Georges HELM's
collection of
Rubik's cubes
and related puzzles
Here is a not so up-to-date gallery of my cube collection.
1. 3x3x3 cubes of standard size
2. Size variations of the standard 3x3x3 cube
3. Shape variations of 3x3x3 cubes
4. NxNxN cubes with N <> 3 and their relatives
5. Other magic polyhedra
6. Various cube-related products
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1. 3x3x3 cubes of standard size
- ACL CUBE. Standard cube with the logo of the "Automobile Club Luxembourg" printed on the yellow face. Luxembourg.
- ADULTS ONLY CUBE 1. Six full face female nudes. USA.
- ADULTS ONLY CUBE 2. Six full face male nudes. USA.
- AMERICAN CUBE. Black, light-blue, yellow, green, red and orange square stickers on white plastic. Sold by Logical Games, USA.
- BALL CUBE. Six different balls (golf, tennis, baseball, football,
- BILLIONENWUERFEL. Cube made in Germany with six full face pictures: Schwarzwaldtracht, Schwarzwaldhaus, Titisee, Lindau, Insel Mainau, Konstanz, Friedrichshafen.
- BLIND MAN'S CUBE 1. Hungarian standard cube with solid plastic facelets with different perceptible forms: white circles, yellow crosses, red squares, orange triangles, blue lines, green dots. Made in Hungary.
- BLIND MAN'S CUBE 2. Standard cube with differently touching surfaces glued on it. Hungarian cube modified in Luxembourg.
- BUVOS KOCKA. Original Hungarian Cube made by Politechnika 1979. In blue cardboard box.
- CALENDAR CUBE - AMERICAN. Similar to German calendar cube. Weekdays: black syllables on white stickers. Months: white letters on black stickers. Days: black digits on white stickers. Ideal Toy USA.
- CALENDAR CUBE - DUTCH. Similar to German Calendar Cube, days and months in Dutch.
- CALENDAR CUBE - FRENCH. Similar to German Calendar Cube. Weekdays: black syllables on white stickers. Months: blue letters on white stickers. Days: red digits on white stickers. Made in Hong-Kong. Sold by Ideal Loisirs France.
- CALENDAR CUBE - GERMAN. Digits, letters and syllables on the stickers of a black plastic standard cube so one can set any day and date on one face. Weekdays: black syllables on white stickers. Months: white syllables on red stickers. Days: blue digits on white stickers. Black foot of package as stand. Made in Hong-Kong. Sold in West Germany.
- CARD-PLAYING CUBE. Spades, hearts, clubs, diamonds, hearts with letter A, clubs with letter A printed on white square stickers on black plastic.
- CHAIN CUBE. Original Rubik's cube with 1 m chain attached to a center cubie as used in shops and warehouses for demonstration purposes. West Germany.
- CHESS CUBE. Black chessmen printed on silver square stickers on black plastic: king, queen, bishop, knight, rook, pawn. Made in Taiwan 1981. Luxembourg.
- CHEX CUBE. Cube showing Chex cereal plus five different fruits: banana, strawberry, blueberry, peach and raspberry. USA.
- CHRISTMAS CUBE. Wreaths, bells, sleighs, full face Santa. USA
- CINDERELLA CUBE. Cube with stickers on it so it can be used as a word game. USA.
- CUBE PUZZLE. As original cube with (C) 1981 Chadwick Miller of Canton Massachusetts. Luxembourg.
- CUBE-IN-THE-CUBE CUBE. Blue and yellow 2x2x2 cubes in orange and white 3x3x3. (made by Wallace Webster). USA.
- DELUXE CUBE. As original cube but with tiles instead of stickers. Made by ITC. USA.
- DIE CUBE 1. The green, gray, pink, light-blue, lilac and dark-blue square stickers on black plastic bear one, two, three, four, five and six white dots respectively as additional distinction like an ordinary die.
- DIE CUBE 2. Standard cube with most stickers removed to leave die patterns in white against the black faces. (C) John ERGATOUDIS.
- DIE CUBE 3. Cube covers 415: shootin' craps. By Steven MFG Co., Hermann, Mo 65041, USA.
- DIE CUBE 4. White stickers on white plastic with one, two, three, four, five and six black dots respectively. USA.
- DIE CUBE 5. white numbers from 1 to 6 on black stickers on black plastic. (C) Georges HELM.
- DOMINICAN CUBE. Standard cube made under ITC license in the Dominican Republic.
- ESCHER CUBE. Entangled fish cover the six faces. Very beautiful but also very hard to solve. I got this cube from Philip Knudsen of Denmark (Thank you Philip).
- FLOWER CUBE. six different flowers on white stickers on black plastic.
- FRUIT CUBE. Six different fruits on white stickers on black plastic: strawberry, banana, pineapple, tomato, watermelon, lemon.
- GRAY PLASTIC CUBE. Pink, yellow, blue, lilac, green and white square stickers on gray plastic. USA.
- HAPPY FACE CUBE. Orange, yellow, light-blue, lilac, green and pink round stickers with smiling faces printed on them. (made by Wallace WEBSTER)
- HEART CUBE. White, yellow, black, green, blue and red stickers in the form of a heart on orange plastic. Luxembourg.
- HOFSTADTER'S EIGHT COLOR CUBE. See Scientific American 5/81.
- JELLY BEAN CUBE. Yellow, mauve, orange, light-blue, red and green jelly-bean-like stickers on black plastic. (made by Wallace WEBSTER)
- LE CUBE. Black, yellow, light-green, white, orange and lilac stickers on black plastic. Made in Taiwan. Sold in USA.
- MAGIC SQUARES CUBE 1. A set of 54 golden stickers with black numbers from 1 to 9 to attach on a simultaneously sold standard cube to make a magic square on each of the six faces. Produced by Mondadori Giocchi, Italy, and sold as "Fifteen Cubo".
- MAESTRO MAGIC PUZZLE CUBE. Orange, yellow, pink, green, blue and silver glittering stickers. This cube comes with a plastic key which opens the plastic tiles at the top of the center cubies. Then the same key can be used so that the cube falls apart (the center cubies are not fixed with screws to the cross). From Philip Knudsen (Denmark)
- MAGIC SQUARES CUBE 2. White numbers from 1 to 9 on orange, red, mauve, yellow, blue and green faces on black plastic.
- M.I.T. CUBE. As original cube with faces marked like targets which make center cube rotations visible.
- NO SMOKING CUBE. White plastic cube with pictures and inscription: "Dir femmt, ech otmen" (you smoke, I breathe) on it. Made in Luxembourg.
- NUMBER CUBE. Numbers from 1 to 9 in white on black stickers on black plastic on each side arranged ascending. (C) Georges HELM.
- ORIGINAL RUBIK'S CUBE. The original Hungarian Magic Cube. White, yellow, red, orange, green and blue square stickers on black plastic. Made in Hungary 1980.
- PACMAN CUBE. Pink, red, blue, green, lilac and mauve Pacman symbols on white square stickers. Made in USA.
- PARBERRY CUBE. Each of the six surfaces is diagonally divided into four quarters and the four quarters adjacent to one face are always given the same color. Devised by Jan Parberry, USA. Similar to the "Ultimate Cube".
- PIN CUBE. Pastel green, yellow, orange, light-pink, blue and white pins instead of stickers in black plastic. (C) Georges HELM.
- RODIGHIERO PNEUS CUBE. Standard cube with logo of Rodighiero Pneus printed on white face. Sold in Luxembourg
- ROTASCOPE CUBE. See Cubic Circular 5/6, page 6.
- ROUND STICKER CUBE. As standard cube but with round stickers instead of square stickers.
- ROYAL WEDDING CUBE 1. 54mm. Full face pictures of Charles and Diana with wedding date "29th July '81" and four Union Jacks printed on white plastic. Made and sold in England 1981 as the "Royal Puzzle".
- ROYAL WEDDING CUBE 2. Each face has nine identical square picture-stickers on black plastic. Charles, Diana, Welsh Dragon, Cross of St. George, cross of St. Andrew and Union Jack. Made in Taiwan 1981.
- RUBIK'S MILL. Standard cube with solid plastic facelets having holes in them for pegs. Clip-on box for pegs. Made in Korea and sold as two-person game by ITC 1982.
- SIAMESE CUBES. Two standard cubes joined by having the three cubies of one edge in common. Sold by Arxon (ITC West-Germany).
- SILVER CUBE. Solid wooden block with cubies simulated by four crossed cuts on each side and recovered with silver paint. Was distributed as first prize during local cube contests. Made in Luxembourg.
- SIX CROSSBARS CUBE. One crossbar of each of the cube's standard colors per side, the entire balance is white. Made in USA by Wallace Webster.
- SOUVENIER CUBE. Pictures of the 2 Canadian cities Vancouver and Victoria on 5 sides, the text "VANCOUVER AND VICTORIA" on the 6th side.
- SPLITTED COLOR CUBE. Standard cube with opposite colors split in half and arranged so that each half is together with one half of the complementary color. Copyright Georges HELM.
- STAR CUBE. On each side are two stars: mauve, orange, yellow, blue, green, red. Made by Wallace WEBSTER in USA.
- TAIWAN CUBE 1. As standard cube but made of lighter plastic and very smooth turning. Bought in Belgium.
- TAIWAN CUBE 2. As standard cube but with ultramarine instead of green stickers.
- TRIANGLE CUBE. Original cube modified by myself. Instead of square stickers every facelets bears triangular stickers with its right angle in a corner. This makes the cube a Supergroup-problem-cube
- VIDEO CUBE. White stickers on black plastic with following motives: teddy, videocamera, note, football, two persons watching TV, world globe.
- WHITE-GRAY-BLACK CUBE. Cube made of a white plastic, gray plastic and black plastic slice without stickers. Made of standard cube, American cube and gray-plastic cube.
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- 90mm GIANT CUBE. Apart from size same as standard cube (China, poor stickers)
- 38mm MINI CUBE. Apart from size same as standard cube
- 38mm STAR MINI CUBE. With starlike stickers instead of square stickers.
- 38mm KEY CHAIN MINI CUBE. As 38mm Mini cube but with key chain.
- 37mm MINI CUBE. Apart from size same as Mini cube
- 36mm MINI CUBE. Apart from size same as Mini cube
- 36mm MINI CUBE. (Japan) Apart from size same as Mini cube. Very heavy plastic.
- 31mm PLASTIC BAG MINI CUBE. White, yellow, red, orange, green and blue round stickers on dark-brown plastic.
- 30mm MINI CUBE. Apart from size same as standard cube.
- 30mm KEY CHAIN MINI CUBE. As 30mm mini cube but with key chain.
- 30mm THE MINI CUBE. Blue, green, red, yellow, white and orange stickers on black plastic. Made in Japan.
- 25mm KEY CHAIN MINI CUBE. Apart from size same as 30mm key chain. mini cube.
- 20mm MICRO CUBE. Apart from size same as standard cube.
- 20mm KEY CHAIN MICRO CUBE. 20mm micro cube with key chain.
- 20mm NECK CHAIN MICRO CUBE. 20mm micro cube with 72cm neck chain.
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3. Shape variations of standard 3x3x3 cubes.
- 49mm TRUNCATED CUBE. The eight corner cubies of a 49mm cube are trimmed off giving small equilateral triangles and octagonal main faces. The eight triangles are silvery. Made in Taiwan.
- 3x3x3 CUBOCTAHEDRON. Also sold as "Diamond Puzzler". The eight corner pieces of a standard size 3x3x3 cube are trimmed off giving eight big equilateral triangles and six square main faces. The eight triangles are given different colors, so altogether 14 different colors are used. There are four different colors on each corner piece and four different colors on each edge piece.
- ONLY EDGES CUBE. Edges as standard cube. Corners are completely trimmed to the shape of a small ball to guarantee full functions of turning. (C) Georges HELM.
- MAGIC SNAKE CUBE. All the edges of a black standard size cube are trimmed just as with the octagonal prism. Apart from this same as "Only Edges Cube". This cube looks like Rubik's snake in its ball-like form. (C) Georges HELM.
- TRUNCATED WONDERFUL PUZZLER. As 49mm truncated cube but with 57mm edge length and with trimmed edge cubies: of the upper half of each edge cubie a small pyramid is cut away on each side. Viewed from front each edge cubie looks like a house with roof. Bought in Belgium.
- OCTAGONAL PRISM. Four parallel edges of a black plastic standard size cube are trimmed giving an octagonal prism with eight rectangular faces and two octagonal faces. All ten faces have different colors. Made in Taiwan.
- RED OCTAGONAL PRISM. Octagonal prism on red plastic basis.
- 33mm OCTAGONAL PRISM. Apart from size same as octagonal prism.
- KING CUBE. Standard cube with eight trimmed edges belonging to two opposite faces. The resulting trapezoid faces are given eight new colors. Of the mentioned two opposite faces only the center stickers remain. (white and labeled "King")
- TRUNCATED RHOMBIC DODECAHEDRON. See Cubic Circular 3/4 page 11 and 5/6 page 5. Sold as "Diamant" by Siso Sieber, West-Germany.
- BIG MAGIC BALL. 3x3x3 cube in the shape of a 95mm diameter ball. Circular colored areas are leaving small black areas on the edge pieces and large black areas on the corner pieces.
- MEDIUM MAGIC BALL. As big magic ball but with 75mm diameter.
- 31mm KEY CHAIN MINI BALL. Eight color regions each consisting of a vertical stripe of three stickers. Poles of odd colors. Key chain attached to a pole.
- MAGIC GLOBE 1. Sold as "Rubik's World". 80mm diameter. Continents varnished in different colors, oceans black. Small transparent plastic stand. Made in Hong Kong.
- MAGIC GLOBE 2. 95mm diameter. As Magic Ball 1 but with paper world map pasted on the surface and a big blue plastic stand.
- ECCENTRIC CUBE. 4x4x4 looking cube made by gluing extra cubies on three sides of a 3x3x3 cube. See Cubic Circular 5/6 page 5 and 7/8 page 9.
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4. NxNxN cubes with N <> 3 and their relatives
- 56mm 2x2x2 CUBE. Made in Taiwan. Sold by ITC as "Rubik's Pocket Cube".
- 56mm 2x2x2 ASTERIX CUBE. Made in England. Sold by Ideal Loisirs France.
- FIL-PHILIPS CUBE. Promotional item. Foire Internationale Luxembourg. Three adjacent sides with the FIL logo and three adjacent sides with Philips No 1 stickers.
- 50mm 2x2x2 SISYPHUS II CUBE. 2x2x2 cube with colored stickers on red plastic. Made by Obermaier Bros. West-Germany.
- 40mm POCKET RUBIK'S CUBE. Sold by ITC in the USA. Made in Taiwan.
- 40mm RUBIK'S MINI CUBE. Sold by OddzOn Products Inc., Campbell, CA 95009, USA, 1995.
- 40mm PACMAN CUBE. With pacman figures. Made by Wallace WEBSTER in USA.
- OCTAHEDRAL KEY CHAIN 2x2x2 CUBE. Octahedron of 34mm edge length equipped with 2x2x2 cube mechanism such that each of the three rotation axes runs through two opposite corners of the octahedron. Black plastic with three small round dots stuck on each of the eight faces. At start position the four dots at each corner are the same color. Key chain attached to the center of a face. Made in East-Germany 1984.
- TETRAHEDRAL 2x2x2 CUBE. Tetrahedron of 68mm edge length equipped with 2x2x2 cube mechanism such that each of the three rotation axes runs through the center of two opposite edges. Changes shape while being twisted. Colored stickers on black plastic. Made in East-Germany 1984 and sold as "Figurenmatch".
- MINI-PYRAMID. Same as above but better plastic and sold by Mèffert.
- STAR PUZZLE. Stella octangula equipped with 2x2x2 cube mechanism. Similar to the above but with a small unicolored tetrahedron attached to the center facelet of each of the four sides of the big tetrahedron. Made in East-Germany 1984.
- TRICKHAUS. 2x2x2 cube of 46mm edge length with four parallel edges trimmed leaving a square prism. Four pieces are solidly yellow and four are solidly red. Changes shape while being twisted. One of the possible shapes is a house with overhanging red roof. Made in East-Germany 1984.
- ECCENTRIC CUBE 2. 3x3x3 looking cube made by gluing extra cubies on three sides of a 2x2x2 cube.
- OLD MAGIC DOMINO. Size 57x57x38mm. Magic 2x3x3 "cube" invented by Erno Rubik and produced in Hungary.
- NEW MAGIC DOMINO. As old Magic Domino but with improved mechanism since 1981. Made in Hungary.
- BLIND MAN'S MAGIC DOMINO. As new magic domino but with raised spots.
- 4x4x4 CUBE. 66mm. Sold as Rubik's Revenge or Rubik's Wahn or Rubik's Master Cube.
- 4x4x4 BLIND MAN'S CUBE. Five different brass studs on the facelets.
- EIGHT COLOR 4x4x4 CUBE. Blocks of eight cubies are given one color.
- WONDERLAND MASTER CUBE. As 4x4x4 cube but in cardboard box. Made in Taiwan ROC.
- 5x5x5 CUBE. Invented by Udo Krell and produced by Uwe Meffert 1983 in Hong Kong.
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5. OTHER MAGIC POLYHEDRA
- SKEWB. Also called "Pyraminx Cube". 57mm cube turnable on the midperpendicular plane to each of the four main diagonals joining two opposite corners. Invented by Tony Durham. Produced 1983 by Uwe Meffert. Hong Kong.
- MINI SKEWB. Same as above except the size. Sold by Mèffert.
- PYRAMINX. Tetrahedron of 102mm edge length turnable on planes parallel to the faces and trisecting the edges. Ratchet mechanism. Yellow, green, blue and orange triangular stickers on white plastic. Invented and produced by Uwe Meffert, Hong Kong.
- ALI BABA'S PYRAMID PUZZLE. As Pyraminx but black plastic with green, blue, gold and orange stickers. Made in Taiwan. Sold in USA.
- LEATHER PYRAMINX. As Pyraminx but with four different kinds of leatherlike stickers. Made by Meffert, sold by Bienengraeber West-Germany.
- BLIND MAN'S PYRAMINX. As Pyraminx but black plastic with four differently feeling sticker sets: smooth blue, rough green, woolen red and grooved silver. Made by Uwe Meffert, Hong Kong.
- 52mm Pyraminx. As Pyraminx apart from size.
- 50mm Pyraminx. As Pyraminx apart from size.
- 35mm KEY CHAIN PYRAMINX. As Pyraminx apart from size. Black plastic.
- TRUNCATED TETRAHEDRON. Similar to 102mm Pyraminx but without vertex pieces.
- MAGIC OCTAHEDRON. Also sold as "Star Puzzler". An octahedron of 58mm edge length is cut by twelve planes - four planes perpendicular to each of the three main axes (joining opposite corners) and trisecting the edges - and turnable on each of these planes. Triangular stickers of eight different colors on black plastic. Made in Taiwan.
- ALEXANDER'S STAR. A great dodecahedron (one of the four non-convex regular polyhedra) of 53mm edge length with each of the twelve starfishlike sides turnable. Stickers of six different colors on black plastic, same color on parallel planes. Invented by Adam Alexander. Made in Taiwan, sold by ITC.
- CHAIN STAR. Alexander's Star with chain attached to one of the twelve centers for exhibition purposes. Colors painted on black plastic.
- IMPOSSIBALL. Also called "Incrediball". A spherical icosahedron of 80mm diameter. A spring mechanism allows each face of five spherical triangles meeting at a vertex to rotate. Colored circles around each of the twelve vertices, opposite circles the same color.
- MEFFERT'S DODECAHEDRON. A dodecahedron of 30mm edge length cut and turnable as described in Christoph Bandelow: "Inside Rubik's Cube and beyond" pages 87-88. Stickers of twelve different colors on black plastic. Sold as "Megaminx" by Tomy, USA.
- HUNGARIAN DODECAHEDRON. As Meffert's dodecahedron but with smaller edge pieces which gives a starlike pattern on each of the twelve faces. Made in Hungary.
- DOGIC - see picture. Made in Hungary.
- SQUARE-1 - see picture:
- CUBE 21. Same as square-1, made in the Czech Republic.
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6. VARIOUS CUBE-RELATED PRODUCTS
- Record "Twist in the middle (Rubik's Cube)" by B. Muszty and A. Dobay
- LP giving a solution to the Rubik's Cube by Marko van Eekelen.
- Music Cassette giving the solution by J. Nourse
- "Cube-Meister", a figure made by Roger Bour (Lamadelaine/Luxembourg) of big pebbles. The figure is holding a micro-cube. Wooden stand with brass plate bearing the inscription "CUBEMEISTER".
- T-Shirt with cubes and inscription "Cubists do it faster".
- Pin-needle with cube
- Hungarian stamp with Rubik's Cube on the occasion of the Rubik's cube world championship on June 5, 1982 in Budapest. Also First Day Cover.
- "Rub-it-Cube". A solid eraser colored as 25mm mini cube.
- "Rubik's Profi Puzzle". A 14" x 20" jigsaw puzzle of 130 parts with cube patterns. Sold by ITC.
- Jigsaw puzzle with cubes of 100 parts. USA.
- Several badges, shopping bags, posters and giant cardboard cubes to promote Rubik's cube or the pyraminx.
- More than 700 (seven hundred) different solutions for the cube. Of these 493 are original books in 16 different languages coming from 31 different countries.
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