Shock as Leeds man sells limited edition Rubik's Cube for more than £1,000 on eBay - after buying for just £12

Richard Cordwell, 52, made the whopping profit on a 3x3 puzzle featuring pictures of rock band the Police. He bought the Rubik's Cube online and realised it was one of just 144 after doing some research.

Richard, from Leeds, then relisted it on eBay - and made nearly 100 times what he had paid for it. The collector said: "The auction went crazy, especially in the last 10 seconds. It went from £560 to £1,028. The guy I sold it to told me he had been looking for one for years."

Richard started collecting puzzles in the 1980s but began to take his hobby more seriously in the early 2000s. He spotted the Police Rubik's Cube - featuring a shot of Sting - in May 2022 and decided to take a chance.

Richard then discovered it was given away during a promotion run in Smash Hit magazine in the 1980s - and was rare. So he then put the Rubik's Cube back on eBay in December 2022 with a £50 minimum - and watched the price soar. He said: “I collect sequential movement and twisty puzzles and I spotted this one on eBay. I didn’t know much about it, but did some research and noticed the box was numbered 51 out of 144. They made 144 puzzles and 25 were given away to Smash Hits winners. We believe this to be one of them.

“I bought it to have a look and then put it up on eBay and thought I’d be cheeky and list it for £50. It was quite exciting once I started getting silly and realising it was something special."

Richard said he has spoken to other enthusiasts and thinks the price could be record-breaking for a Rubik's Cube. The Masterpiece Cube - priced at more than £2 million ($2.5 million) - is widely held as the world's most expensive.

But Richard believes the jewel-encrusted puzzle has been never been sold - making his potentially the most pricey to have changed hands. He said: “I’ve been chatting to other Rubik’s Cube fans. We think [mine is] the most expensive Rubik's Cube that’s ever sold."