Hello Twisty Puzzlers,

I am pleased to announce that the prototype of the mass-produced DeFTI has arrived!

VIDEO!

(see later post for more stickered pictures)

It turns really well, and jumbles just as the original did. (Sorry about the poor image quality below; they were taken with my old crummy camera. The stickered photos in the later post were taken with my new camera.)







But what I wasn't expecting was how big the puzzle would be. Here it is next to a 3x3.



There is one small problem with the caps. They are made of kind of cheap thin plastic that cracks really easily. Many of the corner caps have cracks in them already. I'm going to contact MF8 about this to see if they are doing anything about it.



I'll keep you posted on the details. But in the meantime, woohoo! I've got a puzzle mass-produced!

-Eitan

CONGRATULATION Eitan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Congratulation! A very beautiful puzzle.I will buy one.

Hey Eitan, it's really great to see this coming out. Can you comment on how close the MF8 design is to your original design? Is it pretty much the same shells buildup?

It's pretty much an identical mechanism. The only difference is what piece is screwed down onto the core. On my puzzle it was the rotating 3-fold symmetry piece. On the MF8 puzzle, it is the pentagonal non-moving pieces. I'll take a picture tomorrow.

-Eitan

Can you post a video please ?
Alazing puzzle for a mass production

Cheers !

Really good news! My congratulations, Eitan!!!

Can't wait for the real thing! Actually I think the name "Eitan's Star" is good, although it is not really a star shape~

Wow nice . But the thing is that it makes anther puzzle that I "need" to get .

Great news! This is a must-have puzzle for me. I hope that this puzzle becomes as valuable as a certain other icosahedral puzzle

This is fantastic news Eitan, I'm sure many people have been waiting for this. I'm a bit sad that it doesn't look like it's been designed for a coloured plastic run because, particularly for this cube with the small stickers, it would have been nice. It really is one of the mass production shock and awe puzzles of recent times. Congratulations!!

Cheers,
Burgo.

YEEES. Finally.
This will be the first time I spend money and time on a twisty puzzle in months.
My new hobby will have to stand back again. Yes, it just can't compete with twistypuzzles. Not when it comes down to puzzles of this degree!
Also congratulations to you, Eitan

woooow! It really wasn't a dream...
Fantastic news! I can't wait to see this one coming to the market. And I hope it stays black

I bet the cheap pleastic thing has something to do with the fact that its a prototype.
I think they will use more expensive plastic with the final product.

Nice. Looking forward to attacking one with sharp tools.

yes

Wow! That looks great! I will definitely get one. Two things: do you know if it will have 20 colour stickers, and does anyone know the amount of time from prototype to finished model usually?

Good job!



I'm excited to see what comes out!

Callum

Been waiting so patiently for this! Fantastic!

Eitan,

if this is not too late - contact them and ask to make center pieces with thicker plastic - the thicker, the better.

I had a situation with teraminx a year ago - I posted here some images of what happened with mf8 teraminx. The center pieces were too thin, and the screw was tightened too strong. When I turned it the first time after I got the puzzle, it simply exploded in my hands. Plastic was less than 1 mm thin, and these 12 centers were holding almost a kilogram of mass.

EDIT: I see that MF8 has told above that they will use more expensive plastic. OK, I trust them. But expensiveness doesn't mean thinkness. I would like to kindly ask MF8 to make center pieces thicker.

Yay! I will buy 2 of these

This is great news. I really appreciate the work that MF8 and Eitan have put into bringing this beautiful and interesting puzzle to the mass-market. I was expecting something the size of a Tuttminx, but looks to be the size of a Starminx !

As MF8 seems to release families of puzzles (e.g. Dino Dodecahedron and Starminx), what would be a follow-up to the DeFTI on the same icosahedral shape? Edge-turning? Different cuts?

Great news

Radiolarian IV should be a cool alternative name for it.

This is great news!
I've obsessed over this puzzle for so long.

Congratulation to Eitan and also mf8.
This one is a really amazing puzzle. It will be lovely to hold it on hand.
I am happy to see that mf8 always give us surprise !

Yes!
Another slot can be filled!

Huh... I thought if any of your puzzles would be mass-produced, it would be one of your Twisted puzzles. ...still, a nice surprise none the less.

Hooray! It's here!

(Hope this won't be the only icosahedron MF8 makes!)

This is exciting

Cool to see icosahedron puzzle shape !! It is the forgotten member of the regular polyhedron family !!

It will be in my very short wishing list of 2012 puzzles

This is so exciting! I prefer a solid color plastic puzzle though considering those tiny teeny pieces. No patience for stickers.

Big congratulations!

Fantastic I love it. Any chance of a video?

Thanks for the complements everyone. I promise a video will be posted tonight.

Eitan

Wow!
Your puzzles always work very well, so I am really looking forward to this mass-produced item.

Congrats.

Do you mind posting a video withing the next two hours ?

Sorry, I can't. I'm working on a project, and then I have orchestra in an hour. It will be uploaded late tonight. Why the rush?

-Eitan

MF8, if you're reading this: please, please, PLEASE make a version with 20 colors of stickers, and not just 10!

Some nice Meffert's tiles wouldn't be too bad either.
But I agree, definitely use 20 colors. 10 would just be disappointing.

My self inflicted bedtime ^^ I'm in europe, so posting the video after 0:30 was not so good for me

I just added a VIDEO to the top post. Enjoy!

-Eitan

Ridiculous. That really exceeds my expectations. What a beautiful puzzle.

Congrats again on a puzzle to your name!

Just watched the video, that puzzle is superb! Will it be offered unstickered so that you can apply your own patterns?

Good Lord, that thing is monstrous. Would've been nice if it were smaller, maybe halfway between your original and the prototype. Just my opinion though. Sounds very hollow too. I bet it's quite light like the Starminx. Also too bad it's being made with the cheap, shiny, brittle plastic. That puzzle deserves stronger material, like the original solid megaminxes. Again, just my aesthetic opinion of mf8 puzzles in general. Yeah, I gripe, but it's still amazing. I'll be getting at least two for sure. One for solving, the other for modding!

Thanks.

As MF8 said above, they will be using the better plastic on the final puzzle. This is still a prototype.

By the way, I just learned that my name is going to be on their patent! This is so exciting.

-Eitan

It would be better if your name was on their cheques

Holy crap I'm super duper excited
is there an ETA for its official release?

I hope mf8 makes a clear one with transparent stickers!!!!

I was wondering that too. A tentative time-frame would be good to know. Can't wait to have it.

I don't know anything yet about release date or price. I will post here when I get news.

-Eitan

Hey everyone,

I decided to cut some stickers for Eitan's Star. I did 10 colors, with opposite faces the same color. I would have done 20 colors, but I only have 13 sticker colors, and crosshatching didn't come out well on the laser cutter. I hope that MF8 does 20 colors. I'll make a new video soon. (I got a new camera, by the way! Fujifilm Finepix S2950. It's fantastic!)











-Eitan

That looks absolutely GORGEOUS, Eitan. O_O

B-E-A-utiful!
Do you know if the puzzle is going to be released in black plastic with stickers? Or solid color plastic?