From: LarryH49@aol.com
Date: Mon, 28 Oct 1996 16:26:53 -0500
To: balloon@fooledya.com
Subject: Review Marvin Hardy Advanced 260Q figures

Balloon Magic Advanced 260Q Figures
1996 by Marvin Hardy, 102 pages
A bit costlier than other balloon books but worth the money.   

This book has intermediate to advanced figures using 260Q balloons.  The
photos and narrative are similar the revised Balloon Magic 260Q figures. The
book is spiral bound so it will lie flat for reference while your hands are
occupied with twisting. The photos are black and white with a color cover.
 The poodle on a plane is on the front cover and the mermaid is on the back
cover.
As usual with Marvin’s books, the figures are well-detailed and use pinch
twists to perfect the placement of the components.   Marvin will also use
bubbles of contrasting colors to accentuate the features of the figures and
add the details that make good sculptures exceptional.
Although I haven’t made many sculptures from the book, I learned some
techniques of using colors that will be useful and like many learned
techniques can be used elsewhere.  For example I make a similar mermaid and a
one-balloon astronaut.  Marvin includes more detail on the mermaid and uses
three balloons on the astronaut solely to provide a different color and a
clear helmet.  I also learned that poodles can fly airplanes – I already knew
that beagles could fly.
The book is sprinkled with hints and suggested comments to use when giving
the balloons out.  My only suggestion for improvement would be to include at
the beginning of each figure materials needed such as two 260Q of different
colors or 1 260Q part of another color 260 and part of a clear 260Q. 
The figures in the book are:
1 balloon butterfly, 2 balloon butterfly, humming bird, penguin, cockatiel,
owl
star, starfish, anchor, one finger knot, seagull, flamingo, mermaid
panther, rhinoceros, gorilla, poodle on a motorcycle, poodle in airplane,
brontosaurus, tyrannosaurus rex
buccaneer sword, guitar, vacuum cleaner, ball and shooter, boutonniere,
grapes, earrings and ring, airplane - twin engine, and astronaut

-Larry Hirsch-