There are many fascinating stories of the rise and fall of cube manufacturers over the years, but none more so than the V-Cube company. After teasing their products for a very long time, they finally released the V-Cube 5, V-Cube 6, and V-Cube 7 on June 19, 2008 to great fanfare. Their cubes were better than anyone else's at the time, but nobody uses them in serious competition anymore. This is what happened. Back in 1981, a Greek engineer named Panagiotta's Verde des came across the Rubik's cube for the first time. He was fascinated with the idea and believed that it was possible to create cubes with more layers. Working on the idea in secret, he came across the idea of using conical cuts, which solved the main issue, namely making sure the corners would stay attached to the rest of the mechanism. In 1985, he completed his initial design for a 5x5 and realized that it could work for any size of cube. However, without any source of information on the development of the original cube, he put the sketches in the drawer and left them for 20 years. Then, in 2002, he came across the Rubik's online shop, where he saw that along with the classic 3x3, they were selling the 2x2, the 4x4, and the 5x5, but no 6x6. Realising an opportunity, he applied for a patent for his designs before starting a company, a limper cube. 2003 was the first year that anyone in the cubing community learned about the company. In a message to the Speed Solving Yahoo group, the company claimed that, the cubes of the 21st century are now ready to become reality with the invention we describe in our website, www.alimpercube.com. Please check it out and send us your comments. The fledgling community was not impressed. With no photos of actual cubes, no granted patent, and the bad spelling, many suspected that it was a hoax or spam. Dan Gossby, organiser of worlds, 2003, was particularly cautious, claiming that there was a Trojan that would be activated if you replied to their emails, and that they were under investigation by 7 towns. In 2004, the patient was granted, and after realising that the twisty puzzle's forum was a much friendlier place, a limper cube announced the patent to the world there. Soon after, the claimed that the 6x6 with flat sides would be available to purchase within 3 months, there was much rejoicing. Then… nothing. Apart from a couple messages here and there, the deadline came and went with no information as to what was happening. People were disappointed. Alimpercube tried to reassure everyone, but with no evidence that any prototypes had even been made, there wasn't much they could do. The start of 2005 changed that. Without warning, the website had a video of the 6x6 in action. Finally, for the first time ever, the community had a chance to see a real working 6x6. Seeing the cube actually being turned made a lot of people extremely excited, and everyone wanted to get their hands on one. In April and July, more pictures were released showing the cube in mid-turn, with a pattern and in Greece. Around the same time, it received an honorable mention at the International Puzzle Party 25 and George's Hell was sent to prototype. In 2006, a prototype was sold on eBay, just two weeks later, a 5x5 prototype was unveiled. Ever so slowly, throughout the year, more and more information was teased and released, including a 7x7 prototype also sent to George's Hell. Frank Morris was invited to meet with Verdes' son, Constantinos, to test out the 5x5 and 6x6. In October, he was sent to 7x7 prototypes and created a video of him solving one soon afterwards, which became extremely popular throughout the community. Progress started slowing down quite a bit in 2007, however. Despite everything that had come before, the website stayed mostly stagnant, and there was nothing actually new coming from the company. Once again, people grew impatient and started to question whether they would ever actually be released. Things started moving again when a 6x6 was brought to Worlds 2007, and Chris Hardwick successfully sold it while blindfolded. Finally, 2008 came. Olympic Cube decided to change their company name, and on the 11th of January completely overhauled their website, focusing on their new name, V-Cube. Soon afterwards, they announced an official launch in September, with a pre-launch period starting in June. It looked more and more likely that they would actually be released. On June 19th, 2008, the V-Cube 5, V-Cube 6, and V-Cube 7 began to be sold to the public.