Thread: Anyone purchased a shamadan from Ebay??

Hi Ladies,

There are a few sellers on Ebay that sell Shamadans from Egypt. Does anyone know about the quality of them?

I'm thinking of buying one as I'm in the market to buy one but they are hard to find :(

Any info would be helpful. Thanks!!
xo
Loulou

Most Shemadans from Egypt are crap - and a few are "decent". I have yet to see one that I'd consider "exceptional". There are some "exceptional" ones out there, mostly from Germany that no-one sells in the US, blah, blah.

With all this said, an Egyptian Shemadan can be a "good enough" dance prop - just be prepared to do some tweaking, re-shaping, fixing and fussing with it for a bit. Use Dr. Scholl's "Mole Foam" to line the headband, and decorate to your heart's content!

Thanks Zorba!

Any suggestions of where else I could buy one online? I'm in Toronto.

xo
Loulou

I bought one from e-bay, I think the seller was faro21 or something like that? It was pretty much the same crappy quality I saw all over Egypt, as Zorba describes. Surely someone carries better quality ones, but I don't know who it is.

Candi Rakscandi recommended permanently attaching the arms with nail glue. That was a BRILLIANT suggestion and has saved my life.

Originally Posted by loulou

Thanks Zorba!

Any suggestions of where else I could buy one online? I'm in Toronto.

xo
Loulou

That's kind of the problem, they're all pretty much the same thing - make your best deal, then re-build the darn thing. I got tired of it, and made my own from scratch.

Originally Posted by loulou

Thanks Zorba!

Any suggestions of where else I could buy one online? I'm in Toronto.

xo
Loulou

That's kind of the problem, they're all pretty much the same thing - make your best deal, then re-build the darn thing. I got tired of it, and made my own from scratch.

I bought at least half a dozen shamadan till I got one that worked,then I discovered the nail glue solution and have now sorted any I might use. I have 3 all varying heights. I have bought from eBay but the company I bought from doesn't sell them anymore. I bought 8 to use in workshops that I teach. I strongly recomend fixing any shamadan you buy from eBay together permanently and making sure the headpiece fits you securely. I always take the existing padding out and replace with fabfoam.
The ones that have arms that screw in are easiest to fix up. Good luck I love shamadan its a real crowd pleaser.

Thanks a lot ladies!
I appreciate all the great info. I'll take my chance then with Ebay and make use of my fix-it skills ;)
XO
Loulou