Hanayama puzzles, yet another update on the museum, and a job advertisement

Carrying on from my recent article in CFF, I would like to post a bit more about Hanayama.  I'm not an expert in the company, but do have a bit of insight and would like to provide it in today's blog posting.  The first thing I would like to do is to post a list of puzzles and their designers.  I've seen many people asking about these and thought it might be helpful information to have it posted here.  

Hanayama works with a number of designers the most prolific of which has to be Akio Yamamoto (Dot 2017, Dolce 2002, Baroq 2001, Amour 1992, Radix 2005, Helix 2009, Vortex 2008, Seabream 2010, Shark 2010, Claw 2010, Starfish 2019, Seahorse 2010, Reef 2010).  

Of course, the first puzzle designer was was Nob Yoshigahara (ABC 1983, Flag 1994, Horse 1984, Star 1983, S&S 1984, Ring 2000, Elk 1986, Devil 1994, Laby 1997, News 2003, Plate 2005, Cage 1997, Key 1983, W-U 1995).  Many of these were old designs which were later produced by Hanayama. 

Other designers include Oskar van Deventer (O’Gear 2002, L’oeuf 2004, Disc 2001, Twist 2013, Möbius 2015, Duet 2005, Equa 2008, Marble 2009, H&H 2010, Chain 2002, Cuby 2005, Nutcase 1987), 

Vesa Timonen (Loop 2007, Hook 2009, Square 2010, Ufo 2019, Donuts 2011, Keyhole 2015, Cylinder 2013, Dial 2016, Infinity 2016, Slider 2019, Valve 2021),

Marcel Gillen (Pawn 2015, Rook 2015, Knight 2015, Bishop 2015, King 2015, Queen 2015),

Kyoo Wong (Delta 2013, U&U 2014, Trinity 2018, Rotor 2019, Snow 2020), 

Jin-Hoo Ahn (G&G 2013, Padlock 2016, Hourglass 2018), 

Bram Cohen (Galaxy 2014, Marble 2009, Rattle 2010, Cake 2016), 

Kirill Grebnev (Harmony 2012, Shift 2017) , 

Dmitri Pevnitskiy (Harmony 2012), 

Edi Nagata (Coil 2011), 

Serhiy Grabarchuk (Coaster 2006), 

Eldon Vaughn (Enigma 2004), 

Harry Nelson (Spiral 2003), 

Scott Elliot (Love 2018, Diamond 2016), 

John Lynn (Bike 1994), 

James Dalgety (Medal 2009, Cricket 2002) 

Joseph Litle (Violin 2003), 

Andrei Ianov (Arrows 2018), 

Mineyuki Uyematsu (Quartet 2007, Hexagon 2015), 

Ken Walker (Spiral 2003), 

Jose Grant (Cast Ring 2 2004), 

Yoshi Kotani (Shift 2017), 

Yuta Akira (Box 2012).

Timothy Collins (Dice 2021)

There are also a number of puzzles that are no longer produced.  These include Oskar’s Key, Bike, Cast Key 1, Winnie the Pooh Horse, and the Ultraman marble. There were also a few puzzles produced in the early days that were much larger than they are now. Bike, W-U, Nutcase, News and Radix.  Of course, even though many of these are no longer being produced, they can still be purchased through different online retailers. If you notice any that I have missed, or mis-dated, please let me know.

The company experimented with plating the pieces in different colors.  Again we are fortunate  to have a number of these color variations in our collection.  

Over the years we have had the pleasure to visit not only the offices of Hanayama, but also a number of the factories.  We have seen the entire process from smelting to final packaging.  Photographs of our first trip can be found at My facebook album.

At first the company made molds of wood or clay.  Around 2010 they changed to puzzles made by CAD and 3D printing.  Many of the new puzzles have been made in CAD first, then produced using Injection Molding.  One puzzle, Cast Möbius was produced using spin casting and silicon molds.  A number of the puzzles are made of cut steel-Slider, Snow, and Hexagon are a few examples. The puzzles are mostly made of a cast zinc alloy. Once the puzzles are cast, they are removed from the sprue and hand sanded to remove any sharp edges.  After this, they are tumbled to remove any further imperfections before moving on to the metal plating process.  When we visited the Hanayama factory, we counted no less than 12 people who touched each puzzle during the manufacturing and 6 people in the boxing process.  When you think of it, they are incredibly inexpensive puzzles.  

Hanayama Cast puzzle was renamed Huzzle in 2015.  It is a combination of Japanese words that means “hugs and puzzle” (actually, these don’t look too Japanese to me).  Kyoo told me it is easier for Japanese to pronounce.  But then he teases me a lot so I don’t know if that is truthful.  George is reminding me of a time that Kyoo sent us to the wrong train station in China when we were going to go visit his factory.  No taxi driver would pick us up when we got off in the middle of nowhere. George had to run out in the street, stop the taxi by jumping on the hood of the car and then jumping in the cab before the driver could run away.  When we returned from the factory that night, the train station we should have gotten off at was 1 block away instead of 5 miles! What a jokester. 

 

Prototyped Puzzles

We have had the good fortune to be involved with Hanayama and their staff in one way or another for many years.  George was an early prototyper for the cast puzzles.  He worked on 14 puzzles in the early stages.  These include:  L’oeuf, H&H, Nutcase, Loop, Donut, Medallion, Duet, Square, Rattle, Twist, Hook, O’gear, Möbius, and Marble. This comes to around 19% of the puzzles produced.  I’ve been friends with the chief engineer in Hong Kong for many, many years. Because of this, we have been lucky enough to have many Hanayama prototypes in our collection.  In the photo below, only three were not made by George.  The Radix, Delta, and Keyhole were all gifts.  The Radix is made of compressed paper and is very solid. It was given to George when he held a puzzle exhibition in Sonoma, California.  Delta and Keyhole were given to me by Kyoo during visits to his office.  In the earlier days, George used a laser cutter to make the prototypes.  Later on of course, he went to 3D printing.  

Prototypes

All of these are on display and play terms for visitors to Puzzle palace.  Many of the puzzles prototyped by George are available for visitors to choose from the treasure chest.  The cast marble seems to be the favorite of most people.  

On to the weekly update of the museum build.  As of Friday, all of the cabinets have been placed and mounted.  The pool heater and pump are now both working beautifully. The outdoor recycling/garbage closet has been covered and is awaiting roofing.  The garage floor has cured and we are now just waiting on the puzzles to arrive.  We are more than ready for them.  

One container has been sitting down at Port Everglades since the 14th of May, the other is still on its way to Halifax.  In the mean time, I have shifted all materials from the main rooms so that we have area to place the moving-boxes when they come in.  I have developed a display system and each room in the museum will hold a specific type of puzzle. Being me, I have Roxified (color coded) the manifesto so that we know which room each puzzle should go into upon entering the house.  This will make the process of unboxing and displaying much quicker.  

I have also purchased a new camera and light box to photograph the puzzles as they are opened.  George has developed a cataloging system to ease the problem of display in the online database he is slowly working on.  Expect it to be completed sometime around July 2022 and be online and searchable by Christmas of the same year.  

When we contacted James about obtaining this, we were not thinking.  It was the most whimsical of purchases one has ever made.  Well, we've managed to accomplish nothing short of a miracle.  We managed to purchase a house, build it out, and have it all but ready for installation of the puzzles in less than four months time.  

Next up?  Hiring a couple of students to aid me in the photographing and cataloging of the puzzles.  Does anyone want a summer job?  Photographic knowledge required. Use of Macbook necessary.  Your own vehicle is a must. 6-8 hours a day from date of hire until puzzles are all on display or end of summer holiday. We prefer a student who is looking for experience. Pay?  Who needs money when you have puzzles? :) Oh yes, room and board included. I'm a very good cook and you can't beat the accommodations.

Another long wanted puzzle found

 When I acquired my first Berrocal and discovered the ring inside, I began hunting down other puzzle rings. Of course, I had a few from days long past, but these were the bog standard 4 piece rings. When I went online and looked up puzzle rings, a few names came up: José Grant, Puzzle Ring Maker, and Miguel Berrocal.  This got me started on a hunt for this Berrocal jigsaw puzzle ring that I had seen.

I later discovered that it was not a Berrocal, but a ring by Antonio Bernardo of Brazil. I loved this ring so much, and not being able to find one, I had George design one similar to it on his computer.  We sent it off to a 3D print shop in Hong Kong to have made in plastic which we were later going to have made into metal.  Because of the difficulty with the material being used to print the puzzle, it never really worked well and we abandoned the idea. Perhaps now that he has his SLS printer we can revisit his original work. 

 I then spent the next 11 years hunting one down.  I finally found a shop last year in of all places, Hong Kong, that sells the rings.  The price was ok, and I thought on my next trip over I may pick one up.  But as usual for me, I kept hunting.  I found one of the square rings on Poshmark, and when I went back an hour or so later to purchase it, the ring was gone.  Around 3 months later, I found the rounded one on eBay and snatched it up before it could disappear!  When it got here, it was tarnished and in need of a good clean.  George and I set out to make it look beautiful again and I think we achieved our goal.  The ring I purchased is .925 silver and is very heavy.  The pieces fit together very precisely.  There is very little wiggle room.  It has now become my favorite puzzle ring after, of course, my wedding band. 

The ring can still be purchased from the designer, albeit in tri-colored gold.  Currently it is 15% off.  Now that's a bargain!  In 2010 the design won an award at Essen.  I quote from the designers facebook page: 

"- ROUND PUZZLE RING - AWARD WINNER. 

Once more a design by Antonio Bernardo has been internationally acknowledged and awarded. The Brazilian designer will receive his second Red Dot Design Award - one of the world's most distinguished design prizes, annually held by Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen, in Germany. The Round Puzzle Ring received the Red Dot Award in Product Design, as had the Expand Ring in 2004. The Round Puzzle Ring is one of Antonio Bernardo's most elaborate designs. The Puzzle Ring was launched in 2006, born from a self imposed challenge the designer had to create a jewel made up of various parts, capable of being assembled and taken apart. Three years later, Antonio Bernardo added to the pursuit when he imagined a curved version for this ring. Made up of 8 pieces, the curved surface requires even more ingenuity so that the parts fit perfectly. "The Round Puzzle Ring is a playful jewel." explains Antonio Bernardo. Created by Peter Zec in 1955, the Red Dot Design Award honors and awards designers and products which are outstanding in creativity and excellence. Each year the jurors - an international group of renowned designers and design experts - validate the award's importance, based on criteria such as innovation, functionality and formal quality." 

"PUZZLE CURVO - One of the most complex pieces ever created by Antonio Bernardo, the Puzzle Curvo ring, composed of eight small pieces, has a rounded shape. Because it has a curved surface, it required even more ingenuity for the pieces to fit together in a way that was imperceptible to anyone looking at the ring."  

I agree with this assessment.  It is a beautiful piece and if you didn't know that it comes apart, it looks more like the puzzle is etched into the surface of the ring.  When disassembling the ring, there is a central shaft that comes out first.  Then the central long puzzle piece comes out and finally, the other pieces simply fall off.  The shank is divided into two pieces that slide apart.  Puzzling wise, it's much more difficult than it looks. The pieces are made such that they can only assemble one way.  If the main shaft is turned around, it won't fit in the puzzle.  

One more wanted puzzle found, now for the next one; an illusionist locket in ebony and silver.

On to the museum build: 

This week I am pleased to report that all of the puzzles have been picked up from James' and are on their way to the warehouse where they will be placed in a container and sent to their final destination in Sunny South Florida. We've had no workers in the museum other than to sort out the security lights that weren't being very secure and to cut a few more holes in the wall to install a few more light switches.  

We did however, finally finish a major puzzle over at Puzzle Palace.  George designed a pentomino alphabet and we had a mosaic made for the front step.  Initially I had a outdoor carpet made for it, but the sun here faded it quickly and we threw it away.  One dreamy day, I said why not make a mosaic using the logo and Puzzle Palace just like the carpet I had made.  This later turned into the pentomino alphabet and we went for it.  You will notice that each letter has 12 pentominoes in it.  The only letter that is unique is the E.  See if you can spot how he redesigned it.  To finish it off, we got rid of the last of the awful red painted tiles that made up the front steps and replaced it with a marble that matches that on the inside of the house. A little paint touchup on the stucco side and all will be right as rain.  I think the finished piece looks amazing.  As usual, the folks over at Genesis did a great job for us.  Maybe I'll next have them put the street number on the garage using the pentomino numbers George created. 

I'll close by wishing every a very Happy Easter from George and I. 

Viruses Times Three

Today's puzzles are brought to you by the Corona Virus that has been crippling the world this past year.  Whether you had a day without toilet paper and other necessities, became unemployed, or lost a loved one, this past year has affected us all.  It's been one heck of a ride so far and I for one have had enough of the worry of catching a disease there is no cure for.  Living in the US is worrisome. The President thinks that because he had the best medical treatment available and was 'cured' that the virus is under control.  He refused to lead by example and by doing so, has endangered the lives of many Americans. At the time of writing this post, over 9,570,000 people have contracted the disease and 237,000 people lost their lives.  We spend our lives sheltering in place (here at Puzzle Palace, we are fortunate to live on a golf course and have all these puzzles and games to entertain ourselves with), not going out to eat in restaurants, no more concerts or sporting events, no family gatherings, and the obligatory dreaded masks.  If we all do our part and follow WHO and CDC guidelines we can eliminate this virus. 

Which of course brings me to my first puzzle of the day:  Eliminate the Virus.

This puzzle was obtained in 2020 from I have no idea where.  Ebay, Amazon, Taobao?  Maybe it was one of many puzzles that have been sent to me to try. I don't know if it came from China or Taiwan.  I've purchased so many puzzles that I just can't keep track anymore if it isn't written down when it comes in.  The puzzle is a logic puzzle that uses coverup pieces.  It has 6 clear pieces of plastic that are used to shoot disinfecting spray at the many viruses on each of the 60 challenge sheets.  This puzzle is very similar to many others produced over the years.  SmartGames has a number of them from Raf Peters including Down the Rabbit Hole, and the Go-Getter series. 

The best part of this puzzle is not the puzzling itself, but rather the instructions.  They are a public service announcement.  I would like to say this is reminiscent of what I would see on TV when I lived in Hong Kong and assume it is from China.  The only problem is, there is no Chinese on the instructions.  I'd also like to think this puzzle was produced prior to the discovery of COVID-19 but again, I can't be sure.  

The first 15 puzzles have lines drawn as to where to place some of the tiles.  Puzzles 16-24 give the position of two sprayers, 25-30 give the position of one sprayer, 31-35 give either one or two sprayers in a shadowed sort of way  and the final 16 have no clues at all.  

George had a crack at it this morning.  He saw how solution one was done, jumped to puzzle 36, and now he is attempting 60.  All in all, it's a fun puzzle variation on a familiar theme.  I wouldn't go hunt it down purposefully, but if you find it, it is appropriate to the theme of 2020. 

Following on from there, we have Anti-Virus.  Again this puzzle has 60 challenges but this time with 11 pieces that need to be shifted around to get the red virus out of the board.  This puzzle was designed by Oskar van Deventer in 2003 and was brought to market in 2008.

This puzzle was originally designed by Oskar using plastic sheets, and exacto-knives. He then designed one that was tin cast in a laser cut mold!  Ah the technology he used.   The puzzle was put on Jimmy Stephens website as a puzzle called the Bulbous Blob.  Later Oskar designed the wavy board that was ultimately used and George prototyped this one for him. It was delivered to Smart Games and the rest is history.  

As with Eliminate the virus, I really enjoyed the instructions for this puzzle.  It makes one wonder if Oskar could foretell the future.  I later learned through looking at George's stl files that there were googly eyes on the pieces and to me they looked more alive. 

Unlike most puzzles of the 'remove the piece' type, this one has pieces that move on a diagonal instead of the normal left/right, up/down moves one would expect.  I revisited this puzzle this past week and have found this difference in movement to not work well with my simple brain.  I'm just not used to it.  I originally got this puzzle when it first came out and because of my lack of other entertainment I worked my way through the challenges.  I wonder if I found it easier then than I do now.  Perhaps if I were to go through all 60 challenges again I would find the moves to be easier.  And I wish I had access to this giant version! That would look so cool on our coffee table. 

  

The final puzzle of the day is Anti-Virus Mutation. This one was based on Oskar's original puzzle but re-designed by Raf Peters. Instead of 11 pieces, it has only 6.  It is sold as a travel game, and the case for it makes it much easier to take on the road.  The other major change is that the pieces can be moved in that left/right, up/down positions.  It is no longer a diagonally based game.  This makes it much easier for my simple brain. 

Oskar tells me that since the date of release that Anti-Virus has sold 450,000 units at the end of 2019 and Anti-Virus Mutation has sold more than 50,000 pieces between 2016 and 2019.  Who knows what this year will bring for these puzzles.  

Smartgames has this as an online game that can be played here.  You can sign up for free and play for 6 months.  Now that is what I call a deal!

Below is a video of the storage solution we have come up with for this type of puzzle.

 

IPP Puzzles, the good, the bad, and the ugly

I've been attending IPP for the past 9 years.  George has been attending for 19 years.  We have all but a few puzzles from IPP19 onwards and have started to finish off our collection from the earlier IPP's.  Currently we have 1936 puzzles in this collection.  It should be fairly obvious that we haven't had time to play with all of the puzzles, but we have played with a fair few.  The post today will not discuss any specific puzzles, but rather the packaging and displaying of them.  

I'm going to start with the worst of the packaging and work my way to the best.  I believe I am 'qualified' to comment on this as I have opened every one of those 1936 puzzles, removed them from their packaging, and placed them on our IPP wall.  You may not agree with my opinion, and I will take no offense to opinions that differ from mine.  

The absolute worst form of packaging is shrink-wrap that has been sealed and needs cutting open.  This cannot be reclosed after it has been opened.  If the puzzle has a lot of small pieces, they can easily be lost. One is stuck trying to scrounge a bag to repackage the puzzle in.  There is now a rule in place because of my dear lover.  He started using this rubbish and when he was producing puzzles for many, he used it exclusively.  Thank goodness that rule has been added!  But the wrap is good for those giant fractal puzzles that I don't want touched. They hold up nicely for display.

Next up is cling wrap.  Come on people. The only thing cling wrap sticks to the second time around is itself.  It simply doesn't hold up to rewrapping.  So again if the puzzle is played with at IPP...It is another mad hunt for packaging to bring it home.

Rubberbands.  Don't use them.  They simply don't hold up to the test of time.  They get brittle and break if you are lucky.  If not, they stick to the puzzle.  Many of them that have color to them discolor the puzzles we are so eager to get.  Going back through our puzzle collection, I've realized that rubber bands begin to deteriorate after three years.  And don't even get me started on having rubber bands as a part of the puzzle.  

Form fitting cardboard boxes.  Yuck!  They look nice, but are almost impossible to get the puzzle out of the packaging without tearing the box.  

Cardboard boxes with an open round window are better.  But sometimes the pieces fall out that window.  Especially if the puzzle is one of those packing things.  

Cardboard boxes with cellophane windows are a step up.  But be warned, not all gluing is the same. Some of it falls off rather easily.  

The best type of cardboard box is one that has a removable lid or is solid on all sides without any viewing windows.  If a cardboard box is to be used, please err on the side of too large. Put your instruction sheet inside as additional packaging to fill out the space.  I'd rather the puzzle slide around a bit than have to destroy the box to get to the puzzle.  

Next up bags.  Lots of puzzles are placed into a bag of some sort to help keep the puzzles together. As with others, some are good, some are just plain ugly.  

One form of bad packaging is paper envelopes or bags.  We've had a few of these. OK. One was a joke.  A nice wooden box was put into a paper bag because packaging was necessary. Taped paper tears, sealed envelopes can never be closed again. And really, How much protection does an envelope have anyway?

This brings me to ziplock bags.  Great. Easy to open if you use the kind with sliders.  The 'normal' zips?  Not so good.  I'm one of the younger ones, and I find I have problems resealing these things.  How would that work with 80 year old gnarled hands?  And while I'm on the subject of ziplock bags, please quit making them form fitting to the puzzle.  Again, err on the large side.  A form fitting bag has to be torn apart, or if you can get the puzzle out of the bag, it's never going in again.  

There are three other types of bags that have been used to hold IPP puzzles: thin mesh bags, linen/canvas bags, flocked bags.  All three have drawstrings and are easy to open and close.  The worst of the bunch is the thin mesh bags. These often disintegrate in about three to four years.  The linen/canvas bags seem to last forever, but get hard over time.  The flocked bags are great because they are easy to print on, but the flocking comes off after around five years.  Linen/canvas bags and flocked bags are not see through so that becomes a disadvantage to me. 

The 'best' packaging? Plastic boxes.  I kid you not.  More expensive, but well worth the cost.  First we have the clear malleable 'clamshell' packaging.  These can be custom ordered for the size of your puzzle for a few cents each.  Then there are the stronger thicker plastic boxes.  These are often made of HDPE (High density polyethylene). Nice for holding puzzles, terrible for display.  

CD cases are great.  If you have a flat packing puzzle, why not give them a try.  The puzzle stays in the box, and it's perfect for display. 

My last thought on packaging is tape.  DO NOT USE IT.  All tape is not the same.  Scotch brand tape is restickable, but only if you peel it off carefully. Duck tape.  Forgetaboutit.  

Now on to the puzzles themselves.  No, I'm not going to tell you what a good puzzle is, but I will talk about the 'bad' ones.  

1) A puzzle that has been laser cut and the exchanger/producer is too lazy to take off the backing tape.  I don't want to do your job.  Do it yourself. This one infuriates me.  I just got a kickstarter puzzle set in and darned if all four puzzles have to have the backing tape removed.  

2) A puzzle that can only be solved by a computer.  How am I ever to have a chance to solve it?  

3) A puzzle with a piece that must be destroyed to complete the puzzle.  An example would be a puzzle that needs a ballon to be broken in order to solve the puzzle.

4) Magnets inside the puzzle.  Just my opinion.

5) Puzzles that are too tight. If the last piece has to be forced into place, it's not a good one for me.

6) Just another piece....Meaning a puzzle is exchanged, and yet one more piece is sold at the puzzle party the next day and adds another few puzzle challenges to the original.  

7) Puzzles that are too easy.  If I can sit down and solve it within a minute...

8) Puzzles that are without logic. They don't have to be mathematical or the traditional logic type puzzle, they just have to have some sort of order about them.  Not a randomness.  In other words, a puzzle with over 1000 solutions is not a good puzzle. 

9) Jigsaws

These are my thoughts, they stem from opening, unboxing, un-bagging, de-rubber banding or un-taping and displaying 1936 IPP exchange puzzles.  Please share your thoughts with me.  Tell me I'm not completely bonkers.  

Hanayama Puzzles

One of the most loved sets of metal puzzles come from Hanayama.  The company has been making toys and games in the 1930's but are probably best known for their metal puzzles.  These puzzles are all relatively small.  They fit in a box that measures 75x119x45mm and will never be larger than that.  They have a difficulty level from 1-6 and the largest number of pieces a puzzle can have is 6. (Or so I've been told). 

Usually there are 4 puzzle releases a year.  Sadly with COVID-19 going around there won't be a new release until the autumn.  For those who are wondering, I've seen on the web that it should be cast heart designed by Scott Elliot.  This will be the second puzzle of his card suit series that they have made. Hopefully the rest will follow. 

We have the entire collection of Hanayama Cast Puzzles many of which George prototyped.  Because of our vast collection, we had a table custom made to hold the pieces in a displayable and playable manner.  Each puzzle is placed according to difficulty level or 'specialization'.  Over the years, the company has produced a number of different themes.  There are 4 puzzles in the Disney set, 4 in the Ultraman set, and 6 ocean themed puzzles in both normal and keychain sizes.  Hanayama also made a set of phone strap puzzles. I honestly don't know the total number of designs that were made as they had them in about 5 different packagings.  We have collected quite a few over the years.  If anyone knows the exact number made, I would sure like to know.  The final set in this cabinet are made by Hanayama, but are not cast puzzles.  They are 6 wire disentanglements in the shape of famous places or objects in Japan.  

The final cast puzzles from Hanayama are the Chess pieces. We do not have the set in the table, but rather have had another custom table and boards made for our pieces.  We have a full chess board designed by Henry Dudney.  A sample of this puzzle can be seen here.  Tom Lensch, George Miller made the chess boards. The cards were designed by Vesa Timonen and can be purchased online.  

Of course these puzzles are enjoyed by all who come into Puzzle Palace as they look deceptively simple.  For this reason, we keep a solution book on hand.  I'm still in need of the solution for Cast Rotor and Cast Snow so if anyone has a pdf copy of it, I'd sure be grateful.  

You can watch a video of the table and and explanation of the pieces on my youtube channel.  

Arch burr, candy, and cold fusion

Ok, these are little beasts! Enough said. Post over.

No not me. I could never be that short in any thing I say or write.

The candy twist one I bought from George Miller a year or so ago and put it in a box. It was. From an IPP lot so that's understandable. Cold fusion was Oskar's exchange puzzle last year and the Arch Burr came from B&P this week. It was metal and I've taken a liking to those lately. I thought as long as it just came in I'd dig out the others and compare them all at once so today it's a three-in-one post.

I started off by taking the usual photos of a completed puzzle so I could look back at what the final state needs to be. Logical right? Then as each piece came out I photographed that as well. Again, logical. And that's where it ends.

After the third piece came out of the Arch Burr it just fell apart. There was no photographing the last disassembly procedures. But hey, I'm half clever so I know I can put it back together.

Well, I thought so anyway. After an hour into my Cougar Town marathon I still didn't have it. When Mr. Man came home I resorted to pulling out the instructions. How unhelpful we're they. An hour later I was ready to throw them across the room. It didn't help by being bitten by the puzzle either. This one has lots of sharp edges in it and I swear I caught every one of them. It is yet again a prime example of a great puzzle made rather shoddily. When will I ever learn? Odds are never.

The Arch Burr is made of aluminum and looks pretty cool in black and silver. Sadly though the craftsmanship is lacking a bit on this one as well. The outside is nice and smooth but the internal parts-especially those around the cut out bits are rough cut to say the least. There was no rounding off of those parts and yes, I really did get cut by them. Mr. Man offered to sand them down for me but I passed. I really don't think I'll go playing with it again.

On to the candy twist! This one is made by shape ways and I'd hazard to guess its Oskar's design as well. I'd twisted burr bits to wiggle around. It's been nicely died with six different colors. I did the photo shots with this one as well. Luckily by the time I unraveled this one I had experience with the Arch Burr. With the exception of the twist they are pretty close to the same. Ok maybe not but they were close enough that it didn't take two hours to reassemble. A nice little puzzle if it weren't for the 'scratchiness' that is inherent in shape ways puzzles. It would be a fantastic puzzle.

The Cold Fusion should be renamed a Cold Day. It's a real pain. Disassembly and reassembly. I played with this one through an entire episode to take it apart. And another FOUR to put it back together. If you want a challenge, this is the one out of the three to buy. And you are in luck. It's available from PuzzleMaster.ca.

All in all it was an entertaining evening for me...stupid television and puzzles! Oh and I had a glass of Cloudy Bay so I was truly in seventh heaven.

last day in Osaka

Today is the puzzle party! nothing but toys for a few hours. Then dinner tonight and tomorrow it is running for a train and a new city.

I wish there were wifi an I could post as the day goes on, but all will have to wait until tonight when I get back to the room at some crazy hour.

Here's hoping I don't buy too many toys. As always, I'll post when I return this evening. Expect more photos and (hopefully) just a bit of bragging. Have to go get something to eat and then run over to see all those toys on offer!

And if George sells me a dead butterfly, I'll kill him!

Morning of the 9th

Breakfast at the hotel. Matt had some kind of fermented bean thing that smelled horrid. Needlesss to say, I didn't try it. :) They had coffee!!! I had 4!

Introduced myself to George Miller. Met a few more people and got a good Morning from Jerry Slocum. I'm still not sure how this little girl got mixed up with these amazing people, but I'm not knocking it.

We're off to go see a zoo this morning and then a dinner later tonight. Will write more later!