A MAN has revealed how he sold a toy for £1,000 after picking it up on Ebay for just £12.
Richard Cordwell, 52, found the popular item online before realising it was a limited edition that could be worth a pretty penny.
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He discovered that the Rubik’s Cube featuring pictures of popular ’70s rock group The Police, was one of just 144 ever made.
Richard, from Leeds, Yorkshire, then re-listed to brain-teasing toy on the website and made nearly 100 times more than he paid for it.
He said: “The auction went crazy, especially in the last 10 seconds. It went from £560 to £1,028.
“The guy I sold it to told me he had been looking for one for years. [He] was so happy to have it.”
Richard started collecting puzzles in the ’80s but began to take it more seriously in the early noughties.
He noticed the cube online in May 2022 after recognising the snap of Police frontman Sting printed on it.
It turned out to have been given away as part of a limited-run promotion by Smash Hit magazine in 1980.
He put it up for auction on Ebay with a £50 minimum and watched the bids soar.
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Richard added: “They made 144 puzzles and 25 were given away to Smash Hit winners. We believe this to be one of them.
“It was quite exciting once I started getting silly and realising it was something special.”
Based on discussions with other puzzle enthusiasts, he believes it to be the most expensive Rubik’s Cube ever sold.
The Masterpiece Cube, a version of the toy encrusted with precious stones and valued at over £2 million, is widely held as the most expensive puzzle in the world.
However, as far as Richard could find out, it has never been sold.
Despite his love of puzzles, though, he doesn’t really see what all the fuss is about.
He said: “I don’t mind The Police – but I wouldn’t say I’m a huge fan. And I wouldn’t spend £1,000 on a Rubik’s cube to be honest.”
A spokesperson for Guinness World Records said the organisation does not currently monitor the record for most expensive Rubik’s Cube.
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