[Member Intro] Hey Guys .... (waves from Southern tip of Africa)

JohnnyReggae

Veteran
Joined
Jan 21, 2015
Messages
578
Location
Cape Town, South Africa
WCA ID
2015BOSW01
It has been an interesting month long re-introduction to the world of cubing. Many years back in the early 80's I was given a Rubik's cube. I played with it for a few days before getting hold of a printed solution. 1 A4 page that had all the algorithms for the beginner method, cross, bottom layer, middle layer, top cross, pll-cross, pll-edges, oll-edges. Because I trained my brain at that age I can never forget those algorithms. All the years since then I've picked up my cube every year or two, solved it a few times and put it back down giving myself a pat on the back for still remembering how to do it.

Recently I was given a spark for cubing again, by of all people an 8 year old son of some friends. He had recently learned how to solve the cube and was trying to get faster. Of course my competition gene kicked in and wanted to do it again. My original cube from the 80's while in perfect working order, and in good nick if you ask me, does not turn nicely anymore at all. Had a look in the interwebs and found a local online speed cube store. Purchased a ShengShou 3x3 as they were on special. I've never had a cube that turns this well. I'm sure there are much better on the market, but for me I had never felt a cube like that before. I was amazed how quickly I could do the old algorithms with a much better cube. Hooked .... line and sinker

1 week later I ordered a 2x2, 4x4, 5x5 ... They have been fun to learn. The 4 and 5 initially scared me, but once I got the concepts in solving it it was reasonable simple. Just learn more algorithms ;) As for the 3x3, it didn't take long for me to smash my 30-odd year old record of 01:30, yes I know that's long :) I'm still just over 1 minute, but am spending time trying to do certain portions of the CFOP method a bit quicker. The cross and F2L is where I spend most of my time.

Along with my original 80's Rubik's cube I also have:
Fruit 3x3 cube
Barrel 3x3
Space Shuttle 3x3
14-sided 3x3 (core has broken apart so it's in pieces)
Mini-keyring 3x3
Rubik's snake

All these puzzles were bought in the early 80's

I'm sure you'll see me around on the forums, maybe not that active to start with while I get my footing around here and with my cubes.
Cheers
 
Welcome to the forums!
I also started originally in the 80s, and I'm a fan of the octagon barrel for nostalgia reasons...when I was at school it was nearly as popular as the 3x3.
What are the fruit cube and space shuttle? I did a quick google search but couldn't find them. Could you post a picture of your collection?
Anyway, I hope you enjoy your time here. It's a great place and the people are helpful.
 
Welcome!

If you're on facebook, you should join our group: Speedcube South Africa.

Also, there's an official competition at the Cape Town Science Center on 19 April. Even if you you take a minute or two to solve the cube, you should go along for the experience and to meet some fellow cubers. More information is here: https://www.worldcubeassociation.org/results/c.php?i=CapeTown2015

Found the facebook group and joined last week, thanks :tu

I've been thinking about joining the comp in Cape Town in April, although my times are not good compared to what will be there on the day. But still thinking about it.

Welcome to the forums!
I also started originally in the 80s, and I'm a fan of the octagon barrel for nostalgia reasons...when I was at school it was nearly as popular as the 3x3.
What are the fruit cube and space shuttle? I did a quick google search but couldn't find them. Could you post a picture of your collection?
Anyway, I hope you enjoy your time here. It's a great place and the people are helpful.

Thanks man. I haven't see those 2 cubes anywhere else recently. They were around in the 80's but not that easy to get hold of. Will take a pic of the ones I have and post here. The Space Shuttle needs new stickers as some are missing.

Found an image of the Space Shuttle on Google ....

Space Shuttle 3x3.jpg

and another ...

Space Shuttle 3x3 (2).jpg

Edit: Found this page about the puzzle as well ... http://www.twistypuzzles.com/cgi-bin/puzzle.cgi?pkey=4018
 
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I've been thinking about joining the comp in Cape Town in April, although my times are not good compared to what will be there on the day. But still thinking about it.

Don't worry about it all! It's a ton of fun for all cubers and no one will judge you, there will likely be others there at your level. At the last few comps we quite a few people in the 2-3 minute range iirc.
 
I've been thinking about joining the comp in Cape Town in April, although my times are not good compared to what will be there on the day. But still thinking about it.

Your times don't really matter. Just to give you an idea, at the Cape Town 2014 competition, 9 people averaged over 2 minutes, and the slowest solve in the competition was 6 minutes.
 
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