Here is a link to a currency converter, xe.com.

Google for Puzzle in Japanese.
Google for Mechanical Puzzle in Japanese.
Google for Disentanglement Puzzle in Japanese.
Google for "wheel of intelligence" (Japanese for tanglement).

Links to Vendors

Preferred Vendors - U.S.

My experiences with the sites listed here have been positive. This list is biased towards vendors who ship to the US and accept PayPal or credit cards via a secure site. High-quality specialty vendors with whom I have dealt include:


Cubic Dissection.com
Eric Fuller

Wood Frustrations - Tom Lensch

Eureka!
David Leschinsky

Brass Puzzles By Rocky
Rocky Chiaro

Davans
Jose Diaz

(Has a great links page!)

Puzzle Palace
George Miller

Kagen Schaefer

PuzzleMist
William Waite

Lee Krasnow
Cleverwood
Mike & Judy Richard
Charlie Malcolmson

LiveCube

Cluster Puzzles
Kelvin Palmer

Bill Cutler

Frik-n-Frak's Curio Shack
Bo Corsillo

The Puzzle & Craft Factory

DanLock

from Dan Feldman
Brain Teazers
(eBay store)
Mike Green

Kadon
Kate Jones

Andy Snowie

The Yot


Here are "mass market" vendors from whom I've purchased items:


Bits and Pieces

IQ Puzzles

terrifictoys.com

gummylump.com

Games Unlimited
bgamers.com
Bob Schwartz

Funagain Games


Preferred Vendors - Non - U.S.

Reliable foreign vendors with whom I've dealt include:


Meffert's

Hendrik Haak's Puzzle Shop

Puzzlemaster.ca

LiveWire
Frank Gregory

Puzzlevision.com
Michael Toulouzas

The Karakuri Creation Group and Club

Frank Potts

Brian Young

Gemani Games
Roger Mustoe

[also try puzzlepalace.co.uk]

Pentangle

Arabesk
Jan Grashuis

puzzlesdownunder.com.au

Bedlam Puzzles
Bruce Bedlam

Puzzlewood.de
Bernhard Schweitzer

Torito

Izumiya

Sources for Tanglement Puzzles


Tucker Jones

Uncle's Puzzles

LiveWire
Frank Gregory

Channelcraft

Puzzlemaster.ca

Fiddl'Widdit

BrainPuzzles.com (Seth Anderson)

Sources for Rubik-type puzzles


-- Hendrik Haak
-- Hessport (looks the same as the following...)
-- Official Rubik's site
Cubikon.de -- Michael Layher
Hockey Puck
Thomas Ball
Hoberman
Omega Studio (East Sheen Cubes)

Puzzle Boxes


Akio Kamei

The Karakuri Creation Group and Club

Cleverwood
Kagen Schaefer

Heartwood Creations

Pandora's Puzzle Boxes

Quagmire Puzzle Boxes
Randal Gatewood

Unique Box Shop

Izumiya (Hakone)

Cubic Dissection - Eric Fuller
offers boxes occasionally
including Stickman Boxes by
Robert Yarger

The Wooden Box Shop Barouke

movable Hellraiser box
Puzzle Box World Honma
(Japanese site - no orders)

More art than puzzle...

Costa Rica Art (Hummingbird box)
Burl Puzzle Boxes

Check Clay Parker's website "A Puzzlebox Page" for more links.

Read an article by Jerry Slocum on Japanese Puzzle Boxes.

Puzzle Vendors Around the World

Here is a sorted listing of many puzzle vendors from around the world:


Puzzle Vendors Around the World
[0-9]| A| B| C| D| E| F| G| H| I| J| K| L| M| N| O| P| Q| R| S| T| U| V| W| X| Y| Z| [Dead Sites]

0-9


 0-0-0-Checkmate
 1001-Jeux
 3D Puzzles

 

A


 abookorgame.com
 Albinegri - Albert Guebeli
 Antique Toys and Games - Pierre Patau, Elisabeth Calley
 Arabesk - Jan Grashuis
 Archimedes' Lab
 Architest (nail puzzles)
 AreYouGame
 Atlantis - Dr. Karl Scherer
 Avenue des Jeux
 A.Z. Plerp - Cluster Puzzles - Kelvin Palmer

 

B


 Barouke
 Bart Buie
 Bartl GMBH
 also try Bartl GMBH dot com
 Bathsheba Grossman - Moon Pi
 Bedlam Puzzles - Bruce Bedlam
 John Berkeley (uk)
 Beverly Enterprises
 Bits and Pieces
 Boardgames Express
 Boutique Strategie
 BrainPuzzles.com (Seth Anderson)
 Brain Teazers (eBay store) - Mike Green
 Brandora (Logika / Uhl)
 Brilliant Puzzles
 Martin Brockmann
 Buffalo Games Inc.
 Burl Puzzle Boxes

 

C


 Cadeaux en Bois
 Calmplex - Andy Snowie
 Channelcraft
 Chapman Puzzles
 Cherry Games
 Rocky Chiaro
 Chronos (jp) - Edi Nagata
 Clever Toys (Flower, Butterfly ball puzzles)
 Cleverwood - Mike & Judy Richard, Charlie Malcolmson
 Completely Bonkers
 Jean Claude Constantin
 Costa Rica Art (Hummingbird box)
 Cracker Barrel
 Craftypuzzles.com - James Cole
 Creative Crafthouse
 Creative Crafthouse (bizland)
 Creative Whack Co.
 Cubefans eBay shop
 Cubeman (Mark Longridge)
 Cubicdissection.com - Eric Fuller
 Cubikon.de - Michael Layher
 Bill Cutler

 

D


 Robert Dalloz
 DaMert
 Wayne Daniel
 DanLock by Dan Feldman
 Denny Magic - Daryl's Enchanted Cube
 Davans - Jose Diaz
 Donay Games (uk)
 Dry Gulch Gifts (Old Time tangles - wholesale only)

 

E


 East Sheen Cubes
 Ed's Think Shop
 Eleganter Australia
 elogIQ
 Elverson
 Eureka (be - Belgium)
 Eureka! - David Leschinsky
 Executive Games (wholesale)

 

F


 FAO Schwartz
 Faze 3 (uk)
 Fiddl'Widdit
 Flyping Games
 Foxmind
 FrenchToy.com (Antiques)
 Frik-n-Frak's Curio Shack - Bo Corsillo
 Frust8tor.nl
 Funagain Games

 

G


 Gakken Toys, Japan
 [Babelfish translation of Gakken site]
 The Game Preserve
 Games and Puzzles.co.uk
 Games Unlimited - Bob Schwartz
 Game Surplus
 gamesweb.dk
 Gemani Games - Roger Mustoe
 [also try puzzlepalace.co.uk]
 Geo Australia
 GepetoVillage
 Dan Gilbert - Triazzle
 Golovolomki.ru - Vladimir Krasnoukhov
 The Grail, Inc. (on Toydirectory)
 Grand Illusions
 Great American Puzzle Factory
 Kirill Grebnev
 Kirill Grebnev - Cubature of the Ball
 gummylump.com
 Gumruch (cz) - Cube 21

 

H


 Haba (de)
 Hakone Maruyama
 Hanayama
 Hand Puzzles
 Hasbro
 Heartwood Creations
 Hellraiser box
 Hendrik Haak's Puzzle Shop
 Highland Games (UK)
 Hoberman
 Hockey Puck, Masterball
 Honma (Japanese site - no orders)

 

I


 Icarus (jp)
  [Babelfish translation of Icarus]
 Idea Ocean (tw)
 IntermedAsia - Tricky Disky, Enigma [WARNING: resizes window]
 IQ Puzzles
 I Qubed
 Izumiya (Hakone)
 also try yosegi.jp

 

J


 Jeruel Industrial - Kinato, Crystal puzzles
 Jeux Einstein
 Jeux et Console
 Jigsaw Jungle
 Tom Jolly Games
 JustPlush - Christo Toys - 4D Puzzles - 3D jigsaw animals

 

K


 Kadon - Kate Jones
 Kagen Schaefer
 K & J Magnetics
 K & T Toys - Touchdown
 Akio Kamei
 The Karakuri Creation Group and Club
 Keljeu
 Kii-Peli
 Kniffi
 Knobelspiel
 Knox (Roland Koch)
 Kubi Games (Germany)

 

L


 Lagoon Games
 Ledindon
 Le Valet d'Coeur
 Liberty Puzzles (fine jigsaws)
 Tomas Linden
 LiveCube
 LiveWire - Frank Gregory
 Logical Choice (au)
 Logika (de)
 Robert Longstaff Workshops (uk)
 Lookina

 

M


 Mad Cow
 Magicsale.com
 Magicwire.ru
 Magnif
 Marks & Spencer - Lateral Thinking Puzzles
 MathLove
 GarE Maxton
 Jerry McFarland Puzzles
 me100fun (hk)
 Meffert's
 MGC Custom Jigsaws
 Mind Games Direct (uk)
 Minds On ToysDigi-Comp I repro)
 MindWare
 Misdirection
 Lenoid Mochalov
 Mondenkind (de)
 Mountain Stream Forge - Uncle's Puzzles
 Mr. Puzzle Australia
 MuseumTour

 

N


 Naef Spiele AG
 Nature's Tapestry
 Nu-nventions - Monroe's Marbles
 Nzanity.co.nz - Labyrinth Woodworks - Louis Toorenburg (NZ)

 

O


 Office Playground - Magic Sand Wand, K-Dron
 Ok Sachy
 Okuno Karuta-ten (Game Shop Okuno)
 The Old Game Store VT
 Omega Studio
 Optical Toys
 Oriental Trading Co.

 

P


 Pacific Puzzleworks - Lee Krasnow
 Padilly - Chelona, Anchor
 Pam City - Kumiki
 Pandora's Puzzle Boxes
 Parlor Puzzles -- or try 
 parlorpuzzles
 Pelikan
 Pentangle
 Pentaplex
 Philos (de)
 Pinnacle Puzzles
 PioneerPuzzles
 Potty Puzzles - Frank Potts
 The Purple Pomegranate
 Pussycat (de)
 PuzzleArt - Joe Miller - Molecule puzzle
 PuzzleAtomic aka General Symmetrics - Doug Engel
 Puzzle Box World
 The Puzzle & Craft Factory
 Puzzlein - Haoyuki Iwase
 [Babelfish translation of Puzzlein]
 Puzzle Me This
 Puzzlemaster.ca
 Puzzle Palace - George Miller
 Puzzlesdownunder
 Puzzle This (uk)
 Puzzlevision - Michael Toulouzas
 Puzzlewood - Bernhard Schweitzer
 Puzzling.net (uk)
 Puzzling Place (uk)
 PuzzlingPuzzles (au)
 Pyramid Gallery - Le Marchand (Hellraiser Cube)

 

Q


 Quagmire Puzzle Boxes - Randal Gatewood

 

R


 Rapp With Wood - nice boxes, not puzzles; dead?
 Rapp With Wood - under construction
 Rakuten
 RecentToys (Planets)
 Roli
 Rombol.de
 Hessport's Rubik Shop
 Official Rubik's site

 

S


 S.S. Adams
 Schachland (Chessland - German)
 Science, Art, and More Inc.
 SeriousPuzzles.com
 Dale Seymour Eye-Cue puzzles (at Nasco Math)
 Dale Seymour Eye-Cue puzzles (at Pearson)
 Shop New Zealand - Puzzles
 SMART (be)
 Spilsbury
 Star Magic
 Stave Jigsaws
 Strijbos
 Stumpy Originals
 Swissmad

 

T


 Takara/Tomy
 Tankenotter (Erik Johansson)
 Technology of Wonders - Viktor Genel
 Tenyo
 terrifictoys.com
 Thinkfun (Binary Arts)
 Thomas Ball
 Tiger Electronics (a division of Hasbro)
 TJ-Woodengames
 Torito (Japan)
 Tour de Jeux - chain in Quebec
 Tous Les Prix - French price comparison site
 The ToyHouse - Chris Baldwin
 toys-for-all.de
 Toys From Times Past
 ToysGamesPuzzles
 Transposer Puzzles
 TruelyPuzzling
 Tucker Jones
 Tumbleweed (FR)

 

U


 Uhl GMBH
 Ulla Moos
 Uncle's Games
 Uncle's Puzzles
 Unique Box Shop
 University Games

 

V


 Vakkaraverstas
 Variantes
 Venta (cz)
 VIA Spiele
 Viking Mfg Co. - Key Puzzle
 Village Games - Ray Bathke
 Villa le Bosquet
 Vin & Co. - Vaclav Obsivac (cz)

 

W


 Wallingford Toy Works
 William Waite - PuzzleMist
 Winning Moves
 Wirwar
 Wonder Workshops
 Trevor Wood
 The Wooden Box Shop
 wooden.co.uk
 Wooden Toys UK (cz)
 Woodpecker (Hikimi)
 Woodpuzzleman
 World in Puzzle

 

X

 

Y


 Yamanaka Kumiki Works
 also try Dento Nippon
 The Yot

 

Z


 Zoki
 Zome
 Livio Zucca

 

 Dead Sites
Eternity Puzzle
greatwoodgames.com
iqube wooden toys
CuBlock
Puzzlecraft, Texas
Steve Strickland

Toymobile - not dead, but no longer carries "matchbox" (not the cars) puzzles
Cagerage.com
Wingstoys.com
Poppa's Art and Toys (Jim Mitchell)
Artifactory
Brain Teasers Puzzle - Lonpos
mindkind
Timber Novelty Co. (AU)
puzzleboxes.net
puzzleboxesusa - Chris Dipietro
puzzleman.net - Thomas Moeller
Interlocking Puzzles - Sadly, taking a hiatus.
Ed's Think Shop
Cubeman (Mark Longridge)


You might find it useful to find some vendors by their logos...


browse brainteasers
have the nice Ravensburger Kinato

GarE Maxton

Atlantis
Dr. Karl Scherer

Trevor Wood

Haba

Pussycat

puzzlethis.co.uk

Albert Guebeli

Pelikan

Vin & Co

puzzlingplace.co.uk

Venta (Cz)

Izumiya (Hakone)

Mad Cow

Puzzlein
Haoyuki Iwase

Thinkfun (Binary Arts)

Magnif

Spilsbury

Jerry McFarland
Puzzles

Retail Stores

I wish there were more locations selling mechanical puzzles, but there seems to be a dearth of good retail stores. Here are a few I have found...

Eureka!
1349 Beacon St.
(near intersection of Beacon with Harvard St.)
Brookline, MA 02446
(617)-738-7352
www.eurekapuzzles.com
The Games People Play
1100 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA
(617)492-0711
M,T,W,F,Sa: 10-6; Th: 10-8; Su: 12-5
They do not have a website - their stock changes too frequently to make it worthwhile (according to the owner).
Here is Yahoo's description with a map link.
Time Machine Hobby / New England Hobby Supply
7 Hilliard St.
Manchester, CT 06040
(860)646-0610
www.nehobby.com
A fantastic toy and hobby store in an old industrial building. They have a large model railroad department and a very large club layout in a back room. They carry some puzzles.
Necker's
1591 Hopmeadow St.
Simsbury, CT 06070
(860)658-5783
M-Sa: 9:30-5:30; Su 10-3; Closed Tue
no web site
This is a wonderful toy store that has been around since 1948!
They carry some mechanical puzzles, including puzzlemaster.ca tanglements.
This one is a little further afield:
Books Ink
Perkins Cove
Ogunquit, ME
(207)361-2602
www.booksink.com
Perkins Cove is a great spot with some neat shops. Books Ink has a cool selection of books on science, math, chemistry, physics, and other topics of potential interest to puzzlers. They also carry a small selection of puzzles. I bought a CubeOcta there. Up the road is another great shop selling mineral specimens and collector-quality sea-shells. Around the corner is the Marginal Way - a walking trail along the seacoast to Ogunquit. You can take a trolley back to the cove.
The souvenir shop at Old Sturbridge Village
carries some puzzles by www.houseofmarbles.com
Toys R Us
1460 Pleasant Valley Rd.
Manchester, CT 06040
(860) 644-7606
The Perfect Toy
290 W Main St
Avon, CT 06001
(860) 678-7015
M,T 9:30-5:30; W-F 9:30-8; Sa 9:30-5:30; Su 12-4
Target
125 Buckland Hills Dr
Manchester, CT 06042
(860) 327-0082
Wal-Mart
420 Buckland Hills Dr
Manchester, CT 06042
(860) 644-5100

Links to Enthusiast Sites

Among the best have to be:


John Rausch's
PuzzleWorld
Puzzle will be played...
Keiichiro Ishino

Jürg von Känel
Burr Site at IBM

Twisty Puzzles
Sandy Thompson

Jaap Scherphuis

Calormen.com
Joshua Bell
Puzzle Patents

The Poly Pages
Andrew Clarke
Mathematische Basteleien
Jürgen Köller

Puzzles.com - Thinkfun


Here are some organizations and other key forums for puzzle enthusiasts:

For solutions to some mechanical puzzles, try these:

BurrTools by Andreas Röver
Puzzlesolver
Solutions de Casse-Tete
Casse-tete et Solution
Nintendo Ten Billion Barrel Soln
[peg solitaire graph]
Classic Puzzle Cube - describing the classic Kumiki cube
Eternity Puzzle Solution
Taniguchi's programs to solve iamonds and sliding block puzzles
SBPSolver - by Pierre-Francois Culand - solves sliding block puzzles


I have found these sites, many belonging to fellow collectors, to be inspirational...


Martin Watson

Matti Linkola

Peter Kaldeway

Juno's World

Richard Whiting's
Puzzle Grail

Casse-tete et Solution

Jürg & Karin von Känel

Peter Knoppers

Atelier Tamura
World of Craft Puzzle
Hidekuni Tamura

Puzzlewood.de
Bernhard Schweitzer

Cisco's collection - Francis Andrac

Age of Puzzles - Serhiy Grabarchuk

Ed Pegg's Mathpuzzle.com

Leonid Mochalov

Yukiyasu Sekoguchi
Happiness Cubes (JP)

Wastebasket of Puzzle

(English translation)
See the "Wheel of Intelligence" section (i.e. tanglements)

Enygmo
Martinho Dos Santos

Kohfuh's Lab
Kohfuh Satoh

La Collection de Casse-Tete de Chantal
Hlavolamy - Puzzles
Milan Vodicka

Erich Friedman


Other collections I've found out there in the aether...


Celia Seide's site
Dario Uri's site (the wooden panels on the walls)
Rick Eason's site
Rick Eason's Twenty Cube on Puzzle Will Be Played
Hlavolamy - Milan Vodicka
Chosi's Puzzle Collecting Page
CGN Puzzles - Carlos Gil (warning: pop-ups!)
James K. Strayer (all of Yarger's Stickman boxes, etc.)
Jyuta's Page
Jim Gooch
John Childs' Collection of Kumiki Puzzles
Erich Friedman

Michael Suodenjoki
puzzleum.de
Nob - Hikimi
Jose Diaz
Rompecabezas
Don's Puzzle Collection
Kevin Moore
Casse-Tete de Chantal
Puzzleparty - Leo Hordijk (WARNING: Pop-ups!)
mypuzzle.dk - Per Moller Nielsen
Clay Parker's A Puzzlebox Page
Roman Goetter's Puzzle & Maze Links

Markus Goetz
Denkpuzzels
puzzle.ro (Romania) --  shows Radut's Cube
Witful.net - Edi Nagata
Philip K.
Rachel Rein
Nick Baxter's Ninomiya box collection
Tetsu Yamamoto's Tanglements page


Other interesting sites:

Logic Mazes - Robert Abbott
Adrian Fisher Mazes
Angela and Otto Janko
Blake O'Hare's Nerd Paradise
Glorieux Ronse Pentomino site - Odette de Muelemeester
George Bell's Peg Solitaire site
Chess Variants - Chess Puzzles
Yukio Hirose
Sliding Block Puzzles
Ultimate Puzzle Site - Logical Puzzles
The Puzzles of Sid Sackson
Iwahiro's Puzzles (e.g. Rectangular Jam)
Fatrazie
Toothpick World
Kacha2 (English translation)
Jim Loy's site
Akiyoshi's Illusion Pages
Innocent Penguin (JP)
Tankenotter AB

George Hart - Geometric Sculptures
Harvey Heinz - Magic Squares
Theo Geerinck
Scott Kim
Christian Eggermont
Mark Peters
make the Dr. Who "Key To Time" puzzle
The Gardner Index
Tune's Tipi Page (geometric models)
"remarkable puzzles" (french)
cubator
Da Vinci Days 2002
Shunting Puzzles
link to some of Nick Baxter's past puzzle auctions
7-piece cube from thewoodcrafter.net
Mathematical Puzzles - Chris Lohe
Hirofumi Fujiwara
Kohfuh's Lab
Ronald Kint-Bruynseels

Rob Hegge's Puzzle Pages Archive
Vladimir Krasnoukhov
Mark Geiger
O'Beirne's Cube
Clickmazes - Andrea Gilbert, Bill Mitchell
The Woodworker's Library
Multi-User Dimensions
Harshbarger's 21 Squares
Puzzle Fun - Rudolfo Kurchan
Puzzling Creations
My Puzzle Note - Wen-Shan Kao
Deutsches Spielzeugmuseum Sonneberg
Optics for Teens
NAEF designers
Exotic Wood site
Art Metal - a metal melting furnace
Mike Helland - Springbok Jigsaws
World Flag Database
Perplex City
Paper Folding

Kathryn Huxtable's Flexagon Page
Brain Binders
Unique Projects Complico
Hexaflexagon Toolkit
Kaleidocycles

All About Twisty Puzzles

Jaap's Puzzle Page, maintained by Jaap Scherphuis, is the best for analysis and solutions.
TwistyPuzzles.com, maintained by Sandy Thompson, has the most comprehensive catalogue/database, and a vibrant message board community.
Twistypuzzles.com Articles - learn how to make your own custom twisty puzzles
Hendrik Haak's Puzzle-Museum is an impressive on-line collection, and includes many custom-designed puzzles hand-crafted by Tony Fisher, Anthony Greenhill, and others.
3D Puzzle Reconstruction Studio - Katsuhiro Okamoto (JP) [English translation]
Ton Dennenbroek - speedcubing and Rubik's puzzle building
Ton Dennenbroek - custom building
Chris Lohe's site has a nice table of twisty puzzle types
Funny-Looking Twisty Puzzles - Carter Tarrer
chrono.org - Jin Kim
Georges Helm
Georges Helm's List of Puzzle Solutions
Olympicube - 6x6x6 Cubes and beyond!
Sandy's collection
Kar Watanabe
Kastellorizo
LoloCube - Laurent Blanc
Puzzlemaniac
cubeman.org - Mark Longridge - Domain of the Cube
cubeman.org - Rubik's Cube Chronology
Virtual Cubes
Yang Ho's Cubemania (KR)
i4no - Rubik's Cube Museum
Zauberwurfel
JPuzzler
Four-Dimensional Rubik's Cube
Juanan's collection

Play Online...

Vexed - like Sokoban meets Tetris
Gridlock - like Rush Hour
Puzzlebeast - has Bulbous Blob
Cheesy Games - Emmett Henderson
Panex
Nick Baxter's Sliding Block Puzzle Page
janko.at - many online puzzles!
janko.at -- Classic Sliding Block Puzzles
janko.at -- Sam Loyd's Moving Day Puzzle
Fore and Aft - Mark Peters
Hirofumi Fujiwara - Sliding Piece Puzzles
Pascal Huybers - Tenyo Beat-the-Computer Puzzles
Tenyo Beat-the-Computer puzzle simulator -- Steven Atkinson


Some game sites...


Handheld Games Museum

Boardgamegeek

Abstract Strategy Games
Jose Diaz (Davans)

Bruce Whitehill
Big Game Hunter