Clarification about Sheng shou and v-cube

[marceldacs]

I know that v cubes are the original and there are a lot of companies who try to "knock off" the v cubes. On youtube i heard that some sheng shou cubes are knock offs. I currently have 4x4,5x5,and 6x6, all are sheng shou. I need a 7x7 soon and was wondering which of the 4 cubes (4x4-7x7) should be sheng shou or v cube. I don't know how much of a crime it is to buy sheng shou stuff cause there seems to be controversy over if they are knock offs. since i am relatively new at speed cubing (4 months) i am still confused about the topic of knock offs. Are they allowed at competitions? Will i get fined for buying them? ss vs v cube 4x4-7x7, which is the better choice for competition use.

[Ninja Storm]

Shengshou for all, although there is a bit of controversy on the 6x6.

Knockoffs are totally fine, you'll be allowed at competitions.

Personally, I feel like patenting is one of the worst ways to give an inventor credit to his/her invention, so I advocate buying knockoffs.

[iCube4fun]

Yes, they are allowed in comp and you will not get a fine for buying them, its just that some people don't buy knock offs because that would be helping the company thats selling the knock offs.Personally I don't care as long as I get what I payed for, a good working cube.

[emolover]

Why on earth would a certain cube be banned from competitions?

Go for all shenshou cubes. They will not be WR quality cubes when you get them, but once you tension, lube, and modify them they will be. Besides, a V-cube can take years to break in enought to be good, plus the modifications are easier to break the cube while doing them.

[mdolszak]

It's becoming pretty obvious that Shengshou > V-Cube. Just go for the Shengshous. They're better in pretty much every way, plus they're like half the price.

Plus, Shengshou actually makes efforts to release new cubes frequently, instead of just creating patents and sitting there.

[marceldacs]

thanks for the clarification. THe tone of some anti knock off cubers made me think that buying them was a big deal. And yes i have tensioned lubed and modified my 4x4 and 5x5. (spent 10 hours on the 5x5 and 2 hours on the 4x4)

[mdolszak]

thanks for the clarification. THe tone of some anti knock off cubers made me think that buying them was a big deal. And yes i have tensioned lubed and modified my 4x4 and 5x5. (spent 10 hours on the 5x5 and 2 hours on the 4x4)

It seems like buying knockoffs was much more "taboo" a year or two ago. Now, with the recent Shengshou products destroying V-Cube products in many people's minds, it seems like buying knockoffs is not such a big deal anymore.
I agree with iCube4fun; if the puzzle is good quality and reasonably priced, then I'm happy.

[tx789]

v cube siad they will be release a cube a year so the 4x4 may be next so the 11x11 will be release in 2016-2023 maybe

shengshou is cheaper though a lot cheaper not so much for the 7x7 those

[TMOY]

It seems like buying knockoffs was much more "taboo" a year or two ago. Now, with the recent Shengshou products destroying V-Cube products in many people's minds, it seems like buying knockoffs is not such a big deal anymore.
I agree with iCube4fun; if the puzzle is good quality and reasonably priced, then I'm happy.

The "taboo" knockoffs (whatever that means) were nothing but blatant copies of the V-cubes sold at half their price. The Shengshou cubes actually add something new to the V-cube mechanism, that's why their KO status is debatable. And they are actually better cubes than the V-cubes, tht's why they have gotten so popular.

[CarlBrannen]

I have the SS 5x5 and 7x7. I've read the V patent (and I have a patent myself). It's clear to me that the V patent does not cover the SS cubes I own. Can't say for the others. The V cube patent is very limited; it would be very easy to design around it. That could be for several reasons; it's a lot easier to get a limited patent accepted; maybe there is prior art that prevented V from making a more general patent; and maybe their patent lawyer was incompetent. That's not to say that I believe that these SS designs were not influenced by V designs. All designers influence later designers. I'm just saying that my opinion is that there's no patent violation here.