Husband and wife Bill Ritchie and Andrea Bathello founded ThinkFun in 1985. Originally called Binary Arts, they founded the company with a noble mission: "To translate the brilliant ideas of the craziest mathematicians, engineers and inventors into simple toys that can be appreciated by boys and girls around the world.". Bill was a born puzzler, so defining his dream company was no challenge, but the 1980s were a tough time for toy companies. Retailers were moving away from games, and the Rubik's Cube, which had broken through in the mass market, was losing popularity.

Their first products were three mechanical puzzles: The Hexadecimal Puzzle, the Cat, and the Horse, all invented by Bell Labs engineer William Keister. They were over-priced and a bit amateurish. The tagline for The Hexadecimal Puzzle was "An Advanced Mathematical Puzzle With 16 Variations..."

Read more about ThinkFun on their website.

ThinkFun Products by Year

1985-1989
The Hexadecimal Puzzle
The Cat Puzzle
The Horse Puzzle
Subway
Metro
Hex
SpinOut

Pre 1993
Brick by Brick
BackSpin
TopSpin
Back Flip
IZZI
3-D Jigsaw
Compact Games
Oskar’s Cube

1993
SwitchBack
Nature’s Spaces
Foam Pentominos
Foam Snowflake
Mystery Shapes
Cryptic Classics

1994
Four Jigsaw
Four Cube
IZZI 2
Golf
Cubits
Quiz Jigsaw
Silhouette Puzzle

 
1995
Visual Brainstorms
Four T
GeoMorph
Two Tantalizing Puzzles
Triple Cross

1996
Rush Hour
Block by Block
Twin Tangle
Twisted Twins
Turnstile
Stark Raving Cubes
New Triple Cross
GeoLoop

1997/98
Stormy Seas
Prairie Dog Town
The Amazing Chewdini
Visual Brainstorms 2
Port to Port
Shape by Shape
Two Player Brick by Brick
Four Piece Pyramid

1999
Railroad Rush Hour
Wizmo
Wizmo XL
Wizmo Executive
Alien Hive
Loopy Links
Hippo Haven
Eye Foolery
Spin Science
8 Ball Puzzle
9 Ball Puzzle
Line Puzzles
Hoppers
Rush Hour Jr.

2000
Lunar Lockout
Leapin’ Lizards
Wizmo Orbitron
Spin Science 2
Safari Rush Hour
Tonette

2001
Rodent Roundup
Galactic Takeover
Dino Dodgem
Fifteen Puzzle
Elephant SpinOut
FlipIt
Metro
ThatAWay
8 Ball Square Puzzle
XEX Downsize
XEX Bottom Line
XEX Fast Trax
XEX Loop Hole
XEX No. Crunch
XEX Spin Doctor
XEX Tee Time
Blue Opal Imports, various

2002
Smart Mouth
Work Or Golf
Honor And Glory
Fit to a Tee
City Puzzle
Coast to Coast
Pencil Puzzle
Roadside Rescue
ZINGO!
Silly Stories
Wizmo Mini-Orbitron
Picture Link
The Same Game
Pet Hunt
Scrambled Egg
Metal Brick by Brick
Tangram (Metal)
Card Shuffler

2003
River Crossing
Oodles of Doodles
Word Sense
Mini Fifteen Puzzle
Red Frog Hoppers
Aha Brainteasers:  
-    Missing T
-    Pack It In
-    Loop Trap
-    Pyramid Twins
-    Wing It
-    All Uphill
-    The Fifth Chair
-    Double Square
Mini Bingo
Jackpot
Spare Time Bowling
Amaze

2004
River Crossing 2
Oodles of Doodles
4 Children’s Card Games
Slide Puzzles
Raging Rapids
Square by Square
MathDice
GridWorks
TipOver
What’s GNU?
Toot and Otto

2005
Subtrax
Charoodles
 
2006
Spider Man TipOver
Marvel City Crossing
Marvel Hopper Heroes
Marvel Zingo Heroes
Sudoku 5x5
Gordian’s Knot
FlipSide
New SpinOut
Aha! Double Rings
Aha! Lift Off
Rush Hour Deluxe
Sudoku Jr. 4x4

2007
Game Club Program
Pete’s Pike
Cover Your Tracks
Treasure Quest
Hot Spot

2008
Chocolate Fix
Pirate’s Gold
Top This!
Serpentiles

2009
S’Match
Clever Castle
Hoppers Jr.
36 Cube
Adam’s Cube
Aha! RecTangle

2010
FlipOver
Zingo! 1-2-3
Zingo! To Go
MathDice Jr.
Knot So Fast
Trango
Solitaire Chess
Zig Zag Knot
Aha! Starburst
Aha! Straight Arrow
Aha! Square Fit

2011
Bug Trails
Cartoon It!
Hyperswipe
PathWords
Snack Attack!
Swish
Tilt
 
2012
Distraction
MathDice Tournament Kit
Mini Mouth
PathWords Jr
Roll & Play
ShapeOMetry
Stenzzles.
Turnstile
UnHinged
Yackety Smack
Zingo! Sight Words
 
2013
Hello Sunshine!
Laser Maze
Math Dice Powers
Swish Jr.
WordARound


2014
Last Letter
Move & Groove
Robot Turtles
Shell Game
Zingo! Time-Telling
Zingo! Word Builder

Thinkfun value

What's it worth? Take a look at this Thinkfun price guide: sold listings for a value indication.

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