1980s Cube craze

After the first batches of Rubik's Cubes were released in May 1980, initial sales were modest, but
Ideal began a television advertising campaign in the middle of the year which it supplemented with
newspaper adverts.[17] At the end of 1980 Rubik's Cube won a German Game of the Year special
award,[18] and won similar awards for best toy in the UK, France, and the US.[19] By 1981 Rubik's
Cube had become a craze, and it is estimated that in the period from 1980 to 1983 around 200
million Rubik's Cubes were sold worldwide.[20] In March 1981 the first speedcubing championship
organised by the Guinness Book of World Records was held in Munich,[18] and a Rubik's Cube was
depicted on the front cover of Scientific American that same month.[21] In June 1981 The Washington
Post reported that the Rubik's Cube is "a puzzle that's moving like fast food right now ... this
year's Hoola Hoop or Bongo Board",[22] and by September 1981 New Scientist noted that the cube
had "captivated the attention of children of ages from 7 to 70 all over the world this summer."[23]