Barnes and Noble has an exclusive product called the Rubik's Icon. It's a completely greyscale cube.

http://images.barnesandnoble.com/images ... 354953.JPG

If someone from overseas wants one, please let me know and I can try to help.

Thank you for offering to help, Bryan.
I would like to have one.
I can send you cash or a Paypal payment.

edit: thanks for the fast reply (lol - wink)

Is it a photoshop made rubik?

is it real?

I don't think so.
http://gifts.barnesandnoble.com/search/ ... &z=y&TYP=T

Is the 5x5x5 on that page the retooled one? I would doubt it.

I would love to have one of those.



Q

Is this supposed to be a puzzle? Or is it just something to put on your desk and look at it?

It certainly looks, like all sides have the same stickers.

I think that's just the photo. The Winning Moves people were telling me about this during the US Open. It's suppose to be a completely greyscale cube. From the photo, there's a side that's white, and I'm guessing there'll be a black side....my wife's going to the store to pick a few up, so I'll be able to post more details then.

Thank you for the fast answer!

They look like silver-stickers to me, but I'll wait for your report.

I have a question for when you get the puzzles.

Does it have 6 shades or is it a 3 color cube like I was planning on 'making' where the opposite colors are the same?

I went to B&N about 2 hours ago and saw this cube. I asked an employee if I could "sneak a peek" at the cube to see the colors. She was nice, and let me, but told me not to mess up the packaging. I carefully opened the packaging, and took out the cube. It was different shades (white, silver, black, dark gray (which looks very similar to the black), light gray, and another shade (I don't know exactly). Some of the colors are really similar though.

Here's actual pictures of the thing.

i currently have one in my possession right now because a kid wanted me to lube/sand it. It is one of the most annoying puzzles i have tried solving.
My CE pairs are always put in wrong. its a cool version of a colorblind cube (i think theres an official name for it aside from the "Icon").

I want one but $15 seems kind of costly.

Definitely, something to look at. But hardly something you would want to solve.

Bryan, you should consider selling these Photos to B&N.

Huh? These photos are complete junk. There's glare, stuff in the background, some bluriness.

But the best B&N has to offer is this: http://images.barnesandnoble.com/images ... 354953.JPG

Looks like wrinkled tin foil on all sides.

I just got a 2 of these. Without opening it, it apprears to be a 6 color cube. There are shades of black, gray, silver, white. No 2 sides are the same color.

Would anyone else be able to help out a puzzle friend in Europe? I need 3 more, but my B&N doesn't have them. My wife went and bought out the store for the first set of requests.

Can you use one in a WCA Tournament?

I haven't taken mine out of the box yet. One side is reflective, so as long as that doesn't have a different tactile feel to it, it would be fine.

Hey I got one. If anyone wants to know, the colors are:

White Opposite Black
Silver Opposite Medium Gray
Light Gray opposite of Dakr Gray.

It takes me like 50 seconds to solve, because of all the grays.

And There is a shiny silver background on the inside of the package. Well that can be peeled off so you can use it as stickers for modding!

I got one of these. The first thing I thought was - wow I can solve this in a dark room! - I had tried solving a standard cube in a dark room once. I thought I had it solved, but upon bringing it out into the light, I found 4 edges were swapped (green and blue look exactly the same).

I don't understand why they didn't make the logo on the centre white face b&w.

Can someone take 3 clear photos of the Rubik's Icon?
1) Showing 3 faces
2) Showing the opposite 3 faces
3) Showing 3 faces, but a variation of the previous two photos so that I can distinguish the orientation

I'm waiting for mine to arrive in the mail

In the mean time I'd like to take a Rubik's DIY and some stickers that I've handy and make an imitation Icon

EDIT: I just used the following sticker orientation for a cube courtesy of Cubesmith stickers:
U - Black Vinyl
D - White Vinyl
F - Gold Mylar
B - Gold Vinyl
L - Silver Vinyl
R - Tan Vinyl

I'm not sure if it's harder than pure grayscale but it's definitely trickier than a normal cube

Cheers,
Tim.

Wow pretty snazzy cube, I think i'll go buy one this week. I'll take some pics...thats if I do get it and if I don't well then mah bad.

I just received mine in the mail today

The stickers look like they're PVC or Vinyl. I can't tell yet whether or not they're like the standard stickers (I'll soon find out after a week of use I suppose).

It's surprisingly easy to solve if you use Keyhole F2L instead of Fridrich F2L. The rest of the stages for solving aren't affected by the fact that it's grayscale

I really wish they'd pack Rubik's Cubes is something that wont damage the stickers. Those stands are annoying :-/

Tim.

Nope!!

The rules say 6 distinctively different colors. This one does not qualify, but great fun at home (in the dark) ...

-Per

That is one of the coolest cubes I have every seen. I'm sure it's quite a bit more of a challenge, but they just look awesome!

I disagree, I would say the colors are distinctive enough. Now, if the shiny ones had a different texture.....

I'd also say this would be WCA legal. My only question, why would anyone want to compete with it? Recog takes a ridiculous amount of time, and even after a long time trying to determine which gray is the right gray it doesn't always work out.

So you're admitting (perhaps unintentionally) the colors on the Rubik's Icon are not distinct.

Don't forget the purpose of the WCA rule: to ensure that each color can be individually recognized. For example, this cube might impair the judges' ability to verify the cube was scrambled correctly.

They are distinct. There is reflective, white, black, and:
Light Gray
Medium Gray
Slightly dark gray

The three grays all resemble medium gray, but if you look closely they are different

Actually, that's why I suggest it'd be rejected for tournament play.

If a single gray piece was surrounded by white ones, for example, the judges would not be able to unambiguously identify which gray it is without making comparisons to other cubies. This impairs their ability to inspect the cube or verify the scramble.

But maybe it depends on who's enforcing / interpreting the rule!

Does anyone else think it pointless putting black stickers on a black cube, or is it just me?

Well yeah if you think about it but I think it would give it a cheap look to it that they didnt even put a sticker on and they did on everyside

I totally wanted to at the VA Open, and you saw my times.

I think that the shades of grey are distinctive enough to make it a legitimate competition cube. Besides, if the scramblers are experienced cubers, they most likely won't make a mistake scrambling a cube.



I have green stickers on a green cube, and red stickers on a red cube... Why not?

Wrong. What you said right there shows it shouldn't be legal. All I can say is in the unlikely chance anyone tries to use one of these this weekend they won't be allowed to compete.

What are the chances that at the Beijing Open someone would have one of these?

If anything it would just be hurting the solver's time. Illegal or not, if someone is using one of those they are either goofing around or lost all of their other cubes. The possibility of loosing a bet is still valid as well.

Me luv you long time: Icon <3
I think they're distinct enough. I was within my average solve time on the first solve with it..

I'm not struggling with it because the color scheme is distinct from any other.

Similar Color Schemes
If I were using a similar color scheme and going back and forth between cubes I'd become confused. I tend to waste a lot of time during F2L when going between similar color schemes.

Take the OLD and NEW official color schemes on a 4x4x4 for example. If you try to solve it using reduction you'll soon realise your mistakes if you assumed the cube had the OLD or NEW scheme before reaching the 3x3x3 stage.

However, if you had the OLD scheme and a completely different scheme and became proficient in solving both you can make the distinction easily.


Gray Grey Gr3y - Childs Play
Distinguishing between Light Gray and Dark Gray or Medium Gray is easy. Distinguishing the between an Icon and an Icon with two colors swapped is difficult (without making reference to both during the distinction, and while it's scrambled).

Scrambling the Icon
A scrambler should use cube notation and apply the scramble as such. Looking at it shouldn't be necessary assuming the cube is in a solved state to begin with.

Tim.

That was really well written and formatted Tim. Good job.


May I ask what you mean by the 4x4 discussion?

Were there 4x4 specific color schemes?

And what do you mean my OLD vs NEW? Which classifies as which? Is an old one from around 1982? Or is an old one 2006 (I.E. Before the improved versions of the Rubik 4x4 and 5x5 were released.)

If the "OLD" color scheme refers to the Macau and Hong Kong puzzles here:
viewtopic.php?t=7955

... then why are you talking as if it were a scheme exclusively for 4x4s? I know the BYO (B-W / Y-G / O-R) was the original color scheme for 3x3s as well.



(Please note, these are all honest questions asking for more information, not me trying to tear apart that portion of your post.)

It's easier for me to get the point across using 4x4x4 as an example of getting confused during transitions between different color schemes. A 3x3x3 poses little confusion but there is some with habitual recognition where you're thinking with the wrong mindset with the wrong color scheme.



Hmm, not that I know of. I'd just say the 6 color schemes apply to all cubes.



I think the OLD one was White/Blue and the NEW is White/Yellow. Or East Sheen scheme vs Rubik's



I didn't mean to imply that Icons Color Scheme should be for 4x4x4. I was just using it as a more obvious example of how color schemes can affect people.

---

Given the right lighting conditions I don't see why a Scrambler can't distinguish the grays. But that's just my opinion.

I can't say I've tried solving it under a Red or Orange light... It might be interesting to see what happens.

Tim.

I misunderstood what you were originally trying to get across. I think you're talking about the ability to accidentally (or purposely, who knows) of having two centers (group of 4) swapped, making a different color scheme. Gotcha. My apologies.

I got one

Just ordered mine about an hour and a half ago. I'm excited! I agree with whoever it was that said using one in a tournament would only hinder your times, but for collecting and leisurely solving, I think they're great!