Wow such a thing we have

Wow a puzzle

Hoogaloo

Hello, this marks the very first post of my blog! Welcome to the puzzle fox blog where I will go over puzzles that I’ve purchased, owned, or experienced.

The Japanese Yosegi box is the first puzzle I ever got to experience for myself. This specific one has been with me since I was ten, so I have a lot of admiration and respect for it lasting this long.

The outside of the box is decorated in the traditional Yosegi pattern. If you’ve never heard of that before- you’re missing out. Essentially its a series of different tree types laid into a mosaic, that are then pressed together and shaved to create unique and creative patterns. It’s a long and intensive process, but it makes every box incredibly entertaining to look at. The craftsmanship is always so admirable.

As for the mechanism itself, this is the fun part. On one of the sides you will find a panel that is loose, afterwards it functions almost like an invisible maze, sliding the panel to the left and down in order to navigate the invisible pathway. Once you have moved both sides, the lid will slide right off.

After over ten years, the inner compartment still smells like cedar. I never put anything inside, so that's always been my reward for opening it.

After the initial hype of my first puzzle box ever, I knew I had to get more. Back when I browsed puzzleboxworld for puzzles, I stumbled across this one. It seemed perfect! An upgrade! And best of all, it was much cheaper than the others!

Similar to the previous one, it also has a Yosegi pattern. I’ve always particularly liked these. Did you know that you can also buy bookmarks, chopsticks, and regular boxes with such a pattern? Seriously underrated for all those maximalist nerds out there.

I won’t lie, when I first got this, I was pretty disappointed by its size. But what they did with that tiny size was quite interesting. It had a repeating spiral pattern around the box, slowly letting one piece move that moved another. I did come to enjoy it, it was something I brought overseas with me because it was small and entertaining enough.

Overall, despite its shortcomings, it still proves to be an incredibly fun toy to fiddle with.

Fun fact, Mame means “Bean” in japanese :]

As a fun story relating to this one, it was one of the first puzzle boxes I owned. The locking mechanisms failed almost instantly, and the box was locked for over 10 years. I tried many ways to re-open it, trying to pull it, pry it with a knife, using a lockpicking kit, I even considered grabbing a sledgehammer. Thankfully, I didn’t appeal to my inner demons, and reopened it successfully. That was one of the biggest feelings of relief I’ve ever experienced.

Every one I’ve got of these has seemingly wound up as a bit of a disaster. I still think its a cornerstone of every puzzle box collection, but do be careful of who you buy from. I know these are mass produced but I would expect that the locking mechanisms wouldn’t break so soon.

As for the positives… What I do like about this puzzle box is the amount of compartments they have, it always feels like a constant progression to make it from chamber to chamber. It reminds me of the Gretchen Puzzle Box with its series of progression. I have always admired that it does look like a set of books. Definitely feels the most like a decoration.