Graham, love, love, love the airplane hat!  Thanks so much for sharing it!

Bonnie

[Graham Lee]

Hoping to look at Michael Veinburgs Vol 3 over the weekend, on the video there is Spirals and balloon hats including, Butterfly hat, Elephant hat, Crown, Mouse hat, Ram hat, Rabbit hat, Jester, Beanie and a mohawk. Sounds interesting and I have to say I have enjoyed looking through some older tapes/DVD's and would recommend to others that there is a wealth of material perhaps just sitting on your unit shelves or whereever you keep your twisting DVD's.

[Graham Lee]

Been a bit busy this week with one thing and another, so I sat down tonight to watch video three in the series by Michael Veinburgs and was perhaps a little dis-appointed. I suppose we have to appreciate this is the very first balloon instruction set that I ever bought way back.
I liked the first hat which he called a spiral, very simple and still today would be impressive due to the balloon curling as you inflate it.
The elephant hat had possibilites and was the one I thought about adding to but his Beanie hat as soon as I saw it a helicopter jumped out so that is what I went with.
The first picture is Michael's Spiral hat and the second his Beanie Hat.

The spiral is made by either wrapping around two fingers the un-inflated balloon before inflating or wrapping the balloon around a spare pump and getting someone to hold this in place while you use a pump to inflate the balloon. Either way is easier if the balloon is fully inflated first and then deflated before you try the spiral.

[Graham Lee]

So a couple of variations on the Beanie hat to turn it into a helicopter hat for the child to wear and perhaps let his imagination take over.
Picture one is made from 3 balloons, picture two from 4 balloons and picture five I made in different colours so the construction was possibly easier to follow is made out of 5 balloons. I prefer this one as the construction would be quicker with less thinking time and the rotor blades are a lot bigger as well.

[Graham Lee]

If you added some controls around the waist then this would add so much more for the imagination to run wild. They were made from one balloon.

[Tonya]

Great design Graham...I can't wait to try this one!  Thanks!

[Graham Lee]

My Grandson Zakh came over today and spent at least an hour with the three colour helicopter on and the controls around his waist, so for me that makes this a hit.
He also put the grey one on as a backpack so that no one could attack him from the back without him knowing, well that's what he told me. He did have fun.

[Graham Lee]

Number 4, I will start numbering the posts so it will be easier to see if I'm keeping up with my challenge of one a week.
I have another 3 Video set from L'il John who I'm assuming is Canadian as the company that produced the set Camirand Academy is based there. It must have started out as a 2 video set as on Vol 1 it says volume one of a two volume set. Not sure in what order I purchased the rest of my video/DVD collection but thought I would go through the video section first as these have to be the oldest. At the end of the video the copyright came up as 1996, so the style, explanations etc are 15 years old.
Volume 1 is titled "Entertaining with Balloons" and is set in what looks like a fast food court come play area, very loud with lots of background noise that you would encounter possibly sometimes in the real world.
The cover does state you will learn the secret to gathering a crowd, as the crowd and stage area was already in place this was not even mentioned but he certainly does entertain the crowd with balloons as the video title suggests.
The bits of business that he uses may now be thought of as standard'ish clown/balloon bits but 15 years ago this may all have been revolutionary? I think this would still work for today with family audiences and children enjoying themselves. He certainly put a lot of effort into his performance style.
There is no menu as to what basic balloons were to be taught but a basic dog, rabbit, giraffe, sausage dog, dinosaur which did intrigue me the way it was twisted, parrot again with a new variation for twisting the beak that I had not seen before, a one balloon flower which was the inspiration to my one balloon flower that is on my DVD 1 Front Room Tape which I tell people is possibly my favourite thing made from just one balloon and then the last model explained was a one balloon mickey mouse which I used to make regularly a few years ago.
Will post some pictures later.