It Came from the Toy Chest: Fidgety Stress reliever.

If you recall the most glorious day in my life... Saturday for Bison. I mentioned that I own a Fidget Cube. I just discovered that this is a Bootleg...

Well, I've been with it over a month and it's gotten a bit dirty... One of the pieces was a bit stuck so I used some plastic safe lubricants to make the parts move and apparently no matter how well you dry and remove the excess lubricant it left a small film layer that dust, dirt and stuff stuck to it. No, I'm not gonna post pics of my dirty fidget cube! I will review it though.
I'll use diagrams as a poor man's substitute.
Also, it's easier to see all sides with a diagram than with the actual cube.

As you can see in the diagram you have ALL the sides of the cube at the same time. This diagram will be the main tool I'll use to talk about each of the cube's functions. I must also mention that after a month of use and abuse... Like falling from an escalator, my cube is mostly functional. I'll discuss each side in a bit.

Starting from the further left side... Your left, as you're reading this post is the 5 Button side. It has 5 buttons that click when pushed and they pop out when you release them. Apparently each button has a different sound/resistance. Like a substitute to a clicking pen, I found myself using this side a lot when in high stress... The official name for this side is "Click". Me I prefer the 5 Button side as a name.

The next side is the Metal Trackball and 3 "Combination lock tumblers" or Gears. I prefer to call them combination lock tumblers since they remind me of my childhood when I spent hours figuring out my dad's combination to his briefcases... (He had one full of interesting material for a teenage boy... Teenage me regrets drawing clothing over all those ladies using sharpie.) The official name for this side is "ROLL" because you can roll the trackball or the gears. Not a fan of the trackball, but the gears are my buddies.

The next side is a switch... You flick it on/off or try to make it reach a state similar to that of Schrödinger's cat... Where it's neither on nor off. I find myself attracted to this side a lot when bored. The official name is flip.

The next side is a small wheel that you turn with your thumb. it has a small nipple for your thumb to latch on to and allow you to spin it. This piece didn't want to move on mine until I lubricated it. Now it spins. I rarely use this side because the spinning is awkward. It's official name is Spin.

The next two sides are my favorite and least favorite sides of the cube. I shall start with the worst being the one at the bottom. It's official name is "Breathe" and it's simply a small indentation in an otherwise smooth side with nothing on it. It's supposed to be kinda like a worry stone, but it does nothing for me. I guess that this works with people who already use worry stones as a means to deal with their anxiety with a multitasker instead of a unitasker.

The final side is an Analog stick... That's pretty much what it is. While using an analog stick on a videogame is more fun, I gravitate a lot towards it AND try to match my movements to it when walking around.

the beauty of the fidget cube is that I can do things with it in one hand, while I keep my eyes and main hand in action for work. I can use the cube in my pocket with no issues vs using the Spinner.

I cannot rate it as an action figure or a playset, but these are kinda classified as toys, hence the it came from the toy chest. While you CAN PLAY with them, I see them more of a tool to channel some stress and nervous energy in a safe way. I recommend it to nervous folks. It's way better than the spinners.