Glossary

On this page, you will find a list of notable people, corporations, and other terms referenced in this handbook. Each entry is accompanied by a brief summary and English translation, if applicable.

Jump to: 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.

A

No entries.

B

Bela Szalai

Hungarian-born founder of Logical Games, Inc. who discovered the Cube in 1978 while visiting Budapest. Mr. Szalai and Logical Games are credited as being the first to distribute and manufacture the Cube within the United States.

Budai Dobozgyár

Or Buda Box Factory. A box factory and print house in Budapest which printed the boxes for the Magic Cubes produced by the Politechnika Industrial Cooperative in 1977. The Buda Box Factory was the first of three companies contracted by Politechnika to print boxes for the Cube. Succeeded by Kner and Petőfi Nyomda.

Bűvös Kocka

Or Magic Cube. The subject of this website. A three-dimensional spacial logic game invented in 1974 by Hungarian architect and college lecturer Ernő Rubik. The Cube was original designed as a teaching aid to help his students with group theory and three-dimensional visualization.

C

CBS, Inc.

Successor by acquisition to Ideal Toy Corporation. CBS, Inc. acquired Ideal Toy for USD $58 million in May of 1982. CBS is an abbreviation of Columbia Broadcasting System.

Cubic Circular

A quarterly newsletter published by David Singmaster between 1981 and 1985. It was marketed as a newsletter for “Rubik’s Cube addicts.”

D

David Singmaster

A puzzle historian, self-proclaimed metagrobologist, and a former professor of mathematics at London South Bank University who popularized the Cube in academic circles. Known for his booklet Notes on Rubik’s “Magic Cube”, and Cubic Circular, a quarterly newsletter.

Dunakeszi Assembly Plant

An assembly plant located in Dunakeszi, Hungary, established in October 1981 by the Dunamenti Production Cooperative in order to help alleviate the enormous strain placed on Politoys to keep up with demand for the Cube. The site reportedly assembled some 80,000 cubes per month.

E

Ecser, Hungary

A village to the southeast of Budapest, Hungary, where the factory for the Politechnika Industrial Cooperative was located. This is where the first ever Magic Cubes were manufactured.

Ernő Rubik

A Hungarian architect, former lecturer at the Hungarian Academy of Applied Arts, and the eponymous inventor of the iconic Rubik’s Cube™. Mr. Rubik founded the Rubik Stúdió in 1983.

F

Ferenc Manczur

The chief engineer of the Politechnika Industrial Cooperative. He quit the cooperative in June of 1982 after a few bad business decisions soured the relationship between Politechnika and the Ideal Toy Corporation.

G

Gyulá Nemcsók

Co-founder and chairman of the Politechnika Industrial Cooperative. Mr. Nemcsók was appointed the second president of Politechnika after Lehel Takács retired at the end of September in 1979.

H

No entries.

I

Ideal Toy Corporation

A company headquartered in the United States which purchased exclusive worldwide distribution rights for the Cube. Ideal Toy aggressively marketed the Cube, and was the first company to sell it under the name Rubik’s Cube™. In 1982, Ideal was acquired by CBS, Inc. Variations of the name include Ideal Toy Corp., Ideal Toy Co., Ideal Toy, or simply Ideal.

J

James Dalgety

A puzzle enthusiast and founder of Pentangle Puzzles in the United Kingdom. Mr. Dalgety was contacted by Tibor Szentivanyi around December 1977 regarding the Magic Cube, and shortly thereafter directed Pentangle to secure the rights to distribute the Cube within the U.K. Mr. Dalgety is the former curator of the Hodern-Dalgety collection, an enormous collection and online catalog of around 40,000 puzzles.

K

Kner Nyomda

A print house in Budapest named after famous Hungarian Kner Izidor. Nyomda is a Hungarian word meaning print house. The Kner print house printed the boxes for the Magic Cubes produced by the Politechnika Industrial Cooperative in 1978. Kner was the second of three companies contracted by Politechnika to print boxes for the Cube. Kner’s contract with Preceded by the the Buda Box Factory (Budai Dobozgyár) and succeeded by Petőfi Nyomda.

KONSUMEX Külkereskedelmi Vállalat

Or KONSUMEX Foreign Trade Company. The Hungarian state trading company. KONSUMEX was pivotal in distributing the Cube outside of Hungary.

L

László Tóth

The CEO of the KONSUMEX Foreign Trade Company.

Lehel Takács

Co-founder and the first president of the Politechnika Industrial Cooperative. Mr Takács retired due to disability at the end of September in 1979, immediately after signing the contract with the Ideal Toy Corporation. Mr. Takács’s position was filled by Gyulá Nemcsók, the co-founder and chairman of
Politechnika.

Logical Games, Inc.

A small toy company located in the United States operated by Bela Szalai. Logical Games was the first company to distribute and manufacture the Magic Cube within the United States. However, Logical Games did not opt to purchase the exclusive worldwide distribution rights for the Cube from the Hungarian state trading company KONSUMEX. The Ideal Toy Corporation later purchased these rights and promptly filed and won a trademark infringement lawsuit against Logical Games.

M

Mihály Hagyák

Replaced Sándor Mártonffy as the head of the games department within KONSUMEX after his departure in the early 1980s.

N

Notes on Rubik’s “Magic Cube”

A booklet authored and published by David Singmaster which has been deemed the definitive treatise on Rubik’s Magic Cube, and is credited with popularizing the Magic Cube among academic circles. Five editions were published, the first of which was published in 1979. Continue reading on page 47.

O

No entries.

P

Pentangle Puzzles

A puzzle retailer in the United Kingdom founded by James Dalgety in 1971 which would be the first company to introduce the Cube to English-speaking markets after securing the exclusive rights to distribute the Cube within the U.K. from the KONSUMEX Foreign Trade Company in 1978.

Petőfi Nyomda

A print house in Budapest named after famous Hungarian poet Petőfi Sándor. Nyomda is a Hungarian word meaning print house. Petőfi printed the boxes for the Magic Cubes produced by the Politechnika and Politoys Industrial Cooperatives from 1979 and on. Petőfi was the third and final company contracted by Politechnika to print boxes for the Cube. Preceded by the Buda Box Factory (Budai Dobozgyár) and Kner.

Politechnika Ipari Szövetkezet

Or Politechnika Industrial Cooperative. Politechnika was a Hungarian plastic injection molding company headquartered in Budapest approached by Ernő Rubik in 1976 to manufacture his Magic Cube. In the middle of 1981, the company was renamed to Politoys.

Politoys Ipari Szövetkezet

Or Politoys Industrial Cooperative. Successor to the Politechnika Industrial Cooperative. The company was renamed to Politoys to signal a shift in concentration to manufacturing injection-molded toys and games. The company was liquidation in November 2002 and was fully dissolved by February 2005.

Q

No entries.

R

Rubik’s Brand, Ltd.

A company formed by Seven Towns, Inc. in 2013 to coordinate the popular toy’s licensing, marketing, and legal activities. The brand was later acquired by Spin Master Toys in 2021 for USD $50 million.

S

Sándor Mártonffy

The head of the games department within KONSUMEX until his departure in the early 1980s, after which his position was filled by Mihály Hagyák.

Seven Towns, Ltd.

A company in the United Kingdom operated by Tom Kremer which negotiated with the Ideal Toy Corporation to bring the Cube to the United States. Seven Towns trademarked the term Rubik’s Cube™. In 2020, the Rubik’s Cube™ trademark and brand were purchased by Spin Master Toys for USD $50 million.

Spin Master Toys

A toy company located in Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom, which acquired the Rubik’s Cube™ trademark and brand from Seven Towns, Ltd. for USD $50 million in January 2021.

Stewart Slims

Vice President of the Ideal Toy Corporation who would be approached by Tom Kremer of Seven Towns, Ltd. to distribute the Cube within the United States. Mr. Slims is credited for coining the term Rubik’s Cube.

T

Tibor Laczi

A Hungarian businessman born in Budapest, trained in Vienna, and living in Munich. He discovered the cube during a business trip to Budapest in 1978. Believing the toy had potential, he brought the cube to the 1979 Nuremberg Toy Fair where he met Tom Kremer, the man who would eventually introduce the Cube to Stewart Slims of the Ideal Toy Corporation.

Tibor Szentivanyi

A puzzle collector living in Budapest who, after seeing the Cube for the first time in 1977, contacted James Dalgety of Pentangle Puzzles in the United Kingdom. This led to a series of events that would introduce the Cube to the West for the first time. In 1982, Mr. Szentivanyi organized the first Rubik’s Cube World Championship, held in the Cube’s birthplace of Budapest, Hungary.

Tom Kremer

Owner of Seven Towns, Ltd. who, after meeting Tibor Laczi at the 1979 Nuremberg Toy Fair, introduced the Cube to Stewart Slims of the Ideal Toy Corporation. This would eventually lead to the Cube’s worldwide notoriety. Mr. Kremer passed away in 2017.

Triál

Triál was first approached by Ernő Rubik in 1976 about producing his Magic Cube, who then referred him to the Politechnika Industrial Cooperative. Triál was the largest Hungarian wholesale trading company at the time.

U

No entries.

V

No entries.

W

No entries.

X

No entries.

Y

No entries.

Z

Zoltán Tomori

The third president of the Politechnika Industrial Cooperative.