Message #4187

From: jbaile2@rochester.rr.com
Subject: Please nominate Melinda’s 2x2x2x2 for the National Toy Hall of Fame
Date: Tue, 19 Mar 2019 23:15:39 +0000

This is a request for your vote, nominating Melinda’s 2x2x2x2 4D Pocket Cube for 2019 inclusion in the National Toy Hall of Fame. Go to http://www.toyhalloffame.org/nominate and complete the form.

When I asked for guidance on how to nominate Melinda’s 2x2x2x2 4D Pocket Cube to the National Toy Hall of Fame, I got this response from Nicholas Ricketts, the Curator of the Strong Museum of Play (Rochester, NY).

Date: Thursday, February 28, 2019 1:05 PM
From: Ricketts, Nicolas <nricketts@museumofplay.org>
To: jbaile2@rochester.rr.com <jbaile2@rochester.rr.com>
Subject: 4D Pocket Cube Nomination
Dear Mr. Bailey,
I just got your letter recommending the 4D Pocket Cube for the National Toy Hall of Fame. Thank you! I have forwarded the information to our chairman for the nomination committee and the cube will officially get a nomination. The best advice I can give you at this point is to get your friends and other fans of the cube to go online and nominate it as well. And you can also vote yourself—I think the limit is once daily but not sure about that. The more votes it gets, the more likely it will be to finally get inducted. I assure you that all the votes get counted, and they become one of the stronger factors for eventual induction.
I myself will give it a nomination vote. You’ve convinced me with your heartfelt letter. Thank you very much for taking the time to write me and for thinking of Strong Museum.
Sincerely,
Nicolas Ricketts
Curator
The Strong
One Manhattan Square
Rochester, NY 14607 U.S.A.

If you know the device well, filling in the field “Why does this toy deserve to be in the hall of fame?” may be easy. If you need some words my own nomination words were:

To appreciate the innovation of Melinda’s 2x2x2x2, consider how hard it would be
reduce the dimensionality of the Rubik’s Cube from three dimensions to two. A three dimensional
puzzle reduced to a two dimensional challenge requires imagination.
It is just as hard to reduce the dimensionality of a abstract device such as a four dimensional
Rubik’s Cube. Four dimensional Rubik’s cubes, implemented as
computer representations and virtual display imagery have been available since 1988. Melinda’s 2x2x2x2
provides an actual three dimensional artifact that presents the four dimensional challenge
in physical form. Rendered in hard colored plastic pieces using a 3D printer
and cleverly placed magnets, it presents a challenge that requires patience and
determination to solve. Only twelve "twisty puzzle" solvers have presented solutions.
Fewer than one hundred instances of the device have been produced. As a puzzle on the leading edge
of technology and challenge, this puzzle deserves early recognition.
Go to http://superliminal.com/cube/2x2x2x2/ for more information.

Thanks for your help
John Bailey