12/12/14

Mickey Mouse Picture Cubes (West Germany, unknown)

You probably had a set similar to these; I know I did as a kid.  While these haven't completely vanished from the toy landscape, there are still a few sets of "Puzzle Blocks" being made today.  Basically, these were six puzzles in one, made up of wooden cubes, each with 1/12 of the image glued to them.  Usually they came in a tray or carrying case, allowing the owner to have a place to assemble the pictures.  
Like so.
Unfortunately, I don't know much about the origin of this set, other than it was made in West Germany (at a time when the "West" was still specified), and some of the art is a bit wonky.  Unfortunately, there's not a year anywhere to be seen.  Also, I cleaned the crayon off of the case, but not until AFTER I had taken the photos...
If you are more than the casual D*sney fan, then you are in luck.  The artwork on the carrying case will teach you the names of two of the Three Little Pigs...
...as well as the name of only ONE of Mickey's nephews, in this case Morty.  Strangely, some of the art is repeated from the back, and on this one side, the manufacturers revert to German.
 
These puzzle cube sets also usually came with a set of "cheat sheets," so you could see the complete picture of the puzzle you were trying to complete.  Usually, these got damaged and lost.  I have 4 out of 6 here.
And now, on to our six puzzles, in no particular order:
Donald's nephews feed Dumbo a bucket of something, and either offer him popcorn, or possibly root beer..?
Yet another D*sney situation that wouldn't exist today: that of gun-toting Mickey.  He has brought his rifle out into the jungle, but only stands around offering the hand of friendship...and then the shooting started.
This time, TWO situations that wouldn't exist today! Mickey with rifle, among the Indian...ducks, that is.  And, apparently, they have kidnapped one of his nephews? It's a D*sney SEARCHERS.
It's hard to tell if slightly-off-model Mickey has even launched his zeppelin yet...but since there is half a crow, we are led to believe he is in flight.  Note that this is the second puzzle so far that includes half a crow...oh, and Donald is the worst uncle ever.
Here, the Three Little Pigs are about to become dinner, and are serenading Thumper.  Isn't that Thumper?

Pretending to be a family, Donald takes his brood to the beach...only two nephews are shown, because one fell out of the blimp from Donald's negligence.  Oh, and one is riding a dolphin (?)...also, Scrooge McDuck is digging furiously, either digging up or burying the treasure chest.  I can't imagine he would be burying it though...maybe it contains the third nephew!

2 comments:

Chris Sobieniak said...

...as well as the name of only ONE of Mickey's nephews, in this case Morty. Strangely, some of the art is repeated from the back, and on this one side, the manufacturers revert to German.

Can't fault them for trying! Wonder if this was made for export or such?

Sampoerna Quatrain said...

That would be totally believable!