This is awesome to see all of these cuboids compared and discussed at once! Btw, I just checked on TheCubicle.com and they have the 4x4x3, 4x4x5, and 5x5x4 by Ayi in stock! They aren't too expensive so I might pick them all up soon!

I've said it a lot since I started puzzling: I can think of no other hobby where companies will sell you non-functional garbage (2x2 megaminx?), And expect the buyer to try and fix it. They don't do recalls, just sell them to the next sucker. Ugh. Ziicube is the only store I've seen that puts warnings on some puzzles "does not turn, for collection only". I wonder what effect it would have if there were a petition signed by the community, including some heavy hitters from the forum, stressing the importance of quality control for puzzles. We can't force them, but if we make the companies aware of the issue they can't just ignore it.

@djthorsilver

3 жыл бұрын

Yes! I love ZiiCube for those warnings. I wish other stores would follow their lead on that. What's even more frustrating to me is that the speedcubing world doesn't suffer from this problem anywhere near as much. So you have companies like Dayan making unplayable stuff like the Professor Skewb, then they also make the Tengyun speedcubes that are actually really excellent. They know speedcubers won't buy poor-turning puzzles, but twisty-puzzlers will, so they blatantly play both sides of that equation. I find myself in the middle of all this, because I also do a lot of speedcubing, so my collection is firmly split between speedcubes that turn basically flawlessly across the board, then the various non-WCA twisties that are a crapshoot one way or the other. The other day I was solving one of the clunky WitEdens then swapped over to my MGC 7x7 speedcube and ended up popping two pieces out, simply because my brain was still in 'WitEden mode' and turning far too roughly, lol. I really like your idea of a petition to the puzzle companies. It'd be great to see that pick up some traction on the forums. I'd sign it in a flash.

What I love most about cuboids is that there are many ways to approach the solve. With several of these, using a different method almost makes them entirely new puzzles in their own right. They are usually worthy investments. Sorry to hear about the 5x5x4. It's been moving in and out of my carts for about 7 months now. I've read other bad reviews too, and this is probably the final nail. I have experienced similar disappointments. My WitEden 4x4 Mixup, I haven't solved, bcoz it popped twice (the second time was a major one so I haven't bothered fixing it). On Calvin's Hexaminx, the stickers were atrocious and turning was poor too, but it was a collector's edition (not that that makes it okay).... I did one solve but probably never again. I'm sure there are mechanical or other technical reasons why they are priced the way they are (though one cannot possibly justify the stickering job). So even though I try to empathize with the makers, I hope Qiyi or Moyu take to the playing field on cuboids soon. From a customer's perspective it would be great. Either way, thanks for the great reviews! If you haven't already, I recommend trying a layer-by-layer solve (after bringing to shape). There's only one aspect that changes from an inside-out solve, but it adds a lot of flavour and stretches the solve out ever so slightly, to what I personally enjoy most.

@djthorsilver

3 жыл бұрын

Yes, I can get the sense already that there are many ways to attack these cuboids, and I'm looking forward to experimenting with new methods :) I also find they are a bit more intuitive for me than some of the more elaborate twisties, in that I can conceptualise a solve strategy early on without too much aimless experimentation. There's challenge there, but also accessibility. Thanks for the recommendation on a layer-by-layer solve, I'll definitely try that too. You can probably predict this, but I would discourage you from getting that 5x5x4 ;) Like I said in the video you may luck out and get a good one, possibly, but honestly this one is so bad that I have to think it's unlikely there are many good ones out there. It would definitely be great if Moyu/Qiyi/YJ would bring out some cuboids. As you say, it'd be great for us consumers, and it'd be good for the makers to have some competition, and be forced to innovate. In the longer term, if more good puzzles are out there, then I'm sure more speedcubers and casual solvers would give them a go. At the moment, finding a good puzzle requires some investment of time and research, so I have to imagine that drives quite a few customers away! Sorry you had a bad time of it with the 4x4 Mixup. I actually have a 3x3 Mixup Plus coming to me soon, any opinions on that one? I heard the 3x3 and the 3x3x4 Mixup Plus are pretty OK, so I bought the 3x3 as an initial experiment before buying any more in the series.

@jacusjoe

3 жыл бұрын

@@djthorsilver I don't have a WitEden 3x3 Mixup Plus, but I've seen videos of it online (as I'm sure you have) and it's just fine. There's not much out there for the WitEden 4x4 mixup series, I just assumed it would be good as well so I jumped right into it, skipping the 3x3s. RPKVids had some issues with turning but he fixed it by reassembling it after cleaning out some flash. He advised me the same, and to round the corners a little more. I will get to it eventually. As Joseph mentioned in another comment below, it shouldn't be incumbent on us to do this. I have no idea how to go about this, but I have ordered some tools and intend to practice on 3x3s first 😂. I have the WitEden Octahedral Mixup Plus II and it's fantastic, one of my favorite puzzles. I have only praise for it, and I guess the 3x3 would have a similar mechanism. One tip, the Fangshi Limcube brand also makes mixups. They are excellent. I'm not sure they come in stickerless, but the stickers are top notch. You could compare them with WitEden first if there's any you're yet to purchase. The sound and feel are a little different, so one might suit your taste better than the other.

@jacusjoe

3 жыл бұрын

To add to that.... Once I disassembled my 4x4 mixup, I have realized it's a very similar, if not exact same core as used in the 3x3 mixup. (I am not sure about this, it's just a guess). The pieces are simply held together in place, rather than having their own tracks. If a gap appears due to some catching, the pieces can easily pop out, bringing some internals with it. So if I'm not wrong, I think the issues will lie only with the WitEden 4x4 series. In hindsight, tightening the puzzle would have prevented as major a pop as happened to me as well, though it would hamper the solve experience slightly.

@djthorsilver

3 жыл бұрын

@@jacusjoe Thanks for the tips! Great to hear about the Octahedral Mixup Plus II, I'll add that to my wishlist :) Before I get it though I need to get more comfortable with just the plain old face-turning octahedron. I can't adequately explain why, but that puzzle confuses me every single time. Something about the octahedral geometry befuddles my brain! I did hear good things about the LimCube Mixup Ultra so that one's already slotted in for my next order. I'd love to try the Master Mixup series too but they appear to be out of stock everywhere. Hopefully there's truth to the rumours that they're coming back at some stage. I do have LimCube's Curvy Copter Extreme coming to me soon, I'm super excited for that one. They keep showing off some very cool hybrid puzzles in the TP forum, too; I hope those turn out well whenever they get mass-produced! Good luck with the 4x4 Mixup! Such a shame that we end up having to go to these lengths just to get a playable puzzle. Just saw your follow-up comment too, that's pretty crazy that they'd construct the puzzle in such a precarious way. For getting rid of the flash, maybe a hobby knife and some sandpaper would be one way to tackle it? I'm not so good at these things either😂

5x5x4 has incredibly narrow corners!Less than 1,5 mm.They always lock up(might). The 5x5x4 with proportions 15x15x16,5mm would be better a lot,the corner stalk would be much bigger.Or maybe just regular 15mm cubies,but slight pillowing on 2 sides.It will not be noticeable.