[Member Intro] Greetings from Spokane, WA!

[Tabe]

Hello all!

I am a longtime Rubik's Cube owner, having purchased an original Rubik's Cube around 1980 and a Deluxe Rubik's Cube, with the plastic tile pieces, about a year later. Still have the Deluxe and love it.

I followed the original US and World Championships on the TV show "That's Incredible" as a kid.

I originally learned how to solve using "The Simple Solution" by Nourse. Got help from my mom to do that - I remember sitting in the kitchen working the cube with her cooking. I'd get stuck, she'd look in the book and tell me what I should be doing, LOL.

I was the only kid in my school who could solve the cube but everybody had one. I'd charge other kids a quarter to solve their cubes for them on the playground during recess

I recently read the book "Cracking the Cube" about speedcubing and I decided to look into competitions and maybe entering one myself. I'm nowhere near even competitive (averaging 1:20 now that I've got an actual speed cube) because I'm still using the Nourse method but am watching videos and trying to improve.

Some stats:

PB - 0:30 (fluke solve back in the early 80s)
A05: 1:22
Current Main: Aolong v2 (just got it yesterday; it replaces my Weilong GTS that I find a little too loose for my inaccurate turning)
Age: nearly 45 but feel a LOT older most days


Thanks,
Tabe

p.s. Anybody know when cube colors changed? Original Rubik's had white/blue, green/yellow, red/orange instead of the current white/yellow, green/blue, red/orange combos.

 

[unirox13]

Welcome to the forum! Not to be, "age-ist", but since you're an older solver, you may also want to check out the www.twistypuzzles.com forum. Things there are a bit less focused on speed and more focused on unique, non-wca puzzles, and collections. I'm a member of both forums and appreciate them both equally for completely different reasons. If you join twistypuzzles, just be sure that you follow their guidelines on knock-off puzzles. They have a few FAQ threads that explain things really well.

Congrats on joining the forum and the new puzzles! Also, is there any chance that you have pics of the Rubik's Deluxe, I'd love to see it? Any chance you still have the box as well?

 

[Kit Clement]

Welcome! Just wanted to let you know, if you wanted to come out and meet more speedcubers, there's a WCA competition coming up not to far from you in Richland, WA:

https://www.cubingusa.com/atomiccubingspring2017/index.php

We're also working on getting a competition out in Spokane, WA soon, and we hope to talk about some early planning for that at this event.

Also, if you haven't been told yet, competitions are super relaxed and friendly environments. It's more about making a friend or two than it is about winning the events. Typically lots of high school aged kids there, but there's a few more adult cubers that attend too.

 

[newtonbase]

Hi @Tabe. Welcome to the forum.
You are in an enviable position choosing a modern method. Make sure you look at the options before diving in as it's quite hard to go back. You can also avoid bad habits by starting fresh.
We are the same age but I didn't manage to solve the cube until 3 years ago. There are quite a few of us oldies on this thread https://www.speedsolving.com/forum/threads/older-cubers-discussions and we're quite a friendly bunch so please pop along and say Hi.

 

[Tabe]

Hi @Tabe. Welcome to the forum.
You are in an enviable position choosing a modern method. Make sure you look at the options before diving in as it's quite hard to go back. You can also avoid bad habits by starting fresh.
We are the same age but I didn't manage to solve the cube until 3 years ago. There are quite a few of us oldies on this thread https://www.speedsolving.com/forum/threads/older-cubers-discussions and we're quite a friendly bunch so please pop along and say Hi.

Thank you, kind sir. I will check it out.

 

[Tabe]

Congrats on joining the forum and the new puzzles! Also, is there any chance that you have pics of the Rubik's Deluxe, I'd love to see it? Any chance you still have the box as well?

I do not have the box. I kept it for a year or two after buying the cube but eventually got tired of it. And it wasn't a box but a plastic dome. I've attached some pics. For being 35 years old with thousands upon thousands of solves on it, I'd say this cube has held up very, very well

 

[shadowslice e]

Welcome to the forums!

 

[leeo]

I'm also from Spokane valley, and a few years older. The cube became all the rage a year before my high school senior year. I also learned to solve from Nourse's pamphlet (which is still on my shelf). There was someone I met that summer that learned to solve with the last layer on the top rather than Nourse's where the last layer is on the bottom. To translate Nourse's solution to that orientation, I transposed all the moves with a z2, so that Nourse's bottom layer Right-hand algorithms became transposed to top layer Left-hand algorithms. I still prefer Left-hand dominent algorithms.

I was satisfied that I could solve the cube, and that stayed for 30 years until I met my father who had a store-bought Rubik's brand and asked if I could solve it. It required me 30 minutes, but I was able to remember enough of Nourse's modified method to complete a solve. My wife had two cubes in the car from yard sales for the grandchildren.

Then I discovered the you-tube generation, and Cube Explorer....

 

[Grenloc]

I'm in Airway Heights, WA, 40 yo and just started cubing 3 weeks ago.

I had messed with 3x3's off and on for years, but never got enough time to learn how to solve. A co-worker had brought a Rubik's 1.0 in recently and got hooked. I started looking up tutorial video's and found The Cubicle's Beginner's method. My next payday, I bought my own Rubik's 2.0 from Walmart and spent the weekend following along with the video. By Sunday, I was able to solve without the video in just under 5 mins. I am currently averaging, after three weeks, around 2 mins. and 30 sec. with minor tweaks from the video.

I am hoping that a competition can be held here in the Spokane Area or even just a meet-up would be awesome. It is a little difficult for me to finance a trip to Richland.

PB: 2:16 (3x3)
Current Main: Rubik's v2 (I have a Cyclone Boys and Valk 3 on the way, as well as a Yongjun 2x2)

 

[Tabe]

Awesome - welcome to the board!

 

[Solvador Cubi]

Hi Tabe, and Grenloc,

If either of you are interested in learning CFOP, I assembled some 3x3 methods that can be used to solve the cube in under a minute without memorizing of a bunch of algorithms. However, both of these methods still have useful steps and algs that are used for more advanced CFOP.

The first is called DSEF and it uses known algs and steps in such a way so that a beginner only has to memorize 1 alg (sune) and 2 sequences (4 moves each). I also turned this method into a step-by-step website and app. http://solvexio.cf

The second is an intermediate method called FIXLL that has a 4-Look Last Layer. My goal for it was to use the fewest number of algorithms to memorize instead of the 16 mostly unrelated ones. It uses only 9 main algorithms (in different ways) to complete the last layer in at most 4 steps.
It is set up as a "bring you own F2L" and really just focuses on the last layer.

Links to one-page quick reference guides are below:
http://solvexio.cf/app/#/DSEF_OnePage (1 alg and 2 sequences)
http://solvexio.cf/app/#/FIXLL_OnePage (4 Look Last Layer and uses only 9 main algorithms)

I hope some of that will help you!
Solvador Cubi

 

[Tabe]

Thank you, I will definitely be looking at your links.

I'm in the process of learning CFOP right now. I have the C & F part but am still very slow and inefficient with them both but am getting there. I actually hit my beginner average for the first time doing CFOP last night, so it's starting to progress

 

[Gold Cuber]

p.s. Anybody know when cube colors changed? Original Rubik's had white/blue, green/yellow, red/orange instead of the current white/yellow, green/blue, red/orange combos.

Way way back. Feliks Zembdegs Probably can't remember

 

[Gold Cuber]

Where is Spokane in relation to Perth?

 

[Tabe]

It's roughly 15200km to the northeast of you Spokane is on the eastern border of the state of Washington in the United States.

I need to remember that this is an international forum and that WA has a totally different meaning to someone from Australia versus someone from the United States

 

[Gold Cuber]

It's roughly 15200km to the northeast of you Spokane is on the eastern border of the state of Washington in the United States.

I need to remember that this is an international forum and that WA has a totally different meaning to someone from Australia versus someone from the United States

i know, i only though there was one wa

 

[Tabe]

i know, i only though there was one wa

So did I, LOL.