I was at the Union Square market in September and watched this guy in action a couple times (he takes 2-3 minutes to run through his entire spiel and demonstration-- which is incredibly impressive-- then sells about 20 of them, then repeats)... he sells the peeler for $5 (or 5 for $20, I think) and it's a Swiss-made Star brand peeler that you can find on eBay for around $3-$4, but then you have to pay shipping.
The actual peeler is very sharp and well-designed, but it's not magical-- he just happens to be incredibly good at wielding it on huge amounts of potatoes and carrots. Also, he has something of a reality distortion field...
I just used one of his peelers to peel apples for an apple pie for thanksgiving. I have no idea if it is any better than your average peeler, but it works great for me ;) He has an amusing line if you only buy one - "one for the man with no friends." I think I'm going to buy a few of these and send them off to some ex-New Yorkers I know. They make great memorabilia for those in the know ;)
The guy is amazing - I took out my money before he was even done with the presentation. Then realizing what I had done, I stayed to watch more presentations to see how he did what he did......long story short....I ended up buying another peeler!
The actual peeler is very sharp and well-designed, but it's not magical-- he just happens to be incredibly good at wielding it on huge amounts of potatoes and carrots. Also, he has something of a reality distortion field...