Weekly Random Pick #6 from My Collection.

The Bedlam Cube. A simple assembly/packing puzzle, but a headache to solve...

Invented by the British Bruce Bedlam and commercialized since 2005, the cube is comprised by 13 pieces and you solve it by assembling a 4x4 cube with all of its pieces. You have 19,186 ways to do it. Sounds a lot, but it's very hard to work out a solution. There's another easier version, the Bedlam Treasure Chest Cube, with only 9 pieces and 37 solutions (also has a few color variations).

To me, the bedlam cube is the sub-collection within the collection. It all started with the Mini Retro Bedlam Cube, almost in the beginning of my main collection. But when I saw a large Wooden Bedlam on eBay, I bought it straight away. The presentation of the outer wooden case caught my attention and after a few months with a small plastic one to play with, the madness had started. With a search on eBay for Bedlams, I discovered a lot more color variations and I became obsessed for collecting them, although I'm yet to find a single solution for it. I guess it's kind of ironic, huh? I still have a few to purchase in order to get them all, but it's just a question of time...

With all these variations, there's a lot to choose from, with color, material and size. You can buy some of these variations at Puzzle Master.