Rubik's Brand

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Seven Towns Limited
Rubiks-logo.png
Company
Founded: 1980 (Ideal)
1985 (Seven Towns)
Location: London
Years Active: 1980-1983 (Ideal)
1991-present (Seven Towns)
Areas served: Worldwide
Website: [1]
Production
Products: Rubik's Cube, Rubik's DIY, Rubik's Pocket Cube, Rubik's Revenge, Professor's Cube, Rubik's Magic, Rubik's 360, Rubik's Twist (Snake),


Seven Towns, also known as Rubik's or Ideal Toy, is a puzzle designer, manufacturer, and shop. They are the producer of the original Rubik's cube.

3x3x3 Cube

Bűvös Kocka (1970s)

The first Rubik's cubes were sold under the name "Bűvös Kocka" (Hungarian: "Magic Cube"). The first batch of 5000 were produced by Politechnika in Budapest in late 1977. Over a million were produced in the late 1970s, they were sold mainly in Hungary (Hungary was part of the Communist Eastern Europe), but many reached foreign markets especially in western Europe. These early cubes are heavy (twice the weight of later ones) and very stiff. The six colours are the standard ones although they are often arranged differently from the later colour schemes.

Rubik's Cube (1980s)

In 1979 UK toy company Seven Towns arranged a worldwide deal for the cube with Ideal Toys - a big US toy company. Ideal began marketing and selling the cube in 1980 creating a worldwide craze. They chose to call it "Rubik's Cube" partly because there was no international patent on the invention, and they needed a distinctive name they could trademark. The Hungarian manufacturers (now called "Politoys") retooled their production lines creating a lighter cube, smoother in finish, and much easier to turn than the Bűvös Kocka.

The lack of a patent meant that many duplicates flooded market as the Rubik's Cube craze took off. These duplicates, which were often inferior, were produced in the Far East, especially in Taiwan. The cubes had names such as Magic Puzzler, Perfect Puzzler, Wonderful Puzzler, Challenge Puzzler, and Le Cube.

Other puzzles which were all sold under the Rubik name in the 1980s include:

Rubik's Cube (1990s & 2000s)

Ratings for Rubik's Storebought
Based on 11 ratings
Smoothness/Speed: 8.18
Lockup Resistance: 5.55
Cutting Corners: 5.73
Pop Resistance: 9.55
Quietness: 7.09
Reliability: 8.55
Weight: unknown
Overall: 7.8

Sales of Rubik's Cubes collapsed with the end of the Cube craze in 1983, but in the 1990s Rubik's Cubes (now under the control of Seven Towns) began being manufactured and sold again. The cube was very similar to the 1980s cube. There were many packaging variations, from several distributors depending on the country (OddzOn in the USA).

They were often used for speedcubing, but the centers were riveted rather than screwed into the core, so tension was not adjustable. The stickers were poor quality, being made from laminated paper.

Dan Knights, who started speedcubing in 1999, describes the cubes he bought from OddzOn as being highly variable: "some are mediocre from the start, others can be worked with to become excellent speed-cubes." He also states that "the stickers, however, present a MAJOR problem. Everyone who cubes seriously knows this, even Rubik himself".[2]

Rubiks Storebought, c. 2008


Rubik's Studio Cube

The Studio Cube is a 3x3x3 manufactured by Rubik's Studio in Hungary. Available since (at least) the 1990s. Rather more expensive than store-bought cubes, they are mainly bought as a collectable. It shares many similarities with the original 1980s cubes, and has a 1980-type logo. The centers are fixed with a screw, allowing the tension to be adjusted. Opinions about its suitability for speedsolving varied, although generally it was not a preferred cube, due to the flat centres (more prone to pops), required break-in, and possible modifications required (replacements of springs, screws, and possibly the core).

Rubik's Cube - DIY

Ratings for Rubik's DIY
Based on 5 ratings
Smoothness/Speed: 8.6
Lockup Resistance: 8.0
Cutting Corners: 7.8
Pop Resistance: 7
Quietness: 6.6
Reliability: 7.4
Weight: unknown
Overall: 8.36

Beginning around 2004,[3] the official Rubik's online shop (Rubiks.com) began selling Rubik's cube DIY kits. DIY meant that the puzzle arrived disassembled and required you to assemble it yourself. They were sometimes criticized because the center caps did not stay in as well as some other designs, although this could be fixed with either glue or a small square of paper. A better fit could be achieved once some extra plastic is shaved off. Still, unlike store-bought cubes, the center tensions are adjustable, so these cubes were often favored by speedcubers.

Rubik's Cube - Tiled

In 2012, Rubik's introduced a newer, updated version of the original cube. It featured tiles that are embedded into the pieces instead of stickers, so there isn't any chipping or peeling. Out of the box, it is incredibly tight and very slow. After breaking it in well, it loosens itself and becomes faster, with corner cutting of about line-to-line forwards, but little to no reverse corner cutting. It can lock up and catch. Store-bought Rubik's cubes are popular among beginning cubers due to their widespread availability. They are not good for speedcubing, although these cubes do use screws, so it is possible to adjust the tension, if you can remove the middle tiles.[4]

Rubik's Speedcube

The Rubik's Speedcube is Rubik's first speedcube. It was introduced in 2013. It is similar to the 2012 tiled cube but the center caps can be removed and the core disassembled to adjust the tensions. Compared with the Chinese-brand speedcubes, Rubik's Speedcube was generally regarded as a below average speedcube. It is smooth and very fast, but there are pops and lockups, poor corner cutting and almost no reverse corner cutting.Review

2x2x2 Cube

Also known as the 'Mini Cube'. Rubik's brand 2x2's are smaller than most 2x2x2 cubes, therefore it can fit in your pocket - therefore the name Pocket Cube.

Rubik's 2x2x2 Cube

Rubik's Revenge

Ratings for Rubik's Revenge
Based on 5 ratings
Smoothness/Speed: 6.8
Lockup Resistance: 3.8
Cutting Corners: 2.4
Pop Resistance: 2.8
Quietness: 5.4
Reliability: 4.0
Weight: unknown
Overall: 3.87

Older Rubik's brand 4x4s were often used by speedcubers, since they can be good but require a long time to properly break in. These cubes can get surprisingly loose before they become unusably pop-prone, because unlike the Eastsheen cubes they do not have internal pops. Rubik's has now re-tooled this cube, and it now has a slightly modified mechanism. People have said that this cube locks up too much and pops too much. This brand fell out of favor with the release of the Eastsheen c. 2002.

Rubik's Revenge

Professor's Cube

The Rubik's 5x5 is not a very good speedcube and is known by some as a "Rubik's Brick" due to the extreme amount of force that was once required to make turns on this puzzle out of the box. Although this puzzle has been retooled, and the newer Rubik's 5x5 cubes are better, they are still not as good as other cubes. The outer layers tend to be much harder to twist than the inside layers. This is the largest of the main 5x5 brands.

Professor's Cube

Rubik's Magic

Rubik's Magic, is a Magic made by the Rubik's brand. The puzzle was patented by Erno Rubik in 1986, and launched into the toy shops in October that year. 1980s versions were made by Matchbox Toys. A version with more tiles known as the Master Magic was also released.

Other Puzzles Produced by Rubik's

See also

External links