Hi Chris, I think that some of the first plastics that were tried made the cubes hard to turn, so flat centers were introduced to reduce friction. When the plastics improved the arches came back. I think that since they already had the tooling for the flat centers and quite a bit more demand for cubes than they could meet, so they kept producing the flat centers.
I have an early 1980 Ideal Cube in the white box, and a Politoys cube from the same time, both made in Hungary, with arches. What do you mean by "clone?" Cheers, David J --- In [email protected], christopher_pelley <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I have an early clone from 1981 that had arched centers, so it's an > old concept. Someone even mentioned that Rubik's original patent > depicted arches, but that square ones worked nearly as well and were > cheaper to make. > > Chris > > --- In [email protected], mike_go_uk > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > --- In [email protected], "Per Kristen > Fredlund" > > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > Short answer : since 1982 or thereabout. That's when the Deluxe > > > (Game) cube first saw the light of day. Those cubes had arched > > > centers unlike the original ones and most of the knock-off > cubes. > > > > > > (Someone correct me if u have information contradicting this.) > > > > Well, I know that my first Rubik's Cube had arched centres. It > was > > bought in the UK in early March 1981. It wasn't a Deluxe or Game > Cube. > > > > Mike > > > ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/MXMplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/speedsolvingrubikscube/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
