Hopefully you guys won't mind me starting a topic here to share my puzzle blog and the collection/addiction that is attached to it.

I'm a pretty newbie puzzler in the grand scheme of things, having only started collecting what I would call 'seriously' within the last 15 months or so. But in that time my collection has grown from essentially nothing into a relatively small collection made up of a pretty eclectic selection of puzzles.

Sadly I do not have the space to display them properly, but I do keep individual photos of all of them on my puzzle gallery.

Here are a couple of random portions of my collection from a while back:


Puzzle Drawer 17.04.11 by Puzzleparadox, on Flickr

MPP3 Puzzle Box by Puzzleparadox, on Flickr

Xmas Presents 2011 by Puzzleparadox, on Flickr

Although my collection drastically lacks many twisty puzzles I am looking to correct that. I do not have a natural aptitude with them, but I'm hoping that with a bit of determination and practice I'll be able to add a good few to my solved list.

Anywho; links to both my blog and puzzle gallery can be found in my signature. I'd love to hear any thoughts and comments on either of them.

Oli

Hi Oli,

Thanks for sharing your collection. I haven't personally been very interested in assembly puzzles but those Hanayama Cast Marble, Donuts and Vortex look very beautiful and I could see them in my collection . Thanks for making that review .

I also share a similar problem.. and I just realized that it's kind of a hidden puzzle tax.. I had to buy a new cube cupboard because my wife was getting sick of the cubes on all the surfaces- I agree with her.

Cheers,
Burgo.

I now have a 1x2, Gear Pyraminx & Gear Shift on the way.

I went for the ones that I thought looked the most tactile and fun to play with. I love the look of the geared mechanisms!

It may take me an age to solve them, but at least they will look great while I'm working on them.

Today, whilst going through loads of my old stuff in my mum's loft I managed to dig out the first puzzle that I can remember owning; a classic Rubik's Cube. Long lost in a box of dusty old school books and other random things.


Rubik's Cube 3x3x3 - Old & New Style by Puzzleparadox, on Flickr

It's pretty battered and missing one sticker, but it did put a smile on my face, and I'm glad to put it with the rest of my puzzles as a nice little piece of my own personal puzzle history.

As I'm still learning when it comes to twisted, I've decided to get a couple of two colour puzzles. The first one I have on the way is a level 1 Marusenko Sphere. The next that I'd like to get is a V-Cube 7 Illusion, preferably in black and yellow.

Can anyone point me in the direction of a black/yellow Illusion for a good price please?

I'm currently in the process of properly packing my puzzles rather than having them strewn all about the place as they are currently. Mainly because if I don't then eventually my other half will probably snap and she'll try to throttle me in my sleep.

So, as all of my puzzles were going to be out anyway, I thought I'd take some pictures:


Puzzle Collection (21/01/12) by Puzzleparadox, on Flickr

Puzzle Collection (21/01/12) by Puzzleparadox, on Flickr

Puzzle Collection (21/01/12) by Puzzleparadox, on Flickr

Puzzle Collection (21/01/12) by Puzzleparadox, on Flickr

Puzzle Collection (21/01/12) by Puzzleparadox, on Flickr

Some of my puzzles are still out on loan, but most of them are here.

There's a prize if you can name all of them.

Some new twisties have arrived!


Oskar's Treasure Chest (Meffert's) by Puzzleparadox, on Flickr

Marusenko Sphere - Red & Black by Puzzleparadox, on Flickr

Gear Shift (Oskar van Deventer) by Puzzleparadox, on Flickr

V-Cube 7 - Illusion by Puzzleparadox, on Flickr

So far I've solved the Marusenko Sphere and the V-Cube 7 Illusion. I like them as they seem to be great fun to solve for a beginner like me. Now I'm going to attempt the Gear Shift.

New review up for Square Dance, one of the latest puzzles from Tom Jolly and Eric Fuller:

Square Dance - Oli's Mechanical Puzzle Blog


Square Dance (Tom Jolly) by Puzzleparadox, on Flickr

Square Dance (Tom Jolly) by Puzzleparadox, on Flickr

A review of my latest twisty puzzle endeavour; the Gear Cube:

Gear Cube - Oli's Mechanical Puzzle Blog


Gear Cube (Mefferts) by Puzzleparadox, on Flickr

It's also the first twisty puzzle that I've ever performed a sticker modification on. Which I think went quite well and made it even more fun to play around with!


Gear Cube - Fisher Modification (Mefferts) by Puzzleparadox, on Flickr

Another 60 or so photos have been added to my Flickr gallery for people to peruse at their leisure.

Including:


Small Box Set (Karakuri Creation Group) by Puzzleparadox, on Flickr

Dovetail Cube Set (Wil Strijbos) by Puzzleparadox, on Flickr

Fuji 1707 (Brian Young) by Puzzleparadox, on Flickr

Gold Coast Parking Meter (Brian Young) by Puzzleparadox, on Flickr

Rubik's XV by Puzzleparadox, on Flickr
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/puzzleobsessed/7536811176/]

Ursa Major And Minor Parts (Kim Klobucher) by Puzzleparadox, on Flickr

A new blog post is up with a series of mini reviews for the whole Karakuri Small Box series:

Karakuri Small Box Series - Oli's Mechanical Puzzle Blog


Small Box Set (Karakuri Creation Group) by Puzzleparadox, on Flickr

A new review is now up for the Popplock T7!

Popplock T7 - Oli's Mechanical Puzzle Blog


Popplock T7 (Rainer Popp) by Puzzleparadox, on Flickr

Here are a few new arrivals to the puzzle madhouse:


Saturn (LD Games) by Puzzleparadox, on Flickr

Ivan's Hinge (Ivan Moscovich) by Puzzleparadox, on Flickr

Brain Twist (Hoberman) by Puzzleparadox, on Flickr

TROi (Octogo Games) by Puzzleparadox, on Flickr

Orb-It (Waddingtons) by Puzzleparadox, on Flickr

Venus Cube (Meffert's) by Puzzleparadox, on Flickr

Tricky Disky by Puzzleparadox, on Flickr

Here are a few more 'twisties' that have arrived recently:


Hex (Quebarts) by Puzzleparadox, on Flickr


Whip-It (LJN Toys) by Puzzleparadox, on Flickr


Octagonal Prism 3x3x3 (Wonderful Puzzler) by Puzzleparadox, on Flickr


Dual Circle (Hanayama) by Puzzleparadox, on Flickr

Could you provide more pictures and details for the Hex puzzle?

Sure! I'll see what I can do once I get home later on. I searched for more info on this puzzle and I simply couldn't find anything. All the details I have are on the packaging.

Okay, so here are some more images of the Hex puzzle.

Here it is after one sliding move:


Hex (Quebarts) by Puzzleparadox, on Flickr

And after another:


Hex (Quebarts) by Puzzleparadox, on Flickr

And this is what the pieces look like if you remove the outer band and expand the pieces:


Hex (Quebarts) by Puzzleparadox, on Flickr

And here is the packaging:


Hex (Quebarts) by Puzzleparadox, on Flickr

I have never come across this puzzle or anything like it before. It's certainly a bit different.

Hi Oli

Is the Hex puzzle available for sale anywhere now or just a lucky find?

I just bought it from a fellow puzzler at the most recent G4G event last weekend. It's the first time I've ever come across this puzzle, so I thought it would definitely be worth picking it up for the collection. A friend of mine bought the other copy that was for sale there that has a different design, so I'll have to borrow it to get some pictures I think.

I have this puzzle. I got it a long time ago on eBay. I didn't know the origin of it as mine didn't come with packaging. I remember seeing on Rob's website (Robert Stegmann) some kind of a instruction sheet that he had for his puzzle, but later on I couldn't find it again. I would love to have a scan of that instruction sheet.

That is strange.
I wonder how far the rubber band can be stretched.
Now I have to classify that. Argh!Me too.

The band can't be stretched very far. It's pretty strong rubber, more the kind you would use for linking wheels.

The only instruction sheet that came with mine was the packaging itself:


Hex (Quebarts) by Puzzleparadox, on Flickr