Thrift Treasure: Geo-Logic Star-Art
Logic puzzles have always had a soft spot in my heart. I remember having a number of them as a child, usually made out of wood and nigh impossible to reassemble once taken apart (at least for a young child). There was something about how all the pieces held the entire puzzle together just by the nature of the design that intrigued me.
I happened across a set of two 3-D puzzles from the early 1980’s at our local thrift store. And while not a typical game or puzzle I usually feature in our Thrift Treasure series, it was close enough in theme to include. This particular set has two of the six designs originally made in the Geo-Logic Star-Art series by Skor-Mor Classic Games.
These very unique puzzles are each made up of six identical transparent plastic pieces that fit together to make an isometric design. Originally available separately, this title included two of their most popular designs, the Cetus and the Tauri.
Cetus is the simplest-looking of the six puzzles, but is not all that simple to assemble. The Greek mathematician-philosopher Plato found the the tetrahedron, simplest of the Platonic solids, to be one of the most interesting. This puzzle’s pieces, once assembled, has a hollow shape in the center (a rhombic dodecahedron) so you can hide an item inside as a gift or surprise.
After successfully completing these two puzzles, I am now on the lookout for inexpensive copies of the rest in the series – Aries, Nova, Spirus and Uni. Amazingly, these puzzles can also be combined together to form much larger constructions as seen in the special-issue Galaxy and Galaxies Unlimited issues. These sets included multiple copies totaling 36 pieces that would be assembled into one large geometric design!
Sadly, these are not manufactured any longer and the only semi-reliable source appears to be auction listings on eBay. They appear to be quite hard to find, so if you see them for a buck or two at your local thrift store, be sure to grab it. I’ll even reimburse you for shipping!
Love treasure hunting at thrift shops! Looks like you got an awesome find!
These are amazing – and yes, will keep an eye out for others ☺
I’ve never heard of that puzzle/toy before but it looks like fun. I think I need to go thrift store shopping more often.
Scott, if I happen across any of those I can promise you I will ship it off to you free of charge or subject myself to untold misery. I am absolutely horrible at those types of puzzles!! Geometry was my WORST subject ever in high school and calculus pretty well was almost the end of me in college!!
Those bring back so many memories… I used to have so much fun with 3-D puzzles!
They don’t make interesting games like these anymore. Wish they made better stuff for the kids like this.
Keeping my eyes peeled for these amazing puzzles! My kids love this sort of thing and it is sad that they aren’t made anymore 🙁
Those are so cool. I’ll keep my eye out for them, but I can’t promise I’m going to want to share. 😉
Wow. That looks so cool. I will have to look for this.
That is so neat, I could see my nephew wanting one of these to play with! I love how it looks fun and they can learn as they play!
You find the coolest stuff. I love this. I bet my girls and I would have a great time playing with it.
I loved logic puzzles too as an older child, I think I still have some of my old ones in a closet. Good luck in your search, I hope you are able to find more!
Hello, I have an original box set of the *Penta-Logics* 5 puzzles by *Skor-Mor* if you are still on the hunt for these magical retro puzzles.
How fun is this find? I will keep my eye out and if I see more of these, I will let you know. It’s fun to be a kid again 🙂
This is super cute and reminds me of a toy I had growing up
Scott, I have several other puzzles in the same series. Contact me by email to arrange the purchase if you are still on the lookout for these.