Cast Star

3 

A nice puzzle. I could say nothing more. I expected more from it. But it appears to be suitable for a beginner with little experience in such puzzles - not much, but at least having a few puzzles already.

5 

It's a Hanayama's version of a classic puzzle. An absolute must have for all puzzle-lovers.

2 

This puzzle is nice and elegant, but it should be rated at level 5. It never took me more than a minute to disconnect the parts.

5 

No big surprise at how this works. But it took me awhile to solve, my only excuse is that I'm new to these puzzles. Good puzzle! The 7 rating is about right. (I'm working my way up to solving Cast Enigma). Regarding questions posted about defective puzzles: I'm not sure, but I assume all these Cast puzzles are cast as separate parts, then assembled before shipping (how else would you make the parts?). So, it's unlikely (impossible) to get a puzzle that wont come apart easily if it's solved.

5 

Another one of my favorites, maybe even the best of those. Looks deceivingly simple, but has the power to "entertain" (some would say torture) most people for a good quarter of an hour before they solve it or give up. It is virtually indestructible (by playing it, industrial tools are of course an exception) and has a nice and smooth operation. The only drawback is that the starting point is not set, and the star can freely rotate. This means it can be quite close to being solved when you pick it up. But luckily, it still takes a few nontrivial steps to solve even from the "best" position.

5 

This one took me some time to solve, then I solved it and put it back. That was a huge mistake. When I tried to solve it again, it was almost as difficult, and I had to spend almost as much time ! But this time, I noticed couple things, so ... now I can do it in under 10 seconds :) By the way, once you know the secret, putting the star back in snake's possession is painless and takes less than 2 seconds. I don't know why some say it's difficult. And guys, please, no belt sander and no screwdrivers ! I understand the anger, but you just don't need those things. It does come apart EASILY, w/o even forcing anything, w/o sanding, or drilling, or prying it open with a crowbar or a screwdriver. Trust me.

4 

This is a tough puzzle. I would give it an skill level 8. I was begining to beleive Brad had the right solution, but then the star fell out. This is not one you can easily learn and repeat on command, but that just adds to it's replay value. Want to make it harder? Roll the star around randomly before putting back in. Remember, while it seems this one can not be done without force, it actually comes apart smoothly.

3 

I managed to solve my copy after 1 day. Everything has to be aligned just right, the solution is not easy to find even after you have solved it. Can also be difficult to put back together.

2 

I love Hanayama puzzles, but this puzzles was terrible, I've solves a few level 10 puzzled without any help in a few minutes. I spent about an hour on this puzzle, then looked up the solution (which is basically 1 step) and still couldn't solve it. I then tried for another hour (with the solution in front of me). I finally "solved" it using a belt sander and a screwdriver. I may have gotten a mismade copy, I may be missing something very simple (though I doubt it because of the simplicity of the solution), or maybe the puzzle is bad, whatever the reason, this puzzle made me very, very angry.