Visiting the oldest grandchild, I found him playing unusually with a low tech toy–a Rubik’s Cube. He said he and his twelve year old friends were having a contest to see who could figure out the puzzle the fastest. This Grandma tries to think of great presents for grandchildren and I have to admit that a Rubik’s Cube was not on my radar!
Then, July 17,2015, reading the New York Times “Backstory,” I found more information about Rubik’s Cubes than I knew existed.
“The number of possible Rubik’s Cube configurations is 43,252,003,274,489,856,000. Only one is right. But that isn’t stopping any of the contestants in the Rubik’s Cube World Championship, which begins today in Sao Paulo, Brazil. An Australian teenager, Feliks Zemdegs, is the defending champion.. . . .And an American teenager, Collin Burns, recently set the world record of 5.25 seconds.”
“The toy was the invention of a Hungarian architect, Erno Rubik. He sought to make a puzzle based on three-dimensional geometry. He realized all the ways you could manipulate a cube after it was cut horizontally and vertically. Somehow, he saw a toy in this. The six-color cube arrived in the U.S. in 1980, and demand was bonkers. From 1980 to 1982, 100 million Rubik’s Cubes were sold worldwide. There are even contests to solve it blindfolded, one-handed and under water. Over 350 million have been sold, making it by some counts the best-selling toy of all time.”
So, think about getting one for your older school aged or preteen grandchild!
A great inexpensive present and you can share all that you now know about it. You can teach the grandchild about the championships.
You can even watch the American teenager together complete it in 5.5 seconds.
Who knew a $10 toy could be such the rage for decades. I wonder what it sold for in the 1980s! I love the Internet. $1.99.
Joy,
Mema
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