Puzzle | prototype:Rubik's Cube: 5 x 5 x 5 Prototype

In 1974, Erno Rubik, a Hungarian professor of architecture and interior design, invented the cube puzzle that bears his name. Each side of the cube consists of 9 brightly colored cubies (three rows of three). The object of the puzzle is to align all the cubies of one side to make a solid color. Wildly popular for a few years, the Rubik's Cube inspired a variety of ancillary products, including a 16-cubie per side version, a simplified cube aimed at children, a peg-board game, a globe made of 26 sections, and a number of "cubes" in the shape of pyramids, octagons, and cylinders. The publishing industry delivered a number of books and pamphlets that provided solutions to the puzzle. Millions of copies of these publications sold. In the early 1980s, these publications were followed by books entitled "You Can Kick the Cube" and "101 Uses for A Dead Cube," among others, clearly indicating that the popularity of the Rubik's Cube was wearing thin in some circles. This prototype for a 5 x 5 x 5 Rubik's Cube (containing 125 cubies in place of the usual 27) from a former executive at the Ideal Toy Company suggests that the puzzle-solving public was ready for a new challenge.