Ball of weird! | Roger von Oech's Ball of Whacks: A Creativity Tool for Innovators

Rubik's Cube unhinged | Roger von Oech's Ball of Whacks: A Creativity Tool for Innovators | Roger Von Oech

books:


	• Roger von Oech's Ball of Whacks: A Creativity Tool for Innovators Roger Von Oech Creative Whack Company, 2006 - 96 pages average customer review:based on 26 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Tinkerer's Delight

This was a gift for an adult tinkerer and I think it was a big hit. It is for a curious intelligent person who loves to manipulate pieces and make this into an almost 3-D puzzle. Ideal for anyone who loves legos.

Ball of weird!

At first, i didn't know what to make of my new impulse buy. It was just something i got to have a toy on my desk for distraction, and perhaps a conversation piece. People always ask me what it is, then they pick it up and they love playing around with it.

The weird part is that after ignoring it for a while and then coming back to it weeks later, i begin to dream up all kinds of weird new inventions, ideas for shows, coffee flavors...Lots of these things are bogus or impractical (in this dimension perhaps XD), but occasionally i sit and ponder while just playing with the magnetic pieces and it helps me think clearly.
The item itself doesn't hold any magical properties or really hold up well as a throw and catch toy (Ive tried throwing it up and down while lying on my couch, with messy results...) but its definitely interesting enough to hold my attention every once and a while. Makes a nice gift for an inquisitive middle-schooler or budding entrepreneur.

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Rubik's Cube unhinged

Roger van Oech's Ball of Whacks is another layer in the puzzle/executoy/"hmm, this looks interesting" toy that I feel is more for the interminably bored than as a creativity tool for innovators, its selling slogan. It's visually interesting, tactile, mildly amusing as you try to build something recognizable from the Platonic pieces.

Although you might learn something about solid geometry on an intuitive, hands-on level, my fascination with Ball of Whacks plateaued out after about 20 minutes of 3D recreation. It's pricey for the amount of time you might find yourself working with it; I might suggest ShapeScapeS for the neighborhood of $30, for someone who wants an interactive curiosity piece laying around when company comes over.

Still, it's a unique dimensional puzzle, and if you're a chatchka collector, Ball of Whacks is sure to catch the attention of fellow chatchka collectors for its unique spin.

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Had to come back for a second one!

I bought this because a colleague of mine had the "Google version" of the Ball of Whacks (exactly the same, but with "Google" printed in each piece), but since they don't make those anymore, I settled with the original one.

I was immediately drawn to it when I first saw it, and as soon as I got mine, I realized it was pretty ingenious and fun. I knew I was going to like it, what took me by surprise was my wife's reaction. She loved it so much, she constantly makes these awesome figures and puts them on our coffee table to leave there as decoration! Of course, I am reluctant to mess up her art, and you can't imagine the face she made when I told her I wanted to take the ball to my office (she's even planning on getting a metal tray and some other magnetic accessories to make into an interactive art station for our living room!). Thus, I just had to come back for a second one and this time I'm keeping it at the office, where it was originally meant to be.

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ok but not up to the hype

reviews hype it as a creativity must have. In fact, not really. Fun wears off in less than an hour.

30 magnetic pyramid shaped pieces that act as building blocks! -- Are you stumped for ideas? Do you want a fresh perspective on a problem? -- This ball of magnetic pieces is proven to jump start your creativity and imagination. Based on the rhombic triacontahedron, this ball consists of 30 magnetic pyramid shaped pieces that act as building blocks for an unlimited number of uses. -- You can create inspiring shapes, challenge yourself to recreate patterns shown in the activity book, have fun forming new designs, and much more! -- Recommended ages 8+

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

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