One is a Gundam ball (all green), the ball that is all three colors is like a 3x3 puzzle, but with longer sides, and the other one is a game called trouble bubble. It has a push buttton on the bottom and you need to get the colored balls into their respective cups.

I meant the second one, but thanks for the descriptions of the other ones too!

Do you know anything else about this 3x3 ball (original release date, manufacturer, or anything like that?)

Yeah, newly made (2008-2009) in HK. They won't ship it locally, so you have to have an overseas address to get one. I can see the building they ship out of from my living room window-but there you go

It looks and feels cheap. The images on ebay are of a metalic puzzle, not the plastic thing I got. With the DHL shipping, it was more expensive than it is worth. You can see the core covers from the outside of the puzzle. Had I known, I wouldn't have spent the money.

These guys both arrived at my door yesterday. Not the most rare puzzles in the world, I suppose, but still an exciting day for me!

near - Fantastic elemental. I love DN. I would have gotten half of Light's face and half of Ryuzaki's, personally. It's fantastic nonetheless.

merlintocs - Is that a Mr Wu octahedron?

Yes it is. I just admired it last night, and then I scrambled it right before I left for work today, so I would have that solve waiting for me all day.

Just received my Skewb 3d and Polymorphinx from Mefferts literally 30 seconds ago. Gonna turn them into a Skewb and Skewb Ultimate.

I think that this is the my first puzzle that would qualify for this thread!

Odd shaped package:



The contents:



Passes inspection (sorry, I don't have a cat and swimming with fishes is out of the question):



The puzzle:







The puzzle felt a bit stiff at first, but if you align it well, it isn't that bad...

The other puzzle that came in was the early version of the Rubik's Shells. This one has permanent lock buttons, and IIRC, the later versions have a reset hole.





Of course, these packages that came today made my day!

Ben

Not extremely rare, but a great price:



$20.

After shipping?

$28 with shipping.

At last I got one of the extremely rare early 80's KUBE's.



The cube itself is only a sticker variation, but I wanted the box because of the 'K'.

So it's YOU who outbid me at the last second for the $207 dino star!



Anyways, I got this about a week ago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jN2b0bDGqk&feature=channel_page

If you don't mind me asking, how does somebody at your very young age afford so many expensive puzzles?

If that was directed at me, I have a job.

It isn't a ridiculous question. You do have many unboxing videos, most of them rare or semi-rare puzzles.

Yes, that is true. I just hate being stereotyped because of my age.

I know I'm a little behind the times, but my Floppy and Void Cubes just showed up today. Not particularly rare, but it is my first two puzzle package.

If you think your behind, then I must be far gone! I don't even own a Bump Cube yet!

-Grant

I can sympathize with you on that one.
As a 14 y/o collector, it can often times be hard to get taken seriously. On the other hand, I am glad to say that all my custom orders and orders with people here have been taken seriously. And that is truly appreciated.



Haha, I need one of these as well. But I have placed them low priority for the time being behind saving the money for my other orders from Steryne. I think I like being able to talk directly to the person I am purchasing from with ease. I love having that ability.

It is quite easy for me to take you seriously becuase we are both 14.

Although I would hope you would take me seriously regardless of either of our ages. I just simply cannot wait until I get my cubes from you.

Glad to see that I'm not the only 14 year old collector on this forum.

not exactly rare, but it came in the post. It also got here a lot earlier then expected.

edit:
the puzzle shape itself isn't rare; I don't know about how rare this language version box is, or when it was produced.

Got these lately... Maybe they are not super rare, but I'm very happy anyway

Skarabajo

One of them in the picture is turned backwards. The top corner looks like it might be a Rubik's Icon, but I cannot tell for sure. What exactly is that one?

Also, Those Allspark cubes are really nice. I was looking into one myself because I just love the way they look.

I turned that one intentionally to show the back; both Hex Package puzzles are "Disney (Theme Park Edition) Character Cubes" and they have a Mickey-silhouette sticker on the top. Also, you can click on the attachment to see original picture (1600x1200 pixels).

Skarabajo

oh! Very nice! I can see it now. haha, Those are some very cool cubes you got a hold of their. Where did you purchase them?

I personally just received my void cube in the mail. Came home from school and saw it in the mailbox. Ran inside and opened it up! The box was a little banged up on one side but nothing too major. No camera to take a picture with unfortunately.

Lucky, anyone here 13? Well back on topic, my Eastsheen 2x2 arrived which I am using for a mod. My two bump cubes came too.

I'm 13.

On topic: I got my golden cube/golden egg recently.

I don't mean to offend anyone, but the topic is "Packages Just Arrived with Rare puzzles".

Rare is a bit of a relative term. Also, feel free to start a thread entitled "Packages Just Arrived with Common puzzles" or something of the like if it honestly bothers you that much.

"Rare" is not relative. Lets say there were only 5 of puzzle X were made. That does not mean that to someone with a lot of money they are not rare. Not to mention that several of the puzzles mentioned were currently in mass production and easily available. Complaining that you don't get any good puzzles to me is futile. The most expensive/rare/difficult puzzle I have is a White Golden Cube.

And perhaps I should have underlined the entire sentence, considering about half the page was an age competition. Things like that are what PM's are for, if you must. Having a thread of average puzzles I feel would be boring, and probably pointless. I don't want to know every time someone buys a Pyraminx or DIY. The rare ones are the interesting ones, hence this thread.

Boring is your opinion. I personally love seeing all the different cubes that everyone gets. Whether I have seen them before, or not. What is rare and what is not rare is entirely relative. Sure, if 5 are made nearly everyone will consider it rare. But if you have, oh, 200 made, I still consider it rare. Rare could mean for an area. Where I live, any cubes I purchase must be online, hence any cube I get save maybe a basic 3x3x3 would be rare to the area.

If you care to go off of what should and should not be left in a PM, maybe taking what is and isn't rare over PM would be best? Also, that age was slightly relevant. It came up only seeing as how I had purchased some rare cubes that are being custom made by Steryne. I do not care to get into a large argument over this, but I do believe that posting rare along with maybe slightly more common items is entirely appropriate for the thread. Also, as I have reviewed the thread, you have appeared to be the only one voicing concern with the posting of slightly more common items. Once again, if you are bothered that much by it, feel free to create another thread that fits the subject more or even avoid this thread. Skim the thread if you must for cubes that YOU personally consider rare. Feel free to do any of these things. =)

Now, on topic:
I added a 2x2x1 onto my custom order. I personally believe this to be a fairly rare puzzle in that not very many have been made to my knowledge. Just arriving in the mail is my 3x3x4 puzzle. Once again, no picture available due to a lack of camera, but I am very happy with the 3x3x4.

It's definitely not common, and considering the shape of the box and the puzzle (mint or nearly mint) I'd say it's rare. You should be able to see the production year on the box, the side where all text is. Should be something between 1982-1986, most probably 1984.

There are two different cubes coming in that packaging: a black plastic one and a white plastic one.
The black one is rarer and has a logo on the white center sticker.
They were sold initially for 5 Roubles in the eighties.

Mine black was 4.50. And another was 4 roubles.

If vintage makes it rare, I recieved a vintage master magic for a couple bucks and am recieving a vintage rubik's clock in a couple days (less than 10 bucks each after shipping)

Just got my new Rubik's Shell It's MUCH more fun and challenging to solve with both buttons pressed!

Thanks GuitarSD!

The date is probably there. I just can't remember how to read more cyryllic than is on the front of the box (which says "Rubik"); I mostly deal with languages using the latin alphabet.

Just look for the date among all that Cyrillic gibberish. You should clearly recognize the year. It's just four digits in sequence that looks like a year!

This is my first real opportunity to post in this thread, so I'm excited

First off: a package from eBay with a buncha stuff.



Second off: a long-awaited Octo. There was an unexpected shipping delay (completely my fault though, haha), but it's finally arrived

Aleksey, I was mistaken and you were right. The price is 4 roubles.
But I can't find a date either.
Below are the two sides with text.
I would be grateful for a translation if you find the time.

the only 4-digit sequence that looks like a year is "1978," part of "Прейк. № 085-01-1978/1." It looks like a patent number, but "patent" translates as "патент."

If I am not mistaken ПРЕЙСКУРАНТ (прейск.) is Price list.

One of the boxes has Leningrad, the other Irkutsk instead.

What is most interesting is that both boxes have Politoys and Konsumex written on them.
That's why I would be grateful for a translation.

Other than knowing this language is cyrillic in nature, I know nothing about it so forgive my 'stupid' idea. is that 84 in the circle the year?

On another topic, I read last night a complaint about posting pictures that are not "Rare" puzzles. My two cents worth is that quite simply what is rare to one person might not be rare to another. I have watched this thread with great pleasure since it was started, and every time I open the forum I am thrilled to see a new posting. It is usually my first stop.

Now as I look at this I see many nice puzzles and have often thought "that's not 'rare' I got it back in 19.." But that doesn't not make it a rare puzzle for the person who just got it. How dare anyone complain about a puzzle not being rare...simply because you already have it. As an example, I still haven't got an ocatagon (It should be in my next fortnightly box because I finally won one.) Will I be attacked because a puzzle you might be able to find in a flea market has been out of my reach for the past 20 years?

I do wish posts like these would stay in your head, and not be posted on the forum. We seem to have moved away from the wonderful friendliness that this forum had in the beginning to a nastier place within the past half year. Frankly, I don't like much of what I have been reading lately, and these last few posts on this thread are a part of this. Before you post some inane comment about the lack of rarity, consider your own situation...how would you feel after hunting for ages like to be told your puzzle (or post) is worthless? Use some common sense before posting please. Remember, your mother probably told you when you were younger that if you don't have something nice to say then don't say anything. Maybe you should try that here as well.

I am assuming that this was directed at me.

I would like to point out that all I had said was this:



Not only is it not rude nor mean, it even has a disclaimer. I then received snarky remarks, that were made with no consideration, really.

I really could go into many things I was annoyed about, but I like when threads are on topic.

And I don't like the hostility this forum has come to, either.

Here you go. The translation of the Russian text on the left box:

The toy develops logical thinking and spatial perception. On each side of the cube there may be six different colors in many variations. The goal of the game is to bring one side or all sides simultaneously to one color. The toy is recommended for kids age 7 to 16 years.

Manufactured under licence from Konsumex-Politoys, Hungary


Ministry of Local Industry of RSFSR
Pilot production plant of metallic small wares and souvenirs
Leningrad

Article - IP
Price - 4 roubles
All-Union Standard - 17-296-75
Shipment Department - 205 RSFSR 2161-83
Price List - 085-01-1978/1


On the right box the differences are the production plant and the city.

Pilot base production toy factory
Irkutsk

As for the year of production it's difficult to determine indeed. I do remember for sure that I've got mine in winter 1983/1984.

I got this today; it's a nice little (88mm height) promo puzzle from 1990. It makes me wonder if there was a time when Smarties were spheres instead of oblate spheroids

As you can see, the box is a little old, but the puzzle works great. It is going right next to my M&M's cubes!

Skarabajo

Thanks a lot Aleksey!!!
These pictures will now be moved to the "official cubes" section in my gallery.

The year fits certainly with the Politoys licensing.