Late last year we travelled to the States, to attend the New York Coming Out conference. Whilst there, we discovered a number of incredibly innovative companies who are dedicated to improving the lives of trans people through the development of their products.

One such company was Reelmagik. Originally created in the early 2000s the company began life by offering film quality, special effects prosthetics and Halloween masks to the general public. Using foam latex, gelatin, and silicone, Reelmagik quickly gained a reputation for its extremely detailed sculpting and realistic colour variation.

When a friend approached the company with a very special assignment, it would steer them in an altogether new direction.

We spoke to Jesse Melchior, President and CEO, about the company’s origins and how their expertise was to create something the likes of which had never before been seen by the trans community.

“In late September of 2009, a close friend of mine who is trans masculine contacted me and asked if I would be able to create an extremely realistic looking and feeling penile prosthetic for them.

“At the time, options for this type of product were limited and there weren’t any products on the market that featured the realism that my friend was looking for. I was excited to help and began experimenting with materials and techniques that I would have normally employed for the special effects film products I had been creating for years.

“After a few months of testing, the silicone pack-n-play prosthetic, that our company is now known for, was born! My friend was delighted and insisted that I offer this product to the public, to help others who were in need of something to relieve their dysphoria.

“We pioneered many of the standard features of pack-n-play prosthetics that other companies have since adopted, such as Free-Floating Movable Testicles and Full 3D Scrotum, Soft Movable Foreskin, and the Flex Rod. Our unique Gravity Funnel and No-Drip Lip have made our Stand To Pee prosthetic the most popular in its class!

“We initially made a separate page on the website for the 6” model that we still offer today, due to its continuing popularity. We quickly received a huge amount of interest in the product, and a number of requests for additional sizes. With enthusiasm for the product increasing each day, we decided to split the website in half and dedicate a major section of it to meet the needs of our trans masculine audience.

“We soon introduced two additional sizes (the 4.5” and the 8”), and not long after, we released our hugely popular Stand To Pee Model. Since 2013 we have been steadily adding more models, sizes, and types of prosthetics to Reelmagik and have slowly moved away from the Halloween prosthetics and masks, while building an entirely new website in order to focus fully on our FTM lineup.

“We remain a small, incredibly passionate business. We have been impacted by Covid-19, which has delayed some of our planned releases, but our LGBTQI+ team is incredibly dedicated, so we hope to recover quickly. Keep an eye on our website for some brand new, never before seen, products for the trans and non-binary communities!”

You can see – and feel – Reelmagik products at Philly Pride, DC Pride, the Trans Health Conference and many more (when these events reopen). For a sneak preview click on the images below.

Featured image by Jose Antonio Gallego Vázquez on Unsplash