Vanishing Bird Cages to Avoid

Obtaining a vintage bird cage made by Charles Lindhorst (for Will Lindhorst and Gene Devoe) or Fred Rickard (for Owen Magic Supreme) or 'Yimka' (Dick Scott , for Harry Stanley's Unique Magic), or a more recent high-quality cage made by James Riser , or Chris Reesman (Encore Magic) or Daniel Summers would be ideal, but what about the less expensive cages that show up on eBay or are currently available from magic dealers ?  Your choices are usually either a Milson Worth cage or one of the Indian-made copies of the Milson Worth cage.  

The Milson Worth Silver Meteor cage was never a great design to start with  (although with some slight modifications it can be made to work ok ... or you could make major modifications as in the case of Tommy Wonder , who more or less re-built the Milson Worth cage from the ground up for his own purposes).  The Milson Worth cage was a flawed copy of a better cage that was originally made by Warren Simms.  However, I would not go quite so far as to say it is worthless or unusable as some comments on various magic forums would have you believe.  However, compared to a Lindhorst cage or Baby Lindy cage, there is no comparison. The Lindhorst or Baby Lindy design is much superior. 

Since at least the 1980's there have been cheaply made copies of the Milson Worth cage, mostly (all?) originating from India. Some are 'ok', but most are junk, especially the recent cages distributed by Murphy's Magic under the branding "Premium Magic" or "The Essel Magic".

(if it comes in a box labeled "Premium Magic" avoid it like the plague . It's junk.)At one time Sam Dahal (Sam's Magic Service of Calcutta, India) provided a fairly good cage based on the Milson Worth cage.  Sam Dahal has also done business as Electro-Fun Magic and currently as Funtime Magic.  (Sadly, the current cage supplied by Funtime Magic is NOT the same quality as the older cages from Sam's Magic Service/Electro Fun/Funtime Magic from 15 - 25 years ago.  The same metal craftsman are not always available so the quality of these cages can vary.  I think this is why you find some comments from magicians on magic forums declaring: "Those Indian-made cages are actually dangerous! I wouldn't use one if you paid me." whereas other people will say: "Well, it's not so bad, I use one and it works fine for me."  A big problem is that the Indian-made cages seem to have no quality control.  Some of the older Sam's Magic Service cages are actually pretty good, but the more recent ones have taken a turn for the worse. I write these comments based on actual experience using two older Dahal cages I picked up on eBay and also trying to use two of the recent cages , one from Premium Magic and the other from Funtime Magic (which seemed to me to be identical cages -- both equally bad -- except for the packaging).  I returned one of those cages ,  but the other one was purchased from an eBay seller who would not take a return , so I'm stuck with it. The only reason I haven't hurled it into the trash bin (yet) is to take photos of it to show how poorly made it is in comparsion with well-made cages.

The Funtime Magic cage I purchased recently was very disappointing, especially because the older cage I had from them is actually pretty good.  The currently available vanishing bird cage from Funtime Magic (distributed in the U.S.A. by EZ Magic/D.Robbins) and from Premium Magic (distributed in the U.S.A. by Murphy's Magic) , plus a third cage that is branded as "The Essel Magic" (sold by Vanishing Inc.) seem to all be the exact same poorly made cage , but with different branding/packaging and distributed by different wholesalers.  In my experience having purchased a couple of these cages (one branded Funtime Magic, the other branded Premium Magic) they are junk. Avoid them. 

The older, better quality Sam Dahal/Sam's Magic Service cages from 15 - 25 years ago, usually came in a red cardboard box like the one shown below. The instruction sheets say: "Sam's Magic Service, Calcutta".   If you can get one of these cages that has been well maintained , it's probably quite usable , with some slight modification as mentioned below.  BUT again, let's be clear:  this inexpensive Indian-made cage is NOT in the same league as a Jim Riser or  Daniel Summers "Baby Lindy". Don't expect that level of quality , but these older Sam Dahal/Sam's Magic Service cages are not bad if you can find one.

The better made Sam Dahal/Sam's Magic Service bird cages look like this:

In my opinion, these older cages from Sam Dahal actually improved on the Milson Worth cage in one way, because they are slightly larger --  5.1" x 4" x 4", compared to M-W cage 5.00" x 3.75" x 3.625"  -- and also by shortening the over-long cross-bars of the Milson Worth cage (which is the major design flaw of the Milson Worth cage).  Again, let me emphasize, this cage not in the same league as a Lindhorst cage or a Jim Riser or Daniel Summers 'Baby Lindy'  but it can be usable. 

Here's a side-by-side comparison of the Milson Worth cage and the older Dahal cage. I actually prefer the slightly larger Dahal cage.

With a decent cage you should be able to easily hold it one-handed like this: 

NOTE: the older Dahal cages I own did have some rough spots where the side cage bars are attached, but I filed down the rough spots with a metal file so they are smooth.  Once these minor modifications are done, it's actually a better cage than the Milson-Worth cage, in my opinion.  An unmodified MW cage tends to snag more frequently because the cross bars are too long (if you cut them down and file the ends smooth the MW cage works ok, but that's a lot of effort to cut down the ends and file them down so the edges are rounded.)

→ Something to be aware of is that the Sam's Magic Service bird cages came in both a left-handed version and right-handed version.  (often you see people in photos or on YouTube holding the left-handed version in the wrong orientation, with the side bars horizontal instead of vertical). Most people will prefer the right-handed version , unless they are left-handed , obviously. 

The recent Indian-made cages from Funtime Magic,  Premium Magic, and The Essel Magic (which I suspect are all made by the same sub-contractor for Funtime , Premium, and The Essel)  are much lower quality, with sharp, rough edges that can catch on your clothing or your skin. They don't stand up easily on their own and are not easy to hold with one hand. (or even two hands). I think these type of poorly made cages have probably put many magicians off ever performing the Vanishing Bird Cage because they give up on it in frustration.  They've never used a proper cage or even a 'half-way-decent-not-horrible' cage. 

Many dealer's are currently stocking this one branded as "Premium Magic" (it's certainly NOT premium quality).  Avoid this one . It's a complete waste of your time and money.   Magic dealers should be ashamed to sell this piece of junk.

(the two photos on the right side are from one of these cages that I actually own , having gotten fooled by an eBay seller who claimed they were selling a Milson Worth cage ,but this is the one I actually received!  They would not accept a return, so caveat emptor)

Almost all the online dealers are currently using this exact same photo of the cage to advertise it. This one is total junk, imo.  Don't buy it.

In North America, these junk cages are distributed by Murphy's Magic, although D.Robbins/EZ Magic also lists a vanishing birdcage made by Funtime Magic using the exact same photo.  And on Funtime Magic's own website they are using this same photo.  (it appears to be the exact same cage , just with different branding)

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But how about if you find a used Milson Worth cage in good condition for a good price ?  Is it worth it?  Does a MW cage work well?

Maybe.  Read on ...

Although many magicians say the Milson Worth cage is so flawed as to be unusable,  here are two outstanding examples of professional magicians using a vintage Milson Worth cage (circa 1970's) successfully.  

Jeff Hobson

Bill Schulert

A Lindhorst cage (left) side by side with a Milson Worth cage (right):

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Personally, after experimenting with using several different cages,  I've come to the conclusion that for me the Milson Worth cage and the better made, older Sam Dahal copy of the MW cage are not ideal, but they can be usable with careful practicing to hone the technique (the "knack") of vanishing these little cages.   It would be better to get a used  Lindhorst/Devoe cage , or used Yimka (Unique Magic) cage in good condition , or a Lindhorst-style cage of more recent vintage (by Owen Magic Supreme, Chris Reesman/Encore Magic,  James Riser, or Daniel Summers).  As of 2025 , the only person I know who is regularly supplying new cages based on the Lindhorst design (with improvements suggested by Walter Blaney) is Daniel Summers . The full size Lindhorst-style cage and the Riser "Baby Lindy" cage made by Daniel Summers are among the best cages ever made. 

BUT, if you simply can not afford a better cage and just want to play around with the vanishing bird cage , one of the older Sam Dahal cages (Sam's Magic Service,  in the red box), or a Milson Worth cage are usable. 

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Here is one other bird cage that should be avoided: The Tommy Wonder Classic Collection Vanishing Bird Cage by JM Craft.   This cage is not worth the price tag of $1195.00 even though it has the apparent endorsement or pedigree of "Tommy Wonder" attached to it.  The JM Craft cage is probably not even worth it at half that price.  For half the price ($597.00) you could certainly buy a good used Lindhorst cage or Owen cage. (I purchased my Lindhorst cage, in excellent condition, for $300).  For the full price of $1195.00 for the JM Craft cage you could probably get 2 good condition used Lindhorst or Owen cages, so you would have one working cage and a spare.  The Lindhorst design is better in every way than the JM Craft cage. 

After Tommy Wonder passed away, his estate licensed a company called JM Craft Magic to manufacture and market a few of Tommy's items. One of those items was the Vanishing Bird Cage (a Milson Worth cage) as modified by Tommy Wonder.  Performer and bird cage collector Louie Foxx purchased one of these JM Craft cages and discovered that at several key points the JM Craft cage did NOT accurately reproduce Tommy Wonder's cage, which made the JM Craft cage unusable.  This is for a cage they are charging $1195.00 to purchase !  Louie Foxx pointed out the flaws to JM Craft and although they appeared to acknowledge the mistakes and promised to send him a replacement with the problems fixed , Louie wrote on his blog: 

"JM Craft admitted they’ve made the cage incorrectly. They never sent me a replacement set as they promised two years ago, however here was my reply with the things wrong with it.  I replied with the other issues about the take-up being made wrong and parts of the cage being made backwards, so you can’t hold it properly ...  

That’s the end of our correspondence, and I never got a replacement set or even a thank you.  I have no idea if they corrected the issues or not, however I will not buy anything from their TW line as it’s not how they advertise it as being what’s in the books and are cutting corners."

It seems likely that JM Craft probably anticipated that the majority of the people purchasing this cage would be amateur magic enthusiasts who are primarily collectors of apparatus (collected as magic "toys" to be displayed on a shelf) who would never actually perform it , so they would not have noticed the inaccuracies in reproducing the cage as specified by Tommy Wonder's detailed instruction in his book. 

An interesting historical note: when Tommy Wonder set out to do the Vanishing Bird Cage effect in the late 1980's , there was much less information available about the Vanishing Bird Cage (no online magic discussion forums,  or online magic databases like Ask Alexander for doing research). Tommy Wonder must have been misinformed by whoever sold him his cage , because in his book he mistakenly wrote that he used a "Lindhorst cage", but , in fact, he used a Milson Worth cage , which he ended up extensively modifying to make it work more smoothly.  Had he obtained an actual Lindhorst cage or Lindhorst-style cage (by Owen Magic Supreme) he would not have needed to make all the modifications to the cage that he had to make to the Milson Worth cage.  The JM Craft cage was an attempted reproduction of modifications made to a Milson Worth cage by Tommy Wonder, but JM Craft muffed the job by not following his instructions accurately ... besides which there is really no need for such a cage to exist , when it would have been better to have simply come out with another cage based on the superior Lindhorst design and a properly made take-up. It was all just a marketing gimmick using the deceased Tommy Wonder's good name to sell an inferior product to magic toy collectors.  In the end it is really an insult to the memory of the great Tommy Wonder.