A ton of posts about and clowns who manipulate:

Scarves, Balls, Clubs, Cigar Boxes, Devil Sticks, Flower Sticks, Poi, Hats, and Diabolos.

I'm just wondering if there is anyone else here that stacks dice or use Astrojax?

Both are relatively inexpensive. You can get a basic Astrojax for a few bucks and a set of dice and cup (outside of a yahtzee box) for $10-12. A used set of casino dice is the way to go and they're only around $5. Pretty much any type of tumbler would work and you can find something that has a "professional" look easy enough. Both can be turned into an act that on a budget but doesn't look like a dollar store magic show.

Anyone here try one or the other?

i ahve tried to stack dice using a yatzee set lol so what is it about the casino set that makes them the best please offer some incite and does the tumbler have to be completely straight? i noticed on the yatzee tumbler that the bottom has a lip and figured that was a a big problem for trying to set the dice down and have them stay standing

Just the quality of the dice. Think of them as prop rather than just dice that you'd use in a game or such. Just like quality clubs and diabolos perform better than lower end varieties, the same is true with the dice you want to use in stacking.

Casino dice are crisp. No rounded edges and they're generally level, which allows them to stack without gaps between them that may cause the stack to be unstable. A Yahtzee cup would probably work with a better set of dice but you can buy a "dice stacking kit" from Todd Strong that has cancelled casino dice and a cup, for around $12 at his webpage here (http://toddstrong.com/dicestacking.php).

A lot of resources on his page it seems but I've never bothered with a DvD or Book. I may at some point, but there is so much on YouTube all ready, that I'd have to see or hear something impressive about his instructional materials before I'd put more cash into it.

AstroJax! Only because I was an Astro Boy fan as a kid did this catch my attention. Found them on clearance and bought a bunch. One of my kids got into them a bit with me. I used them preshow one season. Though they are fun and a wonderful skill development, they really are not much of a crowd pleaser. Haven't played with mine in a year.
One of my sons buddies who is a natural at all manip skills loves the AJ. Every skill I introduce him to only takes him a day to be functional. Within a week hes surpassed me. The first thing I opened the doors to him was unicycles. He now is a cross country dirt extrema unicyclist surpassing even my wildest exception of skill. He's currently working on a uni back flip. Anyway, when I showed him AstroJax, he flipped them around and handed them back. He could have cared less about them.
Have two new toys I'm playing with this fall; Razor Sole and Yo-Be

Depends on the show I guess. I've seen AJ performers who were brilliant and had the crowd from the moment they started. Like all the others, I imagine its how its presented to the audience. AJs have been around a long time, but the play with them has really evolved recently. They're a quality prop if given attention.

I haven't seen much use from Razor Soles but really haven't looked for it either. I use to be a skater as a kid and they remind me of the mini-boards that tried to get in on the action in the late 80s but never amounted to much.

Jolly Well, you said something that stimulates some thoughts. Depends on the show I guess. I've seen AJ performers who were brilliant and had the crowd from the moment they started. Like all the others, I imagine its how its presented to the audience
First, correctly stated, anything can be entertaining at the right time in front of the right audience by the right performer.
Secound, certain things just don't entertain well. AstroJax are one of them. Tuba's are another. Necrophiliac Comedy is another.As there is an exception to every rule, I am sure at some point some performer has put some of the most odd, wildest, bizarre talents before an audience and entertained them. Remember William Hung? How about the OJ Simpson chase and trial? But, generally, certain things don't become mainstream entertainment acts. Face it, in the novelty entertainment hierarchy (possible order is) mummers, story tellers, mimes, clowns, then jugglers. Then comes impressionist ventriloquist, magicians, and hypnotist. Accordion players, Cello soloist and Mongolaian throat singers don't even make the list but I've seen them be entertaining.
(One of my favorite acts saw at Club Renegade, The All Nude Accordion Review.)
There is always a possiblility that an individual will pick up one of these odd arts and have the magical ability to truly make it entertainment. Jeff Dunham's ventriloquism, Harpo and his harp and Leon Redbone are a few examples.
That is the reason I continually seek out new forms of novelty entertainment items, learn them AND offer them to my audience. Perhaps one of those 300,000 kids I perform before annually will latch onto the art and run with it. (Such a thing happened and the kid toured with his own yo-yo show for a year and is now working in Vegas as a juggler.)
There are reasons certain arts are not generally entertaining. Sometimes the audience does not grasp the complicated skill set required to demonstrate the art. Devil Sticks and Diabolos certainly fall into that lack luster understanding. Most manipulation art requires thousands of hours of practice, rehearsal and muscle memory training and that simply can not be showcased on stage for the audiences appreciation. Some art just isn't romantic or engaging enough to regularly, as a solo engage an audience, like a tuba. And sometimes the subject of the act is so narrowly focus that only a minuscule party of a single percentage of the population even knows about the context as in an Armonica player. Or such a non socially acceptable act such as Frenchman Joseph Pujol.
There are no pros in the entertainment world. Just novices who have done nothing longer than others for the pleasure of a few.

I have an astro jack set sitting on my desk. I play with it every once and a while. I had not really though about using it in shows.

As for the dice there was a retired onearm magician from Argentina that did a phnominal routine with dice. even though he was a Magician he made them just around just for fun during a close up routine that he ws doing. It was really neat. I cannot remember his name.

I love google. The guy's name is Rene Lavand, I could not find that bit on Youtube. It was just something that he was doing between two other tricks.

This is a routine he does with a tea cup and three corn pops I think they are. No one else did a routine like this one before. And though it is simplicity itself it was still mesmerising.

YouTube - René Lavand - Cup and Ball Routine (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqzkGEvOOTc)