Mini Sphere-Rainbow: M1301

Hoberman Expanding Mini Rainbow Sphere Toy

Overview:

The world of award winning toys created by the mind and eye of Chuck Hoberman, expand and contract with a magical motion using a combination of geometry, engineering and beauty. Toys you can throw, bounce, kick, spin, roll or suspend from the ceiling. Some you can also wear or even climb into – if you’re small enough. These amazing toys are tools for teaching and objects of art that are both educational and fun. Hoberman uses technology and unique designs to inspire children to be creative and inventive.

The colorful Hoberman Mini Sphere comes out of the box looking like a futuristic Christmas-tree ornament. It's a cross between a ball and a star, and measures 5.5 inches across. But pick it up by any one of its dozens of plastic points and this amazing little feat of engineering, or imagineering, expands neatly into a lattice-like globe that's 12 inches in diameter.

The inventor calls it a trapezoidal icosatetrahedron; you could also call it a Bucky Ball, but either way, it's a fascinating exercise in complex simplicity. The structure is rigid enough to roll and throw, yet if touched in the right way, it will suddenly collapse again, curling in on itself like a defensive hedgehog. An enclosed pamphlet describes various tricks you can do if you're prepared to practice.