I had one and really liked it. Then the Cuttlebug came out. I sold my Wizard and all of its accessories on eBay, bought the Cuttlebug and have no regrets. (I like the small size and weight of the CB.) What's kind of funny is that my favorite thing to do with the Wizard was smash bottle caps. I have hundreds of them -- and I have YET to actually use them for anything!
I haven't tried to do this with the CB mainly because I don't have any left to smash.
There's a Yahoo Group for the Wizard.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Spellbinders-Wizard/
Maybe you could join that to read up on the Wizard a bit before you buy it. Also, you might run across someone selling there's for pretty cheap. I found one for my friend for around $75 shipped with all of the extra accessories.
The only problem that I really had with the Wizard was that my hand/wrist hurt after using it for making a large quantity of cuts, etc.
The size (for me) made this something that I couldn't leave out on my stamping desk. The weight made me rethink if I really wanted to use it for a specific project because I would have to take it off the shelf. My CB sits on a little shelf on top of my desk so I see it and want to use it.
Also, most local stores don't carry replacement mats for it. Stores like Michaels, etc., don't carry anything from Spellbinders.
Price? I think I had paid a little over $100 for the Wizard. I paid $39.99 for the CB at Michael's using a 50% off Joann coupon. The $60 difference could mean quite a few CB items like the embossing folders, etc. You can also use all of the other dies (including the Spellbinders) with the CB.
But, that being said, it is virtually indestructible since it is all metal. I like the purple color! I've read that some people have broken their Wizard, but I think that is such a small number. That info was from the Yahoo Group that I had belonged to.
So.... My opinion would be to research
all of the other machines out there and consider the following:
- Price
- Size/Weight
- Availability of replacement items
Kimberly
PS. I also had the Sizzix before the Wizard and found the size/weight issue to be a problem as well. I also had the Zip'Emate machine too but found it was just so big and bulky.
wizard
