# In which decade did you first start cubing?



## Owen (Aug 15, 2013)

I curious as to when we all started cubing. I'd guess most people started in the 2000s, but I'm sure there are some older and newer folks too.


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## aceofspades98 (Aug 15, 2013)

February actually.


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## rj (Aug 15, 2013)

Last October.


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## Devian (Aug 15, 2013)

I learned how to solve a rubik's cube at 99' (I was 10), then I forgot how to do it, re-learned it again at 08', but I'm speedcubing since this year, january.


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## Owen (Aug 15, 2013)

I'd guess that the first cuber is Larry Nichols who has been solving 2x2 since the 1950s! Wow!


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## aceofspades98 (Aug 15, 2013)

Wait what?


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## Owen (Aug 15, 2013)

aceofspades98 said:


> Wait what?



http://www.ageofpuzzles.com/Masters/LarryDNichols/LarryDNichols.htm


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## Renslay (Aug 15, 2013)

2005.


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## YddEd (Aug 15, 2013)

Last year.


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## moralsh (Aug 15, 2013)

I played a lot with it when it was out in the eighties, but didn't start to speedcube until last year, as there is no "speed" in the question, I just answered 1980s


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## ottozing (Aug 15, 2013)

2011. Around early March.


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## TDM (Aug 15, 2013)

January this year.


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## ySoSrs (Aug 15, 2013)

February this year.


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## PianoCube (Aug 15, 2013)

I started to get interested in 2009, but didn't learn how to solve LL untill January 1st (or was it 2nd?) 2010.
Where would that put me?


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## Torch (Aug 15, 2013)

I honestly don't know when I started cubing. I bought my first cube sometime in the last 4 years, but I can't remember exactly when.


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## cubesonfire (Aug 15, 2013)

March this year


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## Logical101 (Aug 15, 2013)

I started getting interested In The cube in 2005 and I started speed cubing 15 months ago


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## antoineccantin (Aug 15, 2013)

2009


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## 4EverCuber (Aug 15, 2013)

First learned how to do it back in the 80's where I set the "school record" of 58secs back in grade 6. 

Only about 3 years ago did I pick up a cube again with the intention of beating that old pb. Now I'm averaging around 21secs.


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## LNZ (Aug 15, 2013)

My parents brought me a 3x3x3 Rubik's brand cube in 1981 and two solution books to solve it.

Remember that there was no internet (at least to us civilian users) back then.

But it took me until May 2009 to actually solve one. I brought one of the two book I was given in 1981 on Ebay and used that to solve it.


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## 4EverCuber (Aug 15, 2013)

LNZ said:


> My parents brought me a 3x3x3 Rubik's brand cube in 1981 and two solution books to solve it.
> 
> Remember that there was no internet (at least to us civilian users) back then.
> 
> But it took me until May 2009 to actually solve one. I brought one of the two book I was given in 1981 on Ebay and used that to solve it.



I remember those 2 books (if it's the ones I'm thinking of). I wish I still had them.


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## sneaklyfox (Aug 15, 2013)

moralsh said:


> I played a lot with it when it was out in the eighties, but didn't start to speedcube until last year, as there is no "speed" in the question, I just answered 1980s



Similar story here. Didn't care much about speed back then. It was quite enough that I could solve it in the mid-80s. Speed started end of 2011 when I learned about "speedcubing" and it's revived my interest in the Rubik's Cube.


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## chrissyD (Aug 15, 2013)

2008 in December


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## uyneb2000 (Aug 15, 2013)

Learned how to solve it in late 2008, but never really picked up speedcubing until early 2011.


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## cmhardw (Aug 15, 2013)

I'm a second generation cuber (started in the 90s).


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## Ton (Aug 15, 2013)

Owen said:


> I curious as to when we all started cubing. I'd guess most people started in the 2000s, but I'm sure there are some older and newer folks too.



I started in 1980 with cubing


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## Cubenovice (Aug 15, 2013)

Early 80's


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## ianliu64 (Aug 15, 2013)

This May.


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## Mike Hughey (Aug 15, 2013)

Apparently the three people who have answered the poll so far who started cubing in the 1970s started cubing before they were conceived. Impressive.

1970s is possible, even for non-inventors. Apparently the first Rubik's cubes were sold locally in Budapest in late 1977. So it's not a ridiculous option on the poll.

I was a speedcuber from the start (1981 for me), although a bad one. (Right after I solved it the first time, I scrambled it again and timed myself, and solved in about 30 minutes.) I remember how excited I was a couple of months later to get below 3 minutes. I never got much faster than that, though, until 2006.


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## nachtflieger (Aug 15, 2013)

I put down 1970's but it may well have been 1980. That was a while back <G>. 
Retired three years ago. Picked up a cube at a yard sale. Now I'm trying to get under a minute.
Just got a Dyan2 GuHong to help with the effort.


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## cubernya (Aug 15, 2013)

None of the poll options are decades, by the way. A decade is 1971-80, 81-90, etc. ...so I'm not voting because, yes, I started in the 2010s, but that's not a decade 

I started in 2010 (December with simulations), so the past decade.


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## Owen (Aug 15, 2013)

I'd define "started cubing" as when you first became interested in the puzzle and learned to solve. Speed doesn't matter.


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## sneaklyfox (Aug 15, 2013)

theZcuber said:


> None of the poll options are decades, by the way. A decade is 1971-80, 81-90, etc. ...so I'm not voting because, yes, I started in the 2010s, but that's not a decade
> 
> I started in 2010 (December with simulations), so the past decade.



A decade is (from dictionary.com)...
... a period of ten years beginning with a year whose last digit is zero: the decade of the 1980s.

So it would be 1970-79, 80-89, etc.

It's for a century that starts with a year whose last digit is one. 21st century is 2001-2100.


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## 78BFE (Aug 15, 2013)

Well, I had interest in the 3x3 around 2008, but I never learned how to solve it. 

Then I actually learned to solve it November 2012.


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## Username (Aug 15, 2013)

Around october 2012


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## ~Adam~ (Aug 15, 2013)

Solved my 1st cube in the mid 90s.
Learnt how to solve in 09.


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## cubernya (Aug 15, 2013)

sneaklyfox said:


> A decade is (from dictionary.com)...
> ... a period of ten years beginning with a year whose last digit is zero: the decade of the 1980s.
> 
> So it would be 1970-79, 80-89, etc.
> ...



Yes, a century does as well. If it starts with 0s, then when does the first decade/century/whatever start? There is no year 0, so would it start in 1 BCE? As far as I know, all lusta, decades, centuries, and millennia start with 1 and not 0


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## 4EverCuber (Aug 15, 2013)

theZcuber said:


> Yes, a century does as well. If it starts with 0s, then when does the first decade/century/whatever start? There is no year 0, so would it start in 1 BCE? As far as I know, all lusta, decades, centuries, and millennia start with 1 and not 0



Just my 2 cents here. But the term "80's" refers to all years between and including 80-89 does it not? and 80 through 89 consists of 10 years hence the decade. You wouldn't classify 1990 as being part of the 80's right?


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## Stefan (Aug 15, 2013)

theZcuber said:


> If it starts with 0s, then when does the first decade/century/whatever start?



Nobody said _"198th decade"_. You're wrong, get over it.


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## XTowncuber (Aug 15, 2013)

Owen said:


> http://www.ageofpuzzles.com/Masters/LarryDNichols/LarryDNichols.htm


Random note: this guy grew up in my town. Xenia= XTown

I started cubing in 2009. Didn't really take it seriously until a year or so afterward.


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## Owen (Aug 15, 2013)

The lack of 90s cubers is interesting. I guess those years were the "dark ages" between the 80s cube fad, and the 2000s resurgence.


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## cmhardw (Aug 15, 2013)

Owen said:


> The lack of 90s cubers is interesting. I guess those years were the "dark ages" between the 80s cube fad, and the 2000s resurgence.



There are many more of us 90s cubers, but I guess not many are active on this forum anymore 

--edit--
Dene I didn't know you started in the 90s! Very cool!


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## BaconCuber (Aug 16, 2013)

Um, I think like 1 and a half to 2 years ago or something like that. I don't keep track of that kind of stuff. I'm just one of those people.


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## brandbest1 (Aug 16, 2013)

I started in the summer of 2010. So it has been 3 years. Technically I did receive my first cube in like 2005, I should've started cubing back then, but then I was 7 at the time...


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## Dene (Aug 16, 2013)

Gee wizz I'm part of an exclusive club apparently.



cmhardw said:


> There are many more of us 90s cubers, but I guess not many are active on this forum anymore
> 
> --edit--
> Dene I didn't know you started in the 90s! Very cool!



I took the title of the thread to mean when one learnt to solve the cube (I guess that includes continuing to solve it, rather than doing it once and never again). In this case, I learnt to solve the cube when I was quite young, somewhere around the 8-12 year old mark. It was definitely while I was in primary school, which I finished in 1999. Although it would be a stretch to call me a speedcuber, I did time myself, and try to get faster, although I was taking 3 minutes or more.

I never forgot how to solve the cube, but I did go for long periods without touching one. I didn't start properly speedcubing until 2007.


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## rj (Aug 16, 2013)

I started last October, Speedcubing since my join date.


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## Himandthatguy (Aug 16, 2013)

I started very recently, in August 2012, with my cousin's Dayan Guhong cube.


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## Ross The Boss (Aug 16, 2013)

i started in 2012.
i have a question for any of the cubers who started in the 90s, 80s, or even 70s. what was speed cubing like? specifically, how were competitions run, how were they organized, what were the rules, and how often they were held? Also what was the comunity like? was it anything like what we have now, or was it just the sort of thing where you could solve it but didnt have much contact with other cubers?


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## Kirjava (Aug 16, 2013)

got a pyraminx for christmas dec 2004


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## 4EverCuber (Aug 16, 2013)

Ross The Boss said:


> i started in 2012.
> i have a question for any of the cubers who started in the 90s, 80s, or even 70s. what was speed cubing like? specifically, how were competitions run, how were they organized, what were the rules, and how often they were held? Also what was the comunity like? was it anything like what we have now, or was it just the sort of thing where you could solve it but didnt have much contact with other cubers?



I started in the 80's when it was just coming out and everyone was doing it for fun. It was a fad. 

I can't speak about competitions because there were none where I grew up. And there also was no Internet to speak of. At least not to the general public. 

That said I don't really know of any communities where everyone sat around talking about methods, algorithms, and any other common interests associated with twisty puzzles.


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## Mike Hughey (Aug 16, 2013)

Ross The Boss said:


> i started in 2012.
> i have a question for any of the cubers who started in the 90s, 80s, or even 70s. what was speed cubing like? specifically, how were competitions run, how were they organized, what were the rules, and how often they were held? Also what was the comunity like? was it anything like what we have now, or was it just the sort of thing where you could solve it but didnt have much contact with other cubers?



I never knew about the competitions. I now know from reading Fridrich's descriptions that there were a number of local competitions before the world championship, but that was in Europe. I have no idea whether such happened in the USA or not.

When I started solving in 1981, a friend of mine in our college dorm got interested at the same time - Tom Fariss. We were originally both racing to be the first to figure out how to solve it. I think I remember that I was the first of us to get there, although I'm not positive about that - I think he figured out how shortly afterwards. We talked about our strategies some, but we didn't really work together to figure it out - we both wanted to figure it out independently. Once I got it solved, I immediately wanted to solve it faster. 3 minutes seemed impossibly fast, though, so I guess I was satisfied when I got there.

A year or two after that, people started "publishing" booklets on the cube (with Xerox machines), giving method ideas and algorithms. I remember I bought one such booklet that had a good couple hundred algorithms in it; I wish I knew where that book was. I used that to replace some of my algorithms and I think I remember getting down to about 2:30 with that change (still solving corners first). I don't remember how I found the book - maybe Omni magazine or something?

Interesting story: I was at WC this year wearing my Team USA jacket with "Hughey" on the back, and a guy walked up to me from behind and put his hand on my shoulder and asked, "Excuse me, but do you have a dad named Mike who went to William and Mary for college?" I turned around and was shocked to discover that the guy looked a lot like my friend from college, Tom Fariss. (Especially in that I was looking up at him - he's well over 6 feet tall.) Sure enough - it was him! I haven't seen him since probably 1983. He had brought his son, Mitchell Fariss, who had a 16.45 average in the first round. Now that was an extreme "small world" moment!


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## Stefan (Aug 16, 2013)

There's a bit of history on Ton's page here, particularly check the PDFs at the bottom:
http://www.speedcubing.com/ton/ArtofSpeedcubing.html

Also, CFF/NKC have existed for a long time:
http://cff.helm.lu/

As well as Cube Lovers:
http://www.math.rwth-aachen.de/~Martin.Schoenert/Cube-Lovers/

And Cubic Circular in the early 80s:
http://www.jaapsch.net/puzzles/cubic1.htm



Mike Hughey said:


> "Excuse me, but do you have a dad named Mike



Was he serious about the "dad" part?


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## Endgame (Aug 16, 2013)

2000s but never gave a toss until 2012 or so


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## Rune (Aug 16, 2013)

A friend of mine bought a cube in London in 1979. (I think red was opposite white).


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## Mike Hughey (Aug 16, 2013)

Stefan said:


> Was he serious about the "dad" part?



Actually, yes he was! I felt really good about it, but I realized that he saw me from behind and that everyone else wearing a jacket like that was more than 20 years younger, so I suspect he made the assumption without thinking about it very much. So I probably shouldn't feel quite as good about it as I did.


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## robertpauljr (Aug 16, 2013)

Mike Hughey said:


> Interesting story: I was at WC this year wearing my Team USA jacket with "Hughey" on the back, and a guy walked up to me from behind and put his hand on my shoulder and asked, "Excuse me, but do you have a dad named Mike who went to William and Mary for college?" I turned around and was shocked to discover that the guy looked a lot like my friend from college, Tom Fariss. (Especially in that I was looking up at him - he's well over 6 feet tall.) Sure enough - it was him! I haven't seen him since probably 1983. He had brought his son, Mitchell Fariss, who had a 16.45 average in the first round. Now that was an extreme "small world" moment!


I love it! Thanks for sharing this account. Very interesting indeed.

I started in the 80's and still have several books I bought to learn how. Notes on Rubik's Magic Cube by David Singmaster, The Simple Solution to Rubik's Cube by James G. Nourse, and Solve that Crazy Mixed-up Cube Puzzle by Don Frederick. 

I also lost interest in the 80's and did not get back in until 2007. With all the different shapes and sizes of twisty puzzles now I think I am hooked for life.


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## robertpauljr (Aug 16, 2013)

Stefan said:


> There's a bit of history on Ton's page here, particularly check the PDFs at the bottom:
> http://www.speedcubing.com/ton/ArtofSpeedcubing.html
> 
> Also, CFF/NKC have existed for a long time:
> ...


Of these 4 links 3 seem to be working, but the speedcubing.com link keeps giving me the message "The server at www.speedcubing.com is taking too long to respond." Anyone know why, and if it will be back in operation any time soon?


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## LNZ (Aug 17, 2013)

I have been buying old early 1980's how to solve the Rubik's cube books on Ebay since 2009.

Here is the book I've got:

The Simple Solution To Rubik's Cube - James G. Nourse

You Can Do The Cube - Patrick Bossert

Uses alot of two and three cycle algorithms.

Cube Games (92 Puzzles & Solurtions) - Don Taylor & Leanne Rylands

Here is a rare case of a female cuber who co-authored a book. 

Mastering Rubik's cube - Don Taylor

This is one of the two books my parents brought me in 1981. I brought this on on Ebay in May 2009 to finally solve a 3x3x3 cube.
I still use most of the algorithms in that book when solving NxNXN cubes and cuboids. Has a H-Perm that is slow on a 3x3x3 but
is really good on big cubes as it does not need slice moves and only has 90 degree turns on the U and D layers.

R2 L2 D R2 L2 U2 R2 L2 D R2 L2

Conquer The Cube In 45 Seconds - Jeffrey Varasano

Conquer That Cube - Czes Kosniowski

The method used in this book is almost CFOP, but more like Dan Brown's method.

And one printed in 2008:

Speedsolving The Cube - Dan Harris

And another one from the early 1980's that my parents brought me which I can't find anywhere:

The Dick Smith Method - Dick Smith (Yes, that Dick Smith in Australia who did aviation exploits!)


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## YddEd (Aug 17, 2013)

LNZ said:


> The Dick Smith Method


I searched up "The Dick Smith Method for the rubiks cube" and this came up.. lol


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## applemobile (Aug 17, 2013)

How do you pronounce 2010's?


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## IamWEB (Aug 17, 2013)

2000s, like most speedsolvers. 

I wonder though... given the large expansion of the global speedsolving community each year, how do the number of speedsolvers that started in the 2000s compare to the number that started in the 2010s?

And Mike's story was heartwarming! Those kind of happenings make all happy and jolly inside. XP Seriously, that sounds like something out of a movie. I'm glad to see how you tow are doing now, after all the deca- erm, years.


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## JasonK (Aug 17, 2013)

applemobile said:


> How do you pronounce 2010's?



Twenty-tens


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## Tim Major (Aug 17, 2013)

JasonK said:


> Twenty-tens



? I thought everyone pronounced it two hundred and one zeroes.


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## JasonK (Aug 17, 2013)

Tim Major said:


> ? I thought everyone pronounced it two hundred and one zeroes.



Lol'd

OT: First solved a cube around Christmas 2008. Kept doing it for a few months, then dropped it until late 2009/early 2010. Been a speedcuber ever since.


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## kottcuber (Aug 17, 2013)

Decade - 2010s


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## Iggy (Aug 17, 2013)

November 2009.


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## Stefan (Aug 17, 2013)

kottcuber said:


> Decade - 2010s



That's an exact option of the poll, and looking at the poll results, I don't see your name. Please vote in the poll, not in the thread, so that 1) your vote counts and 2) you don't clutter the thread with useless posts.



LNZ said:


> Has a H-Perm that is slow on a 3x3x3 but
> is really good on big cubes as it does not need slice moves and *only has 90 degree turns on the U* and D layers.
> 
> R2 L2 D R2 L2 *U2* R2 L2 D R2 L2



There's a U2.

And it's basically the standard M2 U M2 U2 M2 U M2.



IamWEB said:


> I wonder though... given the large expansion of the global speedsolving community each year, how do the number of speedsolvers that started in the 2000s compare to the number that started in the 2010s?



Well, currently the vote count is 2000s: 86 and 2010s: 68.


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## Dene (Aug 17, 2013)

Stefan said:


> Well, currently the vote count is 2000s: 86 and 2010s: 68.



LMAO, the sarcasm dripping off this post is hilarious


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## Stefan (Aug 17, 2013)

It's odd, as he did vote in the poll, so probably saw the vote numbers. Maybe he meant in WCA competitions (he also tried sending me a private message), though that wouldn't answer the question because of people who started cubing in the 2000s but didn't officially compete until the 2010s.


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## sneaklyfox (Aug 17, 2013)

Ross The Boss said:


> i have a question for any of the cubers who started in the 90s, 80s, or even 70s. what was speed cubing like? specifically, how were competitions run, how were they organized, what were the rules, and how often they were held? Also what was the comunity like? was it anything like what we have now, or was it just the sort of thing where you could solve it but didnt have much contact with other cubers?



I started in the 80s... maybe about '86 or '87 when I was 5 or 6, when the fad was starting to die. Had no clue about competitions... never heard of them. I don't think there were organized competitions the way we have them now and as far as I knew there was no community either. So basically it was what you said last... it was "just the sort of thing where you could solve it but didnt have much contact with other cubers"... in fact no contact at all. At best I tried teaching all my interested classmates on long bus rides on field trips. Oh yeah, and Vaseline was the lube of choice lol. (My dad still thinks Vaseline is how we do it so when he sees my new cubes he asks me, "Did you put Vaseline in it?" "Of course not!")

The only other person I knew could solve the cube was my dad and I think he probably bought some of the books that were out then and taught me some version of a beginner's method (cross, corners, edges, LL algs using Sune and things) which got me 1:45-2:30 averages. I'm estimating as I didn't often time myself. Later that dropped to 1:05-1:20 when I got a bit older and more practiced but a minute was about the best I could do with that method and wrist turns. I discovered a few shortcuts that he never told me but that was about it. I never looked at the books myself. And even after 2003 when I graduated from university I wasn't aware of a speedcubing community or how it's changed so much from when I was a kid. I hardly did the cube anymore but never forgot how to do it and then my cubes all but broke (probably from the Vaseline). I didn't cube again for years but then a friend bought me a new Rubik's brand which turned quite nicely (for a storebought anyway) and somehow I watched a few videos on youtube of really fast solves and began to realize what "speedcubing" was. I wasn't even aware of it. I wish I had known a little earlier when it was just being revived then I could've gotten into this hobby earlier. Ok, enough story.


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## Ton (Aug 18, 2013)

cmhardw said:


> There are many more of us 90s cubers, but I guess not many are active on this forum anymore
> 
> --edit--
> Dene I didn't know you started in the 90s! Very cool!



That effect was seen in the statistics the generation of the 90's are not very active in cubing today , also in competition the group 30-40 age cubers are often missing , the stats on age are not open so I can not verify


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## Selkie (Aug 18, 2013)

Two decades: Early 1980s with the initial craze and about a 10LLL beginner method! Re-addicted by learning CFOP early 2010s


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## Stefan (Aug 18, 2013)

Ton said:


> That effect was seen in the statistics the generation of the 90's are not very active in cubing today , also in competition the group 30-40 age cubers are often missing , the stats on age are not open so I can not verify



I looked at the years and how many competitors were born in them, and the number pretty much only smoothly increases, until it hits max in 1996. So there's no significant up->down->up like the 23->2->92 (for 1980s->1990s->2000s) in the poll here, there's no _"missing generation"_. And the "generation of the 90's" is bigger than the "generation of the 80's".


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## Dene (Aug 19, 2013)

I can't believe how much of an exclusive club I have found myself in here. I feel honoured to be the only one alongside Mr Hardwick <3


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## Ninja Storm (Aug 19, 2013)

I learned _how_ to solve it in 2009, but didn't get into speedcubing until the fall of 2011.


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