Camel - Theo Geerinck - Pelikan Puzzles

Camel

• Designer: Theo Geerinck
• Dimensions: 6.3" x 2" x 5.1" (160 mm x 50 mm x 130 mm)
• Material: American Cherry
• Goal: Disassemble the camel into its separate pieces and reassemble it back to its original form.
• Challenge: The puzzle consists of hidden locking mechanisms that keep you guessing. You must figure out how to take apart and reassemble the camel, which may seem easier than it is.

Kevin Sadler wrote about it:

“Yes!!!! I adore the animal-themed puzzles that Jakub and Jaroslav produce. I know they are often very difficult to design and manufacture but they are just so lovely and give me an excuse to keep another one on display in my living room. Mrs S was away when this batch came in and when I showed her the photo of the delivery even she admitted the camel was very cute and incredibly realistic. It has been crafted from American Cherry which gives it a rich brown ‘camel’ colour. This is a collaboration with a master designer and craftsman, Theo Geerinck, which means that the solution will be interesting as well as good looking.

When first playing with it, only 3 pieces move and I comically pushed and pulled them and then tried to rip the legs and head off the poor creature. Of course, that won’t work. I don’t think any self-respecting camel will let you tear a leg or head off without complaining vigorously at you. I was stumped at this point for a rather embarrassingly long time. The fun thing with these sorts of layered constructions is that you cannot tell by looking at them which parts are supposed to be mobile and which are glued together. This leaves you pushing and pulling pretty much everything that you can get a grip on. After a whole day of getting nowhere, I tried a new technique and there was a ‘click’. Aha! Then another click and another before I was able to remove a piece of camel anatomy. Having done human dissection as a medical student, this was a nice fun way to do it without any mess! Before long I had the poor animal in pieces on my table and was able to see the ingenious locking mechanism which included a couple of pieces that are hidden inside. I scrambled the pieces and left it for a couple of hours and attempted the reassembly. Whilst not impossibly difficult, even that was a fun challenge as I had lost my orientation of several pieces and had to spend quite a while working out how things should be oriented. This is wonderful and perfect to display as part of your puzzle menagerie.”