Pandora's Lock Box

This is the very first version of Pandora's Lock Box that i created. Instead of using hasps, i punched holes in the cardboard boxes and reinforced them with metal grommets.

This allowed for most padlocks to be used, with a little flexing of the cardboard, but it wasn't a perfect solution. Some locks were difficult to insert, remove, etc... i didn't want to slow down contestants or encourage damage to the boxes.

Still, even back then, the fit of each locked box inside one another was pretty great!

Seen in the first image, and now here, you may notice the small jar of parts. This little capsule contains extra pins, springs, and tools necessary for servicing those "top drilled" cores that i use at the innermost stage of the game.

The first appearance of Pandora's Lock Box was at PlumberCon in Austria. I flew out of Philadelphia with the game packed into my duffel bag. (i was traveling without my customary heavy cases, since i was bumming my way across town for the con and across europe to make it to HAR the following week.) I had packed the game as seen above, with all layers of the locks properly secured at each stage of the game. When i arrived in Vienna and went to see my friends at the MetaLab, the topic turned to lockpicking. I pulled Pandora's Lock Box out of my bag and started to show people the different levels. Eager to demonstrate the re-keying challenge, we quickly picked and bypassed our way through all the levels only to find...

... a TSA Inspection Notice inside the smallest, inner box. You read that right. The folks at PHL airport saw a peculiar wad of metal objects in my bag, and pulled out the cash box. They picked the small wafer lock (it's not hard) and found another locked box. Now, the master keys for the game were in there somewhere, so it's possible they used them to key into the first cardboard box. I like to believe they picked in. Inside of that they found another locked box. Now, this one was secured with combination locks. They didn't cut them, so i'm assuming they used padlock shims there. And, in a real touch of class... they did indeed leave their inspection notice paper, repeatedly folded up, inside of the smallest box in the middle.

They then proceeded to secure Pandora's Lock Box back together again, each stage at a time, and place it right back where they found it. That's just hilariously great, in my opinion. :-)

Copyleft 2009 Deviant Ollam. You are free to study, copy, reuse, and redistribute any or all of this material as long as the freedom for others to do the same is maintained.