The first mass produced bandaged 3x3x3 with only one unbandaged piece.
- Inventor : Uwe Mèffert
- Mechanism : 3x3x3
- Patents : Unknown
- Producer : Mefferts
- Year : 1999
- Original Price : 22.00 USD
- Average Price : $12.62 USD
Mechanically this is still the regular 3x3x3 except that some of the centre and edge pieces, or edge and corner pieces are fused together, restricting the amount of possible moves and increasing the difficulty in solving. There are thousands of different patterns in which 3x3x3s can be bandaged. Because it was mass produced this is the most famous one. Unlike most other bandaging patterns all pieces are fused to at least one other with the sole exception of the red-yellow-green corner.
The technical signature is 33EC01800846.
Often this bandaging pattern is confused with the "Bicube". According to Dieter Gebhardt (in CFF 56) Raoul Raba invented a bandaging pattern called Bicube in an article dating back to 1981. The technical signature is E0400B43FC5A1. The three sides visible in image 1 are identical in both variants but on the opposite corner the bicube has a solid 2x2x2-block. According to Dieter Gebhardt there is also an description in "Die Verwandten des Zauberw�rfels" from 1985.
The bandaging pattern of the later variant shown here was thought up by Uwe Meffert's son Ulrich. Unlike the bicube it has a fourth turnable side and a seventh movable block as seen in image 2. Thereby it sacrifices symmetry for a higher number of permutations and thereby a more complex puzzle.
The images here were made with the help of the later produced DIY kit. The version produced by Mefferts used even this unusual colour scheme.
Years later another mass produced version from cubetwist hit the market.
This puzzle is currently for sale at Mefferts. If you plan on purchasing this (or any other) Meffert puzzle, help support the free TwistyPuzzles.com community resource by using this link to enter the Meffert Online Store.
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