IPP34 Puzzle Party

Puzzle Party

The second "main" event of IPP - The Puzzle Party. Here is where attendees of IPP display their wares for sale on rented tables.

Puzzles for sale typically fall into the following categories:-

1. Leftover (or extra) exchange puzzles - great for exchange assistants who were "so close yet so far" from the 99 exchanged ones.

2. Leftover exchange puzzles from previous IPPs, some going back several or more years....hmm, you wonder why?

3. Collectors' pre-loved or unwanted puzzles.

4. Puzzles from commercial puzzle retailers. Great bargains here sometimes as they are usually a bit cheaper during IPP and you don't have to pay shipping.

5. Old, current and new puzzles from puzzle designers and craftsmen

6. Copies of the design competition puzzles

Like the Puzzle Exchange the day before, the Puzzle Party can be even more chaotic. Long queues form outside the event room while the sellers are setting up inside. The doors open at 9am sharp and everyone frenziedly rushes in to scan the room for that elusive one (or few) only available, hard to find puzzle(s). Really they are looking out more for seller than the puzzle itself. Over the course of the previous two days, news from the grapevine would have circulated about who is selling and selling what. 

The Party is like a high end flea market with puzzles strewn all over the tables. Sellers are making their sales pitches and buyers are touching and feeling everything in sight and asking lots of questions. There is polite and gentle shoving and pushing here and there as everyone jostles within the narrow aisles. Everybody is eager to cover as much ground as possible within the first half hour, which is the most crucial to securing a desired or prized puzzle.

Money change hands every second and the major currencies of US$, GBP and Euros are all gladly accepted. If you run out of cash don't worry, you can always borrow money from someone. Puzzlers are more than happy to lend to another puzzler in dire need (as I experienced at last year's IPP33 in Japan).

The excitement runs from morning to early afternoon. At 3pm, selling officially stops. The dust settles and the last sale is transacted. Most leave the room exhausted but happy with their day's haul. But some with crestfallen faces, regretting their paralysis by analysis!

Here are some shots of the Puzzle Party.

Tom Lensch

Perry McDaniel (the most well-dressed seller at the Puzzle Party)
selling his food themed Bon Bon puzzles

Henry Strout

Frans de Vreugd

Bernhard Schweitzer

Hendrik Haak (in lime t-shirt holding note pad)

Ms Kimura from online puzzle retailer Torito, Japan

Peter Hajek

Peter Schnurzel

John Hache (left)

Mr & Mrs Koshi Arai

Neil Hutchinson, Chris Pursell & Louis Coolen

Walt Hoppe & Iwahiro Iwasawa

Brian & Sue Young

Floor Puzzles

IPP34 - Edward Hordern Puzzle Exchange

This year's IPP (International Puzzle Party) was held in London, United Kingdom from 7-10 August. Like last year's IPP33 in Japan, to make it more convenient for attendees and minimise travel, the event was again held at an Airport hotel, in this case the Park Inn at Heathrow. 

For IPP34 itself and other related, pre and non-official IPP34 "fringe" activities such as the excellent MPP that took place the prior weekend, check out Kevin's, Allard's and Roxanne's posts on their respective blogs.

The Edward Hordern Puzzle Exchange is one of the two "main" events (the other being the Puzzle Party) of any IPP. Basically its a gathering of IPP attendees who will get to exchange their own puzzle with another participant. Although the purpose of this event is pretty straight forward, ie to exchange puzzles, there are however some rules governing the exchange. Most notably:-

1. An exchanger must typically produce a minimum of around a 100 puzzles; 99 for the exchange and one for public display during IPP which is then donated to the Slocum Puzzle Collection at the University of Indiana Lilly Library. Many exchange participants tend to produce more than the 100 for post-exchange sale at the Puzzle Party or gifting. Not an inexpensive affair in terms of cost of production, shipping etc.

2. The participant's exchange puzzle must be an original design. However it need not be the exchanger's own design. He/she can commission or use someone else's design (with permission of course). Out of the 99 puzzles that were exchanged at IPP34, almost 40 exchangers adopted somebody else's design. Around 8 of the exchange puzzles were also entries in the Nob Yoshigahara Puzzle Design Competition.

3. The exchanged puzzle must not have been previously in someone's collection nor commercially available prior to the exchange.

For this IPP, I was able to participate in the exchange, having been an exchange assistant to puzzle collector Diniar Namdarian during IPP33. My exchange puzzle, called "Triple Play" was designed by Goh Pit Khiam and produced in laser cut acrylic. Dimensionally 80mm x 80mm x 10mm. 

For close up photos and details of all the 99 exchange puzzles, please see Goetz Schwandtner's IPP34 Exchange Puzzles page.

Every exchange participant is allocated a table (yes, the table is really needed when all the different puzzles start to pile up). Once things get under way, participants would walk around the event room looking for someone to exchange with. Those who prefer a more relaxed approach would sit at their table and wait for others to show up (but this I think is boring). Everyone is given a list of all the exchange participants to check off against, to avoid possible double exchanges or mistakes. Trust me, after a while, it can become a bit confusing and chaotic.

My 99 Exchange Puzzles ready to rock and roll!

Most exchangers would have assistants to click photos, carry puzzles and help with translations where necessary. I went ahead without one, to my regret...I found myself scrambling a bit trying to explain my puzzle to the other party, get photos taken, running back to my table to replenish my inventory etc. After the exchange, one IPP attendee had come up to me to express his interest in being my assistant for next year and I took his offer without hesitation.

The whole session goes on for a good half a day from 9am till around 2pm. Really, some stamina is required for this I might add!

I managed to get some photos with a number of well known collectors, designers and puzzle craftsmen.

Ad van der Schagt

Vladimir Krasnoukhov

Lee Yee Dian

MINE Uyematsu

Allard Walker

John Moores

Simon Nightingale

Wil Strijbos

Robert Sandfield

Marcel Gillen

Neil Hutchinson

Serhiy Grabarchuk

Bill Cutler

Well, after nearly 5 hours, here is my exchange haul from IPP34, which thankfully was all able to fit into my jumbo suitcase which I had specially brought with me!

Off To IPP34

To my dear readers, friends and fellow puzzlers, I will not be posting any reviews for the next couple of weeks as I am off to the United Kingdom tomorrow for IPP34 (International Puzzle Party) and thereafter, a family vacation.

This one still a work in progress...but not anytime soon!

To those who will also be attending IPP34, I look forward to seeing you folks and catching up with old friends again.

For those who are unfamiliar with IPP, you can check out my earlier posts on IPP33 held last year during this time in Tokyo, Japan. 

On the IPP33 Puzzle Exchange, click here. On the Puzzle Party, Puzzle Design Competition and other IPP33 related stuff, click here.

See you again soon!

Vinco Packing Puzzles

Update 23 October 2017 - Dear Reader, please check out my new puzzle blog and e-store at http://mechanical-puzzles.com

During my last purchase of some Vinco puzzles (including the Cross Box and 18 Dutch Mills) a while back, I also added three in-expensive packing puzzles to the haul for good measure.

Rectangle AC1

Consisting of 7 pieces and made of various woods which may include Oak, Elm, Larch, Walnut, Ash, Pear, Cherry and Vinco's favourite, Plum. This is not your regular packing puzzle consisting of square blocks or units. Instead as I discovered, the pieces comprise triangular cuts and shapes, making the packing a lot harder than what it looks at first sight. Nope, Burr Tools wouldn't help here.

Octagon AC

Similar to the Rectangle AC1 where the shapes and pieces are concerned, this one ups the difficulty quotient with 9 pieces. Harder still because they have to fit inside an Octagon frame....most of us (well I am) are used to the more normal square or rectangle ones.

HCP1

The most difficult of the three here with a whopping 16 pieces of mixed shapes. And also the largest!

The AC1 cost 7 euros, Octagon AC is 8 euros and HCP1, 9 euros. These are prices as quoted on Vinco's site. Superb value for money! Both Puzzlemaster of Canada and Mr Puzzle of Australia also carry a range of Vinco puzzles including the ones mentioned here. You may also contact Bernhard Schweitzer of Puzzlewood for some of Vinco's older packing puzzle designs. 

While all three puzzles are well constructed with good fit, they are not your premium quality puzzles (which Vinco also has) as reflected by the prices; so don't expect them to be like the Eric Fuller or Pelikan wood puzzles. Excellent for the budget concious puzzle collector tho'.... if there is even such a thing....

Havana's Box #4

The Havana's #4 is the 4th and last instalment of Eric Fuller's Havana's Cigar Box series. Sold for US$159 each in a limited edition series of 79 copies, currently unavailable.

For reviews of the 1st three cigar boxes, click here, here and here. 

The #4 is named "Bruce". Bruce is one of Eric's buddies, who happens to tend bar at one of Eric's favourite watering holes.

The #4 is made from Sapele with Wenge veneer at the top and bottom lids. Construction fit and finish is excellent with everything built to very tight tolerances. Although very fine detailed cuts abound, it is a very solid box. 

Goal of course is to get the (real) cigar out from inside the box. According to Eric, the #4 is the hardest of the lot, the #1 being the easiest. I am not sure if this is really the case since I found #2 (and also #3) to be pretty darn difficult as well. In fact I spent most time on #2. 

The Havana's Cigar Box Family. From left to right #1 to #4.
I would have preferred if they were all of the same size but each made
with different woods to differentiate them 

Nonetheless, it took me a good part of an evening of trying various sorts of things before I discovered the locking mechanism which keeps the lid in place. According to Eric, it should take 5 steps before the lid slides open. However for some reason, I can get it done in 3 steps. Not sure if I had stumbled upon an unintended solution tho'. Anyone else with the same experience? Guess I will have to check with our dear Mr Fuller on this and see what he says!

Coaxial

Designed in 2012 by really prolific puzzle designer Stephane Chomine (who has a whopping 497 designs to-date), the Coaxial was another non-starter for me. 

Made by Pelikan to the usual high standards out of Maple and Wenge, this interlocking solid does not sport the more usual box frame style. Instead it consists of 6 pieces, three of which are regular burr units while the "frame" is made up of another three odd-shaped pieces; pairs of square rings each joined by a spar and with protrusions.   

While it has a 17.2.3.2.2 solution (ie 17 steps to remove the first piece), not a lot compared to some other interlocking burrs, some with well over a 100 moves, the Coaxial is, in my view very difficult. I got stuck around step 10 and could proceed no further. No amount of trying, random or otherwise yielded any luck. Fortunately for me the good folks at Pelikan provided a printed solution to help and Burr Tools took care of the re-assembly.

Coaxial is currently available via PuzzleMaster of Canada for CA$49.99.

Ice Pillar

I bought the Ice Pillar from Pelikan well over a year ago and promptly forgot about it until I recently found it in the deep recesses of my puzzle cupboard. 

I had even forgotten what the name of this puzzle was and who designed it, and had to trace my emails with Pelikan way back to early 2013.

Ice Pillar is constructed from Bubinga for the frame and Zebrano for the 4 burr pieces. Quality of build is top-notch. Surprisingly, the pieces have a very loose fit in the frame, even after a few days out of my de-humidified cupboard. This is the first time I have a wooden puzzle that didn't lock up due to the humidity. Shape-wise, Ice Pillar is like a short Tall Joe. Similar with a  "+" cross-section sort of shape, very different from the typical cuboid burrs.

Ice Pillar is from Osanori Yamamoto and I am not sure if its just me lousy, or this one is really tough....well, its both! The Ice Pillar requires nearly 40 moves to completely disassemble. With some of Yamamoto designs, usually I can make some sort of progress but for this puzzle, I just couldn't find my way anywhere. 

Being of such loose fit, all the pieces could slide left right up down too easily...nothing was ever stuck, but nothing ever came out of the frame either. Tried as I did, I made no headway and had to resort to the solution provided by Pelikan. At least Allard managed to take it apart without any help. 

I didn't bother to try reassembly, knowing full well it would be futile; instead I generated a Burr Tools solution to see how the puzzle worked. Amazing, and just as fun, as always!

Tall Joe

This stylish, tallish, unusual-shaped and relatively large interlocking burr comes from designer Tamas Vanyo. 

Made by Pelikan from Mahogany for the box frame and a combo of Wenge and Maple for the pieces, construction is per the usual excellent Pelikan standard. Very nice fit and finishing throughout; the pieces look really nice and well cut with the dark and white tones.

Gaol is to remove the 8 identical pieces from the frame, which itself has a number of notches and protrusions inside that interact with the pieces.

Tall Joe has a level 6.3.2.2.3.1.2.2 solution. On paper it doesn't seem to look that difficult; but very much harder than you might imagine especially for non-burrist like myself.

Tall Joe is currently available from PuzzleMaster.

School Bus

Designed by Alfons Eyckmans in 2013, my copy of the School Bus was also built for me by Alfons. Alfons had featured the School Bus on his FaceBook page a while back and after seeing it, I shot him an email asking if he could make one for me. 

Alfons will take requests for custom builds of his own designs (of which there are over 200 to-date) but expect to wait no less than a month, since he can only devote 2 days or so a week to puzzle making and he has a lot of orders to fulfil.

Mine is copy #3. Fellow puzzle collector Goetz Schwandtner has a copy and probably the third is kept by Alfons. 

The School Bus is an interlocking burr measuring a relatively large 13cm x 6cm x 5cm. My version is made of Beech for the box frame and Wenge for the pieces. Nice colour combination. Very well built overall with nice finishing; save for several very tiny chips near the edge of one or two of the square holes on the side. Mine was also a bit tight (caused by the local humidity) and I had to leave it in my camera dry box for several days to loosen up the pieces, which became better as I played with it.

The object is the remove the pieces, consisting of 4 regular burr pieces 6 units long and two sliders 13 units long each, from the box.

Despite playing with it on and off over a couple of weeks, I got nowhere with this one. Not even able to remove a single piece. A real tough cookie requiring a total of 72 moves with 18 to get the first piece out. Thank goodness www.puzzlewillbeplayed.com had all the images of the School Bus pieces and I was able to generate a Burr Tools solution to help me solve. No matter tho'; the take apart (and re-assembly) were still very fun using Burr Tools. And even these took a while to complete form start to end.

Inspired by Alfons' School Bus, I took the liberty of expanding upon his design and came up with my own "Tour Bus XL" (after all, what's larger than a school bus?). My design has 2 additional burr pieces and an extra slider, making it dimensionally much larger at 19cm x 8cm x 5cm. 169 moves to completely remove all the pieces.

Tour Bus XL

I am thinking of asking Alfons to make me copy of the Tour Bus XL, but alas, I fear it may be a bit wasted on me, seeing that I can't even solve the School Bus without help.

Shaken Not Stirred!

Shake Something is from up and coming puzzle designer Dan Fast. It has proven to be quite a hit since they were all sold out within days of their release by Eric Fuller.

This interlocking burr consists of 4 "regular" 6 units-long burr pieces which fill a box, making it a packing puzzle as well. 

Object is to remove the pieces from the (only) top opening of the box. Since the pieces can only exit one way, this requires tilting, turning and shaking the box to move (and remove) the individual pieces. You can't see what's happening inside the box so this adds to the difficulty, although on paper, it's (only) a level 14 puzzle. 

And unfortunately the solution is not to be found on www.puzzlewillbeplayed.com either. Get the pieces out and you have a chance at Burr Tools; should you have difficulty (and likely you will) putting things back together like I did.

The box is Walnut, while the pieces are Yellowheart and Chakte Viga. Exotic and un-pronounceable! Construction and finish is excellent with sufficient "looseness" inside the box for the pieces to slide smoothly, even in the relatively humid conditions such as those in Singapore.

This puzzle is one of the more unusual packing or interlocking burr puzzles out there, so its definitely "Something" worth acquiring if you happen to come across it. Hopefully we'll see more of Dan's designs become reality in time to come.