KrugerStToyAndTrainMuseum
Member
Hello! I'm Allan Miller, one of the co-founders of the Kruger Street Toy & Train Museum in Wheeling, West Virginia, USA. Have been a lifelong toy collector and historian. Anyway, along with learning more about the cubing community, I wanted to join this group to let you know about a truly unique exhibit that we have coming to the Toy Museum starting on August 3, 2025. I've copied and pasted the press release below:
Original Rubik’s Cube Molds Coming to Wheeling, West Virginia!
Fifty years ago, in January of 1975, architect and inventor Erno Rubik filed for a patent in his native Hungary for the now world-famous puzzle cube which bears his name. Surprisingly, it was originally meant as an instructional aid and not a toy! It instantly became a hit in his native land, and when he eventually exhibited it at the Nuremberg Toy Fair, Ideal Toys saw the potential and eagerly negotiated the rights to produce and sell this new marvel worldwide.
The Kruger Street Toy & Train Museum in Wheeling, West Virginia, thanks to the generosity of Jay Horowitz and American Classic Toys, Inc. (the current holders of the Ideal Toys tooling and rights), is now giving the public a rare opportunity to actually see those original molds, used by Ideal to produce millions upon millions of Rubik’s Cubes, helping to turn the toy into a worldwide sensation, and one of the most recognizable toys ever! By January of 2024, Rubik’s Cube had sold over 500 million copies worldwide!
On August 3, 2025, the Toy Museum will unveil its new exhibit on the Rubik’s Cube. For a limited time, you can see the original Ideal Toys tooling used to create this blockbuster and cultural phenomenon! Rarely does the public have an opportunity to get even a glimpse of production tooling, let alone ones related to such a well-known product. But you can see and experience them in Wheeling for a limited time!
The event kicks off on Sunday, August 3, 2025, with a day devoted to the Cube! Meet Jay Horowitz and hear his captivating stories of how he ended up with the Ideal tooling, and how the Rubik’s Cube helped inspire his own toy invention, the Sudoku Cube! See the original tooling, the patents, and vintage Cubes and promotional literature related to Rubik’s Cube! And for all of the Cubers out there, bring your own Rubik’s Cube along with you on August 3rd, and if you can solve it for the museum staff in under 5 minutes, your admission to the museum for that day is free! Check the museum’s website at www.ToyAndTrain.com for the up to the minute schedule of events, as plans are still being finalized!
Original Rubik’s Cube Molds Coming to Wheeling, West Virginia!
Fifty years ago, in January of 1975, architect and inventor Erno Rubik filed for a patent in his native Hungary for the now world-famous puzzle cube which bears his name. Surprisingly, it was originally meant as an instructional aid and not a toy! It instantly became a hit in his native land, and when he eventually exhibited it at the Nuremberg Toy Fair, Ideal Toys saw the potential and eagerly negotiated the rights to produce and sell this new marvel worldwide.
The Kruger Street Toy & Train Museum in Wheeling, West Virginia, thanks to the generosity of Jay Horowitz and American Classic Toys, Inc. (the current holders of the Ideal Toys tooling and rights), is now giving the public a rare opportunity to actually see those original molds, used by Ideal to produce millions upon millions of Rubik’s Cubes, helping to turn the toy into a worldwide sensation, and one of the most recognizable toys ever! By January of 2024, Rubik’s Cube had sold over 500 million copies worldwide!
On August 3, 2025, the Toy Museum will unveil its new exhibit on the Rubik’s Cube. For a limited time, you can see the original Ideal Toys tooling used to create this blockbuster and cultural phenomenon! Rarely does the public have an opportunity to get even a glimpse of production tooling, let alone ones related to such a well-known product. But you can see and experience them in Wheeling for a limited time!
The event kicks off on Sunday, August 3, 2025, with a day devoted to the Cube! Meet Jay Horowitz and hear his captivating stories of how he ended up with the Ideal tooling, and how the Rubik’s Cube helped inspire his own toy invention, the Sudoku Cube! See the original tooling, the patents, and vintage Cubes and promotional literature related to Rubik’s Cube! And for all of the Cubers out there, bring your own Rubik’s Cube along with you on August 3rd, and if you can solve it for the museum staff in under 5 minutes, your admission to the museum for that day is free! Check the museum’s website at www.ToyAndTrain.com for the up to the minute schedule of events, as plans are still being finalized!
