Home » Science & Art Toys » Bucky Balls Magnets Toy » Bucky Balls Instructions
SO... You saw the videos of the awesome new Buckyballs Magnet Toy and the way they magically snap together in symmetrical and patterned shapes, and you decided to buy some? Then you got your Buckyballs and the magic didn't magically happen; they went from the neat cube in the package to a squished together BB blob? Now you feel let down, dissapointed, and possibly angry?
Well, don't dispair! The magic is in the Buckyballs! It just takes some practice.
The fun and awe in Buckyballs is not only their natural magnetic force, which makes them click into shapes and patterns, but also in amusing other people by watching you make the Buckyballs do tricks, and then watching them try - and fail miserably. Learning tricks with Buckyballs reminds me of learning to do a magic trick or play a video game. It's not as easy to do as it looked like when you first saw someone else do it, so it seems really hard when you try it yourself and can't do this task that looked so easy... But you keep trying, and you get the hang of it after a short while.
Buckyballs are the same. They are most similar, I would say, to a magic trick. The difference between Buckyballs and a magic trick is that magic tricks are deceptive; they make it look like something happened that really didn't happen. Buckyballs really have the magical quality they appear to have, and what looked like happened to the Buckyballs really did happen.
Buckyballs have two ends (or "poles") like a planet, and like a planet, the fact that they're round means you can't see these ends/poles. But nonetheless, they are there, albeit invisible to the eye. Whenever they Buckyballs stick together in a chain, all the positive poles will line up pointing the same direction.
When you make shapes more complex than a single chain, the polarity gets more tricky. If you try to join them together with the polarity wrong, they will all stick to the wrong places and you will have to tediously pick apart the magnetic mess. Other times, with the wrong polar alignment, you will be unable to connect them at all.
Objects that produce a strong magnetic field have two poles - positive and negative. When the magnetic feled of one object interacts with the magnetic field of another object, the objects are either repelled or attracted. Opposite poles attract; positive is magnetically drawn to negative and negative to positive. On the other hand, if two two nearby magnetic objects have their positive poles (or negative poles) pointed at each other, they will be repelled and pushed away from each other.
When working with your Buckyballs/Neocubes/TealCo.net generic NdFeB magnets balls, it's important to keep in mind the polarity of the shape you are making, and whether an outer edge or side will attract positive or negative. Obviously, the more complicated your routine, the harder it will be to keep track of this, but it will get easier the more you work through your routine. If your buckyballs get stuck together due to mismatched polarity and morph into the dreaded magnetic rat nest, the strength of their attraction can make pulling them apart take a few minutes. The easiest way to do this seems to be to pull a single Buckyball from the glob and let it make a chain. Then connect all the chains and you're back in business. It's not hard to do, but will slow your routine and totally ruin all your Buckyball mojo if you have an audience.
...Which is why you have to practice a little bit before you can make the magic happen... but don't worry; after a few practice runs, you'll have it down in a SNAP, -literally; your Buckyballs will just pop together. In order to do routines like those in the Buckyball videos, you need to plan what you are going to make the Buckyballs do, then rehearse the movements so that you automatically and habitually match the polarities correctly. Polarity is key to having the balls snap themselves together perfectly and effortlessly. That is when the magic happens, and everybody starts saying things like "Can I try?" and "Can I see those?" and "Where did you get those??" (Be sure to tell them TealCo.net!)
Not that you have to practice all THAT much... It took me maybe a half hour to perfect the first trick on the video.
TealCo.net offers the lowest possible retail price for NdFeB magnet balls (Buckyballs/NeoCubes)! We get emails that say things like, "Your web site is obviously a scam. Do you really expect people to believe you sell these magnet balls for less than everybody else?". The answer is, "Yes, we do expect people to believe it. It's true. We are not a scam. We are just that awesome."
Are you drawn to the Buckyballs, but wish you could find them at a cheaper price? We can't sell Buckyballs brand for any cheaper price (or they'll sue us), but we have the same magnet balls in generic packaging for just $17.99! Check out the generic version- Generic Super Magnet Balls! for more info and to purchase.
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