The pressure is on! Pionir cube and Disney Pins.

Yeah, so I'm not done with that darned paper I need to finish, but according to Kevin, my updates are awaited with bated breath....seriously?!?  People read this drivel I post?  Right, but ok.  I'll bite.  And just for you Kevin, I'll take a moment and type up a little something on one of my all time favorites.  (besides, I really do not want to write it so any little excuse to put it off....)

This is another puzzle that alluded me for a long long time. I finally managed to get a rather poor copy of it about a year ago from an eBay auction. The pionir cube has a total of 67 balls inside, 55 of which are black.  Mine has 4 each of green, red, and yellow balls. There is one space with a missing ball, and the object is to match up the green, red, and yellow balls with the corresponding color pips on the stickers that are on the side.  As a puzzle, it's not that difficult.  You just roll the balls around until you luck out and match up the colors.  Oh, I'm sure someone out there will tell me there is really a method of solving this that requires the memorization of a variety of moves, but I prefer dumb luck!  The beauty in this puzzle is in it's relative rarity.  It isn't all that often that these come up for sale, and when they do, they seem to have the stickers missing, or they are just a bit pricey.

Now tonight, you get two for one.  See, I have another little thing that keeps me happy on rare occasions.  Disneyland!  We live two train stops away, and it takes all of 10 minutes to get there from the house.  So guess who bought annual passes for herself and one bug? Well, sadly this stupid paper that I am really procrastinating over and too much paid work has really limited the number of visits we have taken together over the past few months.  But Valentines day found me once more in the park with a dear friend of mine from Florida (another Disneyphile).  Well, there is only one thing that makes  Disney more fun than Disney and that is puzzles at Disney.

Disney has been a bust for puzzles for a while, but I get my fix from that same Floridian, he's a Flight attendant for Delta and has passes to all the parks, so when they get a new puzzle; so do I!  Yesterday, when we were strolling around the park hunting for Christmas pins, we found a new set that I hadn't seen before.  A really nifty set of pins that are mazes too!  The little balls in these things are tiny!  I found these in the Main Street Emporium, but sadly they only had 4 of the 6.  Not a problem for us.  We had a mission!  6 hours of walking later, we found the last two and I nabbed me a new set of 'puzzles'.  A bit expensive at US$10 each (give or take), but who cares, it's only puzzle money.  And seriously, how many can say they have a maze pin?  I also found and purchased a twisty Toy Story Pen, but in the rush to separate purchases on the train as we were leaving, it seems that my friend took that one home to Florida.  Not a big deal, it just gives me an excuse to go back over there again sooner than I had planned.  Maybe when the bug is feeling better...

A puzzle funk-duck

Yes, that's what I'm in.  I know it's my own fault.  I've had other things on my mind.  I just can't seem to find the time to make a post about a puzzle that I've enjoyed.  It's that 'I have something to do that I don't want to do so I'm so busy finding ways to not do what I have to do that I have no time to do what I want to do'  syndrome. Now come on, admit it.  You've been here too.  Probably more times than you care to admit.

Well, today the bug is sick so we can't go visit the monkeys and I can either take a nap and procrastinate some more, or I can make a blog post.  So here we are.  Typing away and waiting for a photo to download itself from my phone.  (I haven't mentioned yet how much I'm beginning to hate that thing!  I can't get any photos off there anymore.  It's driving me bonkers)

Today I bring you my latest acquisition.  It is a puzzle that is beyond belief!  I have hunted and hunted and hunted for one of these and finally found one in a book store of all places.  I think I first saw one around a year ago and have been looking ever since.

Now this puzzle is truly amazing.  It is probably the most difficult puzzle in my collection-solving wise that is.  It has the standard 6 rubik's colors on it, but there is an odd twist to it. It quacks!

Ok, give a gal a break.  I'm trying to finish that thing I didn't even want to start.  I'll be back when I finish the darned thing....You can find your own duck at budproduct.  Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to take a bath!

Elementals

Well here it is folks.  I said when Dave sent me the latest in the set that I would post about them and since I got in the most recent one last night.  It's that time.  My 8 Elemental puzzles.

So this all started way back in 2007.  Dave made his biohazard puzzles available to all for $100.  There was a bit of a mix up on the pricing, and I didn't get in on that early days price.  Instead, I ordered mine in 2008 and Went for a "deluxe".  In November of the same year Dave offered a DIY kit for Christmas.  It was a whopping $25 and I jumped at the opportunity to buy one.  As you can see, I still haven't quite gotten around to making it yet.

2009 brought a new puzzle in the set.  A Flourine.  He was on a roll that year because just 3 months later he introduced the  Beryllium-10.  In November he made Sulfer.  Good God man slow down would you!  I got a jump on the bugs birthday present and requested a special one for her.  Dave did her gift justice with the Aluminum Heart.  (ok, technically this isn't my puzzle but....)  November of 2010 saw the Argon .  I had just about given up on any new Elementals, but in November of 2011 Dave posted his newest addition; the Scandium.

Since I ordered my first one, I've had this deal with Dave. Basically it is: Experiment and do what you will. All I want is your signature, my name, and the date you made the puzzle.  He has held up his end of the bargain very well, and I keep paying the TechShop fees.  :-) (or so he tells me)  These puzzles are quite nice.  They all have the details I requested and the rest was left up to Dave's creative eye.  The only one I was specific on was bugs heart. The rest?  well I got what I got and I'm very pleased with them.

Each of these puzzles has a series of sliders in them either 3 or 4 depending on the puzzle.  The object is to muck up the design on the inside and then restore it to the original picture.  Much much easier said than done.  I'll be honest here and say it takes me a few hours of moving the bits round and round to work out how to fix the mess that has been made.  And on more than one occasion I have been tempted to unscrew those little screws....but I've been good and never done so.

I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Chromium.  But from the looks of things it might be a long long while before I get that one.

The puzzles can be purchased from Dave over at his  website.  I've done a number of videos on his puzzles.  You can see them here, here, and here.  Klara very nicely shared a video of Dave cleaning her Neon as well.  Talk about good service!