This 3D-printed puzzle looks and acts so much like the real thing, you may get possessed by an ancient game master.

Ever since the manga and anime series debuted in the late ’90s, Yu-Gi-Oh! fans worldwide have hungered for a Millennium Puzzle of their very own. This is the item worn around the neck of the series’ protagonist Yugi Mutou as he hosts the spirit of an ancient Egyptian pharaoh to unlock the dark power of Shadow Games.

It was a prop that just screamed “Make me into a toy dammit!” and as a result several replicas had been made by various toy makers. However, they were always solid-state objects which would make as much sense as me handing you a New Kids on the Block poster and saying, “Enjoy your jigsaw puzzle!”

So, hardcore fans were on their own in making a real Millennium Puzzle. There have been some good attempts such as this really cool wooden one made by Craftsman Sheng.

While all were of very high quality, there still hadn’t been a DIY one that would make people stand up and shout “That is the Millennium Puzzle”

Until now…

Sho Tozuka originally posted the following video on Japanese hosting site Niconico Douga on 15 August which outlines the creation of what is without question the best Millennium Puzzle ever made.

Tozuka started with a computer model of the assembled pyramid. The manga never actually gives a detailed description of how the puzzle goes together, so he started by carving in the key eye piece and corner pieces.

Making a puzzle from scratch is no easy feat, but Tozuka cleverly diced the entire shape up into tiny cubes first, then built the puzzle by addition rather than subtraction, using the manga as a rough guide. This stage took over a month to complete.

In the end, 39 interlocking pieces were created and 3-D-printed into reality, along with a gold box to hold it all. This side-by-side with the manga shows just how amazingly authentic his pieces look.

That’s only half the battle, however, as they still have to go together. The video shows Tozuka assemble the Millennium Puzzle in the same fashion that it’s done in the story, starting with the square face.

That alone is enough to make my money magically fly out of my pockets, but as an added bonus, there are also pieces that jut out until later on in the puzzle-building when they slide in perfectly…JUST LIKE IN THE FREAKING MANGA!

If you remember from the original series, the final piece with the eye just kind of magically locks in.

This is yet another detail that Tozuka accounted for, only instead of the magic of the ancient Egyptians, he harnessed the far more mysterious power of magnets.

In the video Tozuka even gives the finished puzzle a shake, showing that it’s both realistic-looking and durable, in case you get caught up in those rough-and-tumble arm band games of Yu-Gi-Oh! R.

Unsurprisingly, viewers sang the praises of Tozuka’s work.

“That is a tremendous reproduction.”
“Man, you even got the parts that slide in!”
“I’d love to wear that while playing Duel Monsters.”
“I want that!”
“I will trade all my cards for that.”
“Yu-Gi-Oh! aside, it’s still a great 3-D puzzle.”

That last comment is hopefully comforting for Tozuka, because he of course cannot sell his marvelous creation due to copyright laws. However, in the final minutes of the video he shows that he is recreating a variation of the puzzle without the Yu-Gi-Oh! style that he intends to sell.

Really though, if whoever is holding the rights to the Millennium Puzzle doesn’t call up Tozuka right now and offer him a gajillion yen (US$bajillion) and a Lorelei, the Symphonic Arsenal card for his design, then there is no justice in this world.

Source: Niconico News
Images: Niconico Video
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