UPDATE, 9:21 a.m. Feb. 2: As a result of our working with eBay, the auctions will be relisted, but they will start over, meaning that all bids will be lost.

For those of you who had already bid, we realize that is a frustrating answer. Trust us, everyone behind the scenes at Ellusionist is frustrated about this situation. Without going into detail, we feel we were treated unprofessionally by the auction site. However, the auction is for an important reason, and we are going to see it through. Again, thanks for your patience, and we’ll let everyone know when the items are back up for auction.

UPDATE, 9 a.m. Feb. 2: We were informed this morning by eBay that the auctions have become too valuable for our account. The company pulled our auction items this morning. Our staff is working right now to get the items back up and running, with all bids restored. We will update this page with more information as we get it.

Thanks for your patience in this matter, guys. We are working hard to make sure your generosity doesn’t go to waste.

An opportunity to snag some of Ellusionist’s rare items will benefit the American Red Cross and help the people of Haiti recover from a devastating earthquake.

We’ve placed some of our more rare items up for bids in a special eBay fundraising auction. 100 percent of the proceeds will go to the American Red Cross Haiti Relief Fund. The items up for auction include five 1st ed. Black Ghost decks, three uncut sheets of the 1st ed. Black Ghost deck and the ultra-new, ultra-rare Red Arcane Porper Clip.

You already know how rare the Black Ghost decks are. Our supply of the run of 5,000 has dwindled over the years, so opportunities to snag them will decrease. The same goes for the uncut sheets: As rare as the decks are, the sheets are even more rare.

As for the red clips: There are only 50 in existence. They are exactly like the silver and gun-metal clips, only they come in a dark red color. They are every bit as durable and functional as any Porper Clip — they will keep your cards flat, crisp and ready to go. Also, even though the hole is cut to match the Arcane ace perfectly, the aces on other deck boxes aren’t too far off the mark. This auction will be the first chance that ANYONE has had to get one of the red clips.

You can find auctions for each of the items below. Your participation will go a long way toward helping Haitians recover and get back to normal lives.

• Red Arcane Porper Clip
• 1st Ed. Black Ghost Uncut Sheet No. 1
• 1st Ed. Black Ghost Uncut Sheet No. 2
• 1st Ed. Black Ghost Uncut Sheet No. 3
• 1st Ed. Black Ghost Deck No. 1
• 1st Ed. Black Ghost Deck No. 2
• 1st Ed. Black Ghost Deck No. 3
• 1st Ed. Black Ghost Deck No. 4
• 1st Ed. Black Ghost Deck No. 5

Last year at Ellusionist.com, we held our annual holiday giveaway and contest. The grand prize was a race-through-the-digital-aisles, take all you can grab in 5 minutes shopping spree. The lucky winner: Kyle C. Olson, of Pass Christian, Miss. What did he pick up? Just see for yourself:

His spree landed him $650 worth of merchandise from Ellusionist’s shelves. Because his Internet wasn’t very fast, we gave him an extra minute and threw a couple of bricks of cards in for him at the end. Congratulations!

Either Justin Robert Young just likes looking at pageant queens, or he is a magic genius. We suspect the latter. The editor of iTricks posted the below picture with the headline, “Guess the trick that got this reaction.” Go ahead, play his game. Click the picture of Lance Burton working magic on some lovelies. Read Young’s post, follow his links and prepare to be humbled.

The answer will no doubt serve as a reminder of something you know in your heart: What you think is jaw-dropping magical and what your spectators think is jaw-dropping magical may be completely different. As we continue to talk about what constitutes a hard hitting trick, we would be wise to keep that in mind.

Thanks, Justin. You rock. All of a sudden, we are quite suspicious that your pass is pretty freakin’ incredible.

The rest of us can keep the discussion going in this thread on the forums.

It’s been a while — too long — since we posted a Next Level podcast, so we made sure to find a good one this time around.

Lee Asher has been blowing minds all over the world. He recently returned from an incredible lecture tour in Japan, and has created some of the most dizzying, deceptive sleight of hand today. We’ll put it this way: Virtually every magician I have interviewed mentions his Diving Board Double as one of their favorite double lifts.

His skill comes from his research background. Asher has read a tremendous amount of magic literature, learned from it and written many of his own works. He talked to us about that very topic in this edition of The Next Level — he discusses what kind of books he likes to read, how he breaks down a book and why there is no such thing as a bad magic book.

Download

Keep an eye on this space over the weekend: I have some outtakes about Asher’s book collection and plans for 2010 that are too good to leave on the cutting room floor.

You can’t keep a good magician down. Beating delays caused by bad binding, Wayne Houchin’s new project is in our hands, and it is beautiful.

Sinful: A Graphic Novel goes a step beyond the Sinful you learned back in the day — the original coin through soda can that helped make Criss Angel legendary. Drawn by artist Josh Funk, the book re-imagines a performance of the effect at a fictional club, then goes into incredible detail to teach the effect — including new ideas, alternate moves and a rare look into the creative process. The book also comes with a DVD that features new performance footage and an interview between Wayne and legendary close-up magician Paul Harris.

Get your copy quickly. Sinful: A Graphic Novel is going to be a great addition to your library.