Fisher Cubes are now available from Meffert's. There are three available- 6 colour, Gold and Silver at $14 each or $36 for all of them. If you wish to order please click on the Mefferts link below the last picture and select Meffert's Puzzles then choose page 2 along the bottom. If you use my link to order I make a few more pence.








MEFFERT'S

This is my original post when I first announced they would become available-
Legitimate Fisher Cubes will shortly be available at Meffert's. They will carry his logo and my name. The price will be around $14 though not finalised yet. This will include postage to anywhere in the world.
The only reason this is happening is because Uwe Meffert took action on my behalf. For this reason I would urge people to wait and purchase from him.
As I understand it, apart from the added logo stickers the Fisher Cubes that Meffert will be selling will essentially be the same as the ones currently available. Those Cubes can now be classed as legit since I believe the deal also covers them. When they were first released it did not so they were knock-offs at that time. I don't fully understand why they are not using my name now though. To be on the safe side I would still urge people to wait for the ones with logos. There may of course be other people producing them which do not fall within the deal but according to Uwe- "If this is your cube, then it is part of the deal".
It is important that people understand the series of events-

1. Company produces knock-off Fisher Cubes.
2. I contact Uwe Meffert with the hope of producing a rival official product.
3. However, Uwe makes a deal with the company where I am paid a royalty plus a small percentage goes into a fund to fight unauthorised puzzle production in court. It's similar to Meffert's proposal (I'll post link when I can find it) on the fake V-Cubes. However this time the inventor (me) is backing it.
4. The exact same cubes can now be deemed as legit though I see no way of guaranteeing quality or stopping the same company making other fakes.

This situation is far from perfect. I have no desire to team up with dubious companies but in order to get what I believe is owed to me I had no choice. I guess it can only encourage the companies to do the right thing and ultimately sell more puzzles if they can improve their behaviour and ultimately reputation. I have personally had no direct contact with the company and gone along with Uwe Meffert's ideas.

Indeed, there are many contradictions. A very small percentage goes to a fund
against the company which produced the knock offs in the first place. The rest of
the (big) percentage will ensure the same company can produce other knock offs
in the future. If I was in Tony's place, I would also be forced to give in to that company's
blackmail. Unless someone has the luxury of a legal team who can follow those
infringements to the "world's end", those cases will always exist. I wish I was a
billionaire who could help to stop all these, and support properly all legitimate copyright
and patent owners.

Moreover, controlling the numbers produced, is virtually impossible.

Regarding the V-Cubes, the situation is very very different, as V-Cubes are already being
mass produced elsewhere, an original patent exists (which will soon "take care" of the illegal
chinese "patent") and the price of the originals is very competitive to the lesser quality fake ones.
Those who have seen both, know exactly what I am talking about.

One thing's for sure, buying the Fisher Cubes from Uwe is a lot better than getting them
from other sources.




Pantazis

Awesome so we can get legit fisher cubes from mefferts soon?! I can't wait, I really want to see the quality and turning quality of the fisher cube.

I've never made a Fisher Cube and so it's really great that it will be possible to buy them from Meffert's soon! I'd rather wait for one than get the ones on eBay.

Alex

Omg! I would definitely stop by and buy one if I could. *Pheew* Lucky I havent made one

Me too. Like I say in this situation I have zero control over quality.

Hmmmm... a most unsatisfying compromise. I am exited to own an official factory made Fisher Cube though.

Well, does that mean that the 'Square King's being sold on eBay are now legit, because Meffert is producing the same product with Tony's approval?

I'm still debating whether or not to buy one. I already have a hand built one and there are so many other puzzles out there that I want and don't have.

I believe it must be. Uwe told me an hour ago- "HK gift shop selling on eBay" is included in the deal. Remember it will work out much cheaper at Meffert's though. He also said he will be stocking the 6 colour ones. I personally think the single colour are pretty pointless.

Please censor this post if it breaks posting rules. I honestly haven't a clue if it does.

I agree... I would definately like a 6 colour far more than just one colour!
I can't wait!
You announced this just in time too, I was going to start making one a few days ago, but held off because I was expecting something like this

Will they have a six color balck base cube?

I looked at some pictures of these and it looks like the cube is sized to be perfectly cubical, rather than a simply extended octagon barrel. This means that if you want to swap pieces with a standard cube (as I wanted to do) to make a barrel, you'll still have to fill and sand, or something.

Still I'm also excited to get one of these legitimately. I wish it could have been under better circumstances though...

I don't know. I hope so but haven't seen or heard of any.



How things go round in circles. I was building Fisher Cubes out of Octagonal prisms 20 years ago.

不過，我得到一雪立方從中國..

但我不知道這是合法的費舍爾立方體

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPTyvoyXt3M

另外的照片：

Judging by what Uwe told me I think they are. How well does it turn?

Well, those were mass-produced then. Now they're collector's items.

Thinking some more, it seems that it would be easier to extend the centers out instead of trimming the sides. Maybe I'll look into that.

Those stickers look amazing !

Alex

wow! that looks pretty high-quality actually!

Maybe it's just me, but the "capless" picture makes the puzzle look rather shoddy. The plastic looks thin and brittle. The capped and stickered picture looks pretty good though.


I'll probably get one anyway.

Edit: The video makes it look pretty high quality.

It looks very high quality and smooth, not like those dollar store cubes that break when you turn! Monopoly!

Absolutely great news! Guess I will wait (maybe) to make another order through Mefferts until this is released.

Very Well but some thing make me feel not perfect

This is one of the reasons why I dislike white puzzles with a passion. The picture above shows it.

Tony, is Uwe not giving you a prototype to test and make adjustments to? I know you said you have no control over the quality so I assume that's the reason, but if he did that, wouldn't that make this stuff turn out a lot better? Didn't he do a protoype for you on the Golden Cubes?

Trixter, Meffert isn't producing the puzzles.

These puzzles aren't being produced by Meffert, they are just being sold by him.

I got a newsletter today talking about the selling of these fisher cubes on his site, he says that they should be there in about 1 week.

Oh O_o guess I misunderstood :/ lol

Tony can you please clarify for the sake of the moderation:

Is all photo and and information sharing regarding non-meffert sourced Fisher Cubes (ebay, other sites than Meffert) ok for discussion on the forum? If HK shop is the only ebay shop ok for discussion, it will be very difficult to track.

As previously mentioned, mefferts is NOT going to produce them, worse, mefferts is going to buy a LOT from the factory that produces them. Then mef w/ tonys approval, will legitimise these knockoffs by placing stickers and sell them at a higher price to cover expenses like stickers, royalties etc. I suppose this is best way to at least give somethig back to the inventor/s. I think its better than just not do anything coz either way, the cubes will be sold elsewhere.
Just the same, i cant wait to have my hands on mefferts release.

Regards

I did not say that and it's not the case. Please don't make things up! All Fisher Cubes from that company will be legit and pay me a royalty whether they go through Meffert or not. My uncertainty was over the ones 'out there' already before the deal was made and whether some were coming from other sources. ALL Fisher Cubes from the company can now be classified as legit.
So to answer sausage's question I would have to say yes it appears to be ok to discuss and show photos of the ones currently available. Obviously any hand made ones still remaining are still knock-off and of course if another company in the future started making them without permission then they would also be deemed knock-off.

i dont want to start an argument with you but i'm not making things up! i just repeated what was said in earlier threads.


this was in your first post. anyway, i hope this doesnt blow out of proportion.

regards,

At $14, if the quality stands up to scrutiny, I will buy one. I've wanted one for a while now, but am too ham fisted with a saw to make one! Plus I couldn't find any legit versions.

I stand by all my comments. You are clearly accusing Meffert of buying knock-off puzzles which is untrue and potentially damaging to him. Why didn't you add my next sentence to your quote- "As I understand it, apart from the added logo stickers the Fisher Cubes that Meffert will be selling will essentially be the same as the ones currently available. Those Cubes can now be classed as legit since I believe the deal also covers them."
This is very different to what you are saying.

sorry, but im not accusing anyone of anything.
but as what pantazis mentioned in his reply above:
i guess that says it all. peace.

again, i still cant wait to have my hands on mefferts release though.


regards

You seem to be going round in circles here. We all know it's not an ideal situation but Pantazi's never made the same accusations either. I don't understand what you're trying to achieve. The situation has been clearly explained and understood (by most) already. If you don't want to buy them don't.

venom, before I explained why the situation was not ideal.
"Not ideal" does not mean "illegal". I will summarize again:

1. A factory started making Fisher Cubes without license.
2. Tony contacted Uwe Meffert, who managed to make a deal with that factory.
3. The cubes are legitimate now if they are bought through Uwe.
(but I cannot confirm how legitimate they are if they are bought from other sources).

Hope this clears things up.


Pantazis

Just to clarify further:



In principle, everyone can gain by this agreement:

TONY - can now get some compensation and even more recognition for his creativity
MEFFERT - can now extend his product line with legitimate Fisher Cubes without beginning his own (expensive and risky) manufacturing
COMPANY - can now "legitimize" their products and appeal to more customers
CUSTOMERS - can now get legitimate Fisher Cubes!!!

So everyone wins!

PS. Tony, to be fair on Venom, I don't think he was accusing Meffert of anything, certainly not supporting KOs for the sake of it. I think Venom just meant that the same puzzles that were previously illegitimate KOs can now be considered legitimate BECAUSE you have endorsed them and you at least get some recognition and compensation for your creativity, that's all.

One potential problem I see with this agreement is that the numbers sold from the company could be very difficult to track and confirm. Did you/Meffert agree an independent sales audit as part of the deal? Most license agreements should include this. I would hate to see you get screwed again if the company lies about their sales figures, which is unfortunately quite common.

Does this mean that the ones I have that "fell off the back of a truck" are not legit?

Sigh, I'll have to go buy another set with logos on them now.

Seriously though Tony, are they doing something royalty wise about those that have been shipped out to wholesalers already? I should think (or at least hope) you would be able to get some compensation for those as well.

I asked Uwe about this and he said they are so I'll be bold and say logos or not, pre deal or post deal any factory made Fisher Cube that exists today (and hopefully tomorrow) is legit.
Other legit sources outside Meffert will soon carry the same logos. Possibly not all though.
You are right Kelvin. Perhaps this will be the first step in the right direction for this company.

I don't mean to drag this converstaion further, but I don't think I really understand what constitutes a fisher cube to be "legit" or "KO". My original understanding was that "legit" puzzles were ones where a company decided to cut a deal with the inventor and mass-produce them with permission from said inventor, and KO puzzles were those where the company decided to produce them without permission from the inventor. Those were the only stipulations I was aware of....So that leads me to think that any puzzles produced and sold before this "agreement" took place, would be named KO puzzles...is that not correct?

Really sorry if this sounds really ignorant, I'm just trying to better understand the situation.

Why is there a need to keep picking at this? Why must everything be cut up and analysed on this forum to the nth degree? Perhaps it's in the nature of puzzle fans.
If the company retrospectively pays a royalty then they have changed into being legit.
I don't know about anyone else but I am getting bored with this thread.

Trixter, I think Tony already answered your question, the point being that whatever the creator says is legit, is legit.

Conclusion: go out and buy Fisher Cubes, with or without the logo, but ideally with the logo as soon as these are available.

Let's respect Tony's wishes and drop this thread now, please...

Amen to that. I've said this a number of times myself. There are very few threads on this site that don't have some sort of debate involved.

An error on the logo stickers will probably mean the Fisher Cubes at Meffert's will be delayed.

Don't tell me they wrote "Fischer's Cube"?!

Thomas

Don't tell me they added a fisherman.

For once that wasn't the error.

They're here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just ordered mine

I didn't see where anyone else posted this, even though I figure everyone got the email :/ ah well


Btw....does anyone know if they will be producing a black version?