It's hip to be square again – Rubik Cube is best craze

IT BAFFLED and delighted in equal measure, sold millions around the world and became an icon of the early 80s.

The Rubik Cube, the hand-held puzzle which some could complete in seconds and which others failed to crack, has been named the greatest toy craze of all time.

More than a quarter of a century after it was first produced, the brightly-coloured puzzle remains a firm favourite, seeing off the more sophisticated gadgetry that dominates the modern gaming market.

The cube came top of a survey by an online auction site which polled 1,000 games fans to find the best craze ever.

Yo-yos, BMX bikes, space hoppers and hula hoops all made the list, and while early personal computers such as the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 made it to number two, modern consoles such as XBox and PlayStation did not.

Others to make the top ten include Gameboys, Furbies, Tamagotchi and skateboards.

The Rubik Cube was launched in Britain in 1980 and went on to sell 300 million worldwide.

But what all the items in the top ten have in common is that when first released they caused stampedes to the shops and shelves to be stripped bare, particularly those released in the run-up to Christmas.

Roy Shepherd of the Institute of Independent Board Game Inventors, said: "With the Rubik Cube, people liked its touchability, the fact that they could hold it. It's a very simple concept.

"But generally, marketing is the key to a toy's success. It's about the 'must have' effect. If you can get it on television, then you can sell huge numbers. It was the case with the Cabbage Patch Dolls. People were willing to fly to New York to get one."

Mr Shepherd said it was extremely difficult to get new games on to the market now. "It's incredibly hard for anyone to make a successful game nowadays, as Mattel and Hasbro dominate the market completely. You need £50,000 to get a game on to the shelves."

However, many of the top ten are still available on the thriving second-hand online market, with Gameboys trading for a little as £3.99 and Furbies for under £10.

Many find their way on to the market when parents whose children have grown up clear out toys to make space.

MORE THAN TWO DECADES OF FUN AND FRUSTRATION

THOUGH it shot to global popularity in 1980, the Rubik Cube had been invented six years earlier by Hungarian Erno Rubik, who initially called it the Magic Cube before renaming the toy.

Between 1980 and 1982, about 100 million Rubik Cubes were sold, which, if placed next to each other, would stretch around the world 267 times.

Though simple in design and concept, a normal Rubik Cube is capable of 43 trillion different positions.

This complexity caused so much frustration that at the height of its popularity, separate sheets of coloured stickers could be bought to allow owners of the puzzle to cheat.

One 12-year-old boy, Patrick Bossert, tapped into the global frustration by writing a book called You Can Do The Cube, which went on to sell 1.5 million copies.

The cube has become the subject of competitions based around time trials, the first of which was held in Budapest in 1982.

However, the current world record for solving the puzzle is held by Edouard Chambon who solved the puzzle in 9.18 seconds in February 2008.

The cube was even turned into a children's television programme in the United States during the 1980s. Imaginatively named Rubik, the Amazing Cube, it featured a Rubik Cube with special powers.