Cast O'Gear Puzzle

by Hanayama

Product Features

• Disassemble and Reassemble the Puzzle
• Annual World Puzzle Design Winner

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 2.9 x 4.6 x 1.7 inches ; 5.9 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B000S0VL00
• Manufacturer recommended age: 8 years and up
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #20,239 in Toys & Games (See Top 100 in Toys & Games)
  • #51 in Toys & Games > Puzzles > 3-D Puzzles
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

Product Description

First developed in 19th century Britain, this die-cast zinc cube and key is an ancient puzzle that still baffles minds today. -- A prizewinner from the 2001 1st Annual World Puzzle Design competition, this puzzle was designed by the young Dutch phenomenon, Oskar, consider to be one of the world's brightest creators. The gear exhibits a unique kind of movement. Once together in its final form of beauty, the gear fixed in place in the cubic box could very well serve as a desk decoration to satisfy a kind of soothing, intellectual curiosity. The key word is 'teeth'.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome Desk Toy, December 6, 2010

By 

DerekW - See all my reviews

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:4.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cast O'Gear Puzzle (Toy)

This is by far one of the coolest puzzles I have ever seen.

Even after you solve it, it makes an awesome desk toy; it's immensely satisfying to simply play with and move the gear around. While it isn't super difficult to solve this by accident after moving the gear around randomly for a long time, coming up with an actual solution (by which I mean, a full movement algorithm, with which you could reliably move any tooth of the gear into any of the six faces of the cube in any desired orientation) will take quite a bit of thought. For someone new to the puzzle scene, this is probably the best place to start.

Like all Hanayama's puzzles, it's built rock-solid and will never bend or break unless you're really trying to, so it'll basically last forever. And it only has two pieces (which are pretty big), so it'll also be pretty tough to loose one of the parts.

If you're seeking a serious challenge, this is decidedly NOT going to be it. This is just a casual puzzle that's pretty to look at and fun to play with. I honestly couldn't recommend this enough for someone who's either new to puzzles, or just wants an awesome desk toy. For people who have experience solving these types of puzzles, this one is admittedly going to be pretty easy to solve.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars O'Gear is perfect, December 18, 2008

By 

J. Gadling (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Cast O'Gear Puzzle (Toy)

Beautiful, sturdy, fun to just handle and move the gears around and fun to solve over and over. Not super difficult, but the solution is satsfying.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Turns the gears of your mind, October 24, 2011

By 

D. M. Thomas (Oklahoma City) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Cast O'Gear Puzzle (Toy)

This was my second of the Hanayama cast pocket puzzles and its a great item.

Like the others I've aquired it looks great and is solidly built. So its going to last a long time and looks great on display. The metal has been given an aged look that helps hide the wear that will result from repeatedly fiddling with the puzzle, which I find myself doing alot.

The actual solution is fairly easy to determine once you spend a few minutes analyzing the puzzle, but actually accomplishing what you know needs to be done to remove the gear from the box will take a bit longer. Its not a hard puzzle, but the various ways in which you can move the gear to eventually remove it give it plenty of play value.

A good starter puzzle for people and one I highly recommend.