I started this blog in 2010 to make an accounting of my collecting and puzzling travels. Since 2017 that small collection has developed into a museum. Our travels are now together. I am joined by my husband and puzzle prototyper George Miller. We shall endeavor to entertain the random reader with highlights from Puzzle Palace and snippets of our adventures together.
On the seventh day of Christmas my true love sent to me,
7 Eric Fuller's
6 Tony Fisher's
5 Richard Hess'
4 Mr. Fok's
3 Da Yans
2 Brian Young's
And Stickman in a pine tree.
Eric Fuller is the brains (and the brawn) behind cubic dissection. If you haven't been over there, now's the time to go look. Eric is a builder extraordinaire and another all around great guy! What's not to love about this guy, he's big, he's brawny, he's an amazing builder, he loves a good cigar, and he's ex-service. What a dude!
I have passed the bull with Eric for a while now, but it wasn't until this past IPP that I finally got to meet him. I must say, I completely enjoyed the time I spent with him and look forward to doing it again.
Over the past few years I've gotten a few puzzles made by Eric and I haven't been disappointed by any of them. They truly are lovely pieces of wood that just so happen to form a puzzle. I've blogged about one or two in passing and am sure once I open the others I've bought from him I'll blog about them as well. :) Head over to cubic dissection to see what he has to offer, then snap one up. You won't be sorry!
On the sixth day of Christmas my true love sent to me,
6 Tony Fisher's
5 Richard Hess'
4 Mr. Fok's
3 Da Yans
2 Brian Young's
And Stickman in a pine tree.
The one puzzler that is allowed into my collection of men that I have yet to meet....Such a sad thing for me.
I've known Tony via the internet for many years now and simply love his dry humor. I look forward to meeting him one of these years and keep looking for an excuse to get to the UK so I can do just that.
I've known about this Mr. Fisher for many many years and can vaguely remember getting excited when he first got an account on TP back in 2005! Imagine, the king of handmade puzzle transformations himself wanted to join our little forum!
Ok, enough cheekiness Tony really is a fantastic builder. He's had a number of his designs mass produced by Meffert's and can be seen over on PuzzleMaster as well. He even has his own webpage for you to drool over.
I've no photos of Tony because I've not met him. (that makes sense right???) I'll link you to my nesting cubes though. Over the years I've been lucky enough to get his sliding pucks as well as a miniature golden cube. There are a few more in my pile, but typical Rox can't remember any of them.
His creations are a bit costly, but they are worth every twisting moment.
Sorry Tony, no photo, but I'm so loooking forward to the day I meet you for real and up close and personal! Until then, I'll stick to the silly messages and droll posts. :)
Mine is the one in the middle (Photo courtesy of Tony Fisher)
As a non-puzzle related note, Happy New Year All! If you go out tonight, stay safe. Hand over your car keys and don't even think about drinking and driving.
On the fifth day of Christmas my true love sent to me,
5 Richard Hess'
4 Mr. Fok's
3 Da Yan's
2 Brian Young's
And Stickman in a pine tree.
I had the pleasure of meeting Dick in Japan 3 years back and have spent many a pleasant moment in conversation with him. He has a great way with kids as well. Katherine loved playing math games with him over a beer in Berlin. He had her (and me) stumped on more than one occasion.
Dick is a long time puzzle collector. But more importantly for this series of posts, he's also a long time designer of puzzles. Reading back in time he's designed many different kinds of puzzles but I would have to guess that he's best known for his wire puzzles. I've no idea how many puzzles Dick has designed, but I'm sure it is many many. I seem to run into his name at many different puzzle shops. For starters, Dick has a number of them on Puzzlemaster. The prices range from $10 to $12.
Dick wrote a "Compendium of Wire Puzzles" and I've heard tell it has over 10,000 different wire puzzles in it. That in itself is a feat. I can only imagine the amount of research that went into writing that book. Mind, a lot of the puzzles in it are his own designs. I can't wait to see what he has in store for us in the future. I'm sure there will be many more to come. Kevin wrote up about a few of them over on his blog. Go take a look and enjoy!
On the fourth day of Christmas my true love sent to me,
4 Mr. Fok's
3 Da Yan's
2 Brian Young's
And Stickman in a pine tree.
I met Mr. Fok way way way back in 2009. Ok, not so far back in terms of real years, but in puzzle years it's an awful lot. My very first time to meet him Smaz, Luckystar, and I went on a factory trip. I never said, but I think enough time has gone past now that I can say the visit was with Mr. Fok (Mf8) and that the puzzle was the crazy 4x4x4. Wow do I feel better now that that secret is off my chest.
Mr. Fok is another of those gentle quiet men that I like so much. He's incredibly bright and very hard working. He'll join us for dinner and a short puzzling time, but then he's right back to the warehouse designing and building and doing what ever else it is he does. I'd love to show you a photo of him, but we have all sworn upon the threat of never getting another puzzle again that we will never show his face.
Instead, I'll give you two of the early puzzles that he is responsible for designing. See, there was a time when Mf8 didn't exist...and Ultraman did! Fun little puzzles that are a 2x2x2. If you can find one, I would say grab it just for a piece of Mf8 history.
On the third day of Christmas my true love sent to me,
3 Da Yan's
2 Brian Young's
And Stickman in a pine tree.
Da Yan as the world knows him
Anyone who has followed this blog or my posts over on Twisty Puzzles knows I rank Da Yan up there as one of the best puzzle makers around. I also am pleased to count him as a good friend. I first met Da Yan in 2010 and I've adored him since day one.
Da Yan as I know and love him
I have many of his puzzles on my shelves. Not all, because that would just be greedy. The ones I do have are mostly signed and have been gifts from him since the very beginning. I've bought a complete set of his 3x3x3's over the years but to be honest, I can't tell them apart (no one tell on me please!) The Gems I absolutely love. They are a puzzle that I can solve without much confusion. I would have to guess that these are the ones that started me liking Da Yan so much. A naive little puzzler offered to have Uwe look at them...
He's been around making puzzles for quite some time now, but it seems that the west only learned of him around 2009. In that (in)famous photo of his (top left) you can see a corn puzzle. He made that from a kids toy. It now resides in Kowloon Bay in a puzzle shop I also greatly enjoy going to. If I remember right (and I'm sure I don't) he made that around 2006 or 2007...
When out hunting for a photo of Da Yan, I came across his website. It seems to be very recently opened. here's hoping he keeps it up.
If you haven't heard of him, or haven't got one of his twisties in your collection, go climb out from under your rock and get one!
On the second day of Christmas my true love sent to me,
2 Brian Young's
And Stickman in a pine tree.
Day Two. Brian Young, aka Mr. Puzzle has brought-or should I say sent-me more puzzles than I care to admit to. A few years back when the Aussie dollar was at a lower rate, he was my puzzle shop of choice. Even though the exchange rate is higher and the shipping is a bit, Brian sells some pretty unique puzzles you won't find any where else. It's still worth the extra little bit to shop from there.
Brian builds some pretty amazing puzzles. Three of his that are reasonably priced that I have are The Washington Monument, A Plugged Well, and Houdini's Torture Cell. All of these have been exchange puzzles, but are still available (for a price) on his webpage and in other places. If you can get your hands on one, jump! Neil wrote about the Monument, Allard and Jeff discuss A Plugged Well, and Oli and Jerry wrote about Houdini.
Brian also built the Cricket bat that everyone raves about. He's entered numerous design competitions and even Won! He's always got a smile on his face and you can hear his laughter a mile away. Brian makes puzzling fun, and to make a business out of it....My dream!
Too bad Sue is such a great lady, I'd sneak in and give him a hug and kiss just for being so great...or maybe I should give it to her! She's one of those puzzling wives that carries around a Rubik's cube bag! It doesn't get any better than that does it!
On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me
A Stickman in a pine tree.
Stickman. What a builder! I can't say anything other than that. Robert Yarger is such an amazing puzzle box builder that you need to have at least one of his puzzles in your collection. I'm so impressed by his work that he just had to be my number one puzzler this Christmas!
I first became aware of Stickman puzzles quite a while back. I saw this chess set that tickled my fancy. Then I saw the price it sold for at auction and decided it could keep on tickling me I would never be able to afford a Stickman. Looking back, I see they have gone for anywhere between $1100 and $1750. Over the years the price has remained pretty constant. Better than most puzzles which don't seem to hold their value until you get a crazy collector who just has to have it. Allard has blogged about it here.
I met Robert (aka Stickman) this past year at IPP. He is an amazing bloke! Very quiet, very humble, but oh so talented! Some of the puzzles he makes are truly astounding. Over a cigar I managed to sweet talk him into selling me a "Little Game Hunter" I really love this puzzle and am so glad I convinced him I had to have it.
I have managed to find a small list of some of his boxes at the bottom of this page. Over on the wiki there is a more filled out listing of his collection but there are still a few missing.
If you are simply interested in his work, there is a puzzle book that he's put together. You can get a copy of it over at cubic dissection. Eye candy to an extreme!
If you happen to come across a stickman at auction that fits within your price range, JUMP ON IT! If you don't, you'll regret it.
Today I'm bringing you the 3 newest puzzles from Mefferts: Jade Chopsticks, Gear Ball and Nautilus.
Each of these puzzles has just been released and are being shipped out these past two weeks. If you ordered one, you should be able to get it soon if you haven't already. Ok, enough of the messages from Uwe.
The first is the Jade Chopstics. I had the joy of playing with this puzzle at least 2 years ago. Ola has mentioned that it's been in the works for over 3 years, and to be honest, I wondered if it would ever be produced. Hanayama picked it up a few years back, but to be perfectly honest, they didn't do as good a job as Meffert's did and that's not because we are friends. There are a few differences, first the Hanayama is a 1x2x5 where as the Meffert's version is a 1x2x9. Meffert's has curved edges, and it's got some lovely designs running around the outside. He got the 'jade club' words along the outside designed by John Langdon, and the puzzle was named by yours truly. I just wish Uwe would have had it done in the painted plastic as he did for the first of the Jade puzzles. (Bug showed me a new program for taking photos so since it's christmas, I'm playing!)
The second puzzle is the Nautilus. This one first came out on TP way back in 2009. Tim Selkirk was the designer and sometime during that year Geert Hellings got his hands on one and showed it to Uwe...or told Uwe about it. Mid-2010 Uwe started asking for the address or email of Tim. I couldn't help because he'd been off line for a while and I sadly didn't have a nautilus. Eventually the two got in touch and we now have a new puzzle. I said it before, and I'll say it again, it's a great puzzle to add to your collection. I love the look of it. The rainbow is fantastic! The color is just the best! it's such a girly puzzle. There are 7 colored bits on it and each of the seven segments of the outer layer move. It's a bandaged puzzle. The inner layer though has only one place that can turn. It's like a square one, but it doesn't change positions of the pieces as much as the square 1 does. It also reminds me of morph. It's actually a harder puzzle to mess up than to solve. When you do manage to mess it up, it doesn't take a lot to solve it. It can be done by intuition.
Last up tonight is the gear ball. Uwe gives credit to Oskar for the design of it, but Oskar says he only made the gear concept. :) funny arguement to have. "I DIDN'T make it" usually it's the otherway around. The gear ball is a dream to turn. It just spins in your fingers. Basically it's the gear cube with rounded edges and some little bumps added to help you turn it. I've really nothing much to say about this puzzle except the puzzle in video link has no lube inside it. It's all puzzle!
All of the puzzles above can be purchased on Meffert's.
Enjoy, Thanks for tollerating my Christmasy type photos this week, and don't forget to come back on the 26th for the 12 days of Christmas, Roxanne style.
Last weekend I was in Guangzhou for a conference and you know me and GZ. You also know me and conferences. I have to meet up with some puzzlers!
Well, what a trip that was! I was with three other ladies on the team and we had a blast! The conference was really hard work. Honest it was. I'm not used to THAT Chinese accent so I had to work to understand. Since there weren't that many westerners there....the keynote, a workshop presenter and myself, I did everyone a favor and left before dinner.
One of our team attended the same university we were speaking at so she had friends there we met up with. We girls did a bit of shopping in a place called Redtory. (I refrained from buying the RMB 4500 painting I really liked-but did pick up a bit of jewelry). While there, I called Ming to arrange a dinner. AJ was to meet us. By the time AJ called, we were already over at the North gate and he was at the South. Now this was a hoot! We were less than 2k away and AJ just thought it was too far! He just finished the GZ marathon in November! Lazy!
Didn't matter. We met up later in the CBD and then headed over to meet Mr. Fok for dinner. When I met the boys my team was shocked! Hugs and kisses around as always. Those girls just aren't used to Rox.
Well after a bit of a mess, we finally got to say Hi to Mr. Fok and the teacher. Aj stayed behind to play with toys and off I went with Ming for dinner and a bit of puzzling. Ming gave me a few chocolate puzzles and I gave him the newest Hanayama. It was a good trade I think. We only spent a few hours together, but it was heavenly as always! Thank you Ming and AJ and Mr. Fok.
Now my friends all think I'm a real geek with my puzzles and I don't mind that, but Look what I got them to do! Solve puzzles. Winnie and Tiffany went together to solve the ABC puzzle. My RA Gwen managed it all on her own. Michelle made an attempt, but she didn't quite make it. (She later solved the keys I gave her the following week along with the double s) I'm so proud of them all. All in all, it was a great little meet up!
Toy: a material object for children or others to play with (often an imitation of some familiar object); a plaything; also, something contrived for amusement rather than for practical use.
-the Oxford English Dictionary
Well, today's puzzles certainly fit that bill. Imitations of other items, and something designed for amusement.
I've got two from Vesa, one from Puzzle Master and one from Derek Bosch.
Shapeways had their annual sales recently and once again I took advantage of them. I really don't like the feel of these things, but over the years they have gotten less gritty so I thought what the heck and put in an order. Now I frequent a number of forums, and thought what the heck, I'll get them in white, buy some dye and color them myself....famous last words....
I'm not at the level of Cantonese where I can just go out into a shop and ask for dye. After many trials with this, I gave up and went for a different tactic. I tried food coloring! That I have plenty of. The results were mixes to say the least! My yellow was orange, my green was yellow, my blue was pink(!) and my red was, well, red. So maybe food coloring isn't the best of puzzle dyes. But someone had to try it!
So on to the puzzles. First, I got two from Vesa: a breakfast egg and an onion. I've looked at these two for years now but always just passed them by. Well this time around I hit the purchase button and I'm glad I did. The egg is four pieces and the object is of course to put them together. It's a nifty little thing, but it is easy to spot the solution for it just by looking. To solve it I had to assemble it without the yolk (or orange?) just to loosen up the pieces a bit. A one minute puzzle but fun none the less. The onion is made of six pieces and a tad bit harder to solve but not very much harder. This one was a two minute puzzle I'd guess. These two I didn't purchase for the puzzling factor, but rather for their appearance. Vesa has designed an orange as well which Hanayama has mass produced under the name of Globe Ball. It's hard to come by now, but if you can find one its a great little puzzle as well.
On to the torpedoes. Now this one I have many different versions of. After quite a long discussion about this the other day, I decided to buy yet another version. I'm sure I got it from Bits and Pieces during their last sale. 25% off AND free shipping! I'm in. I'll have to check the packaging again, but I'm pretty sure it's a Puzzle Master product. At any rate, it's listed as an 8/10 and that about sums it up. It's not as easy as the hedgehog and not as difficult as trying to get one of those birds out.
My last puzzle today is Derek's tubular burr. What a hoot that one is. I've sat here grinding away at it for the past three hours off and on and have managed to get. Nowhere yet. I see what it needs to do, I just can't get it to do it without looking. It's not a "by feel" puzzle. Well, at least it hasn't been for me. It's only a three piece puzzle and the object as always is simple, put the pieces in and take them back out again. What could be easier? (A lot of things, believe me!) This one would be a fantastic puzzle for the magpie in me! I'd love to see it made of silver and gold. Shiny smooth metal bits would make it even better fun!
This one is a bit odd. When I colored it, it got a bit 'squishy' I'm not sure if it is meant to be that way, but I can tell the area between the walls of the barrel bit are hollow. It still plays, but I'm afraid ill deform it if I squeeze too hard.
So back to my start. Toy: a material object for children or others to play with (often an imitation of some familiar object); a plaything; also, something contrived for amusement rather than for practical use. I think that definition holds. And today, we've had all three. Although I'd argue that helping me maintain my sanity through 5 hours of low level speakers is a very very practical use for a toy!
Before I start this blog I want to thank the owner of ARTELUDES and Kevin for helping me get her shipped to Hong Kong.
Ok, I know that's a bit creepy...so instead I'll say you invest in another Berrocal.
Much like Michelle, Maria has been unloved. The previous owner cared so little for her that he lost the locking piece. Her left leg. Poor Maria is an amputee. What a disastrous thing to have happen! (If anyone out there reading this would like to make me an impression of your locking mechanism, I'd be forever grateful, or if you know of how I can request a replacement piece...) He also loved it so much he tossed the book that comes with her. Now I ask you, does a person like that deserve such a thing?
When I pulled her out of the box, the first thing I noticed was that the chrome was pitted in spots. She is well and truly scratched up and dirty! She definitely needs a bit of TLC. Maria consists of 23 pieces and has a chrome covering. Her number is 1992/10000. Not too bad a year really. I was well and truly in love with my husband by then. So I think I'll keep her around for a tad bit longer, just as I did him.
I've been sitting here trying to work out what the first piece is to remove and I finally got it. Her buttocks! They are so caked with dirt though that I'll need to use a rubber spatula type thing to get it apart. Looks like a job for a testing day. No way! I'm crazy, but not that much so. Instead, I'll spend the evening disassembling and cleaning her as I did with Michelle.
Once I got that bit out, I noticed that her 'testicles' are rusted. Now this is rather peculiar as I didn't think chrome could rust. But then I'm not well versed on this sort of thing so it is highly possible. After I removed that first piece, she's an easy one to disassemble. To be honest, it wasn't disassembly as much as it was falling apart. There is a back covering that needs to be taken off, and then that's it. She just fell into 20 some pieces.
As with Michelle, I brought her into the bathroom and used one of the many soft toothbrushes I collect for just this purpose to get the grit out. She cleaned up rather nicely, and I was rather pleased with my purchase.
Reassembly was a bit of a pain, not difficulty, but I needed a bit more dexterity than I had this evening. But now she's clean and dry and looking lovely on the shelf with Maria and Zoraida. It's a nice trio I have there. Now to find the last 3!
I leave you with one last shot of my Berrocal pieces to date.
Today I decided that I'm going to post about a set of puzzles no one else has talked about yet. I also got to thinking of my friends and decided I'd tempt Kevin a bit more...eat your heart out my friend.
Next to puzzles, Disney has got to be my next favorite thing. I know I've said it before, but it is so true, and when I can combine Disney and puzzling together, I'm one happy camper!
Another thing that makes me happy is finding an old puzzle and playing with it again. It's like Christmas when I open my bed, or a drawer or a cabinet I haven't opened in a while. This morning was Christmas. Last night Uwe asked me to measure some puzzles for him (yes, I have man tools and now know how to use them.) and I rediscovered a set of puzzles I haven't seen in a while.
This set was made by Kawada in Japan. I managed to pick them up quite a few years back now, and while they are no real challenge, they are Mickey Mouse and you can't go wrong when the two are combined.
There are four different puzzles here and each is really just an old puzzle with a Mickey Mouse theme. Mickey set to music. Kind of reminds me of the philharmagic, or fantasia. I wonder if that is where the inspiration came from.
Solving wise, these puzzles took less than a minute each if that. They are such an old puzzle as the base. These are the ones my grandfather gave me so many years ago. Not the Mickey bit-the puzzle.
If you can get ahold of these, they are worth it for the characters. My only complaint? The keychain bits rusted through and had to be tossed away. I don't like rusty fingers.
