The date is 1974. The place is Budapest, Hungary. Erno Rubik, an admirer of geometry and 3-D forms creates the world's most perfect -- and addictive -- puzzle. More than three decades later the Rubik's cube is still one of the best selling brainteasers. Whether it was full size or the smaller keychain version almost every child had this puzzle by in 1980 when it found worldwide success. Elementary school kids were seen solving it with their feet on "That's Incredible!", conspiracy theorists believed it was an Eastern bloc tactic to distract American youth from getting an education, and Cubaholics Anonymous was formally established to help cure the compulsive need to solve it.
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| Each side is just over 2", while each sticker is about ½" square. |
For all of the hullabaloo, the Rubik’s Cube actually has a pretty straightforward premise. The faces of the cube are covered by nine stickers in six solid colors (one for each 2.25" side); when the puzzle is solved, each face is one solid color. Then you realize as you turn the rows and columns and see all the colors flash by that there are 43 quintillion possible pattern combinations (that’s 43 million millions), but just one right one. Maybe Cubaholics Anonymous wasn’t such a bad idea after all….
This Rubik’s Cube has reflective red, white, blue, yellow, green, and orange colored stickers with an official twenty-fifth anniversary sticker in the center white square. The cube is packaged in a clear hexagon box and includes a black display stand. There is also a solutions hint and game suggestion book, just in case.
