Tuttminx series (classic and curvy)

Arright, gotta address the tuttminxes.

I had three of the four Tuttminxes. Let's start with the curvy Tuttminx.

The Curvy Tuttminx is just like Lee Tutt's original, but it has curved cuts.

Still has the hexagonal/pentagonal face arrangement, but the cuts are more round. The problem: the round cuts make it really hard to turn the puzzle. I'm surprised that it didn't come with some sort of turning key like the void Tuttminx does...Anyways, it hurt my fingers to turn it. I often had to use my entire palm to kind of grip the face. 

Next: Classic Tuttminx. This one is much easier to turn, not only because the pieces are bigger, but because the mechanism may have changed somewhat (i.e. to give more leverage). The turning is a lot more smooth on the classic Tuttminx. If you are going to choose only one Tuttminx (not sure why you would - more on that later) then choose this one.

Brief solving interlude: Solving the above two Tuttminxes is the same. It's kind of like a megaminx, but you have to plan for the fact that the hexagonal faces can only turn in increments of two. Otherwise, just pair edges with corners. Again, and again, and again. VERY tedious work, and it requires a lot of concentration to keep track of where you can and cannot turn things (compared to the 7x7, which is tedious but you can do it very easily). The only really interesting bit is the last four or so faces, where you have to choose between pentagon and hexagon for your 'last layer'. Not my favourite for solving...

Then there's the Tuttminx star. A bit pointless (pardon the pun), but it looks real sharp (I'm on a roll here!). It's essentially the Truncated-Icosahedron version of an Alexander's star, or the edges-only version of the Tuttminx. My guess: A good practise for the edges of the last few layers. Good place to try out your moves. Apparently, though, it is possible to get an edge parity if you're not careful...Turning is just fine, but be careful when stickering: the pieces have slightly different shapes, as do the stickers. Also, there's the traditional 'look past the points to see a pentagonal face' approach, or the 'sticker the indentations' approach.

There's also a stickering scheme that makes the pentagonal faces 'pop', making the dodecahedron clear.

And the solution that helps with the 'duplicate colors' issue (or colors that look the same)