Links

xe.com (currency converter)

Search by GTIN (barcode)

Google for Japanese sites:  "Puzzle", "Mechanical Puzzle",
"Disentanglement Puzzle", "wheel of intelligence" (Japanese for tanglement).

 

Links to Vendors

Preferred Vendors - U.S.

My experiences with the sites listed here have been positive. This list is biased towards vendors who ship to the US and accept PayPal or credit cards via a secure site. High-quality specialty vendors with whom I have dealt include:


Cubic Dissection.com
Eric Fuller
Wood Frustrations - Tom Lensch
Eureka!
David Leschinsky
Brass Puzzles By Rocky
Rocky Chiaro
Puzzle Paradise
John Devost
(Davans is defunct.)
Creative Crafthouse
Dave Janelle
PuzzleMist
William Waite
PuzzleAtomic
Doug Engel
Pavel's Puzzles
Pavel Curtis 		Cleverwood
Mike & Judy Richard
Charlie Malcolmson

LiveCube
Cluster Puzzles
Kelvin Palmer
Bill Cutler
Tucker Jones
The Puzzle & Craft Factory

DanLock
from Dan Feldman
Kadon
Kate Jones
The Yot
Kagen Schaefer
Lee Krasnow

Here are "mass market" vendors from whom I've purchased items:


terrifictoys.com
gummylump.com
Games Unlimited
bgamers.com
Bob Schwartz
Funagain Games

Bits and Pieces

Preferred Vendors - Non - U.S.

Reliable foreign vendors with whom I've dealt include:


Meffert's
Hendrik Haak's Puzzle Shop
Puzzlemaster.ca
LiveWire
Frank Gregory

Puzzlevision.com
Michael Toulouzas
The Karakuri Creation Group and Club
Frank Potts
Brian Young

Gemani Games
Roger Mustoe
[also try puzzlepalace.co.uk]
Pentangle
Arabesk
Jan Grashuis
Izumiya

Bedlam Puzzles
is now Crazee Thingz
Puzzlewood.de
Bernhard Schweitzer
Torito
CalmPlex Puzzles
RA Media - Andy Snowie

Sources for Tanglement Puzzles


Tucker Jones
Uncle's Puzzles
LiveWire
Frank Gregory
Channelcraft

Puzzlemaster.ca
Fiddl'Widdit
BrainPuzzles.com (Seth Anderson)

Sources for Rubik-type puzzles


Hendrik Haak
Official Rubik's site 		V-Cubes
Ball.B

Dr. Sticker
Cubesmith
Georges Helm's Puzzle Shop 		Thinkgeek
Crazee Thingz (UK) 		DX dealextreme (Home)
DX dealextreme (Toys) 		lightake.com
hknowstore.com (Calvin Fan)
witeden.com (DaYan cubes)
Cube4you (James Lee) (no Firefox - use Cubefans)
Cubefans (James Lee)
MF8 Shop
Omega Studio (TW)
Smart Toy Shop (HK)
CubeNJoy (Korea)
Nice Puzzles (9spuzzles)
Cubikon.de -- Michael Layher
Cubeman (Mark Longridge) 		East Sheen Mindstrat Puzzles (Pantazis Houlis)
Fourieridea (Quarks)

Puzzle Boxes


Akio Kamei

The Karakuri Creation Group and Club

Cleverwood
Kagen Schaefer

Heartwood Creations
Pandora's Puzzle Boxes
Quagmire Puzzle Boxes
Randal Gatewood
Unique Box Shop

Izumiya (Hakone)

Cubic Dissection - Eric Fuller

Barouke
movable Hellraiser box
Puzzle Box World Honma
(Japanese site - no orders)

More art than puzzle...

Costa Rica Art (Hummingbird box)
Burl Puzzle Boxes

Check Clay Parker's website "A Puzzlebox Page" for more links.

Read an article by Jerry Slocum on Japanese Puzzle Boxes.

Puzzle Vendors Around the World

Here is a sorted listing of many puzzle vendors from around the world:


Puzzle Vendors Around the World
[0-9]| A| B| C| D| E| F| G| H| I| J| K| L| M| N| O| P| Q| R| S| T| U| V| W| X| Y| Z| [Dead Sites]

0-9


 0-0-0-Checkmate
 1001-Jeux
 3D Puzzles

 

A


 abookorgame.com
 Albinegri - Albert Guebeli
 Antique Toys and Games - Pierre Patau, Elisabeth Calley
 Arabesk - Jan Grashuis
 Archimedes' Lab
 Architest (nail puzzles)
 AreYouGame
 Atlantis - Dr. Karl Scherer
 Avenue des Jeux
 A.Z. Plerp - Cluster Puzzles - Kelvin Palmer

 

B


 Barouke
 Bart Buie
 Bartl GMBH
 also try Bartl GMBH dot com
 Bathsheba Grossman - Moon Pi
 Bedlam Puzzles - Bruce Bedlam
 John Berkeley (uk)
 Beverly Enterprises
 Boardgames Express
 Boutique Strategie
 BrainPuzzles.com (Seth Anderson)
 Brandora (Logika / Uhl)
 Brilliant Puzzles
 Buffalo Games Inc.
 Burl Puzzle Boxes

 

C


 Cadeaux en Bois
 Calmplex - Andy Snowie
 Channelcraft
 Chapman Puzzles
 Rocky Chiaro
 Chronos (jp) - Edi Nagata
 Cleverwood - Mike & Judy Richard, Charlie Malcolmson
 Completely Bonkers
 Jean Claude Constantin
 Costa Rica Art (Hummingbird box)
 Cracker Barrel
 Craftypuzzles.com - James Cole
 Creative Crafthouse
 Creative Whack Co.
 Cubeman (Mark Longridge)
 Cubicdissection.com - Eric Fuller
 Cubikon.de - Michael Layher
 Bill Cutler

 

D


 Robert Dalloz
 DaMert
 Wayne Daniel
 DanLock by Dan Feldman
 Denny Magic - Daryl's Enchanted Cube
 Davans - Jose Diaz
 Donay Games (uk)
 Dry Gulch Gifts (Old Time tangles - wholesale only)

 

E


 East Sheen Cubes
 Eleganter Australia
 elogIQ
 Elverson
 Eureka (be - Belgium)
 Eureka! - David Leschinsky
 Executive Games (wholesale)

 

F


 FAO Schwartz
 Faze 3 (uk)
 Fiddl'Widdit
 Flyping Games
 Foxmind
 Frust8tor.nl
 Funagain Games

 

G


 The Game Preserve
 Games and Puzzles.co.uk
 Games2Puzzles (eBay store - Emma Lee)
 Games Unlimited - Bob Schwartz
 Game Surplus
 gamesweb.dk
 Gemani Games - Roger Mustoe
 [also try puzzlepalace.co.uk]
 Geo Australia
 GepetoVillage
 Dan Gilbert - Triazzle
 Golovolomki.ru - Vladimir Krasnoukhov
 The Grail, Inc. (on Toydirectory)
 Grand Illusions
 Great American Puzzle Factory
 Kirill Grebnev
 Kirill Grebnev - Cubature of the Ball
 gummylump.com

 

H


 Haba (de)
 Hakone Maruyama
 Hanayama
 Hand Puzzles
 Hasbro
 Heartwood Creations
 Hellraiser box
 Hendrik Haak's Puzzle Shop
 Hoberman
 Hockey Puck, Masterball
 Honma (Japanese site - no orders)

 

I


 Icarus (jp)
  [Babelfish translation of Icarus]
 Idea Ocean (tw)
 IntermedAsia - Tricky Disky, Enigma [WARNING: resizes window]
 I Qubed
 Izumiya (Hakone)
 also try yosegi.jp

 

J


 Jeruel Industrial - Kinato, Crystal puzzles
 Jeux et Console
 Jigsaw Jungle
 Tom Jolly Games
 JustPlush - Christo Toys - 4D Puzzles - 3D jigsaw animals

 

K


 Kadon - Kate Jones
 Kagen Schaefer
 K & J Magnetics
 K & T Toys - Touchdown
 Akio Kamei
 The Karakuri Creation Group and Club
 Kii-Peli
 Kniffi
 Knobelspiel
 Knox (Roland Koch)
 Kubi Games (Germany)

 

L


 Lagoon Games / The Lagoon Group
 Ledindon
 Le Valet d'Coeur
 Liberty Puzzles (fine jigsaws)
 Tomas Linden
 LiveCube
 LiveWire - Frank Gregory
 Logical Choice (au)
 Logika (de)
 Robert Longstaff Workshops (uk)
 Lookina

 

M


 Mad Cow
 Magicsale.com
 Magicwire.ru
 Magnif
 Marks & Spencer - Lateral Thinking Puzzles
 MathLove
 GarE Maxton
 Jerry McFarland Puzzles
 me100fun (hk)
 Meffert's
 MGC Custom Jigsaws
 Mind Games Direct (uk)
 Minds On Toys ( Digi-Comp I repro)
 MindWare
 Misdirection
 Lenoid Mochalov
 Mondenkind (de)
 Mountain Stream Forge - Uncle's Puzzles
 Mr. Puzzle Australia
 MuseumTour

 

N


 Naef Spiele AG
 Nature's Tapestry
 Nzanity.co.nz - Labyrinth Woodworks - Louis Toorenburg (NZ)

 

O


 Office Playground - Magic Sand Wand, K-Dron
 Okuno Karuta-ten (Game Shop Okuno)
 Omega Studio
 Optical Toys
 Oriental Trading Co.

 

P


 Pacific Puzzleworks - Lee Krasnow
 Padilly - Chelona, Anchor
 Pam City - Kumiki
 Pandora's Puzzle Boxes
 Parlor Puzzles
 PaxPuzzle.com
 Pentangle
 Philos (de)
 Pinnacle Puzzles
 Potty Puzzles - Frank Potts
 The Purple Pomegranate
 PuzzleAtomic aka General Symmetrics - Doug Engel
 Puzzle Box World
 The Puzzle & Craft Factory
 Puzzlein - Haoyuki Iwase
 [Babelfish translation of Puzzlein]
 Puzzle Me This
 Puzzlemaster.ca
 Puzzle Palace - George Miller
 Puzzlesdownunder
 Puzzle This (uk)
 Puzzlevision - Michael Toulouzas
 Puzzlewood - Bernhard Schweitzer
 Puzzling Place (uk)
 PuzzlingPuzzles (au)
 Pyramid Gallery - Le Marchand (Hellraiser Cube)

 

Q


 Quagmire Puzzle Boxes - Randal Gatewood

 

R


 Rapp With Wood - nice boxes, not puzzles
 Rakuten
 RecentToys (Planets)
 Rombol.de
 Official Rubik's site

 

S


 Schachland (Chessland - German)
 Science Enterprises
 SeriousPuzzles.com
 Shop New Zealand - Puzzles
 SMART (be)
 Spilsbury
 Springbok Puzzles
 Star Magic
 Stave Jigsaws
 Stumpy Originals
 Swissmad

 

T


 Takara/Tomy
 Tankenotter (Erik Johansson)
 Technology of Wonders - Viktor Genel
 Tenyo
 terrifictoys.com
 Thinkfun (Binary Arts)
 Torito (Japan)
 Tour de Jeux - chain in Quebec
 The ToyHouse - Chris Baldwin
 toys-for-all.de
 Toys From Times Past
 ToysGamesPuzzles
 Transposer Puzzles
 TruelyPuzzling
 Tucker Jones
 Tumbleweed (FR)

 

U


 Uhl GMBH
 Ulla Moos
 Uncle's Games
 Uncle's Puzzles
 Unique Box Shop
 University Games

 

V


 Vakkaraverstas
 Variantes
 Venta (cz)
 VIA Spiele
 Viking Mfg Co. - Key Puzzle
 Village Games - Ray Bathke
 Villa le Bosquet
 Vin & Co. - Vaclav Obsivac (cz)

 

W


 Wallingford Toy Works
 William Waite - PuzzleMist
 Winning Moves
 Wirwar
 Trevor Wood
 Wood Wonders - Brian Menold
 wooden.co.uk
 Wooden Toys UK (cz)
 Woodpecker (Hikimi)
 World in Puzzle

 

X

 

Y


 Yamanaka Kumiki Works
 also try Dento Nippon
 The Yot

 

Z


 Zoki
 Zome
 Livio Zucca

 

 Dead Sites
The Wooden Box Shop
Brain Teazers (eBay store) - Mike Green
Eternity Puzzle
greatwoodgames.com
iqube wooden toys
CuBlock
Puzzlecraft, Texas
Steve Strickland
Toymobile - not dead, but no longer carries "matchbox" (not the cars) puzzles
Cagerage.com
Wingstoys.com
Poppa's Art and Toys (Jim Mitchell)
Artifactory
Brain Teasers Puzzle - Lonpos
mindkind
Timber Novelty Co. (AU)
puzzleboxes.net
puzzleboxesusa - Chris Dipietro
puzzleman.net - Thomas Moeller
Interlocking Puzzles - Sadly, taking a hiatus.
Ed's Think Shop
Cubeman (Mark Longridge)
 Martin Brockmann
 Clever Toys (Flower, Butterfly ball puzzles)
 Ed's Think Shop
 Gakken Toys, Japan
 Jeux Einstein
 Nu-nventions - Monroe's Marbles
 Ok Sachy
 The Old Game Store VT (Sadly, out of business.)
 Pelikan
 Pentaplex
 PioneerPuzzles
 Pussycat (de)
 PuzzleArt - Joe Miller - Molecule puzzle
 Puzzling.net (uk)
 Roli
 S.S. Adams
 Strijbos
 Thomas Ball
 TJ-Woodengames
 Wonder Workshops
 The Wooden Box Shop
 Woodpuzzleman

You might find it useful to find some vendors by their logos...


browse brainteasers
have the nice Ravensburger Kinato

GarE Maxton
Atlantis
Dr. Karl Scherer

Trevor Wood
Haba
puzzlethis.co.uk

Albert Guebeli
Pelikan
Vin & Co
puzzlingplace.co.uk

Venta (Cz)
Izumiya (Hakone)
Mad Cow
Puzzlein
Haoyuki Iwase

Thinkfun (Binary Arts)
Magnif
Spilsbury
Jerry McFarland
Puzzles

Retail Stores

I wish there were more locations selling mechanical puzzles, but there seems to be a dearth of good retail stores. Here are a few I have found...

Eureka!
1349 Beacon St.
(near intersection of Beacon with Harvard St.)
Brookline, MA 02446
(617)-738-7352
www.eurekapuzzles.com
The Games People Play
1100 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA
(617)492-0711
M,T,W,F,Sa: 10-6; Th: 10-8; Su: 12-5
The Games People Play
Time Machine Hobby / New England Hobby Supply
7 Hilliard St.
Manchester, CT 06040
(860)646-0610
www.nehobby.com
A fantastic toy and hobby store in an old industrial building. They have a large model railroad department and a very large club layout in a back room. They carry some puzzles.
Necker's
1591 Hopmeadow St.
Simsbury, CT 06070
(860)658-5783
M-Sa: 9:30-5:30; Su 10-3; Closed Tue
Necker's website
This is a wonderful toy store that has been around since 1948!
They carry some mechanical puzzles, including puzzlemaster.ca tanglements.
Over The Rainbow Toys
in Tolland, CT
The Perfect Toy
290 W Main St
Avon, CT 06001
(860) 678-7015
M,T 9:30-5:30; W-F 9:30-8; Sa 9:30-5:30; Su 12-4
This one is a little further afield:
Books Ink
Perkins Cove
Ogunquit, ME
(207)361-2602
www.booksink.com
Perkins Cove in Ogunquit, Maine, is a great spot with some neat shops. When I was there a while ago, Books Ink had a cool selection of books on science, math, chemistry, physics, and other topics of potential interest to puzzlers. They also had a small selection of puzzles. I bought a CubeOcta there. Up the road is another great shop selling mineral specimens and collector-quality sea-shells. Around the corner is the Marginal Way - a walking trail along the seacoast to Ogunquit. You can take a trolley back to the cove.
The souvenir shop at Old Sturbridge Village
might carry some puzzles. I haven't been there in a while.
Toys R Us
1460 Pleasant Valley Rd.
Manchester, CT 06040
(860) 644-7606
Target
125 Buckland Hills Dr
Manchester, CT 06042
(860) 327-0082
Wal-Mart
420 Buckland Hills Dr
Manchester, CT 06042
(860) 644-5100

Links to Enthusiast Sites

Among the best have to be:


John Rausch's
PuzzleWorld 		Puzzle will be played...
Keiichiro Ishino
Jürg von Känel
Burr Site at IBM

Twisty Puzzles
Sandy Thompson
Jaap Scherphuis
Calormen.com
Joshua Bell
Puzzle Patents

The Poly Pages
Andrew Clarke 		Mathematische Basteleien
Jürgen Köller
Puzzles.com - Thinkfun

Here are some organizations and other resources for puzzle enthusiasts:

Puzzle Auction Sites:

Twitters:

Forums:

Blogs:

For solutions to some mechanical puzzles, try these:

BurrTools by Andreas Röver
Puzzlesolver
Solutions de Casse-Tete
Casse-tete et Solution
Classic Puzzle Cube - describing the classic Kumiki cube
Eternity Puzzle Solution
Taniguchi's programs to solve iamonds and sliding block puzzles
SBPSolver - by Pierre-Francois Culand - solves sliding block puzzles

Shapeways shops:

I have found these sites, many belonging to fellow collectors, to be inspirational...


Martin Watson
Matti Linkola
Juno's World

Richard Whiting's
Puzzle Grail
Casse-tete et Solution
Jürg & Karin von Känel

Atelier Tamura
World of Craft Puzzle
Hidekuni Tamura
Puzzlewood.de
Bernhard Schweitzer
Cisco's collection - Francis Andrac
Age of Puzzles - Serhiy Grabarchuk

Ed Pegg's Mathpuzzle.com
Leonid Mochalov
Yukiyasu Sekoguchi
Happiness Cubes (JP) 		Puzzlein - Osho

Enygmo
Martinho Dos Santos
(Google translation)
Kohfuh's Lab
Kohfuh Satoh
La Collection de Casse-Tete de Chantal 		Hlavolamy - Puzzles
Milan Vodicka

Erich Friedman 		Katsmom's Puzzle Room
Roxanne Wong's Collection 		Pantazis' Puzzle Paradise
Pantazis Houlis' Collection
Puzzle Palace
George Miller
Other collections I've found out there in the aether...


Celia Seide's site
Gabriel Fernandes' collection
Jim Storer's site
Dario Uri's site (the wooden panels on the walls)
Rick Eason's site
Rick Eason's Twenty Cube on Puzzle Will Be Played
Hlavolamy - Milan Vodicka
Chosi's Puzzle Collecting Page
James K. Strayer (all of Yarger's Stickman boxes, etc.)
Jyuta's Page
John Childs' Collection of Kumiki Puzzles
Erich Friedman
sites.google.com/site/geduldspiele
The Puzzle Pit
Michael Suodenjoki
puzzleum.de
Nob - Hikimi
Jose Diaz
Rompecabezas
Don's Puzzle Collection
Kevin Moore
Casse-Tete de Chantal
mypuzzle.dk - Per Moller Nielsen
Clay Parker's A Puzzlebox Page
Markus Goetz
Denkpuzzels
puzzle.ro (Romania) --  shows Radut's Cube
Witful.net - Edi Nagata
Rachel Rein
Nick Baxter's Ninomiya box collection
Other interesting sites:

Logic Mazes - Robert Abbott
Adrian Fisher Mazes
Angela and Otto Janko
Blake O'Hare's Nerd Paradise
Glorieux Ronse Pentomino site - Odette de Muelemeester
George Bell's Peg Solitaire site
Chess Variants - Chess Puzzles
Yukio Hirose
Sliding Block Puzzles
Ultimate Puzzle Site - Logical Puzzles
The Puzzles of Sid Sackson
Iwahiro's Puzzles (e.g. Rectangular Jam)
Fatrazie
Toothpick World
Kacha2 (English translation)
Jim Loy's site
Akiyoshi's Illusion Pages
Innocent Penguin (JP)
Tankenotter AB
George Hart - Geometric Sculptures
Harvey Heinz - Magic Squares
Theo Geerinck
Scott Kim
Christian Eggermont
Mark Peters
make the Dr. Who "Key To Time" puzzle
The Gardner Index
Tune's Tipi Page (geometric models)
"remarkable puzzles" (french)
cubator
Da Vinci Days 2002
Shunting Puzzles
link to some of Nick Baxter's past puzzle auctions
7-piece cube from thewoodcrafter.net
Mathematical Puzzles - Chris Lohe
Hirofumi Fujiwara
Kohfuh's Lab
Ronald Kint-Bruynseels
Rob Hegge's Puzzle Pages Archive
Vladimir Krasnoukhov
Mark Geiger
O'Beirne's Cube
Clickmazes - Andrea Gilbert, Bill Mitchell
The Woodworker's Library
Multi-User Dimensions
Harshbarger's 21 Squares
Puzzle Fun - Rudolfo Kurchan
Puzzling Creations
My Puzzle Note - Wen-Shan Kao
Deutsches Spielzeugmuseum Sonneberg
Optics for Teens
Exotic Wood site
Art Metal - a metal melting furnace
Mike Helland - Springbok Jigsaws
World Flag Database
Perplex City
Paper Folding

Kathryn Huxtable's Flexagon Page
Flexagon.net
Brain Binders
Unique Projects Complico
Hexaflexagon Toolkit
Kaleidocycles

All About Twisty Puzzles

Jaap's Puzzle Page, maintained by Jaap Scherphuis, is the best for analysis and solutions.
TwistyPuzzles.com, maintained by Sandy Thompson, has the most comprehensive catalogue/database, and a vibrant message board community.
Twistypuzzles.com Articles - learn how to make your own custom twisty puzzles
Hendrik Haak's Puzzle-Museum is an impressive on-line collection, and includes many custom-designed puzzles hand-crafted by Tony Fisher, Anthony Greenhill, and others.
3D Puzzle Reconstruction Studio - Katsuhiko Okamoto (JP) [English translation]
Hidetoshi Takeji
Ton Dennenbroek - speedcubing and Rubik's puzzle building
Ton Dennenbroek - custom building
Speedsolving.com
Speedsolving Wiki
Speedsolving Notation
Chris Lohe's site has a nice table of twisty puzzle types
Funny-Looking Twisty Puzzles - Carter Tarrer
chrono.org - Jin Kim
Georges Helm
Georges Helm's List of Puzzle Solutions
Olympicube - 6x6x6 Cubes and beyond!
Sandy's collection
Kar Watanabe
Kastellorizo
LoloCube - Laurent Blanc
Puzzlemaniac
cubeman.org - Mark Longridge - Domain of the Cube
cubeman.org - Rubik's Cube Chronology
Virtual Cubes
Yang Ho's Cubemania (KR)
i4no - Rubik's Cube Museum
Zauberwurfel
JPuzzler
Four-Dimensional Rubik's Cube
Juanan's collection

Play Online...


Bloxorz
3D Logic
Circle the Cat
Loops of Zen
Planarity
Vexed - like Sokoban meets Tetris
Gridlock - like Rush Hour
Puzzlebeast - has Bulbous Blob
Cheesy Games - Emmett Henderson
Panex
Nick Baxter's Sliding Block Puzzle Page
janko.at - many online puzzles!
janko.at -- Classic Sliding Block Puzzles
janko.at -- Sam Loyd's Moving Day Puzzle
Fore and Aft - Mark Peters
Hirofumi Fujiwara - Sliding Piece Puzzles
Pascal Huybers - Tenyo Beat-the-Computer Puzzles
Tenyo Beat-the-Computer puzzle simulator -- Steven Atkinson

Some game sites...


Handheld Games Museum
Boardgamegeek
Abstract Strategy Games
Jose Diaz (Davans)
Bruce Whitehill
Big Game Hunter