I got a set of the penguin cups recently so  I could use them for practice, bashing about, and was just curious.  Well I'm really quite pleased with their weight, feel, and they really are total Paul Fox knock offs.

But they are not the real thing. I compared them to my own set of the Paul Fox coppers and they have more of a 'clang' sound then a metallic 'thud' which  makes them sound a bit crass -- I can't explain it better.

The Penguins do not fit as well as PF or RNT2s, either.  One of my cups will actually hold and lift a cup it's stack upon if I try -- so it's a bit tight.  In performing that won't be an issue as you're moving them and not pressing too hard.  Still, it's a bit iksome.  I suspect different sets won't have this issue and honestly it's minor.

But for cheap, heavy, PF style they are fine and you won't worry if you drop and dent them.

The insides were a gross black residue, but with some sweat equity and fine steel wool I cleaned them in about 20-30 minutes while watching youtube (Ricky  Jay's routine) and then use a copper polish and they came out fine.  They're 'tarnishing' with a reddish hue, which isn't unpleasant, and the full polishing on them makes them look quite okay -- but, again, somewhat of a different color than my original PFs.  Not worse, just different.

I polished the interior by  hand but the steel wool on a drill would cut the time down to a few minutes.

So is the difference in price between these and 'better' RNT2 or vintage Paul Fox cups worth it?  For a beginner, I'd say no -- go with Penguins.  For the collector, obviously YES (and I find myself a collector inadverntantly).  For the middle tier -- a real user will find them fine and not worry about them being abused.  The audience wouldn't know the difference anyway.  But because I'm neurotic I feel better using 'better' cups and if the real PF I can even tell a story about how special they are.......

I've always considered getting Penguin cups. They do look like you get a lot for the money. Maybe I will.... Thanks for the inside scoop!

Tom

I like my penguins cups, I have two sets of them. One set polished and one set tarnished. The very first set I got also had the problem of sticking cups. I just sent them an email and returned the cups. They replaced them with a set that had no problems whatsoever.

Etienne

Etienne,

Nice to know they have good customer service and took care of you right away.

Tom

I think I got lucky with my set of penguin cups.  I had someone look at them who knew quite a bit about cups and he said they were pretty nice for penguin cups.  I really think the biggest issue is just consistency.

I'm not going to knock the Penguin/Magic Makers cups. When they first came out, all the ones that Magic Makers wholesaled out were brass and the ones they made for Penguin were copper.

The early Penguin copper cups had marks in the saddle that looked like they had been pecked with an icepick. The second run, which appeared about 2006, were much cleaner looking. The edges of the saddles were sharper, etc.

However, both the MM cups and the Penguin cups did have a number of inconsistencies. For example, some of the MM cups had large gaps in the rims.  All of the MM and Penguin cups were grubby on the inside.

My chief worry about these cups was the possibility that they might be passed off as Paul Fox cups. The tyro would not have much of a way of knowing the difference.

I did notice a number of differences between the copies and the genuine article, though.

One is that in most of the PF/DD cups as well as the Busby, RnT and RnT II cups, if you are holding the cup with the mouth downwards, the point at which the skirt comes down from ring below the shoulder bead (the lower ring) is indented a bit. On most of the copies, the transition is almost straight.

I have a set of Penguin Faux-PF cups, in polished copper. I had the same issues as you and polished the burnt black interiors with grades #00, #000, and #0000 steel-wool. It took about 20 minutes per cup, so not a real hard task. I guess I lucked out. Mine nest perfectly with no wobble or cling. I use them quite a lot. You can see them in my avatar or a big pix in the "Look at my cups" section here at Cupscon.

They are definitely not Donnie Buckley quality, but for $100.00, not a bad investment to further my cups and balls beginner's learning. I have a budget and I try to stick to it. They were offered at a price i could afford then. The biggest problem for me is that I am now spoiled by Donnie's finely crafted cups.

I'll be using the Faux PF cups and keeping them until I can no longer do the cups and balls. I do admit to liking my RNT II combo (all 3 chopped) cups much better. They are like diamonds compared to cubic-zirconium or rhinestones, which the Chinese Faux PF cups are.

They do sing pretty nice, but the copper isn't near the purity of RNT II. You can see that in the patination they acquire. RNT II cups turn a marvelous color. Faux PF cups are kind of dull with a full patina from 2 years of use. My RNT II PF minis, look glorious in comparison,

If you get bad ones from Penguin, they will exchange them if you don't wait for months and months to ask for replacements.


dsalley13

I have only seen 2 sets in real life… Brandon showed me his set which looked darn good and the other set I saw in a magic shop in which the mouth bead was off (not jagged, maybe more crocked).
As to their shape they were close to the PF DD and RNT2 PF Cups but just a hair off that you knew they were wrong. I admit that I have bad eyes and have even confused a JES Cup with a PF Cup.

Bruce

You can clean these without using steel wool. The quickest way I know is to use Tarn-X.

Work in a very well - ventilated area, because this stuff is really odiferous. It also smells bad -- simultaneously.

Get several sheets of newspaper and lay them next to your sink. Place a piece of kraft paper over it. Get your bottle of Tarn-X and uncap it. Fill the first cup with Tarn-X. Turn on the water in the sink. Put on a pair of rubber gloves.

After allowing the Tarn-X to work for a few minutes, pour about half of it into the second cup, and use a 3M green abrasive pad, scrub out the inside of cup number 1. Pour the remaining Tarn-x from the cup into cup number 2, and add Tarn-X to bring it to a full status.

Place the first cup, mouth up, underneath the tap and let the water flood out the Tarn-X. Pour about half of the Tarn-X from cup number 2 into cup number 3, and scrub the interior of cup 2 with the green pad. When it is clean, remove cup number 1 from underneath the tap, empty it and place it mouth down on the Kraft paper.  Pour the remaining Tarn-X into cup 3, and fill cup 3 the rest of the way. Allow it to sit for a few minutes then pour half of the Tarn-x that is in cup 3 into the drain. Scrub the interior of cup 3 with the green pad. When it is clean, take cup 2 out from under the tap. Place it on the Kraft paper next to cup 1.

Then scrub out cup 3 and place it under the tap. Dry the first two cups thoroughly, then pour out the water in cup 3 and dry it. Your cups should now be squeaky clean.