OVER THERE

Wanna buy a used Rubik’s Cube? Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the toy store, that cubic conundrum is back. Countries, such as Japan, that missed out the first time are about to be introduced to Erno Rubik and his infernal contraption. And for those who survived the first round, there’s a whole new line of Rubik brain twisters, all thanks to a Beverly Hills investment firm that just bought 41% of the Hungarian architect and inventor’s Budapest-based operation, Rubik’s Studio. Ozrad Lev, the 31-year-old founder of 3-year-old Gal Industries Inc., spent the last two years searching Eastern Europe for investment opportunities. Hungary, he discovered, is where the action is. Gal acquired a small computer firm and part of a software design firm, but it’s Rubik that Lev hopes will move Gal into the big time. Rubik is already one of the richest men in Hungary--the company nets about $600,000 a year, a fortune in that country--but he hadn’t identified a strategy to market his new toys abroad--until Lev showed up. Lev has big plans, of course, but is the world really ready for a Rubik redux?