Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale… Tabman’s Bamboo Chop Cup

Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of a faithful Cup. Yes this is a bizarre intro to my review of the Tabman’s Bamboo Chop Cup. Every time I look at this Cup I think of the old TV show “Gilligan’s Island.” I can see Mr. Howell sipping a tropical drink from this cup reading his only copy of the “Wall Street Journal” there on the island. From time to time I also think of Maryann, but I will keep that to myself.

My Story:

I have always wanted an original Al Wheatley Bamboo Chop Chop Cup for my collection, you know the Chop Cup that started them all (If you are not familiar with this Cup, do visit Bill Palmer’s “The Cups and Balls Museum,” where there are several photos of this Cup). Over the past year it seemed that either I could not find one, or when one was available, I did not have the funds to purchase it. I then thought of making a replica of the Bamboo Cup for myself, but as I researched working with bamboo and its availability in CO, that idea came to a screeching stop.

To my surprise early this month, I read Tabman’s posting over at the “The Magic Café” offering his version of the Bamboo Cup… his pictures alone sold me on the spot, I immediately placed my order.

The Cup:

The original Wheatley Bamboo Chop Chop Cups were made from thin walled pieces of bamboo. I have read from many sources that with much use and age, these Cups had a tendency to split and crack, so much so that Wheatley later had his Chop Chop Cups spun in aluminum… thus his bamboo Cups have become somewhat scarce, not lasting through the years (I will still take one if I can find one).

Tabman’s Bamboo Chop Cups are available in 3 sizes; I asked for a Cup around the size of a Don Alan Cup and received a middle sized Cup. His Cups look very different compared to the original Wheatley Cups though they are made from the same material. Picture a stalk of bamboo… tall and segmented, Wheatley’s Cups have been cut to size sharply between the segments giving them a very cylinder like appearance. Tabman’s cups are cut retaining some of the shape of the segments, giving his Cups a more organic look to them. Regarding the bamboo used, Tabman makes his Cups from thick walled bamboo stalks that he harvested himself (pretty impressive) and has given the bamboo much love as to cure and treat the bamboo so that it is less likely to crack. He has even given his Cups a warranty against cracking, more on this later.

The Cup arrived about a week after Tabman notified me that it was sent via FedEx. The Cup is shipped with a white cotton bag with the word “chop” stenciled on it. The cup is sold without balls, for now I am using it with balls from RNT2. My Cup stands about 4” tall and is about 3” wide; being made from bamboo any you may order will probably vary in size.  Its color I would classify as natural finish… as stated above it is very organic looking. The inside of the Cup is painted black with a felt-like material glued to the bottom, making the inside of the Cup very dark. The true bottom of the Cup follows the natural contour of bamboo when it is cut at a segment, hard to explain but the photos will get the point across. The walls of the Cup are relatively thick compared to the original Wheatley Cup, making it pretty sturdy. The original ChopChop Cups had thin walls about a 1/8th of inch thick; Tabman’s Chop Cups have walls that are 1/4 inch thick. I believe unless you really wack the Cup doing the Chop Cup moves, it should hold up without cracks for many years to come.

Tabman offers a replacement warranty free of charge for 1 year, which I feel is very generous. It gets better than that; if the Cup cracks after a year just return it with $10 and he will replace the Cup. He calls it a life time warranty… not the Cup but his. I found that funny.

The Cup in Use:

I typically don’t use a standard Chop Cup routine and found that what I am use to did not work well with this Cup. Please don’t take this as a criticism of the Cup… like everything else, use the right tool for the job… use the right Cup for the routine. Once I went to a standard Chop Cup routine all was well. I did find that the Cup’s gaff was rather strong, but since I use primarily RNT2 balls, I was able to tweek the ball to the Cup and it worked to perfection. Since the Cup is black on the inside I found using a brighter colored ball looks best, for now I am using the yellowish RNT2 Phoenix balls. I plan to get some larger yellow stingers from RNT2 when they have the size I want back in stock. As to a final load, a lime fits and looks pretty good with the Cup. The largest load I had on hand that would fit is a racket ball.

Final Thoughts:

Tabman’s Bamboo Cup is a great addition to my collection; it is so different from what I already have. I am also impressed with what a value this Cup is… for $50 this Cup is quite the bargain, I have been greatly disappointed with magic items costing twice its price. I got a good laugh from the note included with the Cup… Thank you for paying me good money for this bamboo Chop Cup. Tabman has a great sense of humor.

As I wrote in the beginning, this Cup reminds me of Gilligan’s Island, this weekend I will look for some paper parasols and maybe some fake fruit that I can gaff to use with it… I want to come up with a Gilligan’s Island routine, but for now all I can think of is a Mi Tai and Maryann, so if you have any suggestion please write in.

Cup Bag:
http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm227/BCSDenver/Cups/TABCC001.jpg
Cup, Ball, Bag:
http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm227/BCSDenver/Cups/TABCC002.jpg
Cup:
http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm227/BCSDenver/Cups/TABCC003.jpg
Cup Interior:
http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm227/BCSDenver/Cups/TABCC004.jpg
Cup Bottom:
http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm227/BCSDenver/Cups/TABCC006.jpg
Final Load:
http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm227/BCSDenver/Cups/TABCC007.jpg
Cup, Ball, Bag & Final Load:
http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm227/BCSDenver/Cups/TABCC008.jpg



Thanks for looking, please add any comments,
Bruce

Bruce,

You've done it again buddy!  I love reading your reviews.  I tihnk I shouldhand over the reins of my site to you, mine seem so dry and boring in comparison!

I can't wait for my cup to arrive now.  I bought the same size one as you,  I thought the 3" opening would be too much.

I too would have like an original Al Wheatley one so this was a welcome product for many I guess and Tabby is a great guy.

Bri

Thanks Bri for the complement. I forgot to include Tabman’s websites for those interested in purchasing his great Chop Cups http://el-tab.com/  and http://bamboochopcup.info/  .

Bruce

Hi Bruce,

Bri is right, you write great reviews!

I really like your idea of a Gilligan's Island routine. It's perfect. That's just what Mr. Howell and his wife, Lovey, would drink from.

Everyone liked Maryann. And I liked the way Ginger strutted her stuff around the island in her tight dress!

Tom

Bruce,

As always a darn good review. Keep on buying cups and writing reviews . I was thinking of getting one but now I know for sure.....darn it .
Will the madness never stop!!!! Thanks for writing once again a terrific review.

The routine patter going along with gilligan's island eludes me. Probably because I never saw an episode. The show has aired here but that was before my time I guess.

Etienne

Etienne… Thanks, I will keep writing them as I find time, right now I wish I could buy time rather than Cups. You are probably better off never watching a Gilligan’s Island episode, you saved some brain cells. As I was writing the review and thinking about Gilligan’s Island, it came to me that the TV show LOST and GI have a, lot in common.

Bruce

Bruce, the cup is look great

it also gives "traditional" feeling...

and look very innocent.

and bamboo cup, a very long time ago, is used as a drinking cup....
especially most south east asian country and china too then china started using clay

cheers
Andre

Barbell… When I was a very young man Ginger was the one, but the older I got my taste ran toward Maryann. Tina Louise (Ginger) did not age too well.


Andre… I don’t think a clay Chop Cup would work to well.

Bruce

I had a deal for a set of PF chick cups, but that deal fell through in case of cashflow problems...the washingmachine died on us. So the budget went down the drain but not long gone. I had some bucks left over and with that little spare cash I ordered a Tabman Bamboo chop cup. I really wanted a Don Alan chop cup AB but that was out of my reach.

The large one....I figured that since I have fairly large hands and I can conceal a tennisball with my hand this would be the best cup for me. Although the middle cup also looks big, this one must be huge.

Etienne

Etienne,

Sorry about your domestic misfortune…  You did the right thing and took care of what needed to be done; there are many who would have traded the family cow for the magic beans.

I hope that you will enjoy the Tabman Bamboo Cup. It is very dry here in Denver the first Cup that I had developed a split; the good news is that Tabman replaced it with no hassles (he is a good guy). The new one has displayed no symptoms of the first. Just to play it safe I conditioned it with some moisturizing wax.

I can only imagine how big the large version is, I have the middle sized Cup and it is of good size.

Take care,
Bruce

Bruce,

I was temped... I spend several months saving up for this set.

If you don't mind I will shoot some pics and add them here for comparison.

BTW Is this cup treated with a material ((i.e oil or wax) I'm too lazy to dig up the posts on TMC) or is it just the plain bamboo?

Etienne

Etienne… The Cup is coated with something, what I don’t know. I gave mine a coating of some kind of bee’s wax and lemon oil stuff I purchased at an upscale furniture store that they suggest for antiques. It is supposed to condition and moisturize your fine furniture… it did a good job on the Cup and a table we have from the late 1800’s.

Have a great weekend,
Bruce

The cup has arrived today. This is one big cup. It's huge, maybe too big for my hands. I need to play around with this to be sure. But it looks great.

Will post some pics when I find some time.

Etienne

Etienne… Congratulations on the new Cup, I hope that it works out for you. Tabman sent me some fishing bobs that he modified (gaffed) for use instead of balls. It is a pretty cool idea. the bobs are made of plastic and it looks like he was able to separate them and insert a magnet.

Take care,
Bruce

These are much more practical cups than the original Al Wheatley cups. BTW, I have learned from a number of sources that the cups Wheatley used were originally sold as cups for drinks that were served at Polynesian/Hawaiian restaurants. During the 1950's, Polynesian restaurants were the rage here in the States.

He also had some tall ones.