Zontik Games' $200 Rubik Cube

by Trey Evans (RSS feed)
May 21st 2006 at 4:08PM

Today is a good day for Luxist.com. In my mailbox arrived the first Rubik cube available for review from Zontik Games. Zontik is the exclusive representative here in the States for the products of the British company Geoffrey Parker. Parker makes the world's most expensive Monopoly set, a jewel encrusted and alligator bound game of extravagance. They've been commissioned to make exclusive pieces for the likes of Ritz-Carlton, Asprey, Dunhill, Harrod's, Stevie Wonder, and they were responsible for making the chess boards for the Spassky v Fischer match in Reykjavik. The product line for Zontik ranges from the $200 chrome and inlaid leather reviewed here all the way up to a $32,000 "Game Cube," which is 24 games in one leather box. Full review and tons of photos after the jump.

The first thing I noticed when taking the toy out of the box was how incredibly heavy it is. It seriously weighs two pounds or so. The leather is gorgeous, colored and inlaid into the chrome. The standard Rubik cube colors are used: yellow, red, white, green, orange, and blue. It's fun to play with, but one has to keep in mind that whoever is going to spend $200 on a toy they can pick up at Toys R Us for $9.99 probably won't be doing too much actual playing with it. It makes a great adornment to a desk and will be a conversation piece when you throw a soiree, and in all honesty the thing is really cool, but that's about it. The turning mechanism that makes all the sides spin gets stuck sometimes and you either have to force it or turn it all the way the other way to get it to go where you want it. I've been told that this is because the unit is metal and all the individual cubes must be perfectly aligned for the mechanism to properly turn. No other complaints - but the not spinning too well thing is kind of a big deal. Overall, I'd give it a high rating, and if you've got $200 to spend and really want a Rubik cube that will be the talk of the office for a while or need a gift for someone who has just about everything, this would take care of it.