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Sudoku cube a brain-scrambler
18/02/2007 21:16 - (SA)
Joe Milicia
Sebring - A rusted-out warehouse in middle-of-nowhere northeast Ohio has become the final resting site for hundreds of large metal moulds once used to make some long-forgotten toys.
From time to time, toy industry veteran Jay Horowitz uses the moulds he has accumulated to resurrect a toy and reintroduces it to the collectibles market, cashing in on its nostalgic value.
But, last year, in what he calls a moment of inspiration, Horowitz merged a classic 1980s toy with a recent puzzle fad.
He thinks he has got a major seller on his hands with the Sudoku Cube.
Horowitz is peddling his hybrid of Rubik's Cube and the popular Sudoku puzzle to a worldwide audience at the American International Toy Fair, which ends on Wednesday in New York City.
The Sudoku Cube sells for $9.87 (about R71) and is more complicated than Rubik's Cube, which is solved by getting the colours to match on all six sides.
Has some competition
Horowitz's cube challenges the player to align numbers one through to nine on one or more sides or in rows.
The colourful cube is made in China by his newly formed company, American Classic Toy.
Horowitz has already sold thousands, but he has some competition.
There are several other Sudoku cubes on the market. A search on Amazon.com shows two other versions, named Sudokube.
Sudoku fans who feel they have mastered the paper version of the puzzle found in most daily newspapers have shown interest in the cubed versions, said Adrienne Citrin, of the Toy Industry Association.
"We're seeing that Sudoku and the next phase of brain teasers are becoming increasingly popular," Citrin said. "These cubes are the next level."
Even in an age of video games, Citrin said puzzle games are experiencing a surge of popularity.
"People feel a sense of accomplishment when they've competed the puzzle or the game. We see this as an increasing trend," Citrin said.
Horowitz also has introduced the Sudoku Slide - a head-to-head game in which players race to slide plastic numbers into place to solve the puzzle - and has plans for Sudoku Solitaire.
Horowitz first encountered Sudoku just last year - fairly late in its run of popularity - when a woman sitting next to him on a plane explained the puzzle to him.
Sudoku's number grids require the numbers one through to nine to be filled into squares arranged in rows of nine without repeating a number in any line.
An Einsteinian theory
This got him thinking about a toy mould resting in his warehouse, 80km southeast of Cleveland.
While Horowitz owns the Ideal Toy Company moulds, he does not own the Rubik's name, and never had a use for them.
He worked feverishly to find a way to combine the two, creating detailed diagrams of the cube that look like notes Albert Einstein might have produced proving some grand theory.
"When I got it, I didn't sleep for three days," he said.
- AP
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South Africa
