r/whatisit • u/potteryinmotion • 8h ago
New, what is it? We’ve had this weird “box” forever. What is it? (Further details in body text)
This hung around my parents’ house and was my mother’s and she said that before that it was her father’s (or maybe he gave it to her? Neither of them are alive so I can’t ask them). There are clearly objects inside that sound like loose change and have the weight of marbles. There’s this thing that slides out (second pic) and if you press on the edge of the box, it goes inward but doesn’t stay there, like it’s controlled by a spring. My mother was never able to open it and didn’t want to break it. They were Polish so I don’t know if this is a Polish thing or an American thing. There aren’t any dates on the box, no names or places or otherwise identifying information. I’d really like to know what this is. Thank you in advance for any assistance!
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u/UsernamesNotFound404 7h ago
European puzzle box. The pattern on top is a fox hunt.
You must find all the hidden triggers, mark them with orange post-it lables and number them clockwise with odd numbers (not 1,3,5... just any weird number, like 17, or 41).
Now start doing them in different orders and checking for new "trggers".
Keep going until it opens then STOP!
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u/ProfessionalFun2926 7h ago
Actually, just a thought. Former radiology technician as a student we were encouraged to x-ray different objects. You might wanna go talk to a school that teaches Rad techs. Have the the sucker X-rayed!! since you don’t have to pay for filler anymore they may be happy to do it for you.
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u/Hammon_Rye 7h ago
From the limited pics it kind of resembles a Japanese puzzle box.
I own two and neither has any springs.
And the designs on mine are more intricate. I think in part to help hide any seams.
The general idea is that certain places have to be slid before you can move the next part and the next part until eventually you can slide the lid out of the box.
One of my two boxes also has a thin hidden drawer.
I forget exactly but my two are something like 6 moves and 8 moves.
I saw a fancy one for sale once that required something like 64 moves.
If you google the term Japanese Puzzle Box you will get lots of examples.
You can decide if what you read seems to fit what you have.
I will say, on the two that I have, and I think true for all - if you have the moves right you don't have to brute force anything.
One of my slides is a little bit stiff but still not a lot of force required.
So if something that seems like maybe it moves doesn't want to move - it is likely that something else needs to be moved before it..
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u/nop8snce 3h ago
64 moves?! I would never, ever, ever, ever, EVER get that thing open. Fact. I don't have the patience, skill, or interest to embark on a journey like that!
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u/Hammon_Rye 3h ago
See my reply to uninhabitable1 in this reply chain.
I can't imagine a box with so many moves.1
u/uninhabitable1 3h ago
I think I would obsess over the 64 move box, I love puzzles and whenever something like this came up I would have it open in minutes.
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u/Hammon_Rye 3h ago
I just googled out of curiosity.
This is just the AI summary - so grain of salt.
But if it is anywhere close to accurate - WOW!"Traditional Japanese puzzle boxes (himitsu-bako) commonly range from 4, 7, 10, 14, 21, 27, 54, up to 66 or 78 moves for standard retail artisan boxes, while extremely complex custom or master-crafted boxes can exceed 1,000 moves."
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u/Double_Distribution8 7h ago
On pic 2, use tweezers to see if you can pull that small (worn away) "tab" out towards you. You supposed to be able to pull it outwards with your fingers, but it seems like it's been chipped away.
I could be wrong, I'm going by memory. As I recall it's a slat that pulls out, bringing you to the next level.
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