The LunHui

//For no real reason, this week I'm going to list some 3x3's I think made 3x3 design what it is today, //and commend them for their service to our community.
The LunHui is a 3x3 created by Dayan, and is also known as the Dayan 4. So what? I haven't heard of the LunHui. Just another Dayan cube. Whatever. Well, this cube brought the modern speedcube into being, as it introduced something revolutionary. Something that is incredibly important to modern 3x3 design. The torpedo. (It might be debatable whether torpedos are important nowadays, as modern 3x3 design now has many other forms of anti-popping mechs other than the torpedo. But regardless, it was definitely important, and is still used today.)
The torpedo is a simple thing. Just a small add-on for cubes that linked corners to edges to prevent pops. This was, arguably, the first anti-popping mechanism in a 3x3 ever, and it was very efficient. Since their introduction, torpedos have made an appearance in every Dayan cube since, and the GuHong and LinYun were re-released with torpedos later. Nowadays, almost all cubes have a torpedo, or something based on a torpedo. Sadley, the LunHui never got all that much attention when compared to its brothers, and instead the GuHong and Zhanchi (Which now both had torpedos) rose up as Dayans most famous 3x3s.
In their favor though, both of those puzzles are much better. (In my opinion, which is shared by most.) The LunHui seems to have been designed with the main focus being anti-popping. The corners have two stocks, the edge has an interlocking mech that looks similar to an older version of Fangshi's wing design, and the center anchors the edges down. in all, it seems this was Dayan trying to make an unpoppable cube. It worked, but not completely. I have a LunHui (Although I can't find it at the moment.) and it still popped from time to time. They likely wanted an unpoppable cube because of the performance of their other cubes. The GuHong and LinYun were both considered the best speed cubes of their time, and the only thing holding them back was the simple fact: They still popped. The LunHui was likely a response to this. Dayan making one of their best cubes, and now it wasn't pop-prone. But in making the design so pop-resistant, they sacrificed some performance. It gained a blocky feel due to its sub-par corner-cutting, and the way it interlocked kept it fro popping regularly, but when it did pop, the mech also caused many other pieces to pop with it, causing bigger pops.
So in the end no, the LunHui wasn't perfect (No, perfection wouldn't occur until 2014and 2015.). But it did introduce a piece of hardware that would be used as standard for years to come, and definitely helped the speed 3x3 designs of today to become as great as they are. For that, I believe it deserves to be commended. So TY Dayan. We'll see you later this week.

Take these beans and shove 'em up their nose! Dragons hate beans!
-GIR