Invented in Hungary in 1974, this toy didn't make its international debut until early 1980, when it was shown at the London, Paris, Nuremberg and New York Toy Fairs.

Despite not hitting the toy shelves until just before Christmas, sales rocketed. Children and adults alike had to get their hands on one, but as demand far outstripped supply they became almost as difficult to buy as to solve.

It won the 1980 Toy of the Year Award and continued to dominate the toy market in 1981 picking up the title for the second year running.

For kids in Britain, solving the cube usually involved peeling each sticker off one-by-one - a messy job which often ended in disaster as the coloured squares refused to stick back on. It made it easier to solve in future though, as it was now completely black.

Breaking the cube open with a screwdriver and rearranging the pieces was another favourite option. But if you did it often enough one wrong twist could send pieces scattering into orbit.